Greetings my dear and sweet friends! I hope this finds each of you growing in our blessed Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ's love and grace. I've missed chatting with you all, reading what is going on in your lives, and finding encouragement as you pursue your walk with God. So, HOW are YOU? :o) I am doing well; as my title hints I now have an excellent time to breathe . . . school is out! I generally enjoy school, however, once summer began to stretch and bloom all about me, I've had a very difficult time keeping my nose to the books. Thank you Lord for seeing me through the year!
I thought for this post I would now like to share what I learned while at the Ladies Conference! (A true and real thank you to Miss Linda for reminding me! :o) So before I begin, let me skip away to light the candle, push play on the piano music, and turn some lights on because I have something lovely to tell you--and I may get a little long winded. :o)
First, it was such a blessing to spend a day and half with five other ladies from our church. It was Amazing fun getting to know each of them a little better; it was neat because we had ladies to from almost every age group, starting at 19 and going up to 70 I believe! I believe forty was the only age not present. We all met at the church around 4:30 or 5 in the morning and were quickly off on our about three hour drive to Joplin, Missouri.
Our first speaker was Mrs. Julie Gariss. Immediately, we felt welcome as this sweet lady came upon the
stage. Her first topic was titled "Holi-mess." (I quickly felt a connection to that one :o) Some of the verses she mentioned were Hebrews 12:14
"Follow peace with all [men], and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:"
and II Corinthians 7:1
"Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."
Holiness--without spot, clean, perfect . . . something so foreign today. Holiness--separated, pulled away, made special. There is so much meaning in this one word. I must admit that lately I've been allowing my vision to be divided away from Christ. Idols of self and earthly pleasures have fogged my sight; I have fallen away from seeking holiness. To seek after holiness means that one must seek after God for He alone is holy. I thank God for His renewed mercies and compassion He has on silly me.
Mrs. Gariss went on to ask "Who is my [your] Daddy?" What are the attributes of God? She lists several verses which wonderfully and fearfully describe our Heavenly Father's unalterable and unending holiness.
Exodus 19:3--When God came down on Mt. Sinai
II Samuel 6:4--When Uzziah died for touching the tabernacle
Isaiah 6:1--Isaiah's vision of the God
Oh, our Lord is an awesome God. He isn't a sweet old grandfather gently smiling upon his children's mistakes, He isn't a jolly old man ready to hand out candy and allow us to live for our complete (and mistaken) happiness. No, our God is holy. He is nothing less and therefore He can accept nothing less. Many choose to ignore the holiness of God but we mustn't. God's holiness is one of the foundation of our salvation. We need a Saviour because we are sinners and we are sinners because there is a holy God.
Mrs. Gariss had two quote which I specifically enjoyed. The first is one by A.W. Tozer which reads,
"We take refuge from God in God"
Isn't it true? God is not one who gently overlooks sin but He is also not waiting to crush us each time we fall short of His will. No, He is merciful--seeking us as a groom seeks His bride.
"It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness."
Lamentations 3:22, 23
The second lovely quote Mrs. Gariss shared was that "on her I.D. tag it says: I am His and He is mine."
Oh, such truth and security.
This first lesson was the perfect way to start the weekend at the Ladies Conference. At the bottom of my notes I quickly wrote, "Who is my God the real holy God?" To learn that my God is holy--to know this, to rest in it would surely change my life. It would mold my character from a holi-mess into holiness. :o)
I hope I made sense in writing all of that down! :o) Lord willing, I also hope to continue posting my notes from the other sessions as the week continues. Thank you all for being so patient with me as I have been finishing up school; each of you are special blessings to me!
With much love from your sister in Christ,
Frannie, it is so uplifting to hear about your conference and the things that meant so much to you. Keep sharing!
ReplyDeleteI look forward to reading more about the ladies' conference and more about what has been going on in your day-to-day life. I found myself nodding fervently while reading your description of the speaker on the holiness of God. I particularly liked this statement:
ReplyDelete"Oh, our Lord is an awesome God. He isn't a sweet old grandfather gently smiling upon his children's mistakes, He isn't a jolly old man ready to hand out candy and allow us to live for our complete (and mistaken) happiness. No, our God is holy. He is nothing less and therefore He can accept nothing less. Many choose to ignore the holiness of God but we mustn't. God's holiness is one of the foundation of our salvation. We need a Saviour because we are sinners and we are sinners because there is a holy God."
I believe that is a serious problem in the Christian community today. God is perceived as either a Santa Claus-like figure who exists only to give us what we want (this thought makes me cringe) or, as you said, a "sweet old grandfather" indulgently overlooking the mistakes of His creation. God is merciful and kind, but He is also the same God who could not permit Uzziah to touch the holy Tabernacle (which He had forbidden to be touched) and He does not look lightly upon the willfulness of His creation. In fact, the quote I shared in my own blog post this morning speaks to that very subject:
"He therefore is the devout man, who lives no longer to his own will, or the way and spirit of the world, but to the sole will of God; who considers God in every thing, who serves God in every thing, who makes all the parts of his common life parts of piety, by doing every thing in the Name of God, and under such rules as are conformable to His will and glory."
May God grant us a spirit of love and obedience, and a true and overwhelming desire to be holy for Him, set apart from the thoughts, motivations and practices of this world. May He find us faithful when He returns. And may that day be very, very soon!
P.S.: thank you so much for kindly linking to my blog! Your blog is one of my favorites, and I hope you will have more time to post your thoughts, and your activities now that school is out for you. Have a joy-filled weekend, dear Frannie! :)
Thank you for sharing this, Frannie!! That must have been a wonderful conference. I wish I could have attended!! :)
ReplyDeleteOur life has been topsy turvy as of late.. I can safely say that God is giving us a very good lesson on how to TRUST in HIM. It is tough, but so worth it, don't you think?
I was happy to hear a bit of what's been going on in your life. :) School is just starting back up for me, so prayers, perhaps, that I can stick with the books. :)
In Christ's Service,
Sarah
Just popping in to say hello. I was just thinking about you this morning and wanted to let you know. I hope all is going well. Look forward to hearing what you are up to these days.
ReplyDeleteMrs. Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your encouraging comments! I am so thankful to have you stopping by!
May the Lord bless your day!
Frannie
Dear Miss Linda,
ReplyDeleteThank you for leaving such a lovely comment!
I truly enjoyed your post and I hope to write down that very quote and stick it around the house to remind me of my duty to God--thank you for sharing!
You are such a dear blessing to me!
I love you, my sister in Christ! Keep pressing upward for Him! You will be in my prayers today!
Frannie
Dear Sarah,
ReplyDeleteGreetings friend! I also wih you could have attended the conference--that means I could have met you! :) (Wouldn't that be fun?)
I will be praying for you and your family as you go through this trying time. Yes, I do know that all pain and troubles are worth everything if they teach us to rest and trust in the faithful and merciful arms of Jesus! :) Perhaps Hebrews 7:25 will be a blessing to you?
"Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, eeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them."
I will aslo be praying for you as you begin school again--I know how tiring it can sometimes be. :) (You can do it!!)
You will be in my thought and prayers today!
Your sister in Christ, Frannie