Good evening, John,
I have loved reading these letters from Paul in the mornings! In them, we are learning more about who we are! Who Jesus created us to be! Ephesians was packed with so much richness this morning, and there was not one wasted word in the whole letter! I could feel Paul exhorting us to move into a place with Jesus where we could experience the “breadth and length and depth and height” of His love. I told Ben yesterday that Jesus has blessings he wants to give us, but we have to at least make ourselves available to receive them! If we are running here and there, constantly consumed with the cares of this life, then we are going to miss out on something precious that Jesus has waiting for us, and I have told Jesus that I don’t want to leave anything He has for me on the table!
I loved Tom’s song from yesterday, “I Want My Lord to Be Satisfied With Me”. That last verse has been my prayer:
Lord give me strength, give me courage, make me bold,
that I may lead some lost sheep into the fold,
that I might stand unafraid and work for thee,
that you might be fully satisfied with me.
But Jesus has been teaching me through Paul’s writings that the boldness I am seeking is not something that He will sprinkle on me like fairy dust. I am learning that the key to having the kind of boldness that I desire is to simply fall in love with the Truth so much that the Truth becomes who I am. As Damien says, “It’s in the man.” So then, whatever I say or do is just right! The boldness is in there. It doesn’t have to be loud. It doesn’t even need a voice. It’s just who I am! Just be who Jesus has created me to be, and that’s all the boldness I will ever need! I believe it’s all part of growing in God. Growing into that new creature He created me to be. I love it. If we stay available, God will teach us and we will continue to grow! Thank you, Jesus!
Lee Ann