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| Photo of forget-me-not by bc anna 2006 |
God is so faithful! (Deuteronomy
7:9; Psalm 89:8; Isaiah 25:1; 1 Corinthians 1:9; 10:13;
1 Peter 4:19; Revelation 3:14). He will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5), and reminders of
His loving presence surround us, from the true blue of forget-me-nots on our
path, to tender bird songs, to butterflies dancing around us on a gentle breeze.
Yet so many times this past year I hesitated to step out in faith, hindered by fear or doubt, tempted to trust in my own sorry flesh (Romans 7:18), yet realizing how totally inadequate I am. But the constant cure was and is to remember that He is unchanging (James 1:17; Hebrews 13:8) and faithful, even when we are not. Without Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5), but with Him, all things are possible! (Matthew 19:26)
Not only is His grace sufficient, but His supreme power
is most evident in our weakness (2
Corinthians 12:9). There are no limits to what He can accomplish through
us if we simply step out of His way (Genesis
18:14; Ephesians 1:19). If we surrender the reins of our life to
Him (Luke 22:42), if we empty
ourselves of our prideful self-justification (Matthew 23:12; Luke 14:11; 18:14; 1 Peter 5:6)
and the foolish constraints our minds place on His unlimited resources, He can
work miracles through us! (Jeremiah 32:17,27;
Hebrews 13:21). If we do not, His will and His work will still be
done, but we lose the opportunity, blessing and reward of fulfilling His
perfect plan for our lives (Jeremiah 33:3).
But if we die daily to self (1 Corinthians 15:31) and offer ourselves to Him as an empty
vessel, the indwelling Holy Spirit (Ephesians
1:13-14) can and will release His love and living water to flow through
us (1 John 4:7-13); His fire
to consume us (Hebrews 12:29);
and His light to burn brightly in us for all to see (Matthew 5:14-16), for their blessing and His glory!
Just as Samuel commemorated the Ebenezer stone to remind
him of God’s deliverance of Israel from her enemies (1 Samuel 7:9-14), it is good for us to review God’s blessings,
mercies, and opportunities so that we can face the future with
the blessed, living hope only He can offer (Jeremiah
17:7; Titus 2:13; 1 Peter 1:3).
Sometimes we can look
back on events from even before we were saved and see His hand at work in
preparing us for future
ministry (Ephesians
2:10; Philippians
2:13). Often we won’t understand the significance of past events until we
see Him in glory. But we can always be confident that He is working all things together
for our good and His glory! (Romans 8:28)
As I remember the highlights of 2013, I am so blessed to
see His faithfulness in action, equipping us for the ministries He has
entrusted to us. Certainly there have been trials and obstacles to overcome,
but each time He proved that He Who is in us is greater than he who is in the
world (1 John 4:4), and if God
is for us, who can be against us? (Romans
8:31) These trials test our obedience, trust and faith, and ultimately strengthen
our relationship with Him as we realize that He alone is the Source of all
blessing (James 1:17), the Solution
to every problem (Matthew 6:8).
A milestone for us in 2013 was a new direction in our
ministry. This began as the pastor of the church where we served since 2002
preached on Acts 1:8 – on the
importance of witnessing and serving first in your own Jerusalem, or your immediate
neighborhood; then in Judaea and Samaria, or regions
nearby; and finally to the furthest reaches of the earth.
Each day as we passed by a church very close to our home,
we began to wonder if God could be calling us to serve there, practically in
our own backyard. We learned that there was a need there, and with the blessing
of both pastors, we transferred our membership to help fill that need. Since October,
I have been singing special music regularly on Sunday mornings in our new church home; my husband Richard is the new sound man; and I started and have
been teaching Sisters-in-Grace, a new ladies’ Bible study class.
We had prayed that God would make His will regarding our
church service very clear, and He was so faithful and swift to answer that
prayer! On the first Sunday morning we
visited, He showed us before we even entered the church building that there
were two very specific needs we could fill. And as we walked into the sanctuary
for the first time, we were stunned to see the full text of Acts 1:8 in huge letters adorning
the wall behind the altar:
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| Christmas Music Service, Fowler Ave. Baptist Church, 2013 |
But
ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye
shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in
Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
So our new church home and its ministries are now our
Jerusalem! For some years, our dance ministry has been like Judaea and Samaria
for us – involving some, yet not too distant, travel, and sometimes in venues where
the audience may prefer not to hear the message we bring. In 2013, God
continued to bless our dance ministry, enabling us to spread His Word through dancing
to Christian music and themes. Despite the limits of growing older, we continue to use physically demanding Theatre Arts
and adagio choreography, by His grace alone.
This art form is traditionally reserved for young people
in peak physical condition, and we have reached the age that many of our
competitors could be our children or even our grandchildren! But the Bible does
not speak of retirement. At 85 years of age, Caleb acknowledged that God was
the source of his strength and asked God to give him victory over the Anakims
occupying Mount Hebron (Joshua 14:9-14).
May all of us rely on His grace to empower us in the unique ministry where He
has placed us, for as long as it is His will to do so!
And finally, God has blessed this blog in 2013 by allowing
it to grow and by giving it visitors from the uttermost part of the earth!
Praise God for the Internet that allows believers around the globe to encourage
and uplift one another! All of you are such a blessing to me, and I am thankful
for your readership, for your input on this blog, and for your own inspiring
posts.
As part of this year-in-review, I am including links to
the top 10 most viewed posts of 2013 (most viewed post listed first, and then
in descending order):
Triplets of Faith: Were Adam and Eve Saved?
Rebellion & Redemption: Cain and Abel
Rapture to Heaven: Triplets of Eternity
How Does God Love Me? Let Me Count Three Ways
Rebellion & Redemption: Expulsion from Eden
Salvation’s Eternal Blessings
Remembering “Baba”: A Proverbs 31 Woman
Water and Oil: Physical and Spiritual Milk
“Let’s Do Church” -- NOT!
Who is the Proverbs 31 Woman?
Happy New Year! May this be the year that we are all emboldened
to tell the unsaved in our sphere of influence of faith in His death, burial
and resurrection as the only way to Heaven (1
Corinthians 15:1-4; John 14:6). May God bless all of you, your
families, and your ministries richly in 2014 and until He comes again!
© 2014 Laurie Collett
