Never a stone
"Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?" Matthew 7:9 ESV
After publishing my first blog post, I admit it was exciting to see how many page views I had received. I found the encouraging comments from friends, family and even one stranger to feel quite good. But... in the back of my mind, that "still small voice" was whispering, "Are you writing this for yourself or for Me??
Never a stone...
Later that evening, I settled in to read a dear sister-in-the-Lord's blog, http://www.readytobeoffered.com/. That particular day she had a guest blog post from her sister Alicia from, http://abrighterdestiny.blogspot.com/, entitled, "Living and Writing as a Revolutionary" where she spoke about writing for God's glory. She quoted Francis Schaeffer who said, "Increasingly, I believe that after we are saved, we have only one calling, and that is to show forth the existence and character of God." The Lord convicted me through those words of the great responsibility I have when writing blog posts to pray while diligently studying His Word in order to rightly share about His love, His character and His way.
Never a stone...
The next day I was reading a homework chapter from Timothy Keller's book Galations for You. The author was speaking about Galations 1:11-24 where the Apostle Paul is giving his testimony sharing about his past zealousness for Judaism, meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus, his conversion and ultimately ministering the Gospel. And there it was again, contained within my homework, more convicting words... "Paul does not share his testimony out of habit, or for general inspirational purposes, nor because he enjoys putting a spotlight on his personal experiences. He only shares his testimony because he believes it will help his hearers find Christ, and to encourage them not to lose Him. He has no desire for attention or acclaim... He is not using his hearers to boost his ego, but using his testimony to help his friends. Paul is a good example to us here. He shows us that we must have the courage to be vulnerable and speak personally about what the Gospel means to us. Why? Because Christianity is an appeal to bring our whole life, mind and heart, to Christ. To leave out how we think or how we feel, is to give an incomplete picture of how comprehensive Christian commitment is. If we leave out our testimony, it also gives an incomplete picture of how complete Christian fulfillment is."
Never a stone...
I don't know why I am always in awe when the Lord "speaks" to me in such profound ways. "My times are in your hands." Psalm 31:15 In the two examples above, my Heavenly Father was admonishing me and guiding me to write with humility, vulnerability, and to personally testify for His Glory alone.
My tendencies expressed at the beginning of this blog post "could" have made my desire to blog a "stone"... but then the Lord would not have made the way possible. Before I even began to blog in earnest, He used the words of others to continue to refine, correct and guide me.
When we pray to the Lord, He may answer with a "yes", "no" or "wait". I have learned, through this experience, that the purpose of His "no" and His "wait" are for the purpose of "giving me bread, never a stone"...
<a href="http://feedshark.brainbliss.com">Ping-o-matic</a>
After publishing my first blog post, I admit it was exciting to see how many page views I had received. I found the encouraging comments from friends, family and even one stranger to feel quite good. But... in the back of my mind, that "still small voice" was whispering, "Are you writing this for yourself or for Me??
Never a stone...
Later that evening, I settled in to read a dear sister-in-the-Lord's blog, http://www.readytobeoffered.com/. That particular day she had a guest blog post from her sister Alicia from, http://abrighterdestiny.blogspot.com/, entitled, "Living and Writing as a Revolutionary" where she spoke about writing for God's glory. She quoted Francis Schaeffer who said, "Increasingly, I believe that after we are saved, we have only one calling, and that is to show forth the existence and character of God." The Lord convicted me through those words of the great responsibility I have when writing blog posts to pray while diligently studying His Word in order to rightly share about His love, His character and His way.
Never a stone...
The next day I was reading a homework chapter from Timothy Keller's book Galations for You. The author was speaking about Galations 1:11-24 where the Apostle Paul is giving his testimony sharing about his past zealousness for Judaism, meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus, his conversion and ultimately ministering the Gospel. And there it was again, contained within my homework, more convicting words... "Paul does not share his testimony out of habit, or for general inspirational purposes, nor because he enjoys putting a spotlight on his personal experiences. He only shares his testimony because he believes it will help his hearers find Christ, and to encourage them not to lose Him. He has no desire for attention or acclaim... He is not using his hearers to boost his ego, but using his testimony to help his friends. Paul is a good example to us here. He shows us that we must have the courage to be vulnerable and speak personally about what the Gospel means to us. Why? Because Christianity is an appeal to bring our whole life, mind and heart, to Christ. To leave out how we think or how we feel, is to give an incomplete picture of how comprehensive Christian commitment is. If we leave out our testimony, it also gives an incomplete picture of how complete Christian fulfillment is."
Never a stone...
I don't know why I am always in awe when the Lord "speaks" to me in such profound ways. "My times are in your hands." Psalm 31:15 In the two examples above, my Heavenly Father was admonishing me and guiding me to write with humility, vulnerability, and to personally testify for His Glory alone.
My tendencies expressed at the beginning of this blog post "could" have made my desire to blog a "stone"... but then the Lord would not have made the way possible. Before I even began to blog in earnest, He used the words of others to continue to refine, correct and guide me.
When we pray to the Lord, He may answer with a "yes", "no" or "wait". I have learned, through this experience, that the purpose of His "no" and His "wait" are for the purpose of "giving me bread, never a stone"...
<a href="http://feedshark.brainbliss.com">Ping-o-matic</a>
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