~I am a Stone~

Sitting here sipping my tea...now cold as it has been setting out...still tasty...I drink tea in any temperature...I am so excited about sharing with you today...You have been with me through much of my listening and obeying God times...

Always learning...always growing...always sharing...that is what we are to do as Jesus followers...I am just so inspired! I have my Inspirational times with the Three every morning. Sometimes they are only about 30 minutes long...other times they have been as much as two and a half hours...it all depends on what all the Three and I are sharing. I read, I journal, I listen, They take turns talking to me, I talk with Them...I cherish our Inspirational time.

I have also included praying to the Holy Spirit in our Inspirational time now. I pray to Him to give me the words that I need to say to whomever...I pray to Him to flow through me to help me show compassion...I pray to Him to comfort me...I pray to Him to guide me...I pray to Him...for a variety of things....

The other day He and I were communing and I was praying that I would have the words to say that He would want me to say to people in general, to my husband, to my son...I had to run some errands in town and was in a grocery store. I was selecting items from a freezer bed when across from me there was a lady who seemed to be in need. I asked her if she was looking for something in particular. She told me what she was looking for and asked if I knew it the store had it. We conversed briefly. She then turned the corner to be nearly cart to cart with me and somehow we struck up a conversation.

She and I talked as if we had known each other for years. We began sharing our variety of health stories. We shared stories about our doctors...our travels for health reasons...and at one point I looked at her and said..."Well, I have Jesus..." and I began to tell her how I dealt with  my health issues over the past years. As soon as I said, "Well, I have Jesus," her face lit up and her eyes sparkled. She had Jesus too! We both shared more excitedly. When we concluded our conversation we hugged and went about our business. I believe we talked by that freezer bed for nearly 30 minutes. The peculiar thing to me was those words that so easily flowed from my mouth, "Well, I have Jesus..." I knew those words popped right out with the help of the Holy Spirit. As they came out it was almost as if I wasn't speaking them. The power of words caused her to shine and sparkle. The power of the Holy Spirit gave me the courage to share Him and Jesus through my words.

Obeying, listening, trusting, sharing...it is who we are (or who we should be) when we follow Jesus. He has been doing some pretty terrific things in my life. For instance, He has told me to go through the book of Ephesians in the Bible. I am not to merely read it and be done...I am to pick it apart...really focus on the verses...the key things...

I believe the things I am learning were easy for the  Ephesians to comprehend. For me, I am reading them with new eyes. I am reading them with eyes that dissect. I want to share with you some things that I have picked up in reading Ephesians so far.

First I want to say, I have fun keeping a journal. I think as I write. When I read some verses from Ephesians 2 today, I worked them out as if working out a math equation and I don't like math. I dissected the verses....and I don't care for science. Maybe what I did was parse them out as in the old fashioned way of handling some grammatical situations. At any rate...I "spelled them out" for me to grasp and I want to share it with you.

I was reading Ephesians 2 today so I will share with you my "take" on Ephesians 2.

In verse 5 it simply states that we are saved by grace. Verse 6 tells me that I am seated with Christ in the heavens...there is a place JUST for me! I am not saved because of anything I have DONE (works) but only because of God's grace (v. 9). In verse 10 I learned WHO I AM in Jesus...I am His workmanship whom He created to do good works FOR Him. I am not saved because of my good works; but because I am a Jesus follower I am to do good works FOR Him!

Reading further to verse 13 I learn that I have been brought near Jesus because of His blood. In verse 18, I  know that everyone has access to the Father in one Spirit. Oh! The Holy Spirit pops up here!

Okay now here is where I begin to dissect. The first bit of chapter 2 was pretty easy to grasp. The next verses...verses 20 to 22, I pick apart...

Jesus is the Cornerstone of the temple.
The apostles and prophets are main stones of the temple.
The saints (believers) are stones of the temple.
In Jesus, the whole building grows into the temple in the Lord.
God's dwelling of the Holy Spirit is why we are all being built together (put together).

Again:
God's Holy Spirit dwells in the temple made of prophets, apostles, and saints (believers) and Jesus is the Cornerstone...where we all begin!
The temple is to be cared for and maintained...added to with more believers (saints). The Church is the whole! The Holy Spirit is in and among the Church!

Do you understand what I am saying? Saints (believers), the prophets and apostles, and Jesus being the very base for us, the Cornerstone are ALL the Church! Jesus gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit, so He is IN the Church.The Holy Spirit, as I have stated before, gives the saints (believers) more power than what raised Jesus from the dead!

My friend, WE, the Church, the body of believers (saints) have or can have that awesome Holy Spirit Power. My goodness, I asked Him to help me with words to say...how much more can He do than simply give me words! 

The Church has Jesus as the Cornerstone! If we have a body of praying believers who truly rely on the Three and know and claim that Holy Spirit power...how much can be done in the name of Jesus! We need to be that Jesus Church! We believers have that common ground just as I knew the lady in the grocery store knew Jesus because as soon as I said, "Well, I have Jesus..." she shined Jesus more. We, the Church, needs to obey, listen, trust, and share Jesus! My friend, we have the Holy Spirit to guide, counsel, give words, give us power...and so much more...live it! 

We are each a stone of the Church of Jesus. Each believer is important and is equipped and being more equipped with the ways that God wants to use them in His church. Obey, Listen, and Share!