IBS: Set Free!

Ephesians 4:22—

To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires

I can easily say my former manner of life was corrupt, and I carried deceitful desires. But I can also say, that life is far away from me now. For so long I was in the depths of darkness and all I wanted was to escape. I tried so many times to leave my transgressions behind, but I was weak and always went back to them. It wasn’t until I came to know and trust in Jesus, the almighty Savior, that I was strengthened enough to pull off my old self.

The things of my past don’t make up who I am. I have been set free from my sins, and now I can look back on my old self and see it as a witness tool.

We sung a song during worship today that made me think of this verse. It says, “We turn our eyes from evil things, oh lord we cast down our idols. Give us clean hands, give us pure hearts.” Turning eyes from evil things, and casting down idols is a daily thing. I need to wake up in the morning and pray each day that the Lord with give me clean hands and a pure heart.

Written: 8/29/11

IBS: Empty.

Romans 12:13—Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Give of yourself to be generous to others. As followers of Christ, but more so as missionaries, we need to be willing to empty ourselves in order to pour into others, and to fill them up. I need to let go of the parts of myself that I hold onto and allow them to spill out of me. Sometimes it seems hard to imagine that I could be a blessing to anybody, but I know that if I stepped out in faith and offered myself up to the work of the Lord He would use me in extraordinary ways.

8/26/11

IBS: Losses and Crosses

Romans 12:12—

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Rejoice-Delight in

Patience-the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset

Constant—Occurring continuously over a period of time

I need to delight in the fact that I have hope. Lamentations 3:21-23—But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end: they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

I need to be patient during trials, when I cannot see why the Lord is putting me through pain. Hebrews 4:16—Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” During these times of tribulation I need to be patient, but I also need to be sure that I’m not being still. I need to be calling out to my Jesus daily, and drawing near to Him. 2 Samuel 22:7— In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I called. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry came to His ears.”

I need to be constant in my prayers. The Lord wants to lift us up and raise our heads in times of pain. He desires to be our comfort and our stronghold. Everything we go through we go through because he allows it. Psalm 6:9-10—The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayer. All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.

It is in these moments and seasons of pain and tribulation that I need to remember that affliction is one of Gods greatest medicines—losses and crosses are meant to lead us to Jesus.

Written: 8/25/11

IBS: With Zeal, For The Lord!

Romans 12:11—

Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.

This should be our joy; to serve the Lord. Since I’ve been here I’ve learned a lot about serving in a quick, and thorough way. I’ve learned to “do all things unto the Lord.” This would be a good verse to have in my memory because I’m sure I’ll be asked to do many jobs that I don’t want to do while on the mission field, and I’ll have to remember to take myself out of it and do it with zeal. Do it for the Lord.

Written: 8/24/11

IBS: A Heart To Serve

Romans 12:10—

Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

To outdo one another in showing honor, to honor one another above yourself. What a concept. I’m sure it’s a foreign perception to most people of this generation; I know it has been a foreign thing to me in the past. I’m definitely learning about it here at Potters Field Ranch though. We have six hours of servant time a week, and do service projects, but when it’s mandatory is it truly honoring someone above yourself? When I first got here I didn’t understand why people were offering to clear my place from the dinner table when I was done eating, or why they were offering to make my bed for me. I now know that it is because people here at the ranch have the love and joy of the Lord in them, and when you have that, there is a desire to serve.

I have seen this desire grow in my own heart, but I also see a lot of room for the desire to continue to grow. I need to be aware of other people and their needs, and ask the Lord to continue to grow the desire to be a servant in my heart. 

IBS: What Is Evil

Romans 12:9—

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.

Abhor what is evil. My first thought was, ok, that will be easy, I already do hate murder, stealing, and evil things, I skipped over this section of the verse and began to look at the other parts. I couldn’t focus on them though, I kept thinking about evil. Ok God I do abhor evil. I promise. I was beginning to get frustrated with myself, so I closed my eyes and began to seek the Lord. I always pray before beginning the IBS process, but the one short prayer wasn’t cutting it today. I prayed that if there was something Jesus needed to tell me he would tell me through my pen, because I couldn’t pull anything out of this verse myself.

I’m embarrassed to admit, after I went back and read what I wrote; I was regretful of that prayer. God definitely had things to tell me.

Abhor what is evil. Evil fills my heart and mind daily. Evil is anything that stands between me and God, anything that pulls my eyes from Him. Things that are meant to be good can become evil when placed on a higher throne than God. Blessings can become evil when placed above God. I have so many distractions, and so many things that get between Jesus and me. I need to be in fervent prayer that God will be my center, my focus. 

Written: 8/22/11

IBS: Ashamed

Mark 8:38—

For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.

I think of all the times I’ve been ashamed of Jesus, and all the times I’ve lied about my faith in order to be accepted into a group of people. Then I think about what it would be like to look into the face of Jesus, and have Him be ashamed of me.

I’m no longer friends with any of the people who I lied to about my faith. None of them were close friends anyway, but It’s been months since I’ve even talked to any of them. They were frivolous friendships and I’ve shamed my Jesus for no reason.

I am now here at the ranch, separated from this sinful generation and it’s easy to be proud of Jesus. It’s fun to be a Christian around Christians. I pray that when I return to the normal culture I will be strong enough to boast about the Lord in any situation. 

Written: 8/19/11