Meditation: Joan Boney
II Thess. 1:12 ... That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The "name" of our Lord Jesus Christ is "THE WORD".
That THE WORD may be glorified in you.
Each time I hear THE WORD and do THE WORD the name of Jesus is glorified in me.
I thought of how the following was brought to my attention a couple of years ago: Phil. 2 ... Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7But made himself of no reputation, ... and I set about to make myself "of no reputation", cutting out anything which would cause anyone to glory in me. I followed this instruction daily for about 7 months. At the end of those 7 months, God gave me the dream which showed me to go on internet (THE WORD TO ME), so I went on Internet to do the writings you now read, again glorifying HIM, just following the instructions HE gave me.
Each time we do THE WORD we hear by the Spirit of God, we glorify God.
Several years ago, I went to Albuquerque, NM (USA) on a buying trip for my store. At that time I owned an American Indian arts shop in Dallas. As the plane began to land, I heard, "be baptized".
I had been baptized when I was 15 years old but I was not born again at that time. I just went forward to be baptized because I didn't want to go to hell and in my childish way I thought how you kept from going to hell was to be baptized.
When I was 37 years old, I was born again.
The plane landed and my cousin, Jeanne, met me. She is member of Church of Christ. They love water baptism. So I told her if she could set it up I would be baptized that afternoon before leaving for Dallas.
Jeanne was confused because I had already been baptized. But I explained I was not born again at that time and now I am born again. I went on to talk of many things of God. Jeanne listened and then said, "I believe you are a Christian ... I just don't know how you can be one."
The reason I could now be a Christian is simple: GOD! God intervened in my life. God is always the answer.
So as we do THE WORD we glorify God. I had heard on the plane, "Be baptized." To me that meant "Now, do it."
So that afternoon we gathered at the Church of Christ building in Albuquerque.
About 30 relatives came to witness this.
I was shocked when the minister asked me if I would like to say anything. (Church of Christ do not allow women to speak in the church.) But I responded that I guess I would like to say something and I just began speaking by the Holy Spirit. My uncle began crying as I spoke. One of my cousins was shaking her head up and down.
When the minister lowered me into the water, the Holy Spirit spoke this to me: "This is like being buried with Christ.": As I came out of the water, the Holy Spirit said, "This is like being raised with Christ." (At that time I didn't know Romans 6 which explains this.)
After I dressed and went where everyone was, my uncle came to me and said: "I've never heard anything before like you said in there. Can you write that down for me?" I replied, I guess I could. I did write it and sent it to him. (I suspect my uncle was born again at that time.)
I have no doubt all this is an example of THE WORD being glorified.
So if we want to glorify God and serve God, we simply do THE WORD when the Holy Spirit speaks it to us or puts it into our heart.
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Meditation: Pam Padgett
Proverbs 3:13 Happy is the man that findeth
wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. 14 For the
merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and
the gain thereof than fine gold. 15 She is more precious than
rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be
compared unto her.
The wisdom and understanding God gives us is more valuable than money or other riches.
God knows all things ... what is in the heart of each person, what the
future holds, exactly what we need ... and is able to give us His wisdom in
whatever we're dealing with.
Having riches of this world does not help us know how to handle a
situation. But wisdom from God gives us what we need to deal with each
matter according to His will and purpose.
Was reminded of times God has given me wisdom when dealing with various
situations.
In one matter recently, I was dealing with hail damage to my roof and asked God for
wisdom about how to handle my insurance company (not paying for extent
of roof damage) and the roofer (argumentative with insurance company). I
was led to ask the roofer to submit an estimate for replacing the roof,
and for me to send notice to the insurance company telling them I was
doing this. To my surprise, Pete didn't
want to prepare the estimate and told me to find another roofer,
removing himself from the matter. Another roofer prepared the
estimate according to the insurance company procedures, and the
insurance company agreed to replace the roof. I marvel and thank
God each time I think of how the wisdom God gave me in this
situation so easily and effectively resolved both problems and allowed me to move forward in the matter in peace.
No amount of riches could help me know what to do in these
situations. But God gives wisdom ... far more valuable than any
riches.