God works my sanctification out in a movie!

A friend of mine is learning about trust. I decided to join her. :) So, as usual God is showing me many areas in my life where trust is void, or where something else is in place other than my trust in God.
One example of this was found in a movie I watched called "Chocolat". There was a character in the film that pretty much ran the town, mostly out of fear. He was quite legalistic in his approach. The people in the town obeyed him, yet you could see in the people the darkness that enclosed them. I believe he meant well, yet he believed you had to work for God's love and approval. Your basic Im in control of my salvation, not trusting in God, I must do in order to recieve--mentality.
The next character introduced was representive of a free spirit type. Yet what she demonstrated was kindness, a caring for all people, and the strength to stand up for what she believed. She brought color into this bleek town. This was not a real spiritual movie, but to me it was representative of a life of fear or being in "control" of your life vs a life of trusting in God and being free.
I realized that at times I to act as the fearful man. I want to control things, especially with my children, out of fear. The result is simply depressing. There is no joy. How could there be if I am trusting in my own abilities. After all I live with myself I no how inadequate I am in many areas!! I am developing a dark gloomy world for my children and my unbelieving husband. How and why would my husband ever want to know the Lord if he sees me as gloomy???? I wouldn't! My job is to instruct, not control, in righteousness it is the Lords job to mold and reach their hearts.
I realized that even though I think I am working out of love and care for my family, when you are bound by fear or the need to control your environment, there is no love or care to be seen. What you see is the filthy rags of a sinner working without the Lord. There is no hope, no joy, bottom line depressing! How often do I mean well yet my intentions aren't filled with the Lords guidance and the result is an impure love. My best intentions are but filthy rags. I can do absolutely nothing without the Lords guidance.
There is no hope for any of us without the Lord. It is the Lord who works all things in and through us. It is the Lords love that comes through to those in need, not mine. Trusting God means minute by minute, it means knowing you are but filthy rags in need of the Lord to cleanse and guide you in righteousness. Every thought without the Lord is poison. Adam walked with the Lord. I must learn to walk (trust) with the Lord daily. How could I not want to walk with one who is so merciful, and loving, who knows everything about me. One who constantly forgives me and teaches and guides me back to Him. Oh, the conviction of the Lord is sweet. I pray that the conviction of the Lord is always fresh and present daily in my life. Im thinking a day without conviction is a day I am in control not the Lord.

thanksgiving

Just a short post of thankfulness to such an awesome God. I had the privilege of serving for a very short time at the worship of God conference today. I ran into a couple of people I hadn't seen for a while and was blessed by receiving prayer requests for themselves or a child. I also had the privilege of visiting someone God had laid on my heart for a couple of weeks and was able to pray and have just a wonderful time of fellowship. It was short but a blessing for me I know, with a promise to meet later for lunch. There is nothing in my life more fulfilling than being able to pray for someone in need, being a vessel used by God to serve someone. Nothing in this world can even compare to the joy in ones heart in serving Him. God is good. Thank you Lord for allowing me to be able to serve you in such a glorious way.

What a wonderful prayer for the woman in our lives...

A prayer for Woman by John Piper

My earnest challenge and prayer for you is . . .
. . . That all of your life—in whatever calling—be devoted to the glory of God..
.. . That the promises of Christ be trusted so fully that peace and joy and strength fill your soul to overflowing.
. . . That this fullness of God overflow in daily acts of love so that people might see your good deeds and give glory to your Father in Heaven.
. . . That you be women of the Book, who love and study and obey the Bible in every area of its teaching; that meditation on biblical truth be the source of hope and faith; that you continue to grow in understanding through all the chapters of your life, never thinking that study and growth are only for others.
. . . That you be women of prayer, so that the Word of God will be opened to you, and so the power of faith and holiness will descend upon you; that your spiritual influence may increase at home and at church and in the world.
. . . That you be women who have a deep grasp of the sovereign grace of God which under girds all these spiritual processes; and that you be deep thinkers about the doctrines of grace, and even deeper lovers of these things.
. . . That you be totally committed to ministry, whatever your specific calling; that you not fritter away your time on soaps or women’s magazines or unimportant hobbies or shopping; that you redeem the time for Christ and his Kingdom.
. . . That, if you are single, you exploit your singleness to the full in devotion to God (the way Jesus and Paul and Mary Slessor and Amy Carmichael did) and not be paralyzed by the desire to be married.. .
.. . That, if you are married, you creatively and intelligently and sincerely support the leadership of your husband as deeply as obedience to Christ will allow; that you encourage him in his God-appointed role as head; that you influence him spiritually primarily through your fearless tranquility and holiness and prayer.
. . . That, if you have children, you accept responsibility with your husband (or alone if necessary) to raise up children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord—children who hope in the triumph of God—sharing with your husband the teaching and discipline they need, and giving them the special attention they crave from you, as well as that special nurturing touch and care that you alone are fitted to give.
. . . That you not assume that secular employment is a greater challenge or a better use of your life than the countless opportunities of service and witness in the home, the neighborhood, the community, the church, and the world; that you not only pose the question: career or full-time homemaker?, but that you ask just as seriously: full-time career or freedom for ministry? That you ask: Which would be greater for the Kingdom—to work for someone who tells you what to do to make his or her business prosper, or to be God’s free agent dreaming your own dream about how your time and your home and your creativity could make God’s business prosper? And that in all this you make your choices not on the basis of secular trends or upward lifestyle expectations, but on the basis of what will strengthen the faith of the family and advance the cause of Christ.
. . . That you step back and (with your husband, if you are married) plan the various forms of your life’s ministry in chapters. Chapters are divided by various things—age, strength, singleness, marriage, employment, children at home, children in college, grandchildren, retirement, etc. No chapter has all the joys. Finite life is a series of trade offs. Finding God’s will, and living for the glory of Christ to the full in every chapter is what makes it a success, not whether it reads like somebody else’s chapter or whether it has in it what only another chapter will bring.
. . . That you develop a wartime mentality and lifestyle; that you never forget that life is short, that billions of people hang in the balance of heaven and hell every day, that the love of money is spiritual suicide, that the goals of upward mobility (nicer clothes, cars, houses, vacations, food, hobbies) are a poor and dangerous substitute for the goals of living for Christ with all your might and maximizing your joy in ministry to people’s needs.
. . . That in all your relationships with men (not just in marriage) you seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in applying the biblical vision of manhood and womanhood; that you develop a style and demeanor that does justice to the unique role God has given to man to feel responsible for gracious leadership in relation to women—a leadership which involves elements of protection and provision and a pattern of initiative; that you think creatively and with cultural sensitivity (just as he must do) in shaping the style and setting the tone of your interaction with men.
. . . That you see the biblical guidelines for what is appropriate and inappropriate for men and women not as arbitrary constraints on freedom, but as wise and gracious prescriptions for how to discover the true freedom of God’s ideal of complementarity; that you not measure your potential by the few roles withheld, but by the countless roles offered; that you look to the loving God of Scripture and dream about the possibilities of your service to him. (For a detailed list of service possibilities, see the pdf titled, Opportunities for Ministry.)