The swirled dust meant she cleaned her very best with her little hands...My Friend showed where i had forgotten to dust!
A new day in light of His Mercy! i love today! From the moment i woke up Jesus has been constantly showing me through gentle instances in my life how i need to "decrease and He must increase"! Cool! Sometimes i get caught up in the wonderful feeling of me having control of the bills, the cleaning, the cooking, the teaching of the children, that i must have an answer for everything! He was there speaking to my heart telling me how much i was playing god by not allowing Him to show me how He wanted the bills to be paid, how the cleaning can be more productive and shine for His Glory, How the food can taste of His goodness, how He wants the children to be taught.... & how He wants friendships to be full of His love, not full of emotional tendencies that seek its own uniqueness, in the self- absorbed notion of me putting me, into it! Confusing? Yes?
i really don't like greeting cards that tell the recipient how they are directly, and forcefully, or how they should feel...Or that always say the words me, or i in them. Why? Because i want the gift to inspire the love of the other person, to show appreciation of the other person and their life...not showcase my emotions....."He must increase, i must decrease". And so , i was shown that my dinner planning wasn't about what was best for my children and my husband, but what suited what i wanted to cook that day. Also, the cleaning was done in such a way that it always fit in my time frame and the way i want it to be, not recognizing the best effort of the way my younger child did it with such happiness, because she was given the responsibility to do it...i complimented her and tried to make her feel good about her work, but i later got annoyed because it wasn't as perfect as the way i wanted it to be. i needed to be happy and rejoice that i was able to serve her by letting her help out the best way she could and be happy with that.
Yesterday, i had this sobering experience of finding out that what i secretly like and what i think is really cool isn't so cool to other people! No matter how spiritually enriching i felt it was to me, it wasn't to others....And that's just the problem.....me. Too centered on what i was diggin' and not seeing what everybody else was saying.. So, in prayer, i asked Jesus, "Am i always like this? How do i do this at home when you are with me?"
In His sweet merciful way he was showing me the opportunities where i failed to be charitable in the work He has given me to do. There was no charity because to be charitable you have to be humble. I wasn't humble when i planned dinner, i wasn't humble when i organized the cleaning and responded to the result, and i wasn't humble when a friend pointed out something from a different perspective than what i had been doing and thinking. i took to heart a different point of view. Why? Because, i wasn't humble enough to look objectively at what was being offered to me from Christ through others.
Jesus in prayer today showed me that sometimes different points of view are good because we can be too self centered to see anything else; like i have been. If i'm too focused on what i believe to be true and not letting His truth live and work within me, then, He can't increase in the world. Which is what i want right? So, the Mercy of God was present in the details yesterday of others differering opinion! Thank goodness! Because, through those differences i was able to cling to God in prayer and He was able to show me where He wants to be in the details of my life...The cooking, the cleaning, the bills, the teaching and in the relationships with my friends..It's all about love and charity. i couldn't be charitable because i was focusing too much on myself and what i felt was good, that His real goodness couldn't direct my actions and emotions for the day!
In Mark 9:30-37 Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all, and the servant of all!" Boy..Did i miss the mark...No pun intended!!!! Jesus, help me to live this statement in all humility and never let me forget that serving you in all and in everything is what makes me happy! To remember that when i follow me and my ideas, i am a wanderer, and my actions can be useless and can't help others the way you want them to be helped! i need you to be my Guide in all things i do, think and say. To see that your Divine Mercy can come in ways that may make me uncomfortable because i need to see where i may have failed you again. Help me to be so consumed with great love for your work, that its your love that inspires me to give love in return, in the tasks i am performing; so your love and Mercy will be known, not me, just you alone. Keep me busy with the task of serving and form me into a humble servant who loves to be obedient while serving! Amen!
i really don't like greeting cards that tell the recipient how they are directly, and forcefully, or how they should feel...Or that always say the words me, or i in them. Why? Because i want the gift to inspire the love of the other person, to show appreciation of the other person and their life...not showcase my emotions....."He must increase, i must decrease". And so , i was shown that my dinner planning wasn't about what was best for my children and my husband, but what suited what i wanted to cook that day. Also, the cleaning was done in such a way that it always fit in my time frame and the way i want it to be, not recognizing the best effort of the way my younger child did it with such happiness, because she was given the responsibility to do it...i complimented her and tried to make her feel good about her work, but i later got annoyed because it wasn't as perfect as the way i wanted it to be. i needed to be happy and rejoice that i was able to serve her by letting her help out the best way she could and be happy with that.
Yesterday, i had this sobering experience of finding out that what i secretly like and what i think is really cool isn't so cool to other people! No matter how spiritually enriching i felt it was to me, it wasn't to others....And that's just the problem.....me. Too centered on what i was diggin' and not seeing what everybody else was saying.. So, in prayer, i asked Jesus, "Am i always like this? How do i do this at home when you are with me?"
In His sweet merciful way he was showing me the opportunities where i failed to be charitable in the work He has given me to do. There was no charity because to be charitable you have to be humble. I wasn't humble when i planned dinner, i wasn't humble when i organized the cleaning and responded to the result, and i wasn't humble when a friend pointed out something from a different perspective than what i had been doing and thinking. i took to heart a different point of view. Why? Because, i wasn't humble enough to look objectively at what was being offered to me from Christ through others.
Jesus in prayer today showed me that sometimes different points of view are good because we can be too self centered to see anything else; like i have been. If i'm too focused on what i believe to be true and not letting His truth live and work within me, then, He can't increase in the world. Which is what i want right? So, the Mercy of God was present in the details yesterday of others differering opinion! Thank goodness! Because, through those differences i was able to cling to God in prayer and He was able to show me where He wants to be in the details of my life...The cooking, the cleaning, the bills, the teaching and in the relationships with my friends..It's all about love and charity. i couldn't be charitable because i was focusing too much on myself and what i felt was good, that His real goodness couldn't direct my actions and emotions for the day!
In Mark 9:30-37 Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all, and the servant of all!" Boy..Did i miss the mark...No pun intended!!!! Jesus, help me to live this statement in all humility and never let me forget that serving you in all and in everything is what makes me happy! To remember that when i follow me and my ideas, i am a wanderer, and my actions can be useless and can't help others the way you want them to be helped! i need you to be my Guide in all things i do, think and say. To see that your Divine Mercy can come in ways that may make me uncomfortable because i need to see where i may have failed you again. Help me to be so consumed with great love for your work, that its your love that inspires me to give love in return, in the tasks i am performing; so your love and Mercy will be known, not me, just you alone. Keep me busy with the task of serving and form me into a humble servant who loves to be obedient while serving! Amen!
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home