So, I titled this blog earlier today and sat staring at a blank screen because the words just wouldn't flow. That hardly ever happens to me. I just finished my daily Bible study (I'm doing one with a group from church that is pretty AWESOME!) and I realized (through Divine intervention) that the words weren't coming because I wasn't writing on the topic I should be. I like the title "Fluff and Stuff", though, so I'm gonna stick with that. :) I will tell you that the fluff I'm referring to is all of the extra stuff, some of it junk, that has overwhelmed my life, your life, all of our lives, because of worldly influences. No, I'm not saying we should all go live in the woods in a tent and meditate in prayer all day long. I don't believe we are called to separate ourselves, as Christians. In the same respect, we are aliens, we are not of this world (THANK GOD!!), so we shouldn't completely immerse ourselves in it. Oh the fine line.....where does it lie? How much fluff and stuff is okay? How much is too much? What I've come to realize is that any amount that takes away our time and devotion to God and His purpose for us is too much. After my last post, I thought about some different pieces of technology that consumes my time daily. I have tried fasting from a few of these things, like facebook, and let me tell ya ~ I've seen a difference in my life in just a few short days. Facebook didn't consume my day, but it was conveniently on my phone so I could check it at any little break ~ at a red light, at the lunch table, in between laundry loads. :) When I started this Bible study, one of the first things said by Kay Arthur, one of the presenters, was basically that we were going to be held accountable to God for how we spent our time here on Earth. Just because I'm a mother of two small children who is constantly feeding, dressing, bathing, changing, playing, consoling, doesn't mean I will get a free pass for the years I spend "too busy" for daily in-depth Bible study. I need God's word now more than ever! As Kay Arthur says, God gave us 66 books to live by. How many do you think He wants us to know? I've cut my facebook time to once a day ~ usually at night after everything else is done, Bible study included. I'm so exhausted by then that I really don't care to catch myself up on every little post. It's quite a weight off my shoulders, not thinking that I have to read about EVERY little thing. Ha! I feel like I've missed so much, but OH WELL! Email or text me if there's anything too important for me to miss, please. ;) I've got way more important things to be doing with all of those formerly wasted moments!
So, my head is in THE book. That's not good enough, though. I've got to clear my mind and life of distractions to allow God to speak to me through what I read. I'm trying to do that. I have to keep reminding myself, though, that I can't do that alone. I've got to fully rely on my God to help clear my mind and clear my heart so that He can fill them up with His word. Only through Him and His word will my heart and my life be changed to fit His purpose. I have always thought, as a Christian, that I am to read the Bible, pray in the name of Jesus, and go do good deeds. As I've been stretched in my faith the last year, though, I have begun to see it more as living every breath by His word, speaking to Him through my brother, Jesus Christ, with words of praise, adoration, gratitude, and pleading, and becoming a conduit for God to work through me. Deep, huh? ;) That's our purpose in His sight ~ to not be surface Christians, but to really delve deep into what He has for us. His word is SO powerful, SO transforming, and SO ALIVE! EVERY time I read and focus on His word, He speaks to me in ways I never even imagined!
Now to him who is able to do IMMEASURABLY MORE than ALL we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21
I'll leave you with my revelation for the day. As I was studying earlier, I wrote the word "good" and underlined it in response to a question from the author. Here's what I thought about: There is no 'I' in 'GOOD', there is only 'G-O-D'. Call me corny, I don't care. Haha! How true it is, though. There is nothing good about me. Nothing good about any earthly human because we are ALL sinners, even straying away from God and not obeying His word is a sin, so you don't have to be a murderer. We are all the opposite of 'good'. So, any 'good' thing we do is not us at all, but GOD. As the planning begins for my 30th birthday "30 Random Acts of God's Love", I pray that God will remind me of this often. Nothing I do on my own is good, but EVERYTHING He does through me is EXTRAORDINARY!
