08/01/13

This summer I have asked the Lord to help me be more of a "Mary" in this "Martha" world.

If you look below in my picture you can see that my kitchen is a mess.

In order to learn to be "Mary", I had to let go of "Martha."

In fact, the Lord has been teaching me to do that more and more in the last couple of years.

There was a time in my life that I let everything get in front of my quiet time with the Lord.  It is still something I have trouble with from time to time, but now I MISS it, whereas before I would just shrug it off.

Even after hearing messages on keeping the Lord first, it wasn't until He broke me that I could humbly realize that without Him I am nothing and in order to know Him, I must spend time with Him.

This summer I have been doing a Bible study called Directions by Jeff Adams. 

I am going to be very REAL here.... when I was given this Bible study to do as a way of helping a friend and discipling her, I thought this was going to be a "simple" Bible study and one that I could just roll through because I had already learned the fundamentals of the faith, so this would not be difficult.  I have been doing Beth Moore Bible studies for the past few years and they can go extremely deep.  I had the mindset that since this Bible study was more for new believers it would be more like "review."

Can we say PRIDE?

Can we say... the Lord taught me otherwise!?

I have learned and gained SO MUCH through this study.

I am amazed, but should I really be amazed?  God has His hand in it!  I was so uncertain as to what study I would do this summer, but this one kind of landed in my lap as "Kellie, you are doing THIS one."  I wasn't prepared for what I was going to learn.

But that is the beauty of how the Lord works.  When we are "prepared" we have that issue of pride.... you know, the one I shared a few sentences above that apparently I had a lot of when I first got this study!

I have learned so much more deeply on the reasons WHY I am to glorify the Lord in all I do.  I have learned simply, yet deeply and profoundly.

I am complete in HIM.

Whether I live or die, I am to glorify Him.

He is in control of ALL... why do I even waste time worrying.

He loves me SO MUCH.  I can never fathom how much He loves me.

He wants me to go out and tell others and be BOLD.

He wants me to use my talents for HIM.

I could go on and on...

Now, I realize I have talked a lot about many of these on my blog before.  They are not "new" revelations to me, but the Lord carried me deeper into my understanding of these.

If I had continued to be "Martha" and just skimmed through this Bible study like it was easy peasy, I would have missed out on what He wanted me to know.

I skimmed for too many years of my life.  I don't want to do that anymore.

Because of that, my house did get deep cleaned, but if you looked at it today you wouldn't know it.  We have mess everywhere, it seems.

Does it bother me?

Yes, I would by lying if I said it didn't.

BUT....

... I have learned that this world will pass away... the dust, the mess, the shoes in the middle of the floor, the clothes scattered here and there....

AND....

... what I have learned from my Lord on how to affect eternity for Him will never pass away.

That has caused me to realize that being "Mary" is a great thing even when the world calls out for "Martha" to live in me constantly.

It is a battle I face daily.  It is one I want the Lord to win.

I want my children to see me spending time in His Word.

I want my children to see that I depend on the Lord for my answers and not my own thinking.

I want my children to know... it is OK .... and such a blessing.... to be "MARY" in this "Martha" world.