I forgot to mention...

Sunday was awesome! Four people gave their lives to Christ at the close of the service. I am so excited! God is moving in incredible ways in the lives of people I know. It is interesting to watch!

Another thing I wanted to share was I have picked up a new daily devotional. Actually, the book itself is not new, just new to me. It is a collection of writings by Hannah Whitall Smith entitled God is Enough. Her writings are very thought provoking. I've also added to my daily reading, Oswald Chambers' My Utmost For His Highest. I have a copy of his original book, which was written in 1935, so sometimes it is difficult to understand. The language of that day is quite different than today! Fortunately, I found an online version written in modern language. Oswald Chambers' writings are also very thought provoking and usually very timely.

Like yesterday.

Now, I am what you might call a "fixer". I'll try to solve any problem you send me. If someone is dealing with a problem, I'll be more than glad to try and "help". Sometimes, ok - a lot of times, this gets me into trouble, but I can't help it! God made me this way! However, I am learning to not jump into the middle of other people's problems or to even try and solve my problems on my own. I'm not always successful, but I am getting better. As Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, "There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under Heaven." I'm learning that more each day!

The other side of this coin is that sometimes, I just wish there was someone to do that for me. Someone who will step in and try to solve all of my problems. Of course, Jesus is the most obvious candidate for this position. Unfortunately, I don't always go to Him like I should. I believe that is why He has not opened the door for me to be in a dating relationship with anyone. I've got to be able to look to Him as the answer to my every situation - not another person. Like I said, I think I am getting better at going to Jesus for my every need.

So here's a portion of what yesterday's (3/24/04) devotional had to say:

If you become a necessity to someone else's life, you are out of God's will. As a servant, your primary responsibility is to be a "friend of the bridegroom" ( John 3:29 ). When you see a person who is close to grasping the claims of Jesus Christ, you know that your influence has been used in the right direction. And when you begin to see that person in the middle of a difficult and painful struggle, don't try to prevent it, but pray that his difficulty will grow even ten times stronger, until no power on earth or in hell could hold him away from Jesus Christ. Over and over again, we try to be amateur providences in someone's life. We are indeed amateurs, coming in and actually preventing God's will and saying, "This person should not have to experience this difficulty." Instead of being friends of the Bridegroom, our sympathy gets in the way. One day that person will say to us, "You are a thief; you stole my desire to follow Jesus, and because of you I lost sight of Him."

Here's what I felt God was saying to me through that devotional: First of all, I am not anyone's "savior" - including myself. Of the four people who gave their lives to Christ on Sunday, I felt God leading me to be purposeful in building relationships with two of them (they are women close in age to me). I feel strongly that as believers, we have a responsibility to disciple and encourage new believers in the Faith. I've seen too many people fall by the wayside because they were left "on their own" to figure out how to walk with Christ. So, since Sunday, I've been thinking of ways to be a mentor to these two women and encourage them in their walk with Christ. This devotional firmly reminded me to stay out of the way - so to speak. I can't fix the problems in their lives or shelter them from things to come, and I don't need to. My responsibility is to always point them to Christ and walk alongside them through whatever comes. I would hate for them to one day say to me that I was a "thief" and that "because of you, I lost sight of Him."

The other thing I was reminded of is that in my own life, I need to look to Christ as my source. I shouldn't put someone in His place and allow them to become as Oswald Chambers says, a "necessity" to me. I don't want to lose sight of Christ because my focus was on someone else. It all boils down to the fact that I shouldn't allow myself or anyone else to be a "necessity". Christ alone is all I need. He is all anyone needs. As the scripture referenced by Chambers in this devotional appropriately states, "He must increase, but I must decrease." John 3:30.

God's timing is always perfect. I'm amazed at how He does provide what I need, even when I don't know I need it! He is so faithful and it truly is getting easier to trust Him and look to Him for my every need.