Tag: Holy Spirit

  • Next

    I’m remembering a quote from a book suggesting that when you’re stumped and don’t know which way to turn or what to do next: The next right thing by Emily D. Freeman. No need to have a large scale 5-year plan; just do the next right thing.

    Mallard Duck – Riverside Park, Michigan

    This comes as a huge relief (and surprise) to someone like me who prefers “all her ducks in a row.” Appointments scheduled, tasks on the calendar in advance are paramount to me. Surprises/last minute plans don’t work well for me! But maybe this offer presents a good theory. Reminds me of one of my favorite quotes: Let Go & Let God.

    Just maybe by pausing, listening to the silence, turning off electronic devices including music, removing myself from all distractions, I can hear from the Holy Spirit and be at peace. I can then learn what the next right thing for me might be. It’s certainly worth an honest try! Don’t look for me—I plan to be in a closed conference for a while.

    Let me know if you try this and how it works. I’m eager to hear back from you.

    “Speak, for your servant is listening,” 1 Samuel 3:10.

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    This post is part of the weekly Five Minute Friday link-up.  Join me and others as we reflect on, and write about one word each week for only 5 minutes.

  • Freedom in the Lord

    I am a work in progress. It’s good to know that this body with all its inferiority, sin, and weaknesses is not a finished product. I’ve still got a long ways to go. A work in progress. Plus, I can be encouraged with the fact that I’ve got God on my side helping, molding, weaving all the good and bad experiences into a pleasing tapestry. Whew! Good to know.

    With the knowledge does not mean that I should feel free to sin all the more or continue to repeat the same dumb mistakes. On the contrary. With the Holy Spirit’s help, I need to strive to do good — to be and do what my Heavenly Father desires of me.

    How does that look in real life? If I see a brother or sister in need, I should go to him and offer my help if I can. When my tongue tends gets away from me or I’m inclined to say unkind things about someone, maybe I should listen more and speak less.

    “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” —          2 Corinthians 3:17, 18.

    “And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image” (NLT).

    Are you becoming more and more like God or more and more like someone God wouldn’t recognize?

    More and more like the Savior I would be. More like him every day.

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