by Cathy Baker | Faith |
by Cathy Baker
{ Day 14 }
Would you consider yourself a competitive person? See if any of these five signs show up on your radar, compliments of Story Pick:
1. You get super crazy when you’re about to lose a game.
2. When you are on the treadmill at the gym you have to go faster than the person next to you.
3. When you lose, you take it personal.
4. You fake congratulate your opponent (if he/she beats you.)
5. Your competition doesn’t have an age…kids to the elderly, bring ’em on!
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| Who needs “Team Gwen” shirts? (The Voice) |
It’s fun watching our children compete in sports and competition certainly offers many life lessons hard knocks along the way. Sometimes, though, this competitive spirit can trickle into our churches. If names were stitched on the back of jerseys, some might read:
Dunker
Sprinkler
Confessor or
Shouter, just to name a few.
A competitive spirit can even occur in churches who are very similar.
It’s for this reason (and many more) that I’m grateful to be part of a church that believes in partnering rather than competing. A few tangible ways this philosophy is fleshed out at Summit Upstate:
- Our pastors/elders often pray for other churches within our community on Sunday mornings.
- Summit blesses other nearby churches financially on a regular basis.
- We are encouraged to pray for the churches passed on our way to Summit on Sunday mornings.
As one of our lead pastors, Jason Malone, points out: one local church won’t reach a city.
Personally, I’m also trying to become more intentional about lifting up Gospel-driven churches if they’re criticized in my presence. I can’t say that’s something I’ve always done, unfortunately, but now I try to find what a church is doing right, knowing they will reach people our church never will, and vice versa. We’re all on the same team!
Staying in Step with the Spirit: Some of us are hands, some are feet—but we’re all one Body in Christ Jesus. When we move as the Body was designed to, we can’t help but stay in step with the Holy Spirit, bringing much glory to God.
Heavenly Father, may our churches stand firm in truth with our fingers wide open, releasing any spirit of competitiveness in order that we might embrace the blessing of partnership instead. None of us, Lord. All of You.
#Write31Days past posts:
{ Day 1 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via Our Senses
{ Day 2 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via Less Clutter
{ Day 3 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via Healthy Relationships
{ Day 4 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via God’s Creation
{ Sunday }
{ Day 6 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via Specific Prayer
{ Day 7 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs
{ Day 8 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via A Soul Search (with guest Ginger Harrington)
{ Day 9 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via Vulnerability
{ Day 10 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via God’s Creation, Wk. 2
{ Day 11 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via A Moonlit Sunroof
{ Sunday }
{ Day 13 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via A Wild Goose Chase
by Cathy Baker | Faith |
by Cathy Baker
{ Day 13 }
When I consider those books that have left an indelible mark on my life (other than the Bible, of course) Wild Goose Chase…Reclaim the Adventure of Pursuing God by Mark Batterson rarely slips past without notice.
Here’s a taste of why that’s true:
“Jesus likened the working of the Holy Spirit to the wind. Sometimes the Spirit is a light wind from the south. Other times He is a gale-force wind that batters our ship. Sometimes the Spirit is a headwind that seems to frustrate our plans. And other times He is the wind at our back. Chasing the Wild Goose [you’ll have to read the book to understand this reference!] is recognizing which way the wind of the Spirit is blowing and responding to it. It requires a moment-by-moment sensitivity to the Wild Goose. And you have to trust His promptings more than you trust your own plans. Instead of getting frustrated by fighting the wind, you appreciate the fact that something uncontrollable and unpredictable will get you where God wants you to go.” -Mark Batterson, Wild Goose Chase
What initially drew me to the book was Mark’s first book, In A Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. It’s one of my top three favorite reads ever—and that’s saying something. Secondly, I like the word “adventure” in the tag line. I’m not an adventurous person, never have been. For years I felt less-than because of it. And honestly, I still do in some respects. Don’t get me wrong. I’m a learner, an explorer, and an observer of wee details…but perhaps not as most expect. (Until I hit that mark, I’ll continue living vicariously via the Susan Stilwell’s of the world. Love you, friend!)
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| My adventurous Hokie friend, Susan Stilwell |
If I’m not careful, however, my natural bend towards predictability can weigh down my steps, causing me to miss the adventure that comes in pursuing God.
“I want to see God do things in me and through me that I am absolutely incapable of so I can’t possibly take credit for them.” – Mark Batterson, Wild Goose Chase
Staying in Step with the Holy Spirit: Unpredictability in the hands of the Holy Spirit is anything but.
Heavenly Father, regardless of how we were wired by Your hands, help us to never settle for a predictable walk with You. Keep us in step with Your Spirit as we wholeheartedly pursue You.
#Write31Days past posts:
{ Day 1 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via Our Senses
{ Day 2 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via Less Clutter
{ Day 3 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via Healthy Relationships
{ Day 4 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via God’s Creation
{ Sunday }
{ Day 6 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via Specific Prayer
{ Day 7 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs
{ Day 8 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via A Soul Search (with guest Ginger Harrington)
{ Day 9 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via Vulnerability
{ Day 10 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via God’s Creation, Wk. 2
{ Day 11 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via A Moonlit Sunroof
{ Sunday }
by Cathy Baker | Faith |
by Cathy Baker
{ Day 11 }
during our 31 Day Challenge.
Enjoy.
#Write31Days past posts:
{ Day 1 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via Our Senses
{ Day 2 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via Less Clutter
{ Day 3 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via Healthy Relationships
{ Day 4 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via God’s Creation
{ Sunday }
{ Day 6 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via Specific Prayer
{ Day 7 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via A Soul Search
by Cathy Baker | Faith |
by Cathy Baker
{ Day 10 }
Our conversation lingered as stone gray clouds shuffled by in a show-like manner. The moon was full and bright, no doubt the star of the show.
The discussion, while weighty, was uplifting as my sweet friend pointed me to the One we’d just studied in the company of other God-seekers.
Pulling out of her driveway, I hit the magic button allowing the sunroof to open, inviting warm Fallish breezes and moonlight to accompany me on my ride home. Suddenly, going from point A to point B became an exhilarating connection to God’s creation, reminding me that the same God who set the universe in motion is the same God who cares about me, about you, and every detail in between.
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| by Ainsley Allmark @DolphinDancer |
Staying in Step with the Spirit: Connecting with God often happens in the most unexpected places. Let’s open our eyes to ordinary times and places, asking God to ignite our senses. Soak them in, see God’s goodness, and delight in the One we call Father.
Heavenly Father, thank You for making the ordinary extraordinary.
When
I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the
stars, which You have ordained; – See more at:
http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Moon#sthash.B9BYszB1.dpuf
When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place… Psalm 8:3
#Write31Days past posts:
{ Day 1 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via Our Senses
{ Day 2 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via Less Clutter
{ Day 3 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via Healthy Relationships
{ Day 4 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via God’s Creation
{ Sunday }
{ Day 6 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via Specific Prayer
{ Day 7 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via A Soul Search
by Cathy Baker | Faith |
by Cathy Baker
{ Day 8 }
There’s a woman in our current Bible Study that no one in the group had met prior to our gatherings.
She’s beautiful, possessing a gentle smile. Yet the tender spots from past wounds surface when she speaks.
Last week, as she thoughtfully shared her hurt from a past church experience, I was moved by her transparency before people she had never met prior to this study. Her vulnerability not only gave us an opportunity to love on her but to also pray for her throughout the week. And, because she was willing to be vulnerable, others were too.
Yes, vulnerability can backfire. I have wounds to prove it. Don’t we all? But choosing to remain fully guarded is costly when relating with others and especially with God. Mary poured out fragrance on our Savior’s feet and David danced naked through the streets. However, no greater example of vulnerability exists more than Jesus Himself.
Tim Keller wrote a sermon on the gifts of Christmas given to us through Christ. One of
those gifts is the ability to be vulnerable in relationships. He says,
“In the gift of Christmas, the unassailable, omnipotent God became a
baby, giving us the ultimate example of letting our defenses down.”
Staying in Step with the Spirit: When we choose to be vulnerable with people we trust, we become transparent and when we’re transparent, we’re not seen. God is.
Heavenly Father, thank You for the gift of vulnerability fleshed out through your Son. Because He chose to become vulnerable we now have the ability to do the same with others, and most importantly, with You. How can we fathom such love?
Does vulnerability come easy for you or is it a struggle? Either way, you’re not alone.
“Love anything and your heart will be wrung and
possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must
give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with
hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in
the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe,
dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it
will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be
vulnerable.” -C.S. Lewis
