December 2006

By Anonymous -

Here we are at the end of 2006, well almost. This year has been an incredible journey for me and I believe for many of you it has been also. As we reflect on the way we lived in 2006 and how we want to live in 2007, may we pray this for ourselves and for all the women we know – “Lord, help me/us to keep my/our eyes fixed on Jesus. Because I/we know, nothing else satisfies.”

React versus Respond

“Jesus didn’t react, he responded” is what I heard one Sunday morning as my tired wandering mind finally focused. Since then it has been bouncing around in my head. You know me by now with my interest in etymology and definitions, so you might be expecting a little Merriam-Webster action – I won’t disappoint. To react is from Latin re- + agere to act whereas to respond is from Latin respondEre to promise in return, answer. Responding is with thought and intent and to react is just simply acting.

I am a reaction waiting to happen; I would like to be a responder. When my toddler is at his peak need for attention while I am on the phone, making dinner or having a conversation with my husband or the like – I want to respond. What my problem is I have a case of the Romans 7:19’s For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. I am embarrassed at how often I just react, and the repairs of apologies that must follow.

So, how to get from the wanting to do and the doing is the key to my answer. I believe that it is in praying for a heart to respond and then practicing how to respond. Tomorrow I am going to try to respond when I hear over and over again the same question by my toddler and not to react. May God be my peace and give me a heart that loves others more than myself so I can be a responder!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Thank you for sticking with me through this journey and for praying for me too.

In Christ,

Elizabeth

**now you can read EFW at: http://efw-alentar.blogspot.com **

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for commenting:

Popular posts from this blog

Bitterness & Forgiveness Bible Study 2010

By Anonymous -
Bitterness & Forgiveness Bible Study What you will need to do this study: A willing heart to be open to how God will change your heart through this study A Bible or online Bible Notebook and a pen, or you can save to your desktop via word doc. A trusted friend. This can be someone you can actually talk to face to face, via the phone, through letters, or via online chat. This person can help you with memory verses, be there to discuss what you are going through as you do this study. This person does not have to do the study, but must be someone you trust to share the intimate details of your life with. If you are new to an area and do not have someone to fit this description...consider finding a women at your church who serves in a ministry role whom you could form this relationship with. Lessons one - four will focus on Bitterness…We will spend four weeks reading, listening, learning, praying and discussing while confronting bitterness. Bitterness may be something y...
Read more

Is It Possible To Be Truly Kind?

By Anonymous -
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:31,32 (NIV) I cannot recall how many times I've been told how "nice" I am. Or when I was younger, "you're too sweet." I know that I've heard it enough that I believed it and it grew into pride. Thinking of it now seems a bit ridiculous, but seriously - I really have an issue with it. I work with much ambition to be seen as nice and kind. I work at being nice and kind. Imagine my shock to heart that some of my kindness is fake! Many years ago a woman from Calvary Fellowship Seattle gave me this small booklet with a yellow jacket. The title was, "How To Be Free From Bitterness." Truly it was a work God was doing even then, though I scoffed at the title and tucked it away on my bookshelf. It is also safe to say that I don't know ...
Read more
By -
Luke 1:38 And Mary said, "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." I have been thinking on these words of Mary often this Christmas. Mary describes herself as the servant of the Lord….servant of the Lord. How did that play out in Mary’s life? She was probably ostracized for most of her pregnancy for being “supernaturally pregnant.” Scripture doesn’t say exactly what she endured, but it does record that God sent an angel to Joseph to explain to him that Mary’s story was real. So, obviously it was a big enough deal to require a heavenly messenger. We see in the Gospel of Luke that Mary had the joy of going on a trip during the later part of her pregnancy, birthing a baby in a stable, laying him in an animal trough, and being greeted by shepherds after giving birth. Wow, not exactly what I would have expected the mother of our Lord to have endured in order to welcome Him into this world. Not exactly what I like to think of when I...
Read more