"OF THIS WORLD....I THINK NOT"

Father, Daddy, Holy One, Heavenly Father, Worthy, Peace, Joy, Grace, Mercy, Thankfulness, Wisdom, Forgiveness.

I went to Wednesday night service last night and during prayer, those in attendance were throwing out words they thought of when thinking of God. After I had the chance to let the evening and my day in general sink in, I had so many thoughts that were running rampid in my mind.

First and foremost, I had the opportunity to have lunch with an old college friend of mine. The person’s name is not important but the journey both he and I have been on is. I can only speak to my experience and what little I know of his. What I can affirm is that for many years the ways of my life were not the ways God had in store for me. Nor were they for my friend. One thing I knew way back in the day was that my friend had so many great ideas but really had not leaned on anyone but himself and those that were not good for him to get those ideas implemented. This friend I speak of, I am even more proud to know than ever. And I think he feels the same about me as well because we continue to learn and build into each other…only now it is done through Christ and not the ways of this world. Like me, he has an incredible passion for our youth and the orphan child. He has an incredible talent for speaking truth by using his experiences in such a vulnerable way that you can’t help but become passionate about the things that God has placed on his heart and how God is using him to minister to our youth. So, suffice it to say my afternoon was incredibly blessed. Never in a million years would I have thought that God could take our brokenness and our sinfulness and put us across the table from each other 20 years later and we would be praying in the middle of Panera for each other….AMAZING and HUMBLING!

God had much to teach me yesterday...I followed up that very blessed lunch appointment with an evening of worship, communion and reflection. During Communion, people had the opportunity to speak to our band members if they felt like God was telling them something in the midst of prayer. Our worship team took these thoughts and right there on stage wrote a song. We sang it as a congregation and it turned out to be a beautiful, heartfelt song to God.

Part of my journey is how God has used my problems and sinful nature in my life to build my character and bring me closer in relationship to him. It is all part of the journey. He has used my walk in life to direct me, inspect me, correct me, protect me and perfect me. This is a never ending act of love. I can rest in peace knowing that he will continue to do these things for me to bring me closer to him. I know this because it is PROMISED!

One of my favorite verses in the Bible comes from the book of Romans 5:3-4. It says "We can rejoice when we run into problems... they help us learn to be patient. And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady."

My relationship with God and my character is all I will be taking with me when I leave this world…I think about that a lot and when I do everything else seems so “OF THIS WORLD.”