The Fresh Word God Gave Me

Two days of studying the Word with Beth Moore in San Antonio. There was a river made for walkin' but I would have rather been in my bible with my friends than anywhere else. The catch word was Inheritance, one of the really cool things that she showed us in scripture is that we, God's people, are His inheritance. It reminded me of Sally Fields accepting her Academy Award, when she said, "You like me, you really like me." That was how I felt about hearing that of all the things God loves, He loves His people most. He loves each one of us enough to call us His inheritance, and really mean it.
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I learned so much this weekend, have about 10 pages of notes and many new underlined scriptures that mean so much more to me than they did just 3 days ago. I had told my friends to anticipate the fresh word God would give them this weekend. I knew He had a word for each of us. He had a place in our hearts that we needed to give over to him with finality. The word He laid on my heart was discipline. The words at the top of my In the Grip of Grace Blog are, "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power, of love and of self discipline." 2 Timothy 1:7
I chose that scripture to head the top of my blog because I knew I would see it each day and it would call me to places I have not been to. I love each word in that scripture, but what it says to me is that to reach the intimacy with God I strive for, never being complete until He calls me home, but seeking to be closer to Him each day I need to be self-disciplined.
What does self-disciplined mean to me? Jesus must be first in my life in every way. Self-disciplined means to me that when it is easier to go along with a crowd I must not, it means that when I want to sleep in and for go my quiet time with God first thing in the morning, I must not, it means that when I am faced with a difficult situation I must choose the path that God is on, probably harder, but much more everlasting. Most of all it means to me when someone is unlovable I must love them, because that is what loving like Jesus is about. Very importantly it means that I must be disciplined enough to pass on what God has taught me to my own children.
Most of this is out of my ability, but if it doesn't require a supernatural intervention for God then it would be from me and who wants to settle for that, my kids and family need more than I am able to give them, I need to call on God to guide me through this and with His power I can do all these.
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Self-Discipline is tough. I loved what someone told me a couple of weeks ago, they were relaying a story they had heard. A man and a wife were in marriage counseling and the counselor asked the woman if she was committed to work on her marriage and she said she would "try." The counselor then asked the woman to go "try" to pick up a chair across the room, she did, she walked right across that room and picked up that chair. With a sense of accomplishment on her face she looked back at the counselor and he told her to put the chair down, she did it wrong, he asked her again, "try" to pick up the chair, so she picked it up again....the story finishes up that there really is no trying, we either do it or we don't. She was either committed to her marriage or she wasn't there is no trying, that is just a wimpy way of saying I really don't want to do this but I want to save face and say I will try.

I will leave with a great quote from Beth, "We must never allow ministry to take away from our intimacy with Jesus." I have to set aside that time to give to God. For me it should be the very first thing, not after I get a couple things done around my house or on the computer, but first means first. The first fruit of my day belongs to God, not something I have left over in the middle of the afternoon. That is a great time for me to study on top of my first fruit offering, but not in its stead. Instead of fitting God in He gets the prime spot. He is so worthy.

Thank you God for calling me to a spirit of power, love and self discipline.