Listening to the Spirit. The Holy Spirit of our God. That is one thing I am working on and having difficulty with lately.
How do you listen to or listen for the Holy Spirit? My initial answer would be in quiet and stillness, meditating on God. Does that mean sitting in silence thinking about who God is? Or is that meditating/mulling over passages of scripture and focusing on them, thinking about what they mean, how they apply to me, and leaving room for God to point out in some thought or way how I can apply the truths of scripture to my life?
Lately I've spent not enough time in meditating on scripture while listening for thoughts or ideas or directions that the Spirit might be directing me toward.
I have been cautioned by two men, whom I consider wiser and much older than I, in regards to listening to feelings and acting on feelings that come into my mind/heart. Yet, just as they also advised, if God is saying to do something, I must do it. If it is indeed God urging me through a thought or a person or a circumstance or especially His word, I am obliged to do it.
So, in times of worship and prayer I have wrestled with God and in times where I have fought against His Spirit I have sunk lower in my spirit than I can ever remember. But when I follow and obey the direction in my heart, given by God, I stand tall and am emboldened.
God says not to quench the Holy Spirit. I do hope not to.
1 Timothy 5:2 [Treat]"Older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.
God is always right. It goes without saying. So, it makes perfect sense, knowing that He loves us, wants what's best for us, and commands us to do things that are right (and in the end are for our best and His best anyway). It is fitting then, that "treating older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity" turns out to be the most amazing way to treat women.
Truth. Honesty. Impartial Judgment. I've long thought that this was an area I was perfectly fine in. False. I am often tempted to be what we would call a "people pleaser." I like to give people the answers they would like to hear and not make people uncomfortable or upset. ... This is fearing people more than God. God has been working me over with this one. It is sin. It is crippling. It is a deadly trap to fear man.
Jesus Christ. Center and focus. John 15:4 -"Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."
John 15:7 - "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you."
I'll try to share more soon. Thank you for taking time to read this.
The Lord Jesus Christ is God.
-Stephen Bradshaw Mechling
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
1 Corinthians 13
Love is patient.
Love does not envy.
Love is not proud.
Love always perseveres.
Love always protects.
Love is not self-seeking.
Love keeps no record of wrongs
Love does not delight in evil.
Love is not easily angered.
Love rejoices with the truth.
Love is kind.
Love always hopes.
Love does not boast.
Love is not rude.
Love always trusts.
Love never fails.
The ones in bold are the ones I think I struggle the most with.
It sure is hard to love. By the strength of the Holy Spirit though, I believe mankind can love.
Love: to me that looks like doing my part despite the effort it takes, putting effort and intention into my work, so that others don't have to pick up my slack. .. I don't mean that I would no longer need other people. .. just that if I'm truly serving others and giving myself sacrificially, others shouldn't have to pick up after me and do my work for me.
Also... killing my pride.. . that's love. Man, it's hard to give up pride.
Love does not envy.
Love is not proud.
Love always perseveres.
Love always protects.
Love is not self-seeking.
Love keeps no record of wrongs
Love does not delight in evil.
Love is not easily angered.
Love rejoices with the truth.
Love is kind.
Love always hopes.
Love does not boast.
Love is not rude.
Love always trusts.
Love never fails.
The ones in bold are the ones I think I struggle the most with.
It sure is hard to love. By the strength of the Holy Spirit though, I believe mankind can love.
Love: to me that looks like doing my part despite the effort it takes, putting effort and intention into my work, so that others don't have to pick up my slack. .. I don't mean that I would no longer need other people. .. just that if I'm truly serving others and giving myself sacrificially, others shouldn't have to pick up after me and do my work for me.
Also... killing my pride.. . that's love. Man, it's hard to give up pride.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Self - Discipline
My spiritual goal for this upcoming year is Self-Control/Self-Discipline.
"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."- 2 Timothy 1:7
My physical goal, scheduled to be reached by march, is to be able to do 100 pushups, a couple hundred crunches, and a 3 mile run in one day.
My mental/emotional goal is to be more confident [see 2 Tim. 1:7 again]. Taking on more leadership opportunities will probably be a big part in building toward that. Jesus made me. He made my physique, my strengths and weaknesses, my family, my upbringing, my personality, and He saved me. I want to be confident in Him and who He has formed me into.
My project, which will be primarily complete on January 29th, 2011, will be to help create a refreshing, encouraging, enjoyable evening for the volunteer workers at Community Baptist Church of Edwardsburg. It has been a lot of work so far, and much still needs to be done. Mindy, Carissa, and Elaine have helped me a lot already, and Hannah and a few others are planning to help cover for us at camp while we're gone that evening.
Coming up: Tomorrow evening, after "The Feast" Bible study, Nic, Eric, and us Outfitters are leaving for Program Advance. We return sometime, I believe late afternoon, the next day.
I'm thankful for the many great gifts I have received recently, ranging from the customized cooking apron that Carissa gave me to the work and parts that Dad provided for me in fixing my car up and loaning me the other car in the process.
God takes perfect care of His own. I could not be where I am or who I am without Him.
May God bless you and keep you in His word, growing your faith.
-Stephen
"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."- 2 Timothy 1:7
My physical goal, scheduled to be reached by march, is to be able to do 100 pushups, a couple hundred crunches, and a 3 mile run in one day.
My mental/emotional goal is to be more confident [see 2 Tim. 1:7 again]. Taking on more leadership opportunities will probably be a big part in building toward that. Jesus made me. He made my physique, my strengths and weaknesses, my family, my upbringing, my personality, and He saved me. I want to be confident in Him and who He has formed me into.
My project, which will be primarily complete on January 29th, 2011, will be to help create a refreshing, encouraging, enjoyable evening for the volunteer workers at Community Baptist Church of Edwardsburg. It has been a lot of work so far, and much still needs to be done. Mindy, Carissa, and Elaine have helped me a lot already, and Hannah and a few others are planning to help cover for us at camp while we're gone that evening.
Coming up: Tomorrow evening, after "The Feast" Bible study, Nic, Eric, and us Outfitters are leaving for Program Advance. We return sometime, I believe late afternoon, the next day.
I'm thankful for the many great gifts I have received recently, ranging from the customized cooking apron that Carissa gave me to the work and parts that Dad provided for me in fixing my car up and loaning me the other car in the process.
God takes perfect care of His own. I could not be where I am or who I am without Him.
May God bless you and keep you in His word, growing your faith.
-Stephen
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Purity & Holiness (and other updates)
Bair Lake Bible Camp(BLBC) is hosting a Purity and Holiness retreat. I'm scheduled to be leading worship time as well as being a counselor/facilitator this weekend for one of the cabins of junior high boys. Thankfully, I will have another counselor with me who has been a part of P&H before.
This weekend will be quite an experience, I expect. God has used BLBC greatly in many people's lives. So, I am sure this weekend will be a blessing. I will be learning just as much as helping. I need to spend some time in prayer about this weekend and time reading the Bible. I a couple chapters from Ezra today, and tonight's class will conclude our study on forgiveness. Unfortunately, we have only had 3 weeks of class on the subject, but I still have our book of the month to read. It is entitled, not coincidentally, Total Forgiveness.
"One Thousand Thank You's" is another thing we've been assigned to. Our group has been challenged to each, individually, write down one thousand things we are thankful for. This is in light of coming close to the Thanksgiving holiday.
Currently I am feeling rather tired. Elaine and I did a bit of work outside today, since we were posted to work on maintenance. It was fun. I learned it can be very hard to stretch a cold cover over a boat and attempt to button it down. ... it's still not finished. We are trying to get everything "winterized" before the snow really hits. The boats and pontoons are up. Outdoor tables and chairs have been stacked or put away. Heaters and such are being fixed. We gathered and stored paint cans from the buildings that aren't going to be kept heated.
Living arrangements: I have almost entirely moved my possessions and everything from the "chalet," where I was living, up to the "tower," formerly referred to as the "studio." The girls used to live there, but they have moved across the driveway to what was once called "the bungalo." So, sticking with the theme, it is now the "palace," complete with a dungeon. ... I hope I don't get thrown in there... it's full of old toilets... . But yeah, I need to move my mattress and sheets and blankets up there ASAP, because who knows when the camp will need to house people in the chalet. .. and it's not very fun driving back there every night just to sleep there and feed Samuel L. Jackson, .. the goldfish.
So, :) that's the update for now. Hopefully, I will make time to post again after the P&H retreat. Thanks for reading.
-Stephen
This weekend will be quite an experience, I expect. God has used BLBC greatly in many people's lives. So, I am sure this weekend will be a blessing. I will be learning just as much as helping. I need to spend some time in prayer about this weekend and time reading the Bible. I a couple chapters from Ezra today, and tonight's class will conclude our study on forgiveness. Unfortunately, we have only had 3 weeks of class on the subject, but I still have our book of the month to read. It is entitled, not coincidentally, Total Forgiveness.
"One Thousand Thank You's" is another thing we've been assigned to. Our group has been challenged to each, individually, write down one thousand things we are thankful for. This is in light of coming close to the Thanksgiving holiday.
Currently I am feeling rather tired. Elaine and I did a bit of work outside today, since we were posted to work on maintenance. It was fun. I learned it can be very hard to stretch a cold cover over a boat and attempt to button it down. ... it's still not finished. We are trying to get everything "winterized" before the snow really hits. The boats and pontoons are up. Outdoor tables and chairs have been stacked or put away. Heaters and such are being fixed. We gathered and stored paint cans from the buildings that aren't going to be kept heated.
Living arrangements: I have almost entirely moved my possessions and everything from the "chalet," where I was living, up to the "tower," formerly referred to as the "studio." The girls used to live there, but they have moved across the driveway to what was once called "the bungalo." So, sticking with the theme, it is now the "palace," complete with a dungeon. ... I hope I don't get thrown in there... it's full of old toilets... . But yeah, I need to move my mattress and sheets and blankets up there ASAP, because who knows when the camp will need to house people in the chalet. .. and it's not very fun driving back there every night just to sleep there and feed Samuel L. Jackson, .. the goldfish.
So, :) that's the update for now. Hopefully, I will make time to post again after the P&H retreat. Thanks for reading.
-Stephen
Sunday, October 31, 2010
"You give and take away,
You give and take away.
My heart will choose to say,
Lord, Blessed be Your Name.
You give and take away,
You give and take away.
My heart will choose to say,
Lord, Blessed be Your Name."
This song always seems to apply and come to mind when I feel like someone or something I am going to miss has left my life temporarily or permanently.
You give and take away.
My heart will choose to say,
Lord, Blessed be Your Name.
You give and take away,
You give and take away.
My heart will choose to say,
Lord, Blessed be Your Name."
This song always seems to apply and come to mind when I feel like someone or something I am going to miss has left my life temporarily or permanently.
Monday, October 11, 2010
trying to think out loud...
The Church: God's chaste bride. We choose life with Christ. Which is choosing to be an ambassador for something that's not popular, preachers of something that doesn't bring us bring us the $, "take up your cross daily and follow me," ... doesn't sound like something to join because of it being fun and easy.
It's a high and serious calling for those who claim it and choose it. ... something I'm not taking seriously enough.
- so, what do i take from this? I need to take this seriously. How? I need to go and tell, show and tell, not just try to live it to myself and keep my mouth sealed shut. ... what am i afraid of and ashamed of??? ... what's the verse again? something about "If you will be ashamed of me before men, I will be ashamed of you before my Father." ... something along those lines. .. oh man.. :( where's my heart? where's my commitment?
-Stephen Bradshaw Mechling
It's a high and serious calling for those who claim it and choose it. ... something I'm not taking seriously enough.
- so, what do i take from this? I need to take this seriously. How? I need to go and tell, show and tell, not just try to live it to myself and keep my mouth sealed shut. ... what am i afraid of and ashamed of??? ... what's the verse again? something about "If you will be ashamed of me before men, I will be ashamed of you before my Father." ... something along those lines. .. oh man.. :( where's my heart? where's my commitment?
-Stephen Bradshaw Mechling
Sunday, October 3, 2010
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