Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Passing on some words of wisdom...

I don't have anything in particular to say today, but I wanted to share some wisdom from a book that has taught me a lot. It's called A Woman And Her God. The insight of the authors has given me wisdom in several areas of my life, so I thought maybe someone else could benefit from it as well.

"If we don't find satisfaction with God, we will look for it somewhere else...Consider the word subsistence. One definition of the helpless is that they are poor and needy, 'subsisting on the alms of others.' The picture painted here is a beggar. If we subsist on the alms of others, our heart is just a vaccuum; we're needy people because we were created that way. We need to be loved. We need to be affirmed. Those are not weaknesses. We were created with those needs, and we are like beggars when our soul is not satisfied by God. It's like we walk around all day with an empty cup, asking people to fill it up. We may [ask people], "Can you fill my cup?" The problem is that we go to them seeking what only Christ was meant to provide. We can affirm one another, even fulfill one another, but it was God's design right from the beginning that He alone would satisfy our soul's desire. We were meant to thrive on the riches of His love. We were never meant for subsistence living." -Beth Moore, p.9-10
"Long before my family wakes up in my house and before I expect them to meet a need I might have, God has taught me to go to Him...One thing that is so incredible about allowing our Father to meet our needs first thing in the day is that if [anyone] showers us with love later on, our cup overflows. But it's not their job to initially meet the needs of our soul. Therefore, they enjoy the delight (and so do we) of causing this wonderful overflow. And what a difference that makes!" -Beth Moore, p.12,15

I've made the mistake many days of looking for others to fill my cup. It leaves me miserable and feeling unloved, neither of which is productive or necessary! I love the picture here of a cup full to the brim with Jesus, and later on, anything else causes overflow. :)

After Jesus spoke with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4, his disciples told him to eat something. "How frustrated He must have been with the disciples! For that matter, how frustrated He must be with us when we can't take our focus off lunch. Our vision is so limited. The problem is, if we become comfortable in our faith, we tend to become self-satisfied and then we don't even care if the world's gone to hell in a handbasket. We have no vision and certainly no passion... If you have a vision for the lost, you tend to lose your appetite, because your vision leads to passion. Suddenly your stomach becomes tied in knots. Let me ask you something: When was the last time your stomach ached over a lost soul? Take a good look at the people around you. Just as it was in biblical times, the fields are ripe. It's harvest time!" -Jill Briscoe, p.34-35

The fullness of His love that He gives is meant to be spread, not kept within us! He draws us in to Him by His love in order that we might delight in Him... and that delight cannot be hidden! The lost world around us NEEDS to know. May we never have more of an appetite for the things of the world than we do for seeing God's kingdom here on earth.

"Experiencing the reality that God loves you personally will have a profound healing effect on every area of your personality. [It will] involve a secure sense of being unworthy but not worthless, with a consistent focus on God's adequacy rather than our own inadequacy. Notice the balance. Yes, we are unworthy of this eternal love relationship, but we are not worthless. The worth of something is determined by the price someone is willing to pay for it. Look at the price that was paid to allow us to enter into this eternally secure love relationship with God. How awesome!" -Sandra D. Wilson, p.60

"Once we become convinced of His love, we must be willing to receive it. Our mind may acknowledge, Yes, God loves me, but we don't receive it; we don't truly allow God to love us. Romans 5:5 says, 'God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.' Our response should be, 'I receive Your love, Lord.'" -Kathleen Hart, p.69

"Second Corinthians 5:9 says, 'We make it our goal to please the Lord.' Our goal should be to please the Lord. Clear your grandstand of all other people. The only one who should be there is Jesus. He's the one who loves you unconditionally. He's the one you should love with all your heart. He's the one giving you direction in your life." -Kathleen Hart, p.86

"Take responsibility for who you are, for your behavior, and for your actions and attitudes. We have to do that at every stage of our life. Otherwise, we'll continue to react to life, to circumstances, and to people, and our life will become miserable." -Kathleen Hart, p.88
I think this goes right back to where we get our satisfaction... Any other source but Jesus will not fulfill and we will be miserable.

"As we consider how Jesus cared for women, we know that one ofthe primary ways was by listening, talking to, and interacting with them. His actions and words always revealed this statement: 'You matter to Me; you're important to Me.'" -David Hager, M.D., p.106-107

"Listening requires a great deal of humility, because by saying less when you could have said more allows God to do everything." -David Hager
This jumped out at me. It's a perspective I've never considered on something I really need to work on!

"Jesus' example sets the course for all men with respect to caring for women. This is how men are to treat women... No human relationship can satisfy the deep soul-need you have. A relationship with a man cannot match it, no matter how hard you try. No husband can meet that kind of need for his wife; only Jesus can do that. And that's the way He wants it." -David Hager, p.114-115

Thank You Jesus!

http://www.amazon.com/Woman-Her-God-Extraordinary-Women/dp/1591450551#_

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