"Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude." 1 Peter 3:8
Hi girls! I've been pondering the beauty of our unity in Christ today. Our prayer, the cry of our hearts, is that Ignite will be a place where ALL OF US will forge a bond of unity, of love, of RADICAL AUTHENTICITY with one another.
The night that Jesus was arrested, he was pouring out his heart to his Father.. and my sweet sisters in Christ, he prayed for US that night. Just after praying for his disciples, he prayed for "all who will ever believe in me through their (the disciples') message". Have you believed in him??? Then that's YOU!! And guess what he prayed? That we would be ONE. That we would be brought to COMPLETE UNITY. Jesus was about to face an excrutiating death.. and his prayer was that we be ONE. I'd say it's pretty important to him that we put aside petty differences, critical attitudes, judgemental spirits, etc.. and be UNITED to one another in love.
Ladies, let's continue the process of removing those silly and useless masks of "perfection" because there is no one without sin. It is a scheme of the devil to keep us silent about our struggles. It is the admission of our struggles and sinfulness that set us free and make Jesus all the more attractive.. and make His glory shine that much brighter to those around us. If we were saved from a perfect life, then what's the big deal and who are we equipped to help? And if our lives are really so perfect, then why would we even need saving? And what do we have to offer to others who are hurting, grieving, or to those struggling to overcome an addiction or sinful behavior? I don't know about you, but I was saved from a life of FILTH, SELFISHNESS, IMMORALITY, PAIN, SELF-DESTRUCTION... and yes, I could go on! But I've got a message of hope.. and his name is Jesus Christ!!!
Ladies, let's seriously remove the mask, heed the call to be unified in Him by 'getting real'... and then: "Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days - you would not believe if you were told." Habakkuk 1:5
That's the kind of awesome Savior we serve.. and the kind of excitement you can expect from a life of loving Him and others!!!!
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Linda, girl you did it again. You hit another home run with this one. This is awesome. Thank you for sharing this! Just imagine what God could do with a group of women who were determined to be Radically Obedient to Him and committed to be united in love with one another. Not even the forces of hell could prevail against us!
ReplyDeleteOkay ladies, as promised, here are my comments. First of all I want to say this past weekend leader's retreat was phenomenal. I cannot put into words the feelings and confidence that came from the fellowship we shared. I feel empowered to be bold, and not just buying the bold necklace like Andrea and I joked about (though it is very beautiful!). I feel as though I was rejuvenated in the Lord's work. I felt and just knew I had a part in Ignite, but just wasn't sure how it was going to fall into place. I feel that my spiritual gift of teaching and leadership definitely needs to be fanned out and add to the flame of the love I have for Jesus.
ReplyDeletePersonally I had so many prayers answered this weekend and for once in my life I felt I was loved unconditionally by a group of women. I have always had a hard time feeling at peace with other women. That made it hard for me to lean on another woman in times of need. We gals just need to vent sometimes and our husbands definitely get the brunt of it when they don't necessarily need to hear it.
Another thing that I felt so moved by was when Paulette shared with us about questions to ask ourselves in growing bold. She used Ps 138:3, "When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted," to teach us that being bold about our intent to be bold against our fleshly judgment. For example, the fear of standing in front of a group of girls to teach them Biblical principals to apply to our life could fear the flesh; but by being bold and doing such allows God to help us be stouthearted. I thought about this all that night. I woke up in the morning and flipped to this Psalm. I continued reading on and found Ps 140.
Sometimes in our jobs we women tend to get caught up in gossip and further negativity. In the place I work there is a lot of negativity spread and it is so hard to not get caught up in it. In fact, it is very contagious. Psalm 140 helped me to see that I can turn to Jesus to "protect me from men of violence." These people are being used by the enemy to "trip my feet." He, the enemy, is hiding and waiting for my pride to get to me and use "proud men...to catch me in their net." This hit home so hard because I got so caught up in it last year and have learned to just hold my tongue and be as positive as I can.
That is all for now :) I just thought I'd share my experience and thank all of you ladies of Ignite: leaders and the ladies who come to the Monday nights. You all mean the world to me!!