Bearning One Anothers Burdens and Keeping our Focus
Good afternoon sisters!
I bring you this verse:
I bring you this verse:
Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2)
That is what the brethren is to do for one another. That doesn't mean we can take away the burden from a brother or sister but we can certainly be there to help in any way possible to encourage the one bearing it; to continue on in the strength of the Lord.
Just yesterday we saw something that you can learn from in nature in reference to that verse. Check out this video and see.
(Sorry it's a bit blurry, but it's 3 families of geese heading over to a big pond in between parking lots.
The little limpy one got so tired that when they were crossing the road to the pond, he sat down in the center of the road and cars were driving by really slow to get around him. Then he finally got up and had the strength to make it to the grass. It was so sweet watching one of the parent geese hanging out with him while the rest moved on ahead. We could learn from that:-)
Good news! Our house is officially up for sale. It was ready a couple days ago but the listing is live now and we were just notified that there's a showing tomorrow! More good news... we were asked to come and carve at a campground when we come back to Wisconsin in a few weeks so we're looking forward to that.
So, we are in Illinois spending a few days in fellowship with a brother in the Lord before he embarks on a new venture in life to set himself free to eventually be a travelling evangelist. He's going over the road as a trucker for a while and has a few days of training to go through so we are in town keeping busy during the days in ministry and on the van until evening when he's free. Well yesterday and today brother Jim decided to put in some windows in the van. We parked at Menards (which is a home and hardware store for building projects) and brother Jim dug out his tools and starting cutting holes in the side of the van.
He parked us along the construction area so we'd have some privacy and not be in anyone's way.
He drilled pilot holes and then dug out the jigsaw to cut the metal....making a big racket! There was so much traffic and noise going on that nobody noticed.
These are porthole windows for boats:-) RV windows are really expensive so we decided to think outside the box and save a ton of money by using these! You turn the 2 knobs on top then lower the window down. He added some screens to it and now we have air back by our bed. Yay!
He also added a plug in bar so we can charge our chromebooks, phones etc while the generator is running and then added an inverter so we can use a battery charge if we need quick charging without the generator. When we get back to Missouri we might tear out the bed and put in floor. That's the plan anyway so we'll see what really happens! Flexibility is the key to not being impatient in things like this:-)
As I sit here typing this, we are in a McDonalds working and having a cup of coffee while the radio is blaring in our ear. One thing we really learn in our life is focus.
:-)
We learn to focus on what we're doing, not what the world is doing. This was really hard for me in the beginning because I was weaker in the flesh as I had a lot more physical ailments which helped wear me down, but in that I learned a lot more strength because I had to fight harder.
Focus is such a big part of a Christian's life because satan is all over trying to distract us. We listened to a teaching of a brother in the Lord and he said it right "Satan is trying to keep people from being alone, he's always trying to distract them'. This then keeps people from having that time to lean on the Lord, so we must always focus on the things of God no matter how simple or complicated our life is because satan is the master deceiver.
I was just in a resale shop on the way here and while walking along the aisles looking for plain clothing I had to focus hard to spot the very few pieces in between all the worldly, flashy ones. I had to focus my thoughts on the Lord and make a joyful noise in my heart to overcome the wretched music playing. I had to focus my eyes forward and not on the absolute immodesty around me. I had to focus on the reason I was in there, not to fulfil my flesh with shopping but to look for a few simple items that we need. I had to focus on being thankful for what we have and not be anxious waiting for things we could use but have not yet found. I had to focus on being ready to share the truth of God with anyone that might approach me. I had to focus on the fact that we are a peculiar people (1 Peter 2:9) and that the world will focus on us women and the way we look. Those are just a few examples of about 20 minutes of focusing our mind on the things that would be honoring to our Father, resisting the temptations of the world and redeeming our time for His glory.
Every day we need to keep that focus going and not stray from our path. Just as Peter had to switch his focus to Jesus instead of the water he was walking on, we sisters need to always keep that focus before us, of the Lord, lest we be swept away like a brother in the Lord we know of, testified that happened to him. He was serving the Lord many years ago and slowly his focus was turned to the world, a little here and a little there. He said 'and next thing I knew I was going that way, away from the Lord.' (Praise God he repented of that!)
Another somewhat obscure area we need to watch our focus is not getting wrapped up in the social justice works of this life. There are many groups doing various things that they proclaim will make this life better for others and although it's not sinful to do such things like conserving natural resources, standing against abortion, standing against racism etc....we can easily get swept away into the 'works' of these activities and lose focus of God's Word which shows there are thousands of other areas we need to be concerned in as well. As a side note on this subject, I recall as a newborn in Christ hearing all these proclaimed Christians protesting the big sins. Homosexuality, abortion, adultery etc. But I never heard anyone actively standing outside the 'All You Can Eat Buffet' telling people about the sin of gluttony. Or outside the work out gym teaching about pride and vanity. What about preaching outside of the expensive home good stores selling over priced house furnishings and telling about the sin of lust and envy? No, I'm not saying we should be doing those things but we also have to be careful not to moralize the country also. We need to always focus on the gospel as THAT is what will change lives, not moralizing.
Focusing on God's Word will keep us from being distracted in all areas and keep satan from getting a foothold in our life.
But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Hebrews 3:13
I love that verse and it helps me focus on reaching out here on the sisters blog as often as I can so as to help other sisters keep being encouraged and not be subtly led astray by the enemy.
We will be heading out soon to meet our brother and then I'll be cooking us all a meal in a parking lot somewhere :-) Then we are going to to do something we rarely do....go for an ice cream to celebrate our house going up for sale.
I hope you all have a joyous evening and focus on things above. Colossians 3:2
Love in Christ,
Sister Deb
The biblical gospel...