Good afternoon friends, what a year we have had! You say but it's ONLY March 6th. Yep you are right and thus far we have had a year of...... Before I go into that I want to ask, "Are you on the right Path of serving God?"
In a few minutes I will finish my statement but first lets look at some scripture:
John 15:1-5 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing."
Are you a fruit bearing Christian? Do you tell others of Christ, do you serve the Lord through your church? How about in your speech, actions etc. See if we as Christians aren't bearing fruit we aren't on the right path. What Path? The Path that is narrow and straight that leads to great things being done for the Lord. None of us are perfect and we all back slide BUT we can all turn around and get back to the right path.
Now, the reason for this scripture is to go back to my the statement I didn't finish at the beginning. You are right that we are barely into the third month of 2014 however after talking with my husband/Pastor this morning we started thinking about what has happened thus far. I'll start with our church and the progress there:
At church we had many things given, I mean Free, to the church to help with our finishing the Sunday School Building. People who didn't want to work on it before have been there almost weekly working and getting things done. We've had former members return. We have seen people saved. Now these aren't just from our family this is our church family as a whole.
Now to look at what has been going on with our family - At the first of the year we decided to daily Thank the Lord for just one thing he had done for us that day. To be wise in our spending and save for future things our family would like to do. A few of us had decided in January to change our way of life as far as health is concerned. Naturally that will take a little more money but we decided that we wanted to do that. We decided to start the WMS (Women's Missionary Society) at our church, To start a Bus Ministry in the Spring, and many many other things...... The biggest decision was when Preacher announced to the church that he had a goal of 100 in church for our Dedication service in April/May. (If you would like more information on that message me and I will get that) all this to say;
In January my husband was laid off of his second job, which was the income that we paid our bills and bought groceries with. Blessing here - The Lord has given us EVERYTHING we need to make it from week to week. Then at the end of Feb (as many already know) I flipped the truck - which incurred many hospital bills, doctor bills AND put us down to 1 car and it doesn't run the greatest! Now you say so? What's the big deal? You are serving God. Yes, we are bearing fruit and ole Satan doesn't like it! Then just last night 3/5 we had a chimney fire! It could, just like the accident, have been fatal, but Praise the Lord it wasn't.
Some look at this as "bad luck" well friend I look at it as a test, a trial, to see if we are serious about serving our wonderful Lord and Saviour here in Maine. I will be the first to admit, I'm not settling in fast to the "way of life' in Maine. As I said in my last posting, maybe I've not done something or should have said something, I don't know but I do know, "I love the Lord and I want to serve him with all my heart, and if having what seems like tragedy to some, happen in my life to make sure I stay on the right path, I will accept it. Is it easy to accept? NO the pain, the sleepless nights, are not easy to endure but through God's grace and the peace and rest he gives I/we make it. I have days with no pain and nights with good sleep which I praise the Lord for.
So even though we are only on March the 6th, it has been a Year! A Year of hardship, Yes. A Year of trials, Yes. A Year of aches and pains, Yes. A Year of Blessing, Absolutely! A Year of seeing our church members grow, Absolutely! A Year of first, Absolutely!
So as you read my blog don't pity me, Pray for my family, Pray for Second Baptist Church, God's NOT FINISHED WITH US YET!
In a few minutes I will finish my statement but first lets look at some scripture:
John 15:1-5 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing."
Are you a fruit bearing Christian? Do you tell others of Christ, do you serve the Lord through your church? How about in your speech, actions etc. See if we as Christians aren't bearing fruit we aren't on the right path. What Path? The Path that is narrow and straight that leads to great things being done for the Lord. None of us are perfect and we all back slide BUT we can all turn around and get back to the right path.
Now, the reason for this scripture is to go back to my the statement I didn't finish at the beginning. You are right that we are barely into the third month of 2014 however after talking with my husband/Pastor this morning we started thinking about what has happened thus far. I'll start with our church and the progress there:
At church we had many things given, I mean Free, to the church to help with our finishing the Sunday School Building. People who didn't want to work on it before have been there almost weekly working and getting things done. We've had former members return. We have seen people saved. Now these aren't just from our family this is our church family as a whole.
Now to look at what has been going on with our family - At the first of the year we decided to daily Thank the Lord for just one thing he had done for us that day. To be wise in our spending and save for future things our family would like to do. A few of us had decided in January to change our way of life as far as health is concerned. Naturally that will take a little more money but we decided that we wanted to do that. We decided to start the WMS (Women's Missionary Society) at our church, To start a Bus Ministry in the Spring, and many many other things...... The biggest decision was when Preacher announced to the church that he had a goal of 100 in church for our Dedication service in April/May. (If you would like more information on that message me and I will get that) all this to say;
In January my husband was laid off of his second job, which was the income that we paid our bills and bought groceries with. Blessing here - The Lord has given us EVERYTHING we need to make it from week to week. Then at the end of Feb (as many already know) I flipped the truck - which incurred many hospital bills, doctor bills AND put us down to 1 car and it doesn't run the greatest! Now you say so? What's the big deal? You are serving God. Yes, we are bearing fruit and ole Satan doesn't like it! Then just last night 3/5 we had a chimney fire! It could, just like the accident, have been fatal, but Praise the Lord it wasn't.
Some look at this as "bad luck" well friend I look at it as a test, a trial, to see if we are serious about serving our wonderful Lord and Saviour here in Maine. I will be the first to admit, I'm not settling in fast to the "way of life' in Maine. As I said in my last posting, maybe I've not done something or should have said something, I don't know but I do know, "I love the Lord and I want to serve him with all my heart, and if having what seems like tragedy to some, happen in my life to make sure I stay on the right path, I will accept it. Is it easy to accept? NO the pain, the sleepless nights, are not easy to endure but through God's grace and the peace and rest he gives I/we make it. I have days with no pain and nights with good sleep which I praise the Lord for.
So even though we are only on March the 6th, it has been a Year! A Year of hardship, Yes. A Year of trials, Yes. A Year of aches and pains, Yes. A Year of Blessing, Absolutely! A Year of seeing our church members grow, Absolutely! A Year of first, Absolutely!
So as you read my blog don't pity me, Pray for my family, Pray for Second Baptist Church, God's NOT FINISHED WITH US YET!
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