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Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!
My dear Friends!
Wow!! It's hard to believe another year has
come and gone again so quickly!!
I hope it has been an encouraging year for
you even though I'm sure all of you have also faced many trials! May an increasing
sense of God's love and grace continue to be there for you in the midst of all
you go through!
For me it has been an incredible year as transitions
in seemingly almost every area of life continue - with many encouragements,
further direction and growing faith challenges continuing step by step! This
journey with God just seems to be becoming more and more adventurous the more
He is allowing me to get to know Him more intimately! It feels like He is teaching
me so many things on so many fronts, and this seems to be similar to what many
(or perhaps even all?) of you and many others have been experiencing in your
relationships with Him as well!
As mentioned in earlier updates, a major theme
of His on my heart the past years is His heart of restoration personally, in
the Church and in the world. In the past months a part of that has been a focus
of His on teaching me, practically, to learn to 'take/back the plunder' - which
is a big part of what his 'practicum' for me has been the past several months!
More in an upcoming newsletter…
A couple of the many other things He keeps
emphasizing to me are the need for us to walk as Jesus did in:
- doing only what He saw His Father doing, and
- saying only what He heard His Father saying.
That keeps life simple - but it is not easy…I have sooo much to learn in
that regard….the need to continue to learn to better hear His voice and
obey, and do/say only those things and not all the other things we feel to do
and say.
Another major thing is in living life….He
keeps reminding me that it's all about loving Him and loving others. This keeps
life simple - but it is also not easy. Some verses He keeps reminding me of
include a vs. which basically says that doing religious things (such as the
example of circumcision -or not being circumcised- in that passage) are of no
value. It goes on to say that 'THE ONLY THING
THAT COUNTS IS FAITH
EXPRESSING ITSELF THROUGH LOVE"!
Wow! That is profound and really helps us to see the 'bottom line' clearly!
This phrase has been impacting me a lot the past months….doing religious
things doesn't count - ONLY FAITH EXPRESSING ITSELF THROUGH
LOVE.
Another verse which has been impacting me the past couple weeks is the phrase in 1 Cor 13 - the greatest of these is love. As you know, the passage talks about how even if we exercise all the gifts but don't have love, it comes across as a clanging cymbal or gong! But then it says these 3 remain: faith, hope and love, BUT THE GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE. That means that LOVE is even greater than faith!! That really hit me and I had never seen it that way before! Considering how hugely important faith is to God, it is profound to think that He views love as even greater!
My desire is to learn to become a lover of God and others
the way He desires, and the only way that can happen is if I increasingly experience
and grow in His love for me…we love Him BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED US….'perfect
love casts out fear…' The fear of moving forward in intimacy with Him and
others - and our ability to increasingly love Him and others - will only go
as we continue to experience His love in increasing measure….and it is
through that that Jesus is formed in us…Galatians 4:19 My dear children,
for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,
Eph 3:16…I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
It is His desire for us to experience all of the length, width, breadth, etc. of His love - so that we MAY be filled to the measure of all the fuilness of God.!!! The more this happens, the more I believe we will see His restoration happening in our lives and through us to our families, friends and the world around us.
The past months the passages that the Holy Spirit seems to
keep focusing on the most for me are the ones about getting ready to go into
the Promised Land to take it, and I believe that, as in Joshua ch.1, we are
in the preparatory time just before that 'season' that God seems to be about
to lead His Church into. I would really encourage you to look at that passage
and may it encourage you again, as well, as you look ahead to the New Year!
You will also notice that after crossing the Jordan River
- as they were transitioning out of the wilderness, the Israelites had to go
to Gilgal ('Gilgal' means the reproach of Egypt was rolled
away) to be circumcised before actually taking the Promised Land…I
believe this is a big part of the current transitional season which we are in
as the Church in these days (Gilgal), and that the many shakings going on in
our lives are what God is doing to lead us to allow Him to do His 'open heart
surgery' on our hearts as He is in the process of circumcising our hearts. Through
this process, I believe He is preparing us to be His spotless and mature Bride
which is the only kind of Bride that will be able to not only survive but THRIVE
as the 'birthpangs' continue to increase.
1 Thess 5:23 May GOD HIMSELF, the GOD OF PEACE, sanctify you THROUGH and THROUGH. May your WHOLE spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Rom 15:13 May the GOD OF HOPE fill you with ALL joy and peace as you trust in Him. May you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
This is my prayer for you (and for me) for this Christmas season and the New Year, that you would increasingly experience God's love and deepening intimacy with Him, that He would increasingly be formed in you, that you would become more and more mature as you allow His heart surgery on you, and that as a result you will be able to THRIVE in the season He is bringing us into so His glory can be increasingly reflected throughout our families, cities and the nations!
I love you very much and continue to thank God for you and for the great privilege He has given me of being a part of your lives and experiencing so much of His love through you in so many ways!!! You are such blessings in my life and are precious to me!! THANK YOU soo much for allowing Him to use you in and through my life as He leads you!!
I am looking forward to hearing how you have all been doing, too, as able, and am looking forward to seeing you as the Lord works that out - if you're in the area or visiting the area!! :
May you experience IMMANUEL - GOD WITH YOU - in significant ways this season!
With much love, deep appreciation and prayers,
Grace