July 17 2014

July 17 2014 Greetings My Friend, I believe that God is one God. I believe that Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit are one and then I don’t get it….but I believe it. I realize God’s wisdom is infinitely more than mine. I accept that I don’t get it. When Jesus was baptized God spoke to the people that Jesus was His Son and He is proud. OK? God in Heaven is speaking and Jesus is in the flesh being baptized. I believe though. I also believe that the Holy Spirit is the Helper Jesus spoke of when he was going back to the Father. I can’t talk in tongues. I just know there are moments that He is near helping me, teaching me. I am changing as I obey His voice. The Bible often tells us to be in the Spirit. I have pondered this for a long time now. How do I know if I am in the Spirit? It isn’t a feeling I have in general but I know that He is there. There was the time I said exactly the right thing. I made the phone call to someone who needed to hear from me. There was that lady at the mall that time and the list goes on and on. Should I marry Junior? I felt the “yes” and did so and not one day goes by that I am not thankful. At present I pray to each one individually. It works for me so I do it. By praying to each one separately I learn who God is more fully. As I learn to “hear” God and my life changes for the better I believe all the more. For me prayer and Bible reading/study help me a whole lot. Church and the lessons we have in class and in the sermon help. Listening to Christian speakers help me grow in my faith as well. As I interact with Christians from different denominations I also find myself growing. My friend is Catholic and her heart is wonderful to engage with. We have conversations, not to prove our respective religions is the best but heart to heart faith discussions. I am amazed when I can connect heart to heart with people from different Christian faiths. It happens often for me. My Mother-in-law was Catholic and I was Presbyterian. She is the one I often look back to that to me had a genuine love for the Lord. I am grateful that my parents insisted that I go to church. To be honest I did not get the relationship part with Jesus until my 40’s. My Mother could quote doctrine but never quoted the Bible or explained what she found there. My Mother-in-law lived the Bible for me. When I first married her son she sat me down and talked to me about being an encourager a helper to my husband. She often taught me how to cook, clean and not to show off my wares to the world. It did not work that much back then but I truly see the lesson these days. I must admit I miss her a bunch and wish I could sit at her feet again. I begin my morning in prayer before I get out of bed. I pray in my chair during the day. As I see needs I pray and then at night I go to sleep talking to God. All this time alone with God helps me to hear His direction. I may feel rejected by man but God tells me daily I am special. He tells me when I’m doing something harmful to myself. He pushes me to take Him with me as I leave our home. Again I learn that actions speak louder than words. I learn to be patient, to apologize when I am not. I learn to focus my thoughts not on trash but on things that build me up, others up. The more I encourage the more alive I feel. My spiritual gift is being an encourager. I do it by writing, by being silly and being available to someone in need. I also think for me being frank about my own walk also encourages people. Not everyone gets what I am doing but many do. I believed all the veiled masks I saw in life. I believed that everyone in church and married truly knew what they were doing. Nope many did not. I sure did not and I kept being married in the flesh instead of the Spirit. Only thing is at that point the Spirit was only a word we said in church. I never got His role until I started to talk to Him directly. Today I hear better and I understand more so. When asked about the Father, Son and Holy Spirit being one I tend to look at my life. I am a wife, a mother and a grandmother. I then understand kind of God’s three in one aspect. I may never fully get it but I believe it with all my heart. I strive to live it the best I can with the Holy Spirit’s guidance, the Father’s tender hand and the Son’s willingness to leave Heaven to come into our world and ultimately die a death I can’t even fully grasp….the pain that is. I am continuing on in this journey. At present being in the Spirit to me means living the Bible to the best of my understanding. When I know the Bible and God speaks to me I am able to “hear” more, do more. It works. May God bless you and keep you make His face to shine on you. Love Janet