Wisdom and Love

As God brings us into deeper relationship with people we are discipling it is so hard to know how to write about it on a blog. I mentioned that to my aunt recently and she told me to rather focus on what God is doing in us and what we need from Him to do the work He gives us. I thought it was a great suggestion and this is my first attempt.

As sinful beings we can easily get trapped in areas of bondage and strongholds meant to keep us from living the abundant life God has planned. Jesus died to set us free from all areas of captivity, from every stronghold, from slavery to sin. Every day we are teaching and praying with people wanting to be free but stuck in the same old patterns and that makes it pretty easy for God to show us a few of our own areas of captivity.

Lately, He's revealed issues in us we thought were gone but aren't. He's revealed things we thought were still there but we now realize are under our feet and Praise You Jesus for that! And He's revealed things we hadn't seen or were afraid to look at. We know what He's doing and the grace and love we feel for Him because of it is precious. There are people in our life who are hurting and broken and lost. There are people in our life trying to hold onto God but who spend 24 hours a day in a ungodly household with an ungodly spouse. There are people in our live struggling to cast off areas of sin and walk at peace with God and themselves. There are people in our life wrestling over the issues of forgiveness and love and sadly bitterness and anger are winning. But all of that, ALL of that, falls under the shadow of the cross. Jesus lived that we could follow His example and be able to talk to Him about anything. He died to take all our sin away and free us from the bondage it creates. And He rose again and defeated every enemy we have - sin, death, and the devil.

We're not afraid to dig into our issues. We're not afraid to tackle the issues of those we are discipling. However, we are terrified of attempting it in our own strength or understanding. We need Jesus. We need Him everyday to fill us up and teach us about life and how to live it. We need Him to speak through us and bring deliverance to His people. And we need His love to overwhelm us for the people He places in front of us. And you can imagine we need prayer. Lots and lots of prayer. And the people we are working with need prayer. I can't name them here, but God knows their names and we ask for you to please lift them up to Him. Much love! D&R