The tragedy is that our churches are filled with many decent and moral people, some even in positions of authority within the church, and week after week they come, and they see their fellow church members, their friends, they see the minister, some see fabulous architecture, stained glass, carved wood, marble and gold, they see icons and saints, they see the choir, they even see goodness and virtue, they see everything else- - but they never see Jesus. Not really. How sad to go to church your whole life, and miss seeing Jesus, miss knowing Him, miss fellowship with Him. Which leads me to another thought, I am convinced that there are many people out there desperate for a relationship with God, wanting to know Him, wanting to feel close to Him – they just don’t want to, or don’t know how, to do it on His terms. His terms are to come to him in spirit and in truth. Truth is based on the Bible. I believe when we truly seek Him in sincerity, He will reveal Himself to us, and then, when we see Him, we see ourselves as we are – not with our false pride that we face the world with each day, but with the same reaction that Peter and that Isaiah had – Woe is me! for I am undone! – and it is then, when we come to the end of ourselves, and ask God to show us mercy and give us His righteousness instead of depending upon our own righteousness, that the great heart of God is touched and He shows us mercy, we become His children! Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God! (I John 3:1) Have you seen Jesus today? If you want to see Him, you will find Him in the pages of the Bible, you will find Him in the wisdom and grandeur of nature, you will find Him beckoning to you in a still small voice. Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you. See Jesus today. See Jesus.
This is the second day at my new job and I am enjoying it very much. The Lord has given me just the right kind of job, in the right location and with the right people.
Why does God answer our prayers? It's hard to conceive how powerful God is. He literally controls everything in the universe. He made it all. He has power over the weather and the atmosphere, over oceans and mountains, power over devils and authorities. Yet He gives us the power to choose. He does not force Himself on any of us, He lets us decide our path. He won't override our will. Beyond that, He allows us to pray, to ask him to perform miracles for us, meet our needs, guide us, give us good things, teach us - He even wants us to pray, to ask Him for things. It is just amazing to me that He is so powerful and yet He often does not act unless we request Him to do so. Prayer is so powerful! Sometimes I hear people say, and I've been guilty of it, too, saying "Well, all I can do is pray..." - almost apologizing about it. But really, what could be more powerful than asking God to intervene? I guess what is most overwhelming to me is to think that God actually pays attention to me. He's not just sitting on the throne of Heaven casually observing the world and ever so often performing some miracle for the very good, or throwing down thunderbolts upon evildoers - He's intensely involved in my life. When I pray, I enter His holy presence, and the God that created and sustains the universe bows His ear to hear my prayer. Wow.
I found myself thinking of these verses last Wednesday as I sat in an office in Milford during a job interview. One of my temp agencies that I am signed with called and said there was a temp-to-perm position with a brand new company in Milford, would it be alright to send them a copy of my resume. As I went to the interview, I was not in a positive frame of mind. I was feeling very low and was convinced that it was probably going to be a very long wait before the perfect job came along, if at all. Several weeks earlier, I had asked the Lord to give me the job He wanted me to have. I had prayed for a job at other times, but this time, I had really sought the Lord’s will. I said, “Lord, I don’t always have good judgment; I often am disappointed within my own plans. I don’t know what You want for me as far as a job. Lord, I would like to have a job here in Milford, I don’t want to have to travel a long distance back and forth every day, but You know what I need, so give me what You want. Lord, I have worked out in the world and I would prefer to work for Christians; I would like to work at the church, but Lord, maybe that’s not what You want for me, so put me where You want me. And Lord, when You answer my prayer, would You let me know for sure, because sometimes, I’m not smart enough to realize when You’re giving me the answer.” I didn’t think a lot about it after that. I was planning on going out of town for our family reunion. Even when I got back, I hadn’t called my agencies right away, so I never thought God would send me a good job without my diligently looking for it. Then I went to this interview last week. It’s a new company (Record Express, LLC), only a few weeks old but with brilliant prospects for a bright future. At this time, there are only three employees, but plans are to ultimately grow nationwide with a staff of 400. During the interview, I did something out of character--it's still odd to me that I asked this question, but I asked if there were any governing rules or principles that this company goes by? The CEO read to me their mission statement, part of which states their goal "to honor God through the principles of Christian stewardship pursuant to II Corinthians 9:6-15". She also told me that ten percent of all corporate earnings would be donated to a Christian charity. I felt in my heart at that moment, that God had specifically answered my prayer – I had asked for something nearby, and the job is in Milford; I had asked to work for Christians, and the company's mission statement talks about honoring God. I got a call back later that day and I will begin my new job on Wednesday. There is still a part of me that is apprehensive, as I always am when I am going into a new situation, but I know that if the Lord so clearly let this job fall into my lap, He heard my prayer, He answered it in a very specific way, and He will sustain me and help me in it, if I continue to rely on Him.
Well, I am a busy girl these days with my new job. This employment thing is really cutting into my personal time! ha But I love my job! I'm afraid I won't be able to update my webpage as much as I would like to, but I have such little free time, something's got to give.
I am finding that I have to really budget my time carefully and at the end of the day, I find myself making mental lists of all that I didn't get done and all that I have yet to do tomorrow. Some of the things I really enjoy, I don't have time for--baking, crosstitch, calligraphy. I could add to that list. Something that God is teaching me is that the important things in life don't often scream for attention, so we have to purpose to do them and do them on purpose. If I waited for the perfect time to pray, or read my Bible, that time would never come. If I waited for free time to write letters or spend time with the people in my life who matter the most, those things would never get done. Too often it's the trivial things in life that clamor for my attention while the things that matter most fade into the background. I love doing this website, and I will continue to work on it when I can, but sometimes you have to put first things first and let the chips fall where they may. ...Not a whole lot of juicy news to tell so I will say adieu until next time....
Greetings to my esteemed visitors!
I haven't devoted as much time lately as perhaps I ought to my little website. My attention has been diverted elsewhere, but hopefully I will be able to rectify that in the coming days.
I have been added to the Google search engine! However, the search only works if you type in "Debbie's Inspiration Page", rather than just my name, or "Milford Christian Academy", for example. I'm not quite sure what to do about that, but I will check into it. I still think Google.com is the best search engine!
Still no new cord for my scanner, so no photo galleries as of yet. I promise, though, that when the galleries become a reality, it will be worth the wait!
Thank you for taking the time to visit my site. I appreciate you as my guest. I hope you will take a moment to sign my little guestbook found on the "Home" page, so I will be able to see who has visited.
Have a great week!
