Wednesday, November 27, 2013

THE ESSENTIALS

As the countdown to the Thanksgiving holiday continues… what fun it has been to think about the “ESSENTIALS” for Thanksgiving Day and help make those plans and preparations. 


Even now, on Thanksgiving Eve, our house is smelling of good food for the big day tomorrow! Our parents have been great, reminding us of Thanksgivings from long ago, and of the things that have made Thanksgiving special.



One ESSENTIAL for Thanksgiving Day we've always made time for is to GIVE THANKS to GOD.  We’re making a list of what we can share about what we’re most thankful at this time.


My Mom has been thinking of the feast and what food to prepare. We've all submitted our favorites as requests. Good food seems to be ESSENTIAL for Thanksgiving Day. 


My Dad has been looking at what football games will be on TV and what movie we can go to in the evening. Fun family time together is another ESSENTIAL. 


My sister and I have looking for ways we can work off the extra food we will eat, ha ha.  We’re grateful for a “Turkey Trot” planned by our church to raise money for our Sudan project.  Thanksgiving exercise is an ESSENTIAL for us for the day. So, we’ve been getting ready for that.  


My sister Noel, preparing for the Turkey Trot
Me acting like I'm having fun, brrrrrr.... I miss Ethiopia's running weather!
 Nap time is also an essential.

We plan to enjoy it all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’ve been thinking about that word “essential” the past few weeks in another way too.


Webster’s dictionary defines “essential” as…. all-important; imperative; indispensable; vital; must-have; necessary; needed; required. 

So what are the all-important, imperative, indispensable, vital things someone needs to have to follow Jesus and make a real impact in the world?  

At the Global Missions Health Conference in Louisville, KY a few weeks ago, I was deeply inspired by so many there who seemed to have essentials needed do barbaric jumps of faith and live in trust of God.  They had understood God might not call them to the easy places to share His love … yet despite the discomfort and fear, they still moved and were moving.  To the corporate skyscrapers they were climbing, to the back alleys of dangerous neighborhoods they were riding, to the distant islands they were paddling … to proclaim God’s love and grace and hope to all who would listen.

WOW!





 So what are the essentials to this kind of life of faith?

Well…God brought it all into focus for me this morning in my quiet time as I’ve been thinking about my journey behind and praying for what is ahead.

What is ESSENTIAL is relationship with God.

2 Peter 1:3-8
By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him, the one who called us to Himself by means of His marvelous glory and excellence. And because of His glory and excellence, He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires...

God gives us Himself, in Jesus, and the opportunity to have a redeemed essence and storyline.  Partnership and relationship that is like none other!

In remembering this, we are ALREADY wired for the incredible life of faith journey, given already the essentials we need to do incredible jumps and feats for God.

Ephesians 2:19-20
…you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone

1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Isaiah 43:1-2
But now, this is what the Lord says—He who created you, Jacob, He who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;  I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.

Romans 8:16
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.

God often asks us to do things that are just beyond our own ability because He wants us to do it in relationship with Him. We can’t, but with Him, we can. Our weakness becomes strength.

In this relationship, He changes us from the inside out- and He helps us as we go to be effective and to represent Him well where He calls us to be.

2 Corinthians 5:17-21
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.  God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Matthew 28:18-20
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

May we be encouraged and so grateful for our amazing God this Thanksgiving. You may not have the earthly relationship you desire; or -friends- family close by to share it with. You may not have a job you enjoy or the answers for the way ahead.  But you do have an amazing God who offers you relationship with Him and a life greater and more full than you could ever imagine!  What a reason to give thanks!

I pray a special Thanksgiving to each of you! Know I’m grateful for you!

Praises- Prayer Requests
-Praise- my family is grateful to have this holiday time together.
-Please pray for my plans for the new year, 2014- that God would show clearly His perfect plan for me.

Happy Thanksgiving 2013!