Complete in Thee: 30-Day Challenge, Day 7

Saturday, January 8, 2011

30-Day Challenge, Day 7

Five things you couldn't possibly live without.

FOOD. Neither could you. (Sorry, I had to put that one first for effect. ;-) )
GOD. And for more than one reason too. Think about it.

He created me. Nothing exists without some intelligent mind outside of itself coming up with the idea and creating it. I honestly couldn't live unless God created and sustained me.
He loves me. He is love. If He was not, I would be gone a long time ago. In His patience and goodness, He grants me life and forgiveness when I don't deserve it.
He saved me. He granted me His Holy Spirit. This gives me peace and strength in the trials of life, hope of a future with Him, joy in His amazing unconditional love. "I could not do without Thee, O Savior of the lost." <3

FAMILY IN CHRIST. That includes my immediate family and those related not by blood but by Spirit. We all need that encouragement we receive from brothers and sisters in Christ... insights others have had in their walk with the Lord, guidance from more mature Christians, encouragement during difficult times, and just the same love for Jesus Christ and the common factor of being sinners saved by the amazing grace of God. I am so glad God did not leave us alone in our walk with Him but has surrounded us with people taking the same narrow way.
COLOR. I love color. More and more I love it. I am so glad we don't live in a monochromatic world or one of those sci-fi places where everything is white. I love blue, green, pink, orange, yellow, silver, gold, maroon, aqua, lavender, brown, turquoise.... <3 <3 <3
WRITING. Whether it be on computer, or pencil and paper, or slate, or just in my own mind. If I didn't have some avenue for my passion for writing and creating , I'm not sure what I would do. ;-)

What about you?

P.S. I have a "new look"! :-) :-) :-) "Snip snip, here we go!" I'll see if Beth can get a picture tomorrow so I can post it for you to see. ;-)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...: 1. God - for all the same reasons as you said, Melanie. I think the Bible would have to be under this category, as God is the Word. Communication with God must be in this list as well.
2. Nourishment - we cannot live for God is we do not keep up our physical body.
3. Music - I think I would shrivel up and die if I could not be hearing, humming or playing music most all day long. Music is.... wonderful!
4. Family - As Melanie said, this refers to more than just blood-relations; my church family, extended church-family.
5. Nature - Basically the same as music!; January 8, 2011 at 11:00 PM
Melanie said...: Oh yes! I'd have to second "music"-- well, all of them, actually. ;-) I am SO glad God gave us music!; January 8, 2011 at 11:07 PM
juli said...: Ditto, ditto but I'd prolly add horses to mine. ;)
And I read down to your Balto post...aw I love Muk,Luk and boris....hehehaha!
Maybe we will get to see yall this weekend! :); January 10, 2011 at 3:22 PM
Melanie said...: Oh!! Are you going to be in the area? What day? I hope it works out, that would be great to see you!!; January 10, 2011 at 3:39 PM

PRAYER REQUESTS

"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints" (Ephesians 6:18)

PLEASE PRAY...

* That I would draw nearer to God every day and never allow my relationship to become stagnant ritual; particularly that I would grow in the area of submission, patience, 1 Corinthians 13 love, and wholehearted devotion

* That I might have wisdom as I edit "The Marquis' Daughter"; that the Lord would bless and work through it; and that I might find just the right publisher for it.

* That I would submit to the Lord's work in my life, whatever it may be; that I would take each opportunity He brings me (even the seemingly hard ones) to draw closer to Him and point others to Him

*That our Etsy shop might be successful and that it would be a means by which we can glorify God and share the Gospel

Ephesians 2:1-10

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

"The heart set to do the Father's will need never fear defeat. His promises of guidance may be fully counted upon. Does it make sense to believe that the Shepherd would care less about getting His sheep where He wants them to go than they care about getting there?"

"God is God. Because He is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience. I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will, a will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to."

"If God, like a father, denies us what we want now it is in order to give us some far better thing later on. The will of God, we can rest assured, is invariably a better thing."

"Obedience to God's will is the secret of spiritual knowledge and insight. It is not willingness to know, but willingness to DO (obey) God's will that brings certainty."

"Victory over all the circumstances of life comes not by might, nor by power, but by a practical confidence in God and by allowing His Spirit to dwell in our hearts and control our actions and emotions. Learn in the days of ease and comfort, to think in terms of the prayer that follows, so that when the days of hardship come you will be fully prepared and equipped to meet them."

"And shall I pray, Oh, change Thy will, my Father,
Until it be according unto mine?
Ah no, Lord, no, that never could be, rather
I pray Thee, Blend my human will with Thine."

"A crucified life cannot be self-assertive. It cannot protect itself. It cannot be startled into resentful words. The cup that is full of sweet water cannot spill bitter-tasting drops, however sharply it is knocked."

"And as we rest our hearts upon what we know (the certainty of the ultimate triumph of good), leaving what we do not know to the Love that has led us all our life long, the peace of God enters into us and abides. And then we see our light."

[A Practicing Christian]...it means that every single act and feeling, every experience, whether pleasant or unpleasant, must be referred to God. It means looking at everything as something that comes from Him, and always looking to Him and asking His will first, and saying, "How would he wish me to deal with this?"

Christ says: "Give me all. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work. I want you."

"I was not born to be free. I was born to adore and to obey."

"What is saving but taking us out of the dark into the light? There is no salvation but to know God and grow like Him."

"I will not try to convince you of anything about God. I cannot. You must know Him. I only tell you I believe in Him with all my heart. You must ask Him to explain Himself to you, and not take it for granted that He has done you a wrong because He has done what you do not like. Whether you seek Him or not, He will do you justice. But He cannot explain Himself unless you seek Him."

"Sometimes a thunderbolt will shoot from a clear sky; and sometimes into the life of a peaceful individual, without warning of gathered storm, something terrible will fall. And from that moment everything is changed. That life is no more what it was. Better it ought to be, worse it may be. The result depends on the life itself and it's response to the invading storm of trouble. Forever after, it's spiritual weather is altered. But for the one who believes in God, such rending and frightful catastrophies never come but where they are turned around for good in his own life and in other lives he touches."