Keep It Simple
Greetings sisters in Christ,
I pray you are all strong in the Lord, leaning on Him for all things. It seems like that's a daily battle of the flesh, to look to the Lord and not get swept away or weakened. It's also a mindset adjustment that the Word can do for us if we fill ourselves up on it.
I love the message of Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. [2] He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. [3] He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. [4] Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. [5] Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. [6] Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
It sounds so simple doesn't it? Then our flesh and circumstances get in the way, well, we allow them to anyway. Brother Jim was just counseling a brother saint about simplifying his life and I want to encourage you to do the same....Keep it simple sisters.
Sometimes we put extra burdens on ourselves and over time it all adds up like a snowball rolling downhill...it keeps getting bigger and bigger and totally out of control. Brother Jim and I, over the years, have strove hard in this area to keep our lives as simple as possible so we can focus on what's important. I call it 'Plucking It Out' when I find something that is pushing me over the edge either in stress, complication, taking up my time uneccesarily, distracting me or even pushing me to sin (such as frustration or confusion) the expectations I put on myself etc.
Confession time....as I'm writing this, I've written several paragraphs and deleted them, trying to find the simple angle, yet complicating it with too much, something I'm good at doing, unfortunately.
We've simplified our life in many ways and are always on the lookout for more. I'll share a few ideas and I'm sure you can all come up with your own to add to it.
* Housing. We've downsized and minimized so the less we have to take care of, the less burdens we have.
* Stuff. The less stuff we have to maintain and take care of, the more time we have for what's important.
* Meals. I prepare the same simple meals and we are thankful for the nourishment.
* Money. By simplifying our life, we want for less and therefore have more resources to keep doing what we are doing.
* Relationships. In our ministry we can find ourselves taken all different directions if we are not careful.
* Focus. We must make sure we focus on the Lord in our lives first before tending to others.
* Contentment. Being content where we are in whatever situation we are in makes us not want for what we don't have.
* Thankful. Being thankful where we are in whatever situation we are in makes us content where we are and not want for what we don't have.
* Projects. We take our time to evaluate every project we think of to see that it will be a benefit to the ministry and a wise investment of our resources.
There are a lot more and I could go into endless details and examples but I wanted this post to be simple.
By the way, that picture above is one I took as we arrived in a town to street witness. There's a cult in the area that we've known about for many years and had much communication with many of their members. I won't go into all the details for the sake of not complicating a simple post :-) but I'll share this about the experience we had while there.
Brother Jim decided we would drive by their compound so we ventured off. Out into the country, going and going and finally on to a gravel road. One that got more and more narrow as we went with the sides being washed out into the ditch. We crested the hill and there were their political flags flying by their new cult building they are erecting on the leaders land. Brother Jim worked on a video to them, calling out their sins and then we drove on down the ever narrowing gravel road.
Then there it was.
A simple bridge.
So simple that it was nothing more than some wooden planks over a deep ravine of water...picture something like this only with a few more lined up side by side.
Yep, brother Jim did it....he drove right over them! (They actually moved when we drove across.) Our van is almost 10,000 lbs so you can imagine the instant stomach ache I got from this event. That's trusting in the Lord and it helped remind me of the uncertainty in life. (It's also trusting in my husband's judgement:-) We live on the edge anyway, the way we go about our life and then we encounter such situations (and like the ones I told you about the homeless guys not long ago) that remind me we are not our own. We are to sacrifice ourselves for the Lord and to shine His light of truth to all those around us, that's why we're here....not to be safe and protected from the world lest we have our light under a basket.
Anyway, for the sake of going on to complicate this post with too much, and I could go on and on:-) I will let you go with this.
Matthew 5:1-16
And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: [2] And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, [3] Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. [4] Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. [5] Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. [6] Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. [7] Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. [8] Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. [9] Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. [10] Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. [11] Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. [12] Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. [13] Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. [14] Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. [15] Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. [16] Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Love in Christ to you all.
Sister Deb
The biblical gospel...
https://www.dontperish.com/the-gospel.html