Overwhelmed!

Has the Spirit ever done that to you? Has He sent you thoughts in such a rush that you can't help but feel humbled and overjoyed? Well that's happened to me just now so sit back because this may take a while.

This all started hitting me a little while ago as I was getting ready for bed. I've prayed with my wife so that she can go to sleep because I don't know where this is going. It started with the thought of being blessed and verbalizing that when I greet people. In Texas we don't just say "Hi"; we ask, "How are you?" So I was visualizing myself answering, "I'm blessed" and the reactions that I might get.

From there, I became overwhelmed with thankfulness and joy for all that God has done in my life. From the time I accepted Christ, about 5 years ago, I've lived a whirlwind of existence. He's healed me of depression, made my relationship with my ex-wife friendly and cordial, my children have accepted Christ as their Savior, I've developed great friendships, I've married the most awesome woman in the world (you might argue but I've got a great case), I've had financial blessings, I have a great mentor, and the list goes on and on.

God's Word is so awesome. I haven't even managed to read all of it yet and I still believe that every word is true. He tells us to not worry because He knows what we need (Matthew 6: 25-34.) Yep, I've seen that come to pass. Good job, plenty of food (I've got the gut to prove it), great friends, a loving wife, etc....

He tell us in Romans 8:28 that He works all things for the good for all who are called according to His purpose. Check! I accepted Christ; He healed my depression, He uses me as a small group leader, He took away my anger, He renewed my relationship with my children (they've both accepted Christ). He used the sin of my divorce to humble me so that I could use that pain to speak into the lives of others headed down the same path.

His word tells us to make disciples of all nations. This means that we are to tell others about Christ. This is a difficult one for me. I have a struggle verbalizing my faith unless someone asks me directly. Recently, however, I was convicted of the need to verbalize my faith by an atheist when he said, "How much do you have to hate a person to not tell them about eternal life if you really believe it to be true?"

I was convicted by this in such a way that I schedule lunch with a friend to tell him that I know the way and I wanted to share that with him. It was difficult, but I did it and God did His part. This is how it went down:

I'd been inviting my friend to the men's conference held at my church this past weekend (Jan. 23-24) for a couple of weeks. I shared Christ with him on the 16th and invited him and his family to church that weekend - they didn't show. I persisted about the men's conference and he didn't go - he went on a date with his wife. Her therapist had told her that day (Jan. 23) that she needed to find her faith and my friend told her that they would be attending church that weekend. They showed up (the pastor spoke on PorNo of all things.)

Now you might believe in coincidence, but I don't. I witness to my friend and then his wife is told that she needs to find her faith and then they show up to church. God works for the good in all things.... Oh yeah; and I've been praying for them for years. God is good!

So, all of these thoughts started because I feel so blessed. I am blessed - beyond measure. I think God just really wanted me to get that tonight.

We serve and mighty and awesome God. He keeps stretching me and every time I follow through He comes through with His part. He doesn't need us to do what we can do in our own power - that stuff gets done. He needs us to get outside of ourselves so that we step out so far that the only way things will work out is if He shows up. What an awesome and humbling place to be. Believe me the stretching isn't fun but it's well worth the effort. God never said that living for Him would be easy - only worth it.

Well, I'm sure that this came out as jumbled as it came into my head. I hope that it speaks to you. I'm just overwhelmed with how great God is and I had to get it out.

Live for Him and enjoy the ride...