FROM: Banbury, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
ABOUT ME: Living the highs and lows of life in the adventurous pursuit of God Himself and of who I'm meant to be as the Bride of Christ.
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If you're reading - let me know, leave me a comment, say hi.
And be blessed.
:)
Here's a thought to leave you with:
I don't intend to be sensationally graphic in this post - it's not my way or my nature. However, I loved the mental picture that this created, and recognized the danger to ourselves when this is the method of relationship with the Lord that we practice.
Think of it - a person who will come to a conference or a retreat or even just a church or Chapel service and choose to pursue the Lord with vigour. One who says, "All I want is You", who worships with passion and who chooses to accept the challenge of the speaker or the voice of God in that moment to live a life set apart for God. Then that same person walks away from that moment of spiritual high, for whatever reason, and lives a life that belies everything that they have just engaged in and promised. A life that proves false everything that this person has proclaimed and vowed. A life, in fact, that is a purging up of everything on which they have previously gorged themselves.
A life that is lived sometimes hot and sometimes cold is a life lukewarm. It is a selfish and dangerous way to live, and a way that is assured of disaster in the end.
God is not impressed with our physical manifestations of holiness. It's not holiness. He is not impressed with our outward manifestations of worship. That is not worship. And He is not impressed with our head knowledge compared to a deep-rooted conviction in the things to which He has called us as Believers.
He says that faith without works is dead. Not that we must "do good works" to be saved - that is not the intent of that scripture. Rather, if we declare that we believe, our lives will show that it is something we believe. If I say that I believe in that a young child will be safe when climbing stairs but always block the staircase, I do not fully believe. My actions - my deeds, the things I do - will always follow my true beliefs.
Being a Christian is not saying a prayer that insures you against a life in Hell after you die. It is being a Christ-follower. Don't call yourself a Believer or a Christ-follower if all you are doing is using the name and then living your life outside of the way that God desires. This is not Christianity. Too bold? It is straight from the scriptures. Examine your life - as I am doing myself - and if you are living a life authentically before the King my words will probably not offend. If you are living your life for yourself, periodically putting on a show for God or for others in regards to your relationship with God - He will not be impressed, and neither will those who see you do it.
My words here might be harsh - so be it. They are not my words. If you are someone who regularly binges and purges in your spiritual walk - even through weakness rather than intentionality - it is time to decide. The good news is that should you choose to desire the life of holiness, the life lived 100% before God, even in the times of weakness, He will help you live it. Simply ask Him.
And make no mistake - no matter how difficult it can be at times, it is utterly worth it.
What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,"and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
(James 2:14-26)
But today as I was reading about Jesus and his healing of people, I read this verse:
It struck me that it was not the fringe of His garment that healed them, it was actually His own power. And yet, how many times do we read in the scriptures Jesus' words as He says to someone, "Go in peace, your faith has made you well"?
The garment's hem is immaterial - it is only the means by which Jesus chose to allow someone to be healed. The power of God is imperative. And it seems that faith is also imperative. After all, people wouldn't have been flocking to Jesus for healing if they didn't on some level believe that He might actually be able to heal them.
It occurs to me that anointing oil is only a means by which the Lord may choose to heal - He is the healer. The music is only the means by which we worship - it is our hearts that execute praise. The things we do to serve are only the means by which we serve - it is the character of the servant that is pleasing to God.
So many times we erroseously focus on what we have physically done that has worked in the past, or what we have seen others do, or how we have been taught to do things. It is still God's power that executes miracles. We have only to believe.
Zoey's surgery went well and she is now in ICU. She is one sick little girl with tubes everywhere. She is on a respirator, has IV's in her scalp and arm as well as a direct line into her jugular vein and also a feeding tube into her stomach. She also has 3 catheters (one in each kidney and one in the bladder) as well as a drain. The bladder apparently was in pieces and had to be stitched together so they do not want any pressure on it until healing occurs. She is also in traction with both legs up in the air with weights. All this on a 7lb. baby!!!
Due to the large amount of pain (primarily from the bone surgery), she is on extremely high doses of Morphine and so respiratory problems continue to be a concern. She has required a transfusion but no major bleeding issues to date.
We are extremely grateful for your prayers.
Diane and Ron
Hi everyone,
Here is the update on Zoey...
She was in surgery for about 7 hours yesterday and the surgeons were all pretty happy with how things proceeded. They broke both sides of her pelvis and moved the bones to properly close in the front and then repaired her bladder and reconstructed her lower abdomen that didn't form normally at birth. She was moved to the ICU after the surgery and we got to see her briefly last night. She was in quite a bit of pain, even with all the morphine that she was getting, so that was pretty difficult to watch. Overnight they decided to up the dosage and when we saw her this morning she looked more comfortable. Unfortunately one of the side effects to giving babies large doses of morphine is that they stop breathing, so she is intubated and has a ventilator breathing for her. She has a catheter in both kidneys and another in her bladder and a drain in her abdomen. She also has an IV in her arm, another in her head (another shaved patch!) and yet another directly into her jugular, since they had run out of places to poke and still needed to give her more stuff. Both her legs are sticking straight up in traction in order to get the pelvis to heal correctly and her whole body is bruised and swollen from the surgery. She is also on a feeding tube down her throat and they started to give her tiny amounts of milk this afternoon. Hopefully she is able to tolerate it and they can slowly up the amounts over the next few days.
She was scheduled to be in the ICU for only a day, but it looks like it will be longer as they won't send her upstairs to a ward until she can breath on her own. She will probably be in the hospital for about 6 weeks. All in all, it was a long, difficult day and it will be a long, difficult recovery, but as I always say, no matter how bad it gets, you don't have to look around very far at Children's Hospital to see kids that have it even worse, and that helps keep things in perspective.
Thanks for all your prayers and good wishes,
Greg
Please keep her and the family - my brother, Greg, his wife, Stephanie, and their other two kids, Eliana (2 years) and Zach (Zoey's twin) - in your prayers - thanks.
