Out of the Overflow

So, I told you I would post a pic of me and my new specs when I got the nerve. Here they are - notice the picture is kind of distant.....yeah, I meant to do that. Today Lake's school was on a 2 hour delay. Can anyone give me a big fat Ha-Lay-Looo-Yaaaaahhhh?!? Is it wrong of me to wish they went to school at 10 am every morning and still got out at 2:30 like normal? If wishing that is wrong, I don't wanna be right! Just kidding. I took some medicine last night that caused me to have a medicinal hangover today. I have been trying to study for next week's Bible study, but I can't seem to think one cohesive thought. James 1:8 says "A Double-minded man (woman) is unstable in all his/her ways". Well, today, I am quadruple minded and definitely unstable! I cannot seem to concentrate on anything for more than 2 seconds. I thought I would feel better by now - dern those slow-working antibiotics! Have I mentioned that I am terrible at being sick?

Last night, I was worried that no one would show up for Bible study because of the cold weather and snow, but there were 20 women there last night. Not a full house, but I'll take 20 over 0 any day. Everyone brought food since it was our last night.....and there was a lot of food. I've noticed that we women have a need to try to 'outdo' each other when it comes to food. We want people to ask for our recipes and we want to be praised for our prowess in the kitchen (yes, I just used the word prowess - I'm a talking dictionary, I tell ya!). The food was good and recipes were exchanged all to the glory of God (I hope).

I believe that the women who spent the past 7 weeks studying about Discerning the Voice of God left last night with a much better understanding of what it means to have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. I believe we all have high expectations that He will/does speak to each of us often. Expectancy is key. We have to read the word and pray expecting that He is going to speak to us. We have to pull God out of the little box we have put Him in and believe that He is big enough and able to do exceedingly and abundantly ALL.........We have to stop being so full of ourselves so we can be full of the Holy Spirit. We have to stop delaying obedience because when we do, we are delaying God's hand and His power in our lives. We have to stop listening to the enemy, because his main job is to make sure we never hear the voice of God.

Okay, sermon's over.......let us all stand and sing invitation hymn #236.

I am curious to see what group the Lord will bring together to start Breaking Free this coming week. If you have done Breaking Free, then you know it is a very personal study. It deals with getting past your past - something that we all need to do in one way or another. There are some tough questions we have to ask ourselves and some things we all have to deal with before we can move ahead to where God wants to take us. I pray that the group will be willing to share their struggles with each other and have open hearts to receive what God wants us to hear. It should be an interesting 11 weeks.

So, I was thinking about what to post today and considering my recent "double-mindedness", I decided to re-post something from one of my very first blog entries. Some of you know that I write articles for our church women's ministry newsletter and my first blog entries consist of many of those short articles (actually some are short and some are not so short). So, I looked back to the beginning and I decided to re-post a short little piece I wrote some time ago. No one commented on it, so you probably haven't read it before. It was written before my blog had such a huge following ;-)



While volunteering in my son’s kindergarten class last year, I overheard a conversation that I thought was very interesting. Two boys were sitting at a table practicing writing the alphabet. One of the boys is known for staying in trouble. One boy asked the other if he goes to church. The boy said yes. Immediately the other child stopped, looked the boy in the eye, and said , “Then why don’t you act like it?” I have to wonder how many people have thought the same of me. Even a five year old knows that Christians should behave differently than the rest of the world. Too many times our words and actions do not bear witness to the Christ that lives within us.I sometimes say hateful things that I should not have even thought much less let spew from my mouth. As a matter of fact, if I had a dollar for every time I said something unGodly, I would be rich. This is not something I am proud of, but something I struggle with and need to keep in check. I daresay that all of us struggle with our words and thoughts from time to time. Have you ever heard someone say, “It’s just my nature to say what I think”? I agree with that statement. It is our nature to say what we think--our sinful, prideful, unholy nature.I am convinced that the hateful things that we say are not a result of what is in our head, but a direct result of what is in our heart. Luke 6:45 says “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks”. I see this verse played out in my own life quite frequently. When I am diligent in prayer and Bible study, the overflow of my heart is much sweeter than when I am not. I call it the “Garbage In/ Garbage Out Theory”. When we continually allow bitterness, jealousy, and all the evil things of the world to corrupt our minds, the result is a heart that is overflowing with unpleasantness and leads to hate-filled words. When we cultivate a close relationship with our Savior, the seeds of discontent that are planted by Satan will never have a chance to grow in our hearts.