Updating the Blog Roll…
From time to time I comb through my blog roll, weed out blogs that haven’t had any posts lately, and add the blogs that have really been speaking to me. Today is one of those days. Hope you enjoy the new links.
Arm’s Length
[Editor’s note: It is my full intent to finish chronicling and posting my Thirty Days to Greater Fruitfulness Posts. They will be coming shortly. This post is an exercise in returning to blogging.]
Monday I had an encounter with one of my 50,000 coaches. Today my coach was Steve Russell. If you’ve ever lived in Cedar Rapids and been a believer over the last 10 or 15 years, you’ve probably been impacted by Steve one way or another. I first met Steve in the late 90’s when he was helping me get up the courage to start my first cell group. While I don’t know Steve well, ever since that first day we met, I’ve always known he’s been for me and more importantly for the Kingdom.
So Monday, when he was standing in my front yard, it was no surprise that he was encouraging me. What surprised me was the content of the conversation.
I was telling Steve a little bit about what was going on with our house church. The conversation turned to what he was doing. Steve has been in transition for a couple of years now. But he looked at me with his patent Steve Russell smile and said, “You guys are doing what I always wanted to do when I grew up.” I quickly replied telling him that was funny because I thought he was doing what I wanted to do when I grow up. And then Steve said something profound. “”It’s amazing what a you can see from an arm’s length away, isn’t it?”
That statement stuck with me and it’s both an encouragement to me where I’m at and a challenge to you where you are. I need to be able to see what I can’t because I’m too close. I need to be able to look at my life sometimes “from an arm’s length away.” What about your life and the work of God in it are you not rejoicing in because you’re too close? What does God, the angels, and everyone else around you celebrate, but you look on with despair? Not everything is done, nor will it be until Christ returns. But can you get outside of yourself and see the work of the Spirit in your own life? And can you alert others to what God is doing in theirs? Maybe you can be one of someone else’s 50,000 coaches today.
Photo Credit: Untitled by Sunshinecity
Walking In Obedience To Yesterday’s Leadings (Thirty Days To Greater Fruitfulness, Day 25)
This blog has been temporarily overtaken by my Thirty Days To Greater Fruitfulness Challenge. You can find out more by checking out the Introduction.
If you’ve been participating with me and/or reading about this journey I’m on, you’ll know that there are days where you don’t hear anything. Today was one of those days. That doesn’t mean that today was a failure. Part of the mystery about listening to Jesus and following His leading is that there is power in His voice and because of that there is power in your obedience. Today instead of hearing a lot of new things, I obeyed a bunch of old things and it really seems like some positive stuff is going on because of it.
Positive Thing #1- We had our block party. Here’s the fun thing about this party: We not only obeyed the Lord in having the party, we actually planned it the way He asked us to plan it. We included a “person of peace” on our block in the party planning. Now the day that our “person of peace” planned the party for ended up being one of the coldest and rainiest days all month, so instead of having it outside, we had in our neighbors’ house. But the party was a huge success. We got to know people we didn’t know. We bridged some relational gaps on the block. Everyone had a great time. (In the interest of full disclosure, I was freaked out about the rain up until an hour before the party, but God helped us regardless.) So we obeyed what the Lord told us and even when things looked terrible, following Him and obeying His ways paid off huge.
Positive Thing #2- My situation is still really eating at me. I’m still having a hard time praying. However, the Lord very kindly reminded me that He had spoken to me some things about this situation the first time around and that those things are extremely relevant still. The Lord is definitely leading because things He spoke weeks ago are even more relevant today than the were when I first received them.
Positive Thing #3- Finally, the book I received as a sign a few days ago I finally gave to the couple I was sensing it was for all the way back at the beginning of the month. I don’t think I would have had the courage to breach the conversation with the couple if I hadn’t had the Lord speak to me several times about all of this. But tonight, I started the conversation. There will be more to come, I’m sure and I’ll need to be bolder than I was, but I started the conversation and I’ll report back on the fruit as we go. As I was contemplating starting the conversation tonight, I was reminded that I had heard a similar thing for this couple several years ago and I could have spoken it then and possibly saved them some heartbreak. Instead, I disobeyed. I’m rejoicing in the fact that God is merciful and speaks more than one time and that tonight I was obedient to His voice.
All of these positive things came from something the Lord had spoken days, weeks, or even a month prior. I know sometimes it’s hard to obey a word that you haven’t just heard recently, but if you sense the Lord stirring that word in your spirit, don’t be afraid to step out. Obedience to Jesus’ voice powerfully affects the world around us for good. Don’t wait.
Do you have things that Jesus has spoken to you about doing that you haven’t done yet? It’s not too late. If you’ve obeyed something recently that God spoke to you about a while back, leave a comment, tell us the story, and encourage the rest of us to be obedient to the voice that is always speaking.
Join us on the “Thirty Days to Greater Fruitfulness” experiment. For the rest of September we are spending 30 minutes in silent prayer listening to Jesus and then acting on what He asks us to do. Then we blog about the changes that are occurring in our lives through the marriage of listening and obedience. It’s not too late. If you’re just checking out that experiment feel free to jump in. And if you want more information, you can check it out here.
Photo Credit: September WallPaper Calendar by DewDreams
Cluster Map
Pursuing Glory 