Foolishness

Oh, how it's been too long since my last post.  I have to admit that I havent felt the need, the urge, the attraction to blog. It's like I've been waiting for something special to come along, something truly meaningful. Or just until my emotions stir up too wildly to hold back. For this post, however, it is merely random thoughts :P.

First of all, I've been realizing more and more the lack of moral intelligence and ingenuity. Maybe it's because I work with a wide variety of people and deal with numerous customers on a daily basis and can easily observe their behaviors. I must repeat this question in my head a bajillion times in a single 8.5 hour shift...."why would they do that?". If there is no good outcome out to any certain action, I fail to understand the point of it. Which leads me to my second random thought...

"Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise" -Ephesians 5:15. This passage (5:15-17) has been the theme to this day. Chapter 5 was the assignment we gave to our youth group to complete (and thoroughly study) in a week. I know it had stuck with husband too when I saw he posted it on Facebook. And after work I went for my quick speed walking (since I was still too sore from yesterday's run) and had streamed Mark Driscoll's sermon Filled With Wisdom & the Spirit. He covered the whole chapter very well but it was what he had to say about this particular passage that convicted me. So you can understand, here is the passage...

¹⁵ Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

-Ephesians 5:15-17 (NIV)

Wisdom is putting knowledge to practice. Most people would agree that living wisely would be the right idea, yet they don't choose to live that way. How you use your time, what you choose to commit to over all, how hard you work, how you spend your money, the people you associate yourself with, how you behave around others.... All of these you have a choice as to whether you live wisely or unwisely. "Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is." Key point: HIS will, not yours.

Making the most of every opportunity....

I can't think of how many times I might have missed some opportunity because of some selfish (unwise) thing that was hindering me. I grieve those missed moments. That wasted time, that opportunity I will never gain back.


Third thought...



Therefore, do not be foolish.

Forgotten God

“I believe that this missing something is actually a missing someone—namely the Holy Spirit.  Without Him, people operate in their own strength and only accomplish human-size results.  The world is not moved by love or actions that are of human creation.  And the church is not empowered to live differently from any other gathering of people without the Holy Spirit.  But when believers live in the power of the Spirit, the evidence in their lives is supernatural.  The church cannot help but be different, and the world cannot help but notice.”           — Francis Chan, Forgotten God

I have to start this post out with mentioning how hard it is to write when you have NyQuil running through your system. But this has been on my mind all day so I'll keep it quick and get to the point...

How often do we forget the Holy Spirit? Hmm? Too often. Everything I have to say, Francis Chan stated it for me. Without the Holy Spirit, people operate in their own strength and only accomplish human-sized results. But when believers live in the power of the Spirit the evidence in their lives is supernatural. The church cannot help but be different. He later states in his book that "We are not all we were made to be when everything in our lives and churches can be explained apart from the work and presence of the Spirit of God." Think about that. We reason things of humanly, take credit for work thats not ours, confuse OUR emotions for that of the leading of the Holy Spirit, we plan, we strategize, but we do not keep our lives fluid enough for the Holy Spirit to work. Theres not enough room for my ego, pride and You, Lord.  This book hits hard for me.


I said I would keep this short, but if you have the time, read this book. It'll open your eyes.





"Nowhere in scripture do I see “balanced life with a little bit of God added in” as an ideal for us to emulate.   Yet when I look at our churches this is exactly what I see:  a lot of people who have added Jesus to their lives.   People who have in a sense asked Him to join them on their life journey and follow them wherever they feel they should go, rather than following Him as we are commanded. The God of the universe is not something we can just add to our lives and keep on as we did before.   The Spirit who raised Christ from the dead is not someone we can just call on when we want a little extra power in our lives.  Jesus Christ did not die in order to follow us, He died and rose again so that we could forget everything else and follow Him to the cross, to true Life."   - Francis Chan, Forgotten God