Adventures: Day 7

I have several different things/thoughts I'd like to write about today. They are very different from each other.

First, I want to make mention that I do not consider myself to be part of any certain religion. Each one has it's own rules or regulations that you must conform to or they say you are going to Hell. I grew up Baptist. That was the preferred religion of my family at that time. I remember all the arguments about anything and everything. I remember all the rules and demands and then the judgemental comments. I grew up believing that speaking in tongues was not of God. It was considered a showboat act just to get attention. I grew up believing that women could not be preachers or teachers or have any kind of role in the church. I grew up believing that God would punish you if you made a mistake. Needless to say after some things happened in my life I quit going to a Baptist church. I started having different beliefs, different opinions on things. I married in 2006 and my husband was raised in an Assembly of God church. I guess that's pentecostal not sure exactly. I told him before we got married "I'll never go to that kind of church." Well after searching for a home church where did we land? Assembly of God. I absolutely loved that church for a season. We did stop attending because of political issues among the people. It still just didn't feel quite right. My mother had started a Bible study per my husbands request so we just started saying that was church. Afterall, church is not a building it's the people. Now I just consider myself Christian. If you look up the word Christian it simply means Christ-like, one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ. Isn't that the goal anyways? Aren't we supposed to be as much like Christ as we can? I do realize that we will never be the perfect Christian without sin or blame. If that were possible Jesus died in vain, without cause. We do however strive for this perfection as it brings us closer to God and we get a more intimate relationship with Him. Our relationship with Jesus should be the same kind we have with our physical friends. We should "call" Him often. We should go to Him to vent our anger. We should take His advice and use it. We strive for a blameless life if we have Christ centered in our hearts and minds. Let me explain. Blameless is not the same as sinless. Blameless means to be found without blame. If you sin out of reaction it's not the same as planning an active sin. Does that make sense? Here's an example-If I stump my toe and say something that Jesus wouldn't say it's not the same as sitting down and planning out a sentence with cursings in it. Our goal is to be found blameless, not sinless. I'm not saying that would make us perfect. I'm just stating the difference between the two words. I believe I'm living the best life I can right now for God. I do not do anything without consulting my Father first. He always has the best answer and solution to my worries.

Second, Does anyone ever wonder what their purpose on earth is? Have you ever been in a place in your life where you ask "what am I doing?" I have always believed we were all created for a purpose, a reason, a meaning, whether it be big or small. The Bible says The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever— do not abandon the works of your hands. Psalms 138:8. You can look up the word purpose on Biblegateway and it lists a few of these verses. That is proof enough that God had a unique plan all along for me. It has taken me years to find that purpose but I do know what it is. I realized just the other day that had God shown me my purpose earlier I would not have been at a place to fully utilize and perform it. God uses the waiting time to prepare us, to strengthen us and build our faith to a point that we are then strong enough to carry out His desire and plan. It's just like teaching a baby to walk. You don't just stand him up on the floor and say "go." First they learn to sit, then stand and then they walk. It's just like that with us and God. He isn't going to drop a big huge task on us without training and preparation. If you are searching for your purpose the best way to find it is an open communication with God, daily. You have to make time for God or you won't notice when He speaks.


I guess that's everything on my mind today. I'm thankful that I'm on this adventure with God learning new things daily. I have learned more in the last few months than I have my entire life going to church. I have learned how to use my faith and God's word in a proactive way. I have learned the different ways to listen to God. I'm so grateful for my family and God bringing us all together for Him.