Laced With Grace

When you woke up this morning, was it your intention to change the world?

Most of us probably got up and thought about what to wear or what to cook for dinner or our thoughts immediately raced to all of the tasks that we must tackle for the day.

Changing the world was probably the furthest thing from our mind. To say that we started our day out this morning with the purpose of changing the world almost sounds delusional. But if you think about it, each one of us changes the world each and every day whether we want to or not.

Most of the time the change is a simple small act of kindness (or lack of). Small acts of love and kindness can make a huge difference in our lives and the lives of others.

The difference that we make with our spouse or our kids starts with the interaction with them long before we even leave the house for the day. A little moment of affection or attention could very well alter the rest of their day!

The difference that we make with those that we do not know starts with not only our actions but our reactions. How do you react to the driver on the freeway that suddenly cuts you off? If you slow down and let the car in or if you blare your horn and give a dirty look can actually alter the way that this stranger will look at you. They will say “What a jerk!” or they will say “There ARE still nice people in this city!”

How about the store clerk, your co-worker or the bank teller? What kind of a difference would a smile or a frown make?

These are all examples of small differences. None of these are actually world shattering feats. These differences will not cure AIDS or even alter the course of World Affairs….but who says that these little things will not make a difference in someone’s life!

JUDE 21-22 “keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. (22) and on some have compassion, making a distinction.”

Each of us have a choice, daily, about making a positive difference. Strange, isn’t it, to think that WE have the ability to choose when we can make a difference. Nobody forces us do extraordinary things. Maybe “ordinary” is the status quo … but Jesus did not settle for the ordinary! The difference Jesus made from the ordinary to the extraordinary is that He wanted to make a difference and He could make a difference!

WHAT KIND OF A DIFFERENCE WILL YOU MAKE TODAY IN YOUR WORLD?

Visit my blog daily at: http://womentakingastand.blogspot.com/

For a weekly prayer blog, visit me at: http://wmfirstassemblyofgodprays.blogspot.com/

Luke 2:49-50 “Why were you searching for me? he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” But they [Mary and Joseph] did not understand what He was saying to them.

Ministry is really hard. Even when things are not “ministry” I have a tough time balancing things in order of importance. Fun always seems to be on the top of my list no matter who it is with or what it involves. I am a girl that loves to have a good time – that could be just sitting on the porch giggling with a friend, the kids, or Clay. I love to laugh. But I can honestly say there is nothing I love more than serving His people to bring them closer to the Lord or my greatest joy – bringing them to their first realization of needing a Savior!! That too is fun to me!

So why is ministry so hard then? I have a hard time doing ministry and not letting other things fall way behind. When we made the decision to move to Illinois I seriously thought I would most likely never speak again. That thought alone gave me sheer panic attacks – not really, but sort of. Ministry and specifically speaking is like breathing to me. I knew He had confirmed He was not done with me, but I just could see how it would happen. God was taking away all the “props” – huge mega churches, well known ministry name, many well established speakers to glean knowledge from, opportunity on every corner, extremely supportive Christian radio stations, Bible Belt, etc… So as the calls came in for Jan. – May ’08 the previous year I accepted every engagement. (On top of everything else I had no idea in ’07 I would be moving into another house the following year.) I just knew it was coming to an end and I wanted to do all I could until it was over. Well, what happened – it got very, very tough on my family. I found myself gone 4 or 5 weekends in a row. I found myself speaking 3 or 4 times a week. I found my kids angry with me because mom was always at the computer preparing for the next thing – instead of supper, baseball, basketball, whatever it may be! Clay and I were at each other because of this huge scheduling debacle. I got myself in a serious pickle all in the name of ministry.

I see in the verse above that Jesus has a very similar problem with his parents. They had left Jerusalem after celebrating Passover. Traveling for one day they suddenly realized Jesus, 12 years old at the time, was not with them. It took 3 days to find Him, but where else? – in the temple. I love the momma’s response, “Why have you treated us like this?” And as any 12 year old might respond, “Momma, what’s up? You knew I had to be in here.” But Mary and Joseph did not understand. I am sure it was more than just natural for Jesus to be in the Father’s house. It was His house, it was His Dad’s place, it was were He belonged – just not yet, full time!

For me that is the hard thing about ministry. I know we are dealing with the eternal. I am helping many to understand that if He is absent in their lives, eternity will not be good. It seems like a no-brainer to be involved in and for all to understand the importance of it. But I am not Jesus. I have not figured out how to balance it all for their best. I want to be about my Father’s business, but that does not mean always away from the home. There are 4 little toe heads needing ministering to right at my hips. I certainly never meant to hurt any of my family in this busy ministering time, but ironically I was the one to not understand what HE was saying to me. Hopefully I pray there will be a day to be busy as a bee speaking across the nation or more, but for now I must be about the Father’s business and that is mostly at home.

Leigh Gray is married to Clayton and has four children: Tucker, Emmajoy, Sarahjane, and Elleigh. She is the author of Mommy Moments Devotional booklet and Journaling the Joy of Jesus; an intimate look into her personal walk with the LORD. Leigh is the Co-Founder of Speaking Thru Me Ministries, a fee-free event resource for churches. You can find more information about Leigh Gray at: Speaking Thru Me Ministries or her personal blog Speaking Thru Me

Have  you ever heard of a spiritual bar of soap?

I hadn’t heard of one until I took a Bible class years ago.  Our teacher was a godly, mature woman named Irene.  Many of the people in this class were new Christians who were trying to learn what it meant to walk with God.

Irene had been widowed many years ago.  She and her new preacher husband were in an auto accident.  As a result of that accident, Irene lost her dear husband and also her hand.  She wears a prosthesis but it doesn’t seem to hold her back.  She continues to love the Lord and to serve Him by faithfully by teaching others.

Irene explained to our class that we had a choice to make.

Yes, we were saved through the blood of Jesus and our sins were forgiven …past, present and future. But we still had to live in our fleshly bodies on this side of eternity.  So, we would be tempted by our flesh to sin.  I remember her so clearly looking into my eyes.  At least, I thought she was looking directly at me!

Irene would tell us how much God loves us and that He wants what’s best for us.  When she said this, I used to think of  Monica, the angel in the TV show Touched by an Angel, when she would tell her assignment who she was and give them a message from God.

Irene told us that we still have a free will to choose.  We could follow the Holy Spirit’s leading or …we could choose to satisfy our flesh. That would mean not submitting to what God would have us do and instead doing what we want to do.  And do you know what?  It’s called SIN!

But do you know what Irene would do next?  She would look at us and tell us that we had a spiritual bar of soap.  She read 1 John 1:9:

What a blessing that was!  And do you know what?  Even though I may have grown in my Christian walk since the time of Irene’s class, I still remember so well about my spiritual bar of soap.  When I am convicted of my sin, I immediately (or later) say 1 John 1:9.  And the intimacy with the Lord is restored and once again I’m at peace.

I’m just thrilled that I had the experience of  a teacher like Irene.  How about you?  Was there someone in your life who taught you how to walk with God?  To this day, Irene continues to teach this class in my church.  Only the Lord knows the number of people she has discipled and blessed and …I am one of them.

Thank you Lord and thank you Irene for your faithfulness to His calling.

Blessings,

Debbie Petras

Heart Choices