I love this from Beth Moore in her, “Breaking Free: Day by Day” devotional, this was found on 8/29:
We have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us. – 2 Corinthians 4:7
Here is my personal check list of Scriptures and evaluations that I seek to apply to my life on a regular basis.
- Is my most important consideration in every undertaking whether or not God could be glorified? (1 Cor. 10:31)
- Do I desire God’s glory or my own? (John 8:50,54)
- In my service to others, is my sincere hope that they will somehow see God in me? (1 Pet. 4:10-11)
- When I am going through hardships, do I turn to God and try to cooperate with Him so He can use them for my good and for His glory? (1 Pet. 4:12-13).
These really got me thinking about the motives behind what I do on a daily basis. Do I follow the four bullet points that Beth talks about or am I more concerned about myself. To be honest I’d say it is not as good as I would like it to be.
I want to be used by God not just sit on the sidelines and watch while others have all the fun. I want others to see God in me. As a matter of fact that is what I want them to be consumed by God when they look at me.
I want my hardships to be used for my good and for His glory. That is one of my ultimate goals. It is my ultimate work goal. I want to encourage people as much as possible that no matter what it is that they have gone through, our God is greater and He will bring you through to the other side and you will be the better for it.
If I had known nearly 25 years ago what I know now: 1. I never would have believed it possible. 2. It would have saved me a ton of misery if I could have wrapped my mind around it. Nearly 25 years ago I had made my first of too many to count attempts at suicide. Now I know that that is not an option for me. I have better coping skills with the illnesses of Bi-polar and General Anxiety Disorder. Unless I’m sick I keep my appointments with my doctors and am very strict with myself about taking meds. I’m getting better about keeping to a stringent sleep schedule, although at times I fail.
Whatever your Achilles heel is, it is my strong belief that you too can live a victorious life, are you going through a ugly divorce? Allow God to teach you and bring you through. There are always lessons to be learned no matter what it is that we are going through. Dealing with issues of abuse? God can help you there too. He can help to show you that you’re not the one to blame and that in due time with healing forgiveness can be given for your benefit but that takes time so don’t feel bad if you’re not ready yet. Going through a loss. God is the Great Comforter and He longs to comfort you in a way that no human can be. Once He has comforted you, you will have a more intimate relationship with Him than ever before.
The list could go on and on but it is my fervent hope that you get the idea and whatever you are dealing with the Holy Spirit has already brought it to mind and how He would like to be there for you if you would just trust Him and release yourself to Him. He is called the Comforter for a reason. Allow Him to do what He is here to do.
Joy – A Woman After God’s Own Heart!
Joy's Words of Encouragement 