I want to be a true woman of God.
I want to stand for God's Truth even if it will cost me my reputation or my friends.
I want my security to be in God and nothing else.
I want to be known as someone in whom people see God, so when I leave a room I am not remembered for anything other than God in me.
Shame it's easier said than done...
9 comments:
Pray for it (and ask others to do the same)
and then believe in it...
I think you're further towards those goals than you think.
i agree with phil.
Courage is what you need - have a look on the HTB.org.uk webstite and download Archie Coates' talk from 3 August.
ps i am getting fed up with blogger nor recognising my user account which is making it difficult to post comments :(
oh and Psalm 37 is a favourite of mine
actually I think that HTB talk was on 24 July ... this is the link
http://www.htb.org.uk/site_assets/sound/sundaytalks/htb_focus6013.mp3
I'm not being cynical at all, but I think a better way to guage a statement like that is to see how true that reins in six months time.
I've never been to a *festival* but I'm sure you'll agree that there's a link between the festival frenzy and the post you just wrote, so to make sure that that post is actually your sincerest heart speaking and not just the way your immediate countenence has been moulded by culture immersion... I'd perhaps encuorage you to make a reminder on your pc or note on your calender that links to that post directly and honestly apraise your future against your past... and blog again on exactly the same thing a few months from now, when real life sets in again and you and we start forgetting the festival season.
I've found myself needing to do this before... I've shared stuff at fridays and kept the audio recording merely to make sure I wasn't making whimsical (albeit momentarily sincere) comments and statements.
Like i said, I'm really encouraged at that blog post, but for those words to have as much gravity as can be read, I think you need to proove to God, yourself and every one that it was born of soul-shaken-God-inspierd convicting spiritual earthquake rather than the identity moulding word-changing that comes of what many people call `festival junkie experience`... and again, I know when you're `on a mountain top` (to quote the vernacular) it's difficult to see the forrest through the trees, but in my experience I find myself starting to learn frm the virtue of hindsight repeating itself and teaching me certain paradigms.
This is probably coming across as a kind of `yeah, whatever` reaction to your show of enthusiasm, but I promise you it's not! I remember when i was younger (not that you're younger!) my sporadic Christianity and I'd have happy weeks of `woo, I'm going to save four continents before breakfast and nothing's going to stop me` only to be stopped by double art on a Monday morning... So I know that the revelation of ecstacy in living as a Christian is easy to attain, but it's so so so difficult to maintain that euphoria when the tents are packed away and you're tired and hungover or whatever.
I guess I'm writing this comment to encourage you not to loose sight of the enthusiasm that was behind writing that post.
Praise God that there are people to endulge enthusiasm, but your righteous goals (so to speak) are, in my experience, only attainable by prolonged interaction with God and living a Godly life, and that (damnit) really is the hardest thing. Moreover, maintaining an enthusiasm for Christ (like you've shown there) is often harder than keeping those holy-aims in perspective.
Goal setting is good and I guess if you want to "measure" in the way that Ben suggests you would have to consider what "I want my security to be in God and nothing else" actually looks like in a day-to-day context.
Also will you be able to gauge/measure changes yourself?
Also will you accept the words of others as evidence of your requirements?
There have been some pretty affirming statements already- do you accept those or wave them away with "oh, they would say that!"
Your post isn't about having to prove anything either now or in 6 months time, it's a prayer. Just alter the "Shame it's easier said than done..." to "I know without your help LOrd it's impossible but I'm asking you to do this in me".
And of course, it's a journey, not a destination so consider what Phil has said and keep travelling.
Sensible post there from Ben.
The talk I referred to above is all about growth and that is what we must do otherwise we'll get nowhere and stagnate. Like I posted on my blog the other day, sometimes it's like wading through treacle.
Objectives and goal setting are all very well. You also need others to help you with them and "appraise" your progress.
It's an individual journey but we have to choose others to walk with us. The choice of walking companions (both Christian and non Christian) is crucial.
Actually, much as i stand by my earlier post as good advice (for ben, so don't know if it's polymorphic enough to extend to others), I think Helen's more sensible than me... maybe tomorrow will take care of itself if you look after today
ben
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