It Pays to Obey

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths."
~ Proverbs 3:5, 6

Proverbs 3: 5-6 is one of my favorite passages of Scripture. I recite it to myself regularly to encourage myself. It's so easy to "lean on our own understanding." The last two and a half years have been an interesting journey in trust and obedience. In March 2012 the Lord told me to leave Maryland and go to Connecticut to help my sister. I'd been living in Maryland for eighteen years, had my own office/business, long time friends and ministry opportunities. I think that's the side most people saw and therefore found it difficult to believe that God was moving me to CT. I encountered quite a bit of opposition and disbelief, even from my spiritual leaders. Nevertheless, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I was being directed by the Lord to go to Connecticut. Though on the surface, i.e., in the natural, it seemed impractical and I didn't know all the reasons why the Lord was instructing me to go, I was looking forward to the opportunity to reconnect with my two sisters and get to know their children. I had also been pretty sick for almost a year and was looking forward to some rest.

On my own I would never have thought to relocate to Connecticut. The Lord knew this, but he also knew just what I needed and his timing was perfect. I no longer owned my own home, I had no children, I wasn't married or otherwise engaged and the lease on my apartment was about to end.

Three weeks after my move to Connecticut, my beloved nephew was murdered and I was the first person my sister saw and came to when she received the news. I'm so glad I was there. During the year and four months that I lived in Connecticut I got to know my other nephew and two nieces. I also reconnected with other relatives, published my first two books and got my artwork into a bookstore in Connecticut. What if I had disobeyed God and stayed in Maryland?

After my season in Connecticut ended I received an invitation to go to Florida, another place I had absolutely no desire to move to, but my older brother invited me to come and I felt the Lord was telling me to go. Once again, I received a good deal of opposition. This time it came from a few family members. I'd been job hunting and interviewing for about three months by the time my brother invited me to move to Florida and I had just gotten a couple decent job prospects. The job market in Florida on the other hand looked bleak. But because I knew this move was also the Lord's will, I obeyed.

It's been ten months since I relocated to Florida and the Lord has done some wonderful things. Once again the Lord put me in a position to renew my relationship with another sibling. He's been opening doors for publicizing my books and art. He's given me a number of new, heartwarming friendships, allowed me to start a new business venture and opened up ministry opportunities for me at my new church. Today as I reflected on God's direction over the last two and a half years, I marveled at his design and I'm glad that I trusted him and obeyed.

 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways  higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts," says the Lord. (Isaiah 55: 9)

To God be the glory.

I Was Glad When They Said Unto Me

"I was glad when they said unto me, 'Let us go into the house of the Lord.'" (Psalms 122:1, KJV)

I just love being in the house of the Lord. There's something special about being in corporate worship and the way God moves in a corporate setting. As much as I love our intimate time together, God has ordained and blessed the gathering together of his people to worship Him and minister to each other.

So "let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Hebrews 10:25, NIV)

"Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others." (Romans 12:4-5, NIV)

"It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." (Ephesians 4:11-13, NIV)

We need each other. We can't be in "unity" all by ourselves. "The body has many parts..." By ourselves we only represent one part- one member of the body. Don't underestimate your value to the body of Christ. Step up and step out. Use your gift(s) to aid in the development of the body of Christ.

 "We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully." (Romans 12:6-8, NIV)

We need you.



Love,
Beverly

So Heavenly Minded...

Do you ever wonder how some phrases came about and how they become like daggers or darts, to be pulled out and used when offended or disgruntled about something?

Years ago, I went to an older friend of mine for counsel when I was accused of being, "So heavenly minded that I was no earthly good." I so appreciate his counsel still today. He said, "Beverly, if you are truly heavenly minded, you will be all earthly good." I think someone just didn't like something I said or had come under conviction about something I said and wanted to get back at me so they jabbed me with that phrase, because anyone who knows me, know that I'm all about helping others.

Now I don't know the origin of that phrase, but I am reminded of James Chapter 2:26 which says "...Faith without deeds is dead." In today's terms I would put it this way, faith and "having church" without living it practically, is worthless. James had written this letter to the church, for instruction, edification and correction.

We have a lot of church goers, but not enough Word doers. We have a lot of people who talk about faith, but don't walk in faith. We have a lot of people who know the Word of God, but don't live the Word of God. We have a lot of constant church goers who speak the Word, but don't apply it.

James said, "What good is it brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes or daily food. If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action is dead."

On the other hand, Paul instructs us in Col. 3:1-2, to set our hearts and minds on things above and not on earthly things. Can this be a passage that some may use to support so much heavenly mindedness that they ignore its practical application? If so, then they take the passage out of context and failed to read the rest of the passage. Read it for yourself. It talks all about how to apply that heavenly mindset right here on earth, ending on a note that says, "And whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving."

So then my friend was right. If you are truly heavenly minded, you will be earthly good. Be heavenly minded friends, but be willing to roll up your sleeves and get to work, not just inside the church walls as so many limit themselves to, but outside the walls of the church- on your job, in your home, in your community, even overseas. You preach the good news with how you live. Go and be of earthly good too.