Things to do, steps to take...
In the end, I know that God will be with me, no matter what the future brings.
Peace, confidence and contentment are what I am praying for.
Things to do, steps to take...
In the end, I know that God will be with me, no matter what the future brings.
Peace, confidence and contentment are what I am praying for.
I just read the letter to the church as Ephesus again.
...For he himself is our peace...
Christ is our peace, if we look anywhere else, we won't find it.
...He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near....
Christ is our peace and He came to preach peace and He sends us to preach peace. Not peace with the world, but peace with the Father, because it is only through the Son that we can reach the Father.
...I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power.
Paul was a servant of the gospel...yes, and a slave to Christ. For him, his position of servant and slave was a position of strength, not weakness.
When Paul wrote this letter, he was in prison for preaching the gospel, and he kept right on preaching. He was no wimp. He was a strong leader and he was a devoted servant.
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (Phil 4:12,13)
I found a piece of napkin in my Bible. I must have been at a luncheon or something in order to have a napkin.
God works by contraries so that a man feels himself los tin the very moment when he is on the verge of being saved. When God is almost ready to justify a man, He damns him. Whom he would make alive, He must first kill...Man must first cry out that there is no health in him...when a man believes himself to be utterly lost, light breaks. Peace comes in the Word of God through faith.
The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!"
When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, "What do you want?"
They said, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?"
"Come," he replied, "and you will see."
So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour. (John 1:35-39)
Put yourself in the shoes of one of those disciples of John the Baptist. In the middle of town, the hustle and bustle of the marketplace, John says, "look".
What do you see? There is nothing special about the way He looks. But you follow.
He asks, "What do you want?"
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What do I see in Jesus that catches my attention today?
What do I want?
I see peace in the time of turmoil. Shelter in the storm. A refuge and strength; an ever present help in trouble.
I am drawn to Him like a moth to the flame; I cannot help but believe.
Now more than ever, as Reformed, I understand that there is nothing in me that would make me search out Him. The power, the sovereignty, the sacrifice all catch my attention.
That HE LOVES ME - not because of what I am, but because of who HE is.
I want...to know Him better.
I put in bids on two jobs today - my first choice is (probably) a lower-elementary room in a "center-based" program for severely emotionally impaired children. These are the hardest of cases, the ones that were not able to succeed even in self-contained rooms in their home districts.
My second choice is also in a center-based program with (probably) middle or upper elemtary aged severely impaired autistic children.
My dear friend reminds me that children like these need Christian teachers.
I am very much at peace with either one of these positions - I talked to the principal at the first school and she said that there is another bid that is at about the same level of seniority, so I may not get that. There are three positions open at the second school, so I am pretty much guaranteed a position there, if I don't get the first.
If I get the first one, great, that's God. If I don't, great, that's God.