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Thanksgiving Blessings & Cookbook, November 1999
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By Judy Robinson
I have come to the end of
another day!
As I settle Into bed, my
thoughts are reminded of
how wonderful life can be. I
also realize how stressful
and heavy our loads can
be. It all depends on how
we choose to live.
I am so grateful to God
my father who enables me
to have a Joyful IKe even
though I, as many of you
have, had my share of
hardships. The Lord has so
graciously blessed my life
with Himself!
In the past months. I
have come to leam a very
valuable lesson about the
Holy Spirit that the Lord
sends to every believer. As
we go about our daily lives
it really takes a toll on us.
We start to feel as If we are
running on empty (ever feel
this way?).
I know many of you feel
this way a lot of times if not
all the time. So much to
face from day to day. A job
to perform, a positive atti
tude you must somehow
present. When all the while
you are feeling over
whelmed on the inside with
the cares of the day and
then there’s home life a
spouse relationship to
maintain, and children who
need discipline, and have
homework to do and baths
to take. We must have love
and patience with them
even though all we want is
to be left alone to unwind.
There are home duties --
meals to prepare, laundry
to wash, fold and put away.
Keeping order in the home
involves so much. It is a full
time job within itself. And
don’t leave out those pre
cious animals we have to
feed and love. Now we must
have quiet time to talk with
our Father and study His
word. God’s word is power
ful! We must not leave it
out of our day because it is
our strength.
We can’t keep up with all
that life demands as we
have come to know it. Life
moves by us much too fast
or do we move through life
much too fast? I think the
latter is true. So what is
one to do except lose your
mind. I dare say that many
of us resolve to be miser
able.
Phillipians 4:13: "I can do
all things through Christ
who strengthens me." I have
known this verse for many
years and somehow I just
didn't understand the full
impact of what it was say
ing to me as a believer. It’s
not meant for us to go
about the task and worries
of life under our own
strength.
That being true, how do
we learn to let go of the
thought that I have to
depend on myself to make
it? First of all, I have to
realize that I am nothing
apart from Christ and I can
do nothing in my own
strength. God not only
wants to help us be a better
Christian and the labor
thereof. He wants to help
us be a happy content,
Christian and that puts
value to all areas of our
lives.
WE HAVE A HELPER
The Lord told his disci
plines in John 16:7 - But I
tell you the truth. It is for
your good that I am going
away, unless I go away the
counselor will not come to
you. But, if I go, I will send
him to you!
Romans 8:26 - In the
same way the spirit helps
us in our weakness.
If the Lord’s disciples
needed help from the Holy
Spirit, how much more do
we need that help? They
walked with Jesus. They
saw first-hand the sick
could be healed. Dead men
were raised up right before
their eyes. They even per
formed miracles them
selves, yet Jesus said, “You
need the Holy Spirit, wait
until I send Him to you."
Jesus knew these men
didn’t have it within them
selves to make it and nei
ther do we.
Every believer has the
Holy Spirit indwelling with
in them, yet, somehow we
also end up trying to go
about our daily lives in our
own strength which will
always lead to an over
whelmed life, a joyless
believer and someone who
struggles just to make it
from day to day. This does
not have to be!!!
God has more for us
than that. The Bible says
the joy of the Lord is our
strength. So if we lose our
joy we lose our strength.
How I pray that we could
leam this powerful truth of
allowing the Holy Spirit to
govern our lives and I for
one know this is one of the
toughest things to leam.
THINK ABOUT rr
Would you allow some
one to come into your home
and take over, run your
house the way he wants to?
Well, it’s the same thing.
This body we live in houses
our spirit. We must allow
the Holy Spirit to come in
and take over the house.
We need Him. We need His
strength.
There is no match for the
power of the Holy Spirit. He
enables us to do things we
cannot do on our own such
as forgive those who hurt
us. The power and courage
to realize our own faults
and sins, to give us guid
ance in the direction all of
us must go until the end of
life as we know it here. We
don't like to think about
moving out into eternity do
we? Just as sure as we live
we will die. Too many of us
live like this life will be for
ever but it won’t and only
what we have done for
Christ will matter in the
end. There will be no sad
ness when we live with
Jesus forever!
The Lord has so many
things planned for your life.
Jeremiah 29:11-13.
For I know the plans I
have for you declares the
Lord. "Plans to prosper you
and not to harm you. Plans
to give you hope and a
future. Then you will call
upon me and come and pray
to me and I will listen to
you. You will seek me and
find me when you seek me
with all your heart"
I believe once we fully
understand the power and
strength that we have in
Christ through the Holy
Spirit we will have all the
fruits of the spirit.
The following is by
Charles Stanley from his
book The Wonderful Spirit-
Filled Life.
THE SIGNATURE QF
THE SPIRIT
♦ Fruit is a public testimony
to a believer’s sensitivity to
and dependency on the Holy
Spirit, t is the telling sign.
Fruit sets the abiders apart
from the producers. It is not
simply one mark of a Spirit
filled life; it is the preeminent
mark. When we see fruit in a
life, we know without a
doubt that the Holy Spirit
has custody over that partic
ular child of God. The person
is more than His possession;
the person is under His
influence.
The closer you get to
believers who are truly
walking in the Spirit, the
better they look. There is
nothing plastic about them.
You don’t get the impres
sion they are hiding some
thing. They radiate integri
ty. You get the impression
you could bust them with
your most intimate secret.
You may even find yourself
opening up to them in a
way that is uncharacteristic
for you.
Intimidation is not their
game. They don’t rely on
personality and trumped
up enthusiasm to win you
over. They seem to be at
peace with who they are.
And they seem almost anx
ious to accept you for who
you are as welll. For that
reason, you may feel drawn
to them. They are the peo-
pie you find yourself
wanting to be like,
not because of a
particular skill or
talent, but because
of the depth of their
character.
We are not talk
ing about perfec
tion. In fact, you
will hear more
apologies from the
lips of those who
walk by the Spirit
than any other
group of people.
Their sensitivity to
the Spirit provides
them with an
uncanny ability to
know when they
have offended or
hurt someone. Their
internal security allows
them to respond quickly
once they realize their sin
or error in judgment. They
are not afraid to admit their
faults. They have reconciled
themselves to the fact they
are sinners. However, they
are aware they have within
them the power to rise
above their fleshly appetites
and desires.
Spirit-filled believers
make their biggest impres
sion during troubled times.
Then it becomes most
apparent that the source of
their abiding character is
something that lies deep
within them. When all the
crutches and props are
kicked away and they are
still standing, no one can
argue that their uniqueness
was simply a by-product of
their environment. They
have their down times.
They don’t win every battle.
Doubt and temptation take
them out of the race from
time to time. But their
recovery time is remarkably
short. They don’t stay
down. And once they are
back, it's as if they actually
benefited from the experi
ence. Specifically, their lives
will be characterized by the
following nine virtues:
•Love
•Joy
•Peace
•Patience
•Kindness
•Goodness
•Faithfulness
•Gentleness
•self control.
We will never have to run
on empty when we rely on
the Holy Spirit for strength.
May the Holy Spirit fill your
life!!!