It's my birthday...and it's windy
So, today is my birthday - my spiritual birthday. I am 21 years a Christian today. Funny - but I don't feel 21. I don't feel 54 in physical years, either. Growing up was never something I intended to do, and it's rather fun being young at heart in a wizened (that means experienced and flabby) body.
However, growing up spiritually is something I have wanted to achieve since June 30, 1985 and I have been chasing spiritual maturity down every alley since then. All of those alleys and paths have led me to the same place, though. It begins and ends at the Cross. Wherever you are, it's all about the Cross of humility, the Cross of obedience, the Cross of repentance, the Cross of initmate friendship - to know the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings. Wrap your head around that for a while and your ears may bleed.
But then, the Cross has never been understood by those who are perishing, either. It is a Christian's privilege to dialog with the Creator of the universe about such matters and have Him tell us His secrets. Sometimes He prefers to demonstrate those secrets by putting us in situations that require us to figure out how He embraced such suffering on our behalf. It can be painful and cause us to come undone, but that is not really the issue. Again, the issue is the Cross. To know Him and the power that the Cross possesses can eradicate sin, irradiate darkness, and melt the most hateful hearts.
I woke up this morning with the desire to give the Giver of eternal life a gift of some kind, just to celebrate the day. My offerings have been so meager - some contemplative time before the phone rang, a prayer for a heartbroken man at a yard sale, a purchase at another yard sale that would help to support someone answering God's call in their lives, and other conversations meant to encourage and strengthen.
However, He will not be outdone in the gift-giving department. My Heavenly Father has been celebrating my birthday by handing me huge gifts! A phone call out of the blue from a dear, old friend from ten-fifteen years ago just about knocked me to my knees. It was SO good to hear from her! My daughter contacted me to share her experiences that morning during deliverance prayer for herself and two of her three daughters. This was an event that I have been crying out for a long time to be - on earth as it is in Heaven. She called back to tell me that her husband got home from out of town tonight and he sees the difference. Then she told me that she bought me some gifts at the Healing Rooms and was sending them down. Imagine - gifts for my birthday! She did not realize what day it was, but my Father did.
Now this last gift is a hoot - I ordered a new CD. Don't skip the rest of this story, as it is a really is more than just one woman's story of current worship music deprivation. It started a few weeks ago when I found a Native American worship CD at an eBay store. It is sorta rare and the price was good, so I ordered it. When it did not come, I emailed them and they discovered that it had never been shipped and they had lost it, so my money was refunded. My response was that the Lord would direct them to its location and uncover it, because He is good at finding things. TODAY, I received an email that He had directed them to where it was and uncovered it, so it is again available for me to buy. Imagine getting an email like that from a business, acknowleging God's hand in finding lost merchandise!
May all of your birthdays be as great as mine has been.
However, growing up spiritually is something I have wanted to achieve since June 30, 1985 and I have been chasing spiritual maturity down every alley since then. All of those alleys and paths have led me to the same place, though. It begins and ends at the Cross. Wherever you are, it's all about the Cross of humility, the Cross of obedience, the Cross of repentance, the Cross of initmate friendship - to know the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings. Wrap your head around that for a while and your ears may bleed.
But then, the Cross has never been understood by those who are perishing, either. It is a Christian's privilege to dialog with the Creator of the universe about such matters and have Him tell us His secrets. Sometimes He prefers to demonstrate those secrets by putting us in situations that require us to figure out how He embraced such suffering on our behalf. It can be painful and cause us to come undone, but that is not really the issue. Again, the issue is the Cross. To know Him and the power that the Cross possesses can eradicate sin, irradiate darkness, and melt the most hateful hearts.
I woke up this morning with the desire to give the Giver of eternal life a gift of some kind, just to celebrate the day. My offerings have been so meager - some contemplative time before the phone rang, a prayer for a heartbroken man at a yard sale, a purchase at another yard sale that would help to support someone answering God's call in their lives, and other conversations meant to encourage and strengthen.
However, He will not be outdone in the gift-giving department. My Heavenly Father has been celebrating my birthday by handing me huge gifts! A phone call out of the blue from a dear, old friend from ten-fifteen years ago just about knocked me to my knees. It was SO good to hear from her! My daughter contacted me to share her experiences that morning during deliverance prayer for herself and two of her three daughters. This was an event that I have been crying out for a long time to be - on earth as it is in Heaven. She called back to tell me that her husband got home from out of town tonight and he sees the difference. Then she told me that she bought me some gifts at the Healing Rooms and was sending them down. Imagine - gifts for my birthday! She did not realize what day it was, but my Father did.
Now this last gift is a hoot - I ordered a new CD. Don't skip the rest of this story, as it is a really is more than just one woman's story of current worship music deprivation. It started a few weeks ago when I found a Native American worship CD at an eBay store. It is sorta rare and the price was good, so I ordered it. When it did not come, I emailed them and they discovered that it had never been shipped and they had lost it, so my money was refunded. My response was that the Lord would direct them to its location and uncover it, because He is good at finding things. TODAY, I received an email that He had directed them to where it was and uncovered it, so it is again available for me to buy. Imagine getting an email like that from a business, acknowleging God's hand in finding lost merchandise!
May all of your birthdays be as great as mine has been.
posted by Fencemender | 6:37 PM
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