Pastor John,
Tonight was such a good meeting. It felt like we were all sitting around the table as a family, sharing such wholesome thoughts and advice on how to live. To me, all that was said tonight seemed to be pointing towards how to live how Jesus really wants us to live- happy, healthy, and holy. All that other stuff- quirks, lying, not putting others first, etc. just prevent that. I loved when you said that God wants us to be as happy as we possibly can be. He wants us to be happier than we even want to be!
Before we moved and we would watch the meetings on Justin.tv, I would take notes on my phone when something especially good was said. I haven’t been doing that now since we are actually in the meetings. I’ve missed writing those notes, though, because they are good to refer back to. Well, tonight when we got home, I started recalling some of the things that were said tonight, so I quickly typed them out:
“I dont think any of us have truly been as happy as we possibly can be. But I believe we can be as happy as we possibly can be.” -jdc
And God truly wants us to be at that level of happiness. He wants us to have happiness now and throughout eternity.
– Are you happy, humble, and holy, and teachable only when something bad happens or only when you’re sick? Rarely can people be that way when they’re on the mountaintop. That’s not God’s first plan for you to be sick, but He’ll do it if that’s what it’s going to take.
– He’s bigger than all your hang- ups, but don’t be the type of person that has those quirks that make it difficult for people to be around you – like you only will eat a certain type of food or you hate the sound of people chomping their food so much that it causes you tormoil inside. If it’s not eternal, it shouldn’t have control of your feelings like that.
– Esteem others to be better than yourself. Dont make others have to go way out of their way to accommodate your quirks. Be easy to be around, and likable.
– Lying is not just in word, but in action. If you cause someone to believe a lie because of your actions, you’re being a liar, a deceiver.
– God is bigger than all our problems “…can or cannot see…” That includes microbes 🙂
– We learn to obey by obeying His voice. That’s the goal – to learn to hear, to listen to, and to follow His still, small voice so that we can be led to happiness. What good would it do to hear His voice (or be too busy to hear it at all) and choose to not yield to it and choose to instead go in the other direction?
I’m sure there was much more said, but those are some of the points that stood out to me.
Thank you for the meal tonight. Goodnight.
Anna