A charge: Be Intentional!

"Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.  They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.  They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity....

BUT that is NOT the way you learned Christ!!----assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through DECEITFUL desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds , and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.....

Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor....Be angry and do not sin;...give no opportunity to the devil...Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but ONLY such as is good for building up....Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you....BE KIND to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as GOD IS CHRIST FORGAVE YOU.  

Be IMITATORS of God, therefore as dearly loved children and LIVE A LIFE OF LOVE, just as Christ loved us and GAVE HIMSELF UP FOR US as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

paraphrase Ephesians 4:17-5:2

This is a passage that I have read over and over for the past year and a half.  Every time I read it, I am reminded of what I am called to practice in my everyday life.  I am to no longer walk as a person that does not know Jesus and His great great love for me.  I am not to walk as someone who is blind to the evilness I am capable of.  I am to practice in these things...to be angry but not sin.  To only speak what is could build up my brothers and sisters.  To stop being bitter and walking around with a sack on my back of others wrongdoings.  To be kind and loving and compassionate.  I need to be tenderhearted towards those I do not want to be tender to!  I need to forgive.  I need to live a life of love.  (Thanks Shannon for this reminder!)  I am to do these things because of how worthy God is of our praise and any good work we do!

In two days I'll be leaving for Lafayette, Indiana (not Illinois!)  to partake in training towards counseling Christians with the truth of the Bible.  Last year I was counseled by a woman in Manhattan at Grace Baptist who is certified as a Biblical counselor through a program called National Association of Neuthetic Counseling.  Faith Baptist Church in Lafayette has developed a ministry to equip and teach believers in the church to be able to admonish others through the teaching of God's Word through NANC organization.  Admonish means to come alongside someone, to hear their need, and be able to apply God's word to their life.  I will be taking a class at the church learning about various topics and studying God's Word specific to them. The class meets one day a week, from 9am to 9pm and will end in late November.  We will be required to sit in on sessions with counselors/counselees from the church to observe different styles and methods. (We will be required to maintain a level of confidentiality throughout the class).  I am really interested to see which ones God will place me in to learn from.  We will have quizes, daily readings, and papers.  

Currently, I am waiting to hear back about a possible internship with a ministry specific to women in troubled situations.  In January of this year, Faith Baptist opened a house across from the church building called the Vision of Hope: a residential treatment center for women ages 14-28 struggling with : unplanned pregnancy, drug/alcohol abuse, eating disorders, self-harm.  There are different types of staff involved with the girls, ranging from counselors to mentors/interns, to volunteers.  I desire to be involved with this ministry in some way while I am there.  

I will try to keep this blog updated with what I will be doing up there!  If you know me well, you know that I would love to hear thoughts and also to discuss about the topics I will be writing about.  

I am going to miss T-town, and my friends and family greatly!!  God is always working and I know He will be faithful to all of us this fall as we encounter trial and challenges.  God is worthy to be praised!  

Let's keep in touch!!

Make your calling and election sure

"His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and VERY GREAT PROMISES, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

For this very reason, make EVERY effort to supplement your faith with virtue , and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.  

Therefore brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.  For in this way there will be richly provided for you and entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

2 Peter 1:3-11