Reaffirmed

This year my God experiences at Missions College were a series of reaffirmations. God reaffirmed what I’m doing for Him; He reaffirmed the importance of what I pledged for the New Year (to take everything to Him in prayer), and He reaffirmed that with Him, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).

Before I left for the conference, I promised God that I would dedicate that week to Him. I wasn’t going to let my mind be distracted by the world. I was going to focus on Him alone. It took some time, and some practice because I’d been away from that intentionality for way too long. Normally, I allow myself to be pulled in too many different directions, and sometimes, I even wonder if it isn’t Satan – even if that busyness relates to my spiritual walk.

I’m in life groups and Bible studies. I read books. I buy more books than I can read. There’s studying to be done, correspondence, writing, blogging, social media, networking, on and on and on. I tell myself it’s all for Him, yet it takes away from my stillness, my one on one time with Him; in the word, in prayer, and meditation. So, I’m sorting through all of that right now and praying about it.

God’s Perfect Timing

This trip was most definitely in God’s perfect timing. By the day we left, I was stressed and overwhelmed with to-do list items. To get on a plane, fall asleep and wake up in another state was freeing. It felt like an escape. Our connecting flight was four hours late taking off, but it didn’t bother me a bit. My friend and I talked and we dug into the Bible (she is so Biblically fluent), and then I slept some more. God takes care of us.

I believe I needed the sermons we heard during the conference. I needed to know that I was running low on the Holy Spirit. Praying for Him to fill me and renew me has been such a blessing and I will continue to pray that beyond the 7-day challenge. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit when we’re saved, and we never lose that, but this filling is something I’ve felt in the past but couldn’t put my finger on. We tend to forget that He lives inside each of us and is with us 24/7. Our bodies are the tabernacle of old. We need to take care of the whole package: physical, spiritual, mental, emotional. Sometimes we need help with that. Sometimes we need a refill.

Bible verse of the day

In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

Ephesians 1:13-14 NKJV

Prayer

Lord, I thank You and praise You that You reaffirmed the path I’m on. I am so grateful for Missions College. I’m so thankful to meet You there and reconnect and draw closer to You. Father, I come before You in humility and desperation. I ask that you refill me, that You give me a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit. I’ve let the busyness of the world take over my life and draw me away from our quiet time together. I’m feeling confused and overwhelmed. Lord, I know that I can do nothing apart from You. I want to put all of my focus on You alone and only do Your will. I want to give everything up to You Lord and trust in You completely. Please guide me, Lord. Please grant me wisdom and renew me with a fresh filling. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.