Having a Meek and Quiet Spirit. 1 of 23

The first part will be on: "Being Used of the Lord in a Special Way"
Isaiah 7:14 "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."

How many women do you know today that really have a desire to serve the Lord and be used of God? In the Bible there is one named Mary and then prayerfully you can say I am that way too.
I know personally I want to serve and be used of God in all areas, as a wife, mother, teacher, friend whatever I do. My prayer is that the Lord will use me.

Mrs Schaap wrote in her book about Mary and how she was used of God. When you look at Mary's life it's not necessarily what would coincide with us as American Ladies, and what we call success. I as Mrs Schaap would like to start with analyzing the life of Mary, and discover what in her life we can learn on what true spiritual success is.

1. Purity brings Spiritual success.
You and I both realize that in today's world purity isn't there very much in our girls. In our Christian homes though we are teaching our girls and boys the morals of being pure. Mary was a pure young lady and that is why she was chosen of God to be the Mother of Jesus.
*Sometimes we may ask ourselves, "What's the use of living pure, when so many do not, and are still accepted and used in the church?"
Well, in order for us to be able to be completely used of God we NEED to pure vessels. Mary was completely used of God. Why? She was PURE. Do you want to be completely used of God? Purity is a must!

2. Humility brings Spiritual Success.
Luke 1:38 "And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word...."
Be careful because you were pure on your wedding day, that you don't become critical of the woman who has messed up a life.
As we look at Mary's life she wasn't one to criticize other women. She even went so far as to call herself an Handmaid (or a servant) of God. We as women of God need to be humble in our work.

3. Faith Brings spiritual success.
Luke 2:19 "But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart."
This is what we should do also. We need to ponder the things of God in our heart. When you attend church and you hear Preaching, don't just say oh that was good and forget it. You need to ponder the things that were taught. Look for ways to apply them to your life. Let the Holy Spirit lead in your faith and how you use it.
How much faith do you have in God to fully trust him? To do as Mary did and say yes Lord I'll be your servant.
We, my family and I, traveled the US and Canada for a little over 3 yrs, living in an RV with 5 children never knowing exactly where our next tank of gas or our next meal would come from. We had faith though to leave our job in Indiana, our nice home and travel. You know our faith grew, we had times that we literally left a place in faith that God would fill our gas tank before it was to late. We NEVER were stuck on the side of the road because of no gas. Now we were stuck on the side of the road many times because of various problems. However God ALWAYS took care of us. Why? Well, I honestly believe it's because we had Faith in God to care for us.
I ask how much faith do you have in God?

4. Sacrifice brings spiritual success.
What is sacrifice? I mentioned in the point before that we traveled the US. There was sacrifice that had to be made to be in God's work. We sacrificed only seeing family one time a yr. We sacrificed the nice things of life. Our children didn't get the big toys and things that other children got for birthdays and Christmas. Was it hard? YES!! As there Mom I wanted them to have the bedroom, the nice toys and clothes and things. However, when I married Bill I told him wherever he went to serve God I would follow. Since that meant sacrifice in some area's then that's what I did.
Mary was on a "Mission" So as Mom what is our mission? To make sure we are spiritually successful in our sacrifice so our children will see the right of sacrifice. Don't grumble, complain. We must humbly  do what we needs to be done.

*Lord, make me willing to descend to what, in Your eyes, is needed spiritually to succeed.

Lord, Help us, me, to realize that being a Mary is quiting the things I know to be a hindrance. Help us, me, to be a Spiritual Success for you. To fulfill my mission you have set before us, me.  In Jesus name Amen!

*taken from a "Meek and Quiet Spirit"