August 3, 2009

God is ABLE!

I have a fresh word from God that I will claim each day of this journey. A new piece of scripture that I will recite every day throughout this process. Ephesians 3:20-21. My God is ABLE!

I just got home from my weekend in Greensboro with Beth Moore, Kay Arthur, and Priscilla Shirer. Words cannot even express how amazing these women are. Their love for Christ and their commitment to follow Him each day of their lives is nothing short of spectacular! Christ spoke directly to my heart this weekend and He brought a fresh Word from His scripture. While all the women were incredibly encouraging and inspiring, it was Ms. Priscilla that God used to speak to me directly. Ephesians 3:20-21 says "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." I have heard this verse a million times, but never heard it broken down like Priscilla did for us this weekend. She took this verse step by step to make sure that we did not miss an ounce of what the Lord packed into this verse. First, there is a TIME. The very first word in this verse is "Now". There is a specific time to look at the ability of God and that time is now. If you read carefully the first 3 chapters of Ephesians, Paul is making an extravagant request to God. He's not asking for something small, he's not shying away from the giant requests in His heart b/c he limits God and puts His ability into a box, He blatantly lays out before God the extravagant requests on his heart. He is saying that NOW is the time to believe in the ability of God. Ms. Kay had reminded us the night before that we need to constantly "fix our eyes on Jesus" - it's a deliberate choice we make to choose God every day and believe in His ability to do all things. Then there is a TURNING - "to Him". We must turn our attention and our focus towards Christ alone. Next there is a TRUTH - "who IS able to do". Followed by TRANSCENDENCE and TOTALITY - "exceedingly, abundantly, above and beyond all that we can ask or imagine". Then comes TURBO POWER - "according to the POWER that is at work within us (meaning the Holy Spirit of God)". And finally there is a TRIBUTE - " to HIM be all the glory and honor and praise forever and ever, amen"! God is concerned about ALL that concerns you (me). Our God is willing AND able to do anything for us. The question is, am I a disciple who truly believes that He CAN? We were challenged to pray the following prayer: "Lord, do this one thing (fill in the blank with your request) . . . or something better!" To go "beyond the beyond". Christ is able to do anything He wants with us. He is able to heal my body of infertility. He is ABLE to provide the means for this adoption to come into fruition. And the best part about that to me, is that He is able to do these things in a way that can only point to Himself and draw others to the glory and the majesty of our great, BIG God! "Thank you Jesus for being willing and able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above and beyond, all that I can even hope or imagine . . . to YOU alone be the praise and the honor and the glory forever!"
Here is a picture of Travis Cottrell and his praise team leading our hearts into worship (an amazingly blessed time before God).

And here they are: Ms. Beth, Ms. Kay, and Ms. Priscilla!

I'd like to introduce you to my soul sista! This is Kelly Sides. Kelly is my dear, sweet friend. She is my prayer warrior. She is my source of comfort and companionship on this earth. Kelly has a heart as big as the ocean and she loves me just that much! I would experience far more troubles on this journey if it were not for the sweet love and sincerity of spirit in my friend Kelly. God places people in our life for specific seasons and periods of time, and this season is Kelly's season! I'm so fortunate to have her every single day! She is someone that I can laugh with, cry with, Praise Jesus with, experience Jesus with, and just be still and silent with. I love her!