Cliff Taylor, thank you. Dont ever apologize for a lengthy time of preparation. If youre like me youve sometimes leaped before you looked. Funny thing though, the Lord has always bailed me out, taught me something, and yes, rubbed my nose in it - you know - Who the Lord loves He chastens and scourges, part of the deal. On a number of occasions I have set myself up. Take a look at my nose sometime. Here are a couple of partial scriptures to make my point and a brief poem to drive it home. Preparation and obedience. Paul says: that I might gain Christ, and that I might be discovered inside Him... Phil. 3:1-16 - see His reasoning and goal The subjunctive mood in both gain and be discovered (found) make this hope a constant possibility for Paul, a constant pursuit relative to the righteousness essential to knowing Him. It was essential to who this man was, what he accomplished, his hope of out-resurrection from the dead and attaining that for which Christ had attained him. In this, he was always preparing. As he aged, therefore, he had greater spiritual impact, both on earth and in heaven. Paul says: Christ inside you, the hope of glory. Col. chapter one, where He got his reasoning and basis of maturity, and a working operation. Of Jesus it says: Although He was a Son, He learned obedience through the things He suffered. There is subjective suffering and beneficial suffering relative to disobedience and obedience, both learned in preparation, one hopefully we are learning to avoid, the other a constant part of becoming a more mature son and effective servant. Heb. 5:8 -------------------------------- My point is: If you dont love preparing, youre going to be limited in your power in sharing. I didnt mean to make that so poetic. I have to be careful. Sometimes my poems get reckless and I get in trouble. I think Ill call this little ditty The Joy in the Journey. THE JOY IN THE JOURNEY If people wonder, ask me what Im pursuing I simply tell them - Im preparing Ive come to love preparing as much as I love doing - why? because in preparing - I gain the One Who Ill be sharing So, its Him inside of me and out of me they will be viewing All of a sudden, His Lifes juices start to flow, A door flies open, and off we go Like a married couple, for, weve been going steady for a while you know
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 11:47:00 +0000