Be Changed

 "We can underline our Bibles til our pens run dry without a drop of ink splattering our lives. Self-deception slithers in when we mistake appreciation for application or being touched with being changed." -Beth Moore 

     Avonlea is dealing with fear, tonight, so I'm in her floor in a beanbag chair doing my reading and trying to blog from my phone. (I'm sure there will be a gazillion typos to correct tomorrow.) Since I only blogged three times in 2014, I have resolved to blog once a month, this year. Most of them will be short, I am sure, but I hope they will somehow encourage you. 

    I have probably admitted to you that I have a list addiction. Sometimes, I literally write accomplished tasks onto a list for the sheer satisfaction of crossing them out. "Sometimes" is really the wrong word. I do it on a regular basis. There is just something about seeing it checked off my list that helps keep me on track. I always accomplish more on the days I stick to the list. I must admit, however, that there are frequently nights when I run through the list again and wonder what I missed because of the undivided attention given to tasks scrawled onto a page to toss into a waste basket. Did I look my girls in the face today and ask them what the best part of their day was? Did I hold Clark's hand today? Did I mention a friend's name in prayer? Did I praise the Lord for my health? And with my health? 

     I came across this Beth Moore quote on Pinterest this evening and was convicted at the reminder to make daily devotions more than part of "the list". First of all, I hope you have resolved to read your Bible faithfully. Our spiritual health and strength has never been more vital than it is in this present culture which we have been called to salt and light. Discipleship comes at a cost, and making any sort of difference or bringing any glory to God will require commitment. I hope your list of resolutions isn't so superficial that it only includes diets, gym memberships, organizational goals, and more promises of " me time". Those are all good things, but as believers, they should not be what graces the top of our lists. 

     Overall, I encourage you to evaluate the past year and set goals for 2015. Without a vision, people certainly perish. Then, be faithful. There will be days we won't complete the list, but beware of falling into the trap of believing good intentions or adding scripture to your self-help regime are enough to equip you for spiritual warfare. You have been called to be more than " a better you". You are called to be salt and light in a world that is running straightway to Hell. That will take commitment. It is required of stewards that a man be found faithful, but even being faithful isn't enough. We must be changed to change the world around us. 

     I hope you reach every good goal this year, friends, but my earnest prayer is that more is accomplished for Christ in our lives than ever before.

1 Timothy 4:13-15

"Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all."