Swirling Thoughts

Do you ever just feel overwhelmed by your own thoughts?
I have been feeling that way for days.
I feel like I can't get enough of reading other peoples encouraging words.
I have been loving reading what God is doing in other peoples lives.
It is so encouraging to know that when I am about to loose it, somebody out there has got some words that are going to point me right back to the Gospel.
It always comes at the right time too.
God is so good to know what I need.
It is not His plan for me to loose my cool...it is my depravity and lack of self control.

This has been part of my crazy thoughts. Brace your self...it's a weird flow.

I love puzzles. I love games like Tetris and Bejeweled and right now my favorite is Jewel Quest.
I love to see things fit together.
I love seeing these shapes or whatever coming down and I have to make sure they get to the right place. When they all fit together, I win.
When I'm lazy and just watch them fall, I loose.
My relationship with God is so much like that. Life is throwing things at me.
I have the choice to either let them fall or make it all fit together.
When I choose to let them fall I choose to leave God out of it.
If I want to make it all fit together I have to do it with Him.
I am fully aware that this is the weekest analogy in the world of what God does in my life everyday.

Yesterday Logan came at me with wanting to know how to get the full armor of God.
I answered him the best that I could, which is usually not enough for him, so we tabled it until Daddy got home.
Stacy is able to explain things to him so much better than me. It was such an encouraging conversation and it did my heart good to hear my son so eagerly want to soak up what the word of God says about really, equipping ourselves for daily sanctification. I loved hearing my husband instruct our kids about filling ourselves with Gods word...memorizing, reading, studying, worshiping, proclaiming the Gospel to others. All of those things that help us to put on the armor of God, that push us a little more towards Gods righteousness.

In Sunday School our pastor has been teaching us out of Eph.4. That we are called to walk worthy of the calling by which we are called. That we are to walk this walk with lowliness, gentleness, longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endevoring to keep the unity of the Spirit.

The fruits of the spirit instruct us to love, have joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.

We don't pick and choose these things. God didn't say, here Missy...this is part of the puzzle...you pick which part you would like to have. How easy would that be? Anyone could pick one or two attributes to live out. Well maybe for at least a day!
But we are to put it all on. The whole armor...the Whole Fruit...Walk the whole walk.
For me it's all apart of that puzzle. It doesn't just randomly happen. I have to put the pieces in place. God, through the sending of His Son, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit has given me the tools by which to do this. I sometimes am just too lazy to make it work. I would rather watch it all fall apart than just make one little move that will make all the difference.
I get so frustrated with my sinful nature. I get tired of fighting it.

I am thankful for the body of Christ. For the real struggle that you all so freely share. For the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For the Sovereign God that has known from all eternity that I would belong to Him. For the fact that He sacrificed His Son so that He can show mercy on undeserving me.

Wow..this is a long post...I have just had all of these thoughts swirling in my head. It was nice to give them a place to come together. Thanks for listening.