Living in Gods Love

Recently several things have happened that make me think I had a lesson to learn.
I have been on a mission (well several missions)

To figure out exactly how I am to live my life to bring more Glory to God. Is at the top of my list.


I have a real issue with the whole going door to door thing. It seems pushy and from my experience it is not very effective.
I don't like the idea of finding someone who "needs saving" and then telling them how I think they should live their life out of the blue. Again, in my experience it isn't very effective to tell someone they are damned.
And I'm not likely to become the next TV preacher.

With all that in mind I do know that I am supposed to be spreading God's word, and His love. So am I supposed to push out of those mindsets, am I to overcome my misgivings on the above ways of evangelizing? Or am I supposed to find my own way of doing the same job. And what exactly is my job? Do I have a quota to fill? Is bringing up my children to believe in God enough? You see where I was stuck...

God knows me. I've said it often. He knows how to make me hear Him. Sometimes it takes a slap up side the head, sometimes I dream answers, and sometimes I really have to listen hard. I'm bad at listening hard, I'm working on it, God knows this too.

I'm sitting at mass a couple of weeks ago, and God tells me to listen hard - then made my children behave so well at mass that I could listen. The Deacon was telling about how we can be such an influence by just LIVING our lives as we should. By setting an example. I loved that, but could it be that easy? Could living our lives in Christ be ENOUGH to evangelize, seems like we should have to work harder than that. But then I remembered it is not easy to live our lives so that others can SEE CHRIST fully, so that they know that we are not perfect but we are trying our best to be that Light, the one that shows we believe in God so much that we can see even our trials as a blessing. You have to REALLY work to live like that well enough that others take notice.

Next, I have a weakness. I love scary movies. Not blood and guts gore that they try to pass off as scary now days, but the kind of movies that really get you on the edge of your seat, and YES, looking over your shoulder as you leave the theater. I was telling someone how I was using my myspace and facebook and "dared" people to find a movie that would scare me. In the same day I was telling someone else that I let my kids watch some moves that were over the "G" rating at times. Well, a couple of other women overheard me. The following week, they approached me and asked me to a bible meeting. I thanked them but said no thanks. They insisted, telling me it really was in my honor. What did that mean? Well, they explained that they heard what I had said and they were worried about my soul. So basically, they were working on a biblical intervention on my behalf.

First instinct is to get upset. But I didn't. I kept my cool, and actually gave them credit - after all it can not be easy to go to someone and tell them your afraid they are going to hell. I told them thank you again, for their concern. And accepted the fact that they were going to pray for me, again with my thanks. Because after all, more prayers for you just can't hurt. Nothing will be done to me but God's will anyway.

In the meantime I have been working hard at counting my blessings. I have so many friends in medical crisis right now and I felt very selfish and ashamed that I had been focused on my own issues that I had overlooked some of the severity of their problems. And this particular day I was focusing on my children and what a blessing they are to us. I had a woman say that although she was not going to hurry along the circumstances she really could not wait to see God's face, and was commenting on how beautiful it must be. And offhandedly I said I saw the face of God every time I looked at my children. I know, I know sappy. :) That is ok, it's true. Of all the places on earth that I have seen God never has it been more true then when I look at my kids. Well, her jaw hit the floor, she truly had a look of surprise on her face.

It dawned on me later that she was probably so surprised because this was one of the same women who had recently offered to save my soul, maybe she was shocked that her prayers were working so fast, or maybe she was wondering how such a lost soul could say such a thing. I'm not really sure.

Now I learned a lesson there. If I had been angry the first time we talked she would not have really heard me the second time. If I had been hateful she probably would have steered way clear of me and not given me the gift of really voicing the fact that I do see God in my children and how much of a blessing that really is.

And secondly, I hope that maybe she has learned that maybe she was a little to quick to judge me as a complete loss. I am not sure I will ever know.

I could go on and on with examples. But hopefully those have been enough to illustrate my point.

All of this is to illustrate that we can indeed evangelize to others by living a life with the intention to be good, to be like Jesus. Will I ever be as Jesus was - probably not, Jesus was after all perfection. But we are supposed to strive for that. And if we can act in love, and speak in love, and live in love, and emit love no matter what our own circumstances are then we can show others what it is like to live in the knowledge that God loves us, sins and all. But it is also to show that in order to LIVE IN LOVE then we need to be open to receive all the love our Father has to give us, which means that we need to listen more and not just expect that God will slap us up side the head with all the lessons we need to learn. Because sometimes it is the effort of listening that shows us the true lesson.

God Bless You, this day and all days!

Reading 2 for Thruday May 21, 2009
Eph 1:17-23
17 May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and perception of what is revealed, to bring you to full knowledge of him.
18 May he enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds for you, how rich is the glory of the heritage he offers among his holy people,
19 and how extraordinarily great is the power that he has exercised for us believers; this accords with the strength of his power
20 at work in Christ, the power which he exercised in raising him from the dead and enthroning him at his right hand, in heaven,
21 far above every principality, ruling force, power or sovereignty, or any other name that can be named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.
22 He has put all things under his feet, and made him, as he is above all things, the head of the Church;
23 which is his Body, the fullness of him who is filled, all in all.