Monday's Musings

Many years ago, a godly young man by the name Joshua Harris spoke to teens and college students on living a life consecrated to Christ. His seminars impacted many, my daughter's included and the truth that he shared continues on today because it was God's truth. One of the most powerful statements I recall him sharing was on contentment and how it is a choice. Those many years ago, I made a conscious decision to choose to be content regardless of the circumstances I found myself in. When our family moved from California to Colorado I decided I was adopting an "attitude of gratitude" and this was how my blog came to be; it was out of a desire to share encouragement and wisdom with others.

The past several months I have been mulling over contentment again and just what it means, what it isn't and many thoughts around embracing it on a deeper level. Much of this has had to do with our house search and wanting to be right where the Lord wants hubby and I. Many of you know that the Lord has closed the door, at least right now, to us buying our own little nest and it has been challenging to walk through this process. Through it all I've said again and again, I only want to be in His will and would be content to stay put. I had a dear sister in the Lord talk to me about "not settling" and so this has caused me to really ponder, again, true contentment. I can tell you that for me contentment rests solely in Him and it is my attitude that makes the difference. It is being so thankful for the beautiful home we are renting, that we have a roof over our heads and are blessed in our neighborhood with our family across the street and good friends nearby. It is the realization that the Lord has our best interest in His choices for us and that all I am called to do is trust Him. There have been times when I've struggled with not being able to make this house my nest and I will say I haven't mastered this entire process yet. So the last couple of weeks when our pastor has been teaching on Romans 8 I saw there was much truth that I continually need to apply to my life. One of the biggest nuggets of truth was that is it not enough to be baptized in the Spirit of God, sanctified in the Spirit, regenerated in the Spirit, renewed in the Spirit, filled in the Spirit, anointed in the Spirit but we need to walk in the Spirit of God-present tense-an action word. Many in today's churches are resting on what happened many years ago in their spiritual lives but are not daily continuing on being led and walking in His Spirit. So as I continued to ponder this tonight I realised that it is the abiding in the Word of God that keeps us walking in Him. As we are filled with, walk in and are led by His Spirit it is His life and His fruit that pours out of us. As our minds are filled with His thoughts contentment is a by-product of Him. They go hand in hand.

One of the old hymns we sang tonight was Through It All and the words again gave me blessed hope that I have all that I need in Him.


I've had many tears and sorrows,
I've had questions for tomorrow,
there's been times I didn't know right from wrong.
But in every situation,
God gave me blessed consulation,
that my trials come to only make me strong.

Chorus:
Through it all,
through it all,
I've learned to trust in Jesus,
I've learned to trust in God.

Through it all,
through it all,
I've learned to depend upon His Word.

Verse 2:
I've been to lots of places,
I've seen a lot of faces,
there's been times I felt so all alone.
But in my lonely hours,
yes, those precious lonely hours,
Jesus lets me know that I was His own

Chorus

Verse 3:
I thank God for the mountains,
and I thank Him for the valleys,
I thank Him for the storms He brought me through.
For if I'd never had a problem,
I wouldn't know God could solve them,
I'd never know what faith in God could do.

Sweet Blessings to you this day.
Noreen