Isaiah 40:31 says, "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint.
Thank you for being one of my precious blog followers.
Spiritual exhaustion comes thru service, always giving out, never replenishing our spirit with His Word, prayer, and communion with the Holy Spirit.
Jesus said, "feed my sheep', this means that we must have to be nourishment for other souls until they learn to feed on God for themselves. There is always something to do in the church, whether it is a class to teach, or some other job to do. Our first response is if no one else will do it then I will have to do the job, no matter how busy I already am. Soon, those around us can see that there is no joy in our service, no spiritual activity within us because we have become spiritually drained.
Satan does not care how busy we are working for the church, because the more we do, the more depleted we become emotionally, physically and saddest of all spiritually. This is when he can so easily get our minds off the important things of God and we begin to slip into a spiritual valley.
Yes there is much to do in the work of God, we must all be committed to doing our part, but the most important thing to remember is that the Holy Spirit will put a burning desire into us when He desires for us to take on or continue doing something for Him. Instead of thinking we know more than God and volunteer to do a specific thing because no one else at the moment will volunteer, is not God's will for us. If the job in the church really is of God, he will speak to someone about doing it. Maybe not in an instant, but the world will not come to an end if we wait upon the Lord and let Him speak to the person that He has in mind for that work.
You can only drive a vehicle as long as there is fuel in the tank. When the fuel is depleted, the vehicle will stop and will have to be pushed. The same thing applies to our work for the Lord, we can only work and be effective for the Kingdom of God IF we keep our spiritual self full of His Word, prayer, and communion with His Spirit. If we have to study to teach 3 or 4 classes, or prepare to chair 3 or 4 committees in the church, when are we going to find the time to get alone with God to refresh our spiritual man? The Bible states that Jesus had to get alone with God to stay on course to do His Father's Will that He had been born in to this world to accomplish.
The night that Jesus was arrested he was in the garden of Gethsemane. He told His disciples to tarry while we went a little piece away to pray alone because, "His soul was exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death."
If we do not stay in a spirit of prayer and communion with the Holy Spirit our souls can become exceedingly sorrowful with the cares of this world.
Remember satan is as a roaring lion going about seeking whom he may devour. Life can become so full of troubles that we forget that all we can do is to turn them over to God. When we let God handle our problems and questions and ask for wisdom, the Bible says that He will give it to us and he will not rebuke us for asking. If we seek the Holy Spirit with all our heart, mind and strength, He will give us that peace that passes ALL understanding.
Again, thank you my precious friend for reading this blog,
Love, Gloria Powell
Copyright 2011 Gloria B. Powell. All rights reserved.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Psalm 23
“Even in the Valley God is Good”. There is a lovely young lady in our Church (Robin O.) who occasionally sings that song. I always think of Psalm 23.
God has given me 2-3 wonderful glimpses of Psalm 23, but I woke up early one morning and it just kept going over and over in my mind about being in “the valley.”
How can our mind wrap around such a statement as God being good even in the midst of the valley. When I think of being in the valley, I think of turmoil and circumstances of life gone wrong. Maybe you’ve been out of a job for a while, the bank is calling your mortgage is payments behind, the car is payments behind. You went to the doctor and a small lump or an unusual ache in your body turns out to be cancer. Our children’s lives are in a mess. Or worse, someone you love has just died, How in the world can we lift our hands to the Lord and say, “Even in the valley, God is good?’
In Psalm 23, David likens us to sheep in the flock of the Great Shepard. Verse 1, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want”, God is already on the way with our answers. Verse 2, “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, He leadeth me beside the still waters, Verse 3, “He restores my soul. He leads me in the path of righteousness for His namesake” Everything may seem to be wrong with no end in sight but God is always there just a call away just say “Jesus.
The Good Shepherd takes his sheep in to the lush green pastures, where they can be fed and refreshed, We must refresh ourselves on the Word of God, that is what feeds our mind and our soul. He leadeth me beside the still waters, not the stagnant water covered in slime and debris, not the rushing troubled waters, but the slow moving calm quiet waters, where we drink to our fill. When we fill our mind and heart on the Word and drink of His Holy Spirit we become refreshed and renewed.
Just let your imagination take hold. Can’t you picture the green pastures, the grass is tall and lush and green, it smells so good and clean the sun has warmed it. There are wild flowers growing abundantly. Just take a moment to pick a handful of wild flowers, hold them up to your face, and feel the loveliness and beauty of them. Kneel down in the green grass and drink from the refreshing clean water. Now lie back and let the grass envelope you like a cocoon. You begin to get drowsy, the Holy Spirit is refreshing your spirit with the Love of God you are cocooned in His love and grace. Let His Spirit speak to your mind and heart about how much He loves you, begin to praise Him, not because of the valley, but because of the fact that when this trial is over you will come forth as pure gold and God will in the end receive the Honor and Glory because you have been faithful even in the hardest time of your life.
Verse 4, “Yea thou I walk thru the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." As a shepherd gently uses his rod to lead his sheep and keep them on the right path, the sheep know that the shepherd will keep them safe even thou they may be walking in the valley where wild animals abound and death maybe close at hand. So we can rest assured that our Shepherd will lead us thru this valley and keep us safe until we have safely crossed thru.
Verse 5, “ Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies, thou anointeth my head with oil, my cup runneth over.” Our enemy is satan and even he seems to be running rampant in your life always know that when we praise and worship our Shepherd, our Savior Jesus Christ, that he will prepare a table of spiritual meat and drink right before satan’s eyes and there is nothing that satan can do but leave us .
Verse 6, “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” No one knows how long their life will be. For some, life is but a short time, while others live to a ripe old age. Maybe for some ~His best for us is to take us home to be with Him, and that is the ultimate leaving of the valley, and I truly believe that Jesus is coming back in the air for his people--and could be just any second, or any day, we will hear the trumpet sound. Those that are asleep in Jesus will rise first to meet Him in the air and those that are alive on this earth will join them in the air and so will we ever be with the Lord, forever without end. Never to face another valley.
If you are in a valley today, whether spiritual, emotional, physical, know that Jesus is the Good Shepherd, ready to guide and lead you through this valley into the paths of His Blessings. He will restore you.
In Christ Love,
Gloria
Copyright 2011 Gloria B. Powell. All rights reserved.
Photo used by permission of Angie Knight-All rights reserved.
In HIS Time
I am glad you stopped by. Let me tell you a little bit about myself and why I am beginning to blog. In the summer of 1969, God definitely called me into the mission field. I had given my heart to Jesus Christ two years before and I knew that God was calling me to spread His Word as He commanded.
Before I was saved, I had not lived according to His Word and I had made poor life choices. Wrong crowd. Bad influences and poor decisions on my part. However; God used those poor decisions to give me the best blessing of my entire life. My darling daughter.
I am so glad that the Holy Spirit did not give up on me, but He kept calling me to accept Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord of my life. Now I had a precious child--a true gift from my heavenly Father--and a journey in front of me to walk.
The Sunday night at church as I listened to a missionary give her testimony, I knew that God was telling me to go forth into my home town, and into all the world as He directs. I wrote to two Missions organizations and told them of my call from God. I also was forthcoming with the fact that I was an unwed mother.
In 1969 even the Christian community was not forgiving of mistakes, and they told me that they were glad that Jesus had saved me, but as for my being a missionary with their organization, thank you, but no thanks.
I even took a trip with my pastor and his wife to a missions conference in Tennessee, to speak with the president of the missions group there. He listened to my story and was sympathetic for me, but he also explained that their group could not have a missionary who was an unwed parent. He saw my tears and heard my plea that "if God can forgive me and make me a new person, and could cover my sins with His Blood, then why could not the missions board do the same." He finally said to me, "If you will never tell of what you have done and never tell anyone of your life before becoming a Christian, then we might consider you."
Oh my goodness! Did I just hear right? Did he just tell me to renounce my own daughter? Did he just suggest I LIE??
My reply was that "I would be basing my whole ministry on a lie".
Needless to say, I came home questioning God, "Why did you call me and I know that you did, and then not make a way for that calling?" After much prayer, the Holy Spirit gave me peace that I had done all that I could and that I could work in my home church and be a blessing for Jesus.
In December of 1969 God sent Shug into my life, and his proposal to me (after 16 days of courtship), was "Will you marry me and let me adopt your child to be my child?"
On January 11, 1970, Shug and I were married. God blessed us with two precious sons (my life would have been so incomplete without my them) to make our family complete.
For at least the past year and especially for the past six months the Holy Spirit has been speaking to me about starting a blog. I did not think I had anything to say, but night after night I would wake up with scripture after scripture going through my mind. I would even get up and write them down and research them out. I still felt such a strong need to do a blog. I said, "God how can I do a blog, I don't know what to say." God answered, "You do not say anything on your own, you say what I give you to say and I promise you that someone will need to read it."
My precious daughter of my heart is a blogging wizard and she set up this blog for me and while we were formatting it, she was telling me of some things in her life that God is doing and believe me they are miracles. All of a sudden it dropped in my heart, WITH THIS BLOG I AM GOING TO BE A MISSIONARY!!!
Over the last 41 years from time to time I would ponder "God why did you call me to be a missionary and then close all the doors." But today, after over 41 years through the magic of cyberspace I am beginning my missionary journey!
GOD IS SOOOOO GOOD. If you are reading this and you feel that God has promised you something, no matter how long ago that promise was made to you by God, never, never, never give up on that promise because I am living proof ~ "What He has promised, that will He bring to pass."
I hope that this first blog has touched you and I welcome your comments.
In Christ's Love, Gloria
Copyright 2011 Gloria B. Powell. All rights reserved.
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Matthew 16:15 KVJ
Before I was saved, I had not lived according to His Word and I had made poor life choices. Wrong crowd. Bad influences and poor decisions on my part. However; God used those poor decisions to give me the best blessing of my entire life. My darling daughter.
I am so glad that the Holy Spirit did not give up on me, but He kept calling me to accept Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord of my life. Now I had a precious child--a true gift from my heavenly Father--and a journey in front of me to walk.
The Sunday night at church as I listened to a missionary give her testimony, I knew that God was telling me to go forth into my home town, and into all the world as He directs. I wrote to two Missions organizations and told them of my call from God. I also was forthcoming with the fact that I was an unwed mother.
In 1969 even the Christian community was not forgiving of mistakes, and they told me that they were glad that Jesus had saved me, but as for my being a missionary with their organization, thank you, but no thanks.
I even took a trip with my pastor and his wife to a missions conference in Tennessee, to speak with the president of the missions group there. He listened to my story and was sympathetic for me, but he also explained that their group could not have a missionary who was an unwed parent. He saw my tears and heard my plea that "if God can forgive me and make me a new person, and could cover my sins with His Blood, then why could not the missions board do the same." He finally said to me, "If you will never tell of what you have done and never tell anyone of your life before becoming a Christian, then we might consider you."
Oh my goodness! Did I just hear right? Did he just tell me to renounce my own daughter? Did he just suggest I LIE??
My reply was that "I would be basing my whole ministry on a lie".
Needless to say, I came home questioning God, "Why did you call me and I know that you did, and then not make a way for that calling?" After much prayer, the Holy Spirit gave me peace that I had done all that I could and that I could work in my home church and be a blessing for Jesus.
In December of 1969 God sent Shug into my life, and his proposal to me (after 16 days of courtship), was "Will you marry me and let me adopt your child to be my child?"
On January 11, 1970, Shug and I were married. God blessed us with two precious sons (my life would have been so incomplete without my them) to make our family complete.
For at least the past year and especially for the past six months the Holy Spirit has been speaking to me about starting a blog. I did not think I had anything to say, but night after night I would wake up with scripture after scripture going through my mind. I would even get up and write them down and research them out. I still felt such a strong need to do a blog. I said, "God how can I do a blog, I don't know what to say." God answered, "You do not say anything on your own, you say what I give you to say and I promise you that someone will need to read it."
My precious daughter of my heart is a blogging wizard and she set up this blog for me and while we were formatting it, she was telling me of some things in her life that God is doing and believe me they are miracles. All of a sudden it dropped in my heart, WITH THIS BLOG I AM GOING TO BE A MISSIONARY!!!
Over the last 41 years from time to time I would ponder "God why did you call me to be a missionary and then close all the doors." But today, after over 41 years through the magic of cyberspace I am beginning my missionary journey!
GOD IS SOOOOO GOOD. If you are reading this and you feel that God has promised you something, no matter how long ago that promise was made to you by God, never, never, never give up on that promise because I am living proof ~ "What He has promised, that will He bring to pass."
I hope that this first blog has touched you and I welcome your comments.
In Christ's Love, Gloria
Copyright 2011 Gloria B. Powell. All rights reserved.
He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. Romans 4:20-21 NKJV
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