April 3, 2011

Rick got home early enough yesterday from Little Rock that we were blessed to go to a Blackwood Quartet concert over in Paris, TX. We enjoyed it so much. We were encouraged. We were blessed. We were ministered to.
(And God allowed us  to bless back :-)! I love you Momma!)

As I was sitting there listening to them sing - I  thought about my momma. 
How much she loved a good gospel singing.
How much she loved the Blackwoods.
And I found myself tearing up that she wasn't there to hear them last night.
Then, the  realization came - she was listening to the ORIGINAL Blackwoods as they sang and worshipped the Lord in heaven! 
I got jealous! :-) 
I love you Momma! 
I miss you.
Think about me today, please.

Rick called in yesterday to see where the load would go today.
Bubba told him Shreveport.
In just a few minutes, Larry called back and told him that he was not going to have a load for Rick today - that he was giving Rick the day off TO GO TO CHURCH. :-)

Rick needed this time of encouragement!

It is hard for  me to go to church "occasionally" ... but the last few years - with my body being the way it has been (peri-menopause junk) ... and now with Rick's job at Ballard's - "occasionally" is about the best it is.
Sigh.

I find myself hungry for fellowship and friendship.
And it is hard to go to church and not want it more.
UNTIL  ...
God showed me this morning that the original intent of church was to WORSHIP HIM.
Church is not about "us" ... it is all about HIM.
When did my eyes get off the "prize"?
When did the focus get from worshipping HIM to making friends?
*Father, forgive me. Father, help me!*

Recently there was a poll taken, and the results published in the Baptist Standard ...
On any given Sunday, in any given church - regardless of denomination, there is an average of 8 out of 10 people that are NOT saved!
What are we going to  church for?
If not as saved children of the Most High God to worship HIM?

God has been taking us on a journey of faith ... I  have shared some of it in this blog.
But He has also been taking us on a "coming out  from among them" journey as well.
What does it mean to "come out from among them"?
God has called us to be a people separate from those around us, a people different. 
A people holy unto HIM. 

Am I? Are we?
Do we look different?
Do we talk different?
Do we act and re-act differently?
Or do we "blend in" so well that others would never know that we are a Christian if we didn't tell them?
Shouldn't our lives be an outward reflection of the image of the Living God? "It is no longer I who lives, but Christ who  lives in me." (Galatians 2:20) 
Shouldn't others be able to tell that we are Christians by our love? (That's what Jesus said!)
Shouldn't others be able to tell that we are Christians by our lives?
We heard  a pastor once say that our lives ought to be such a reflection of God that tho we are silent, others will come to us and say, "You are one of those "'Jesus people' aren't you?"

*Father, make me different. Make me holy to you.