Shifting Up

10 deep breaths, 2 sighs, 3 oh-my-gosh-that-could-have-ruined-this-truck's-suspension potholes, numerous potholes besides, 2 passenger parents, 2 sweaty palms, 1 much needed lesson in smooth gear transition, 1 i-think-that-started-at-the-base-of-my-neck headache, 1 i-am-so-glad-i-decided-not-to-change-lanes-because-that-would-have-ended-very-badly-for-all-involved split-second decision, 1 tense body including a set of especially active knees

THESE ARE THE INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO MAKE MY FIRST 7-HOUR DRIVE FROM NKWANTA TO ACCRA!!!!!

So there you have it. I have crossed over into that great cloud of drivers who first braved their premier excursion behind the steering wheel. How noble the feeling! How uplifting the sensation! How glorious the knowledge that I have joined the ranks of the...blah blah blah. Enough of that. What I am really thinking about is my struggle to find a section of the road smooth enough to get above second gear!

I mean really, the number of potholes was such that I could not tell whether the paved ("tarred") road had potholes, or whether the dirt had been broken up with fragments of erupting concrete. For a while, the dirt road was just as smooth as any other...smooth...dirt...road. Then, we hit some nice paved road. That was like a cool glass of water after a long walk! Next came a few brief patches of broken road, but the smoothness continued shortly thereafter. The bliss was not eternal, though. The roughness of the journey started in the third hour or so, and did not seem to stop until only one hour remained. I wanted so much to go faster, but I was prevented; the road looked to be intact in many crucial places (going over hills, turning corners, overtaking other drivers), but very often it was not. So, I ended up speeding up after one eruption of concrete, only to slow down again almost immediately. I just wanted to get to where I was going!!

The same happens in my life. Once I get some idea of my next destination, I tend to loathe the journey to get there, counting it as a necessary evil rather than an opportunity to learn and mature. The moment I know a sketch of what is to come, I am wont to "kick it into hyperdrive," as it were, moving so that warning signs become a blur and distant memory. I am forced to realize at every bend that the journey is part of the total experience. I am always so eager to move from first to second to fifth gear that I lose sight of both the intermittent stages and of the part of the road directly ahead.

Do not be like me in this way, because it is not like Christ. Make the most of every opportunity, remembering that, for those who love him and are called in line with his purpose, he orchestrates everything for your good in the end. Everything includes the trips and the transitions, so look for him in them all. He will be found when you seek him with all your heart - Romans 8:28; Jeremiah 29:13. When you do start picking up speed, "don't be in such a hurry to release the clutch," in the words of my dad. Do all things well, like God does - Ephesians 5:1.

posted from Bloggeroid

Potholes

"Friendship was given by nature to be an assistant to virtue, not a companion in vice." - Cicero

Nothing is like a friend. A friend who knows where I am and is able to speak to my situation at the moment, with clarity and conviction, is like a fine mist in a desert place. I had the chance to talk to a friend of mine Friday. I was calling to share in a recent, great happiness of his. Instead I had the opportunity to be encouraged by his wisdom. He told me of a major lessons which God had taught to him, which helped him to become more self-aware. The lesson concerned awareness of his tendencies to give in to temptation, and of the steps that he could develop to fight the sin that would so easily entangle him.

This particular lesson is exactly what I am learning at the moment. You know, I must be honest with you: I have had the tendency, when I have convinced myself that sinning is inevitable, to just go ahead and and fall/jump into temptation. After all, it _is_ just _one_ sin. How displeasing could God possibly be?? I have been serving him for a long time, as best I can. One little bump in the road cannot make the whole trip impossible!

Numbers 20:8, 11-12 Take the rod, you and Aaron, your brother, and make all the people come together, and before their eyes give orders to the rock to give out its water; and so make water come out of the rock for them, and give the people and their cattle drink.
And lifting up his hand, Moses gave the rock two blows with his rod: and water came streaming out, and the people and their cattle had drink enough.
Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Because you had not enough faith in me to keep my name holy before the children of Israel, you will not take this people into the land which I have given them.

All it took for Moses was a bump in the road, and that after a long stretch of paved goodness.

Because of my friend, I have been challenged to take a stand. He admonished me, that I should take firm hold of God's word that, according to Ephesians 3:20, he is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us. So, I will ask to become all that my Lord has called me to be, and I think that Christ has placed holiness within my grasp. I have made resolutions in the past, the vast majority of which were based on willpower, and only after I had engaged in deliberate sin. This time, I resolve to fight from a pure heart, not a guilty one. I will be present one day before God, and in exceeding, great joy.

Jude 1:24-25 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

posted from Bloggeroid

Bring in the New Year

(Had trouble posting yesterday)

Matthew 17:24-27 ESV

When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, "Does your teacher not pay the tax?" He said, "Yes." And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?" And when he said, "From others," Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are free. However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself."

Ephesians 2:11-13 ESV

Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands (;) remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

1 John 3:1a ESV

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.

The family gets all the perks.

Have you realized that, in confessing Jesus Christ as Lord and believing God has raised him from the dead, you become royalty? What better lineage than the Almighty's? What better inheritance than every spiritual blessing, access to the Lord's divine nature, and to share in the glory of the name above all names?? Did you see the word 'commonwealth' in Ephesians chapter 2?

Join the commonweatlh; be adopted and transformed. What a worthwhile resolution for, you know, as soon as possible. And forever.

Commonwealth under the King of Kings = very yes.

posted from Bloggeroid