Starting out...

OK, true confession time...I've never blogged before. Never have felt the need. But at Management Team last week, it was suggested that a Grace Community blog would be a great way to keep everyone connected (and accountable) this year while we read through the New Testament. After reading the first few days of readings, I really felt that I should take the plunge and start the Blog. So, since I'm trying to listen and obey (you'll understand after you read the posting below), here it is! I hope you all will join with me and share what you are learning and hearing as you read through the NT with me!!

I'm really excited about reading the New Testament this year (I'm only committing to that - if I read Psalms and Proverbs, that's a bonus for me). I've never read the NT from start to finish. Of course, I'm already behind. And I just got started yesterday, the 8th, but already God is revealing awesome things to me!

In the first verses what stood out was that everyone LISTENED and OBEYED. Mary listened to the angel and instead of panicking and saying "I can't do that" she obeyed. Joseph knew that his family would be ridiculed, but he, too, listened and obeyed. The wise men heard in a dream that they were not to return to Herod and they obeyed. God told Joseph to take his family and flee to Egypt and he obeyed.

This makes me wonder - how many times have I heard the Holy Spirit speaking to me and I knowingly didn't listen or obey? I feel very small, very lacking in faith. I'm asking God to increase my faith, to give me His courage, His strength to listen and obey when He speaks. To Live Large!!

I was getting a bit discouraged with day 2 and 3. Nothing was connecting with me. When that happens, sometimes I'll read a different version - this time I chose The Message and that did the trick. In The Message, verse 7 says the Pharisees and Sadducees were "showing up for a baptismal experience because it was becoming the popular thing to do..." John (who definitely Lived Large) angrily challenges them saying it's their lives that must be changed - that just being baptized won't work. Even being descendants of Abraham doesn't make them special. He tells them "...they are a dime a dozen. What counts is your life. Is it green and blossoming? Because if it's deadwood it goes on the fire." And in verses 11 and 12 when he speaks of Jesus "...the real action comes next. The main character in this drama...will ignite the kingdom life within you, fire within you, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out."

So many things run through my mind. How many times do I do something, buy something, watch something because it's the popular thing to do? Is my life green and blossoming? I don't want to be deadwood. I'm asking God to help me see life through His eyes. To help my life blossom with the truth of His love and who He is.

John's words about Jesus are powerful! Jesus is the "main character" in the drama...OUR drama...MY drama. Do I recognize him as the main character or have I relegated Him to "supporting actor" or "walk on character" only giving Him a role when it fits into MY storyline? Forgive me, Lord. Forgive me for forgetting that YOU are the most important person in my life.

This all brings me back to the lesson I gleaned from the first day's reading: listen and obey. If all I give in to are my own desires, of course I'm going to be the center of the story. I'm always going to be concentrating on me, me, me, looking for that next thing to make me happy (ah...the Pharisees and Saducees doing the next popular thing). If I don't listen and obey, I will never move from selfish pleasure (deadwood) to a life fulfilled - a life that is green and blossoming - a life Lived Large.