Sufficient - Adie Camp

Perfect Love

Ok, so what are the things that we are not?

This is not the question we usually ask ourselves.

Most of the time we want to talk about everything that we are. At least deep down in our hearts we do.

We are human and it is in our sinful nature to want to always focus on ourselves. But when we do this it leaves us shallow and empty human beings who are still searching and longing for more.

God has a Plan.

 To many, it seems that His Plan failed.

 To others it seems as though when Plan A didn’t work out then God must have switched over to plan B.

Since the beginning of time we have always been on Plan A.

God had only one Plan for us. 

To redeem us.

If you think about it , everything in life, whether it be in nature or just in the way we communicate, has an opposite. If we didn’t know tall, how could we understand short. Just knowing what small is makes us understand how big things are. The same is true of color. We cant see white in it’s purest form until black sits at it’s side.

So how could we even possibly understand Love if we didn’t know what it is to hate or be hated?

 The answer is, we can’t.

 At least not by ourselves.

 We can only know what God has shown us through his Son , Jesus. We can learn what it is to be holy when we look to Christ and his death on the cross.

Are you beginning to see a Pattern here?

Christ is

Love.

Holiness.

Humility.

Purity.

Selflessness.

Obedience. 

Faithfulness.

Goodness.

Hope.

Truth. 

The cross is death and everything that love is not.

Sin.

Hate.

Pride.

Selfishness.

Disobedience.

Unfaithfulness.

Despair.

Lies.

God loved us so much, that he was willing to show us all the bad stuff so that we could fully understand the Good stuff.

 And not just understand it but accept it and give it back to Him so that he could have the fullness of our hearts and not just bits and pieces.

He could have created us any way he so desired. He could have spared us from knowing what sin is and all that that brings about, but he knew that would mean a shallow and pretentious love.

 That is not who He is.

 He will not take less than Perfect Love.

It would be like us creating a husband or a wife to our specific liking with all of the traits and personalities to suit our wants and desires and needs and pressing a button when we wanted a kiss or a hug or encouraging words.

That’s ridiculous! Would we really want that?

That’s not love, because love is self sacrificing.

 Love is selflessness.

 Love is dying to self so that others are put before you.

 Love is not robotic.

 Love is a choice.

 A choice that our Gracious Heavenly Father has given us because He loves us.

 He loved us enough to give us a choice.

Oh how I fail miserably at showing others sacrificial love. 

My pride gets in the way so often and I want to be right, and I want to be heard, and I want my way!

Lord, give me the wisdom to trust in Your Plan and your perfection and how you have made my heart clean  through Your death, so that I will love You and make You my only choice.

Everyday and for all eternity.

Help me to fulfill Your plan for my life that you have been planning since the beginning of time!

Dying To Self

When you are forgotten, or neglected, or purposely set at naught, and

you don't sting and hurt with the insult or the oversight, but your heart is happy,

being counted worthy to suffer for Christ.

~That is dying to self~

When your God is evil spoken of, when your wishes are crossed, your advice disregarded, your opinions ridiculed, and you refuse to let anger rise in your heart, or even defend yourself, but take it all in patient, loving silence.

~That is dying to self~

When you lovingly and patiently bear any disorder, any irregularity, any unpunctuality, or any annoyance;

When you stand face-to-face with waste, folly, extravagance, spiritual insensibility-and endure it as Jesus endured.

~That is dying to self~

When you are content with any food, any offering, any climate, any society, any raiment, any interruption by the will of God.

~That is dying to self~

When you never care to refer to yourself in conversation, or to record your own good works, or itch after commendations, when you can truly love to be unknown.

~That is dying to self~

When you can see your brother prosper and have his needs met and can honestly rejoice with him in spirit and feel no envy, nor question

God, while your own needs are far greater and in desperate circumstances.

~That is dying to self~

When you can recieve correction and repfroof from one of less stature than yourself and can humbly submit inwardly as well as outwardly, finding no rebellion or resentment rising up within your heart.

~That is dying to self~

In these last days, the Spirit would bring us to the cross.

~Author unknown~

South Douglas Road

When I turn onto South Douglas Road,

I know I'm just a mile and a half from being home,

Where I live on Gospel Road.

I've cussed it when it rains,

I've cussed it when it's rough,

And just getting the county out to grade it

is just a fuss.

It's where my kids learned how to drive,

And its where we always ride.

I sure do miss that ole gravel road,

And I'm so proud to see it when I've been gone.

I know I'm almost home,

when I'm on that ole rough gravel road.

by Paul Jones

I love you, Paul!!!!

The More I Seek You

The more I seek You,

The more I find You,

The more I find You,

The more I love You,

I want to sit at Your feet,

Drink from the cup in Your hand,

Lay back against You and breathe,

Feel Your heartbeat,

This love is so deep,

Its more than I can stand,

I melt in Your peace,

It's overwhelming.

By Kari Jobe

One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.

Psalm 27:4

Hope you are having a wonderful day!

Natalee

Dirt Road Doctrine

Turning onto our dirt road........

"Mom".....

"Yes, baby girl"

"Ok, I don't get it....how can God be three different things?"

"You mean, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit?"

"Yeah...I mean, how can he do that?"

"Hmmmmm..... Well, think of it like this;

God the Father is the most powerful, glorious and awesome thing

there is! He is so bright and amazing and more than we can ever imagine.

He wanted to come to us on earth to save us. Since he is so glorious, we would

never be able to see him face to face just the way he is. We would literally die in his presence.

 Think of Jesus as the way God chose to come to us as a perfect human so we could see how we are suppose to live our lives. He came so he could die here on earth for our sins.

When Jesus died for us and went back to heaven he then sent the Holy Spirit to live in us when we believe in Him.
The Holy Spirit is God living in us.
 Does that make sense?"

"OOOOHHHH, now I get it...... God made all of this (motioning to the sky, trees, grass, flowers and sun with hand out and palm facing heaven) so that we could SEE Him!

"Yes, baby girl.... (fighting the sting in my nose and the lump in my throat from the tear that was so desperately trying to work its way out of the corner of my eye)..........I couldn't have said it better."

".....Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them. " Mark 10:14-16

Winter Scenes

Their are things about winter that bring such warmth to my soul.

Melting snow, sunshine and afternoon shadows, brown rice baking in the oven and childrens laughter echoing through the halls of our little home.

We have been "homebound" for much of the week from our winter blizzard. This is the bright side of being snowed in. Thanking God for warm food on our table, blankets for snuggling, beautiful, white, glorious snow and the sun shining today!