Holy___!

I often find my self thinking like Paul, “For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” (Romans 7:19) Little things separate me from God’s heart when I want to draw near, and that grieves my spirit. My prayer life has recently been more of me asking for the Holy Spirit’s direction and guidance because there are still some rooms in my soul that need God’s remodeling work.

As we have learned over the past few weeks at The Vine, the Holy Spirit is God presently available to each of us. As I have been contemplating God making Himself available to me, I have had to take a serious look at what motivates me. Buried in this inward journey God again hit me with the obvious; the Holy Spirit is just as His name declares…HOLY, and cannot dwell in unholy places. That’s not to say that we, who sin, cannot have the Holy Spirit, but we can’t actively sin and expect the power of God to be at work in us.

The conclusion I have come to is that our motives tell the story, and what God has revealed to me is that I am motivated by happiness more than holiness. In The Pursuit of Man, A.W. Tozer writes, "The true ideal is not to be happy but to be holy. The Holy heart alone can be the habitation of the Holy Ghost." So my challenge is to die to the idea of happiness and grow in the pursuit of holiness, only then can The Holy Spirit become a full time resident and be more than occasional guest, bringing with Him Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faith, Gentleness, and Self Control. That is when we will truly experience the abundant life Jesus promised.

Halloween 2008

We were lucky to go back to L'town and continue our tradition of trick-or-treating with the Ryan family. They are some of the nicest people and we miss having them as our neighbors!! Calen and their son, Chase, are big buds. Ellie Grace likes to hang out with him too. Emmy Kate loves to tackle and kiss (to the point of gnawing) their youngest son, Cade. Taking pictures with these guys was not an easy task and sadly, we didn't get any of Cade. He was the cutest - he was Eeyore with a removable tail!! Calen was a pirate, Ellie Grace was a flower/fairy, and Chase was Buzz Lightyear with blow-up wings. The peacock costume had to return this year and Emmy Kate loved it!!

Thoughts on a Wednesday morning

"Be still and know that I am God;
I will be exhalted among the nations,
I will be exhalted on the earth."
Psalm 46:10