Not my own

"You are not your own. You were bought with a price..." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

I haven't written in about 2 months. I have been busy with a multitude of activities. God is like that.... everything has a season. Then today I was reading Oswald Chambers daily devotion. He reminded me what God set upon my heart in early August. " I am not my own. I am a small leaf falling from a branch over a running brook. ( flashback, my Indian Princess name was Babbling Brook. My dad thought of it because I did like to talk alot at that age.) I am not in control of situations I find myself in. How I respond is definitely all on me. It took me 49 years to realize that.

Chambers states it this way," Let Him have His way. If you refuse you will have no value to God in His redemptive work in this world, but will be a hindrance or a stumbling block." Pretty harsh! I believe in free will( not absolute free will). God has given His children the free will to be carried into wonderful service and experiences in this world or to live in fear and refuse to accept day to day opportunities. My daughter illustrated this spectacularly the other day. She said she had a friend that she knew in High school. She never would have shared the gospel with this girl or invited her to a church event. She had too many little quarrels with her at the time ( it was high school, you know - but hey, I better take that back -isn't that us as adults). Anyway, she recently reconnected with this young woman who had gone through some tough times and another high school friend had shared the gospel with her and she is now a wonderful young believer growing in Christ. My daughter realized that God had given her the opportunity to share with this gal but she didn't make herself available at the time. She missed out on a wonderful blessing. Lesson learned and I am grateful she shared it with me.

God is constantly opening doors for me and some I do not enter for various reasons. Through those doorways God is opening up ways of fellowship with His Son, says Chambers. What am I doing to close these doors? Do I recognize that fear is holding me back? Do I realize where that fear comes from? How can I overcome those fears? Through Christ alone! It is a long process but the road to surrender is so sweet. An adventure that is beyond exciting!