It's all going according to His plan

It is hard to live a life that we don't know the daily outcome of.  We know that when we confess Christ as our Savior that we will be in eternity with Him in glory, but we don't know what the day to day will bring. We are justified through our confession of Christ because of the work that He did on the cross, and we will be glorified with Christ when we are united with Him in heaven, but what now?  The process of salvation between justification and glorification is sanctification.  Sanctification is the part that sometimes hurts and other times confuses.  It is the bridging of the gap between what we believe we should do as Christians, and what we actually do.  It is the often painful correction we receive when we stray from God's will, and have to be placed back on the path.  Ephesians 1:11 states, "also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will".  Man was created as an image bearer of God for His glory, and that is what we are still meant for. How are you glorifying God today, and do others see Christ in the image that you are bearing?

Remaining

Recently at a leadership retreat for my church, I went in with the thought of laying everything down that I was doing in the ministry.  I wasn't sure why, but I knew that what I had been doing just didn't feel right.  While at this retreat we were watching a video teaching where the pastor explained how many use Christ as a stepping stone to the ministry.  Meaning, they are not actually serving in Christ, they are only serving their own wants and desires.  This hit me pretty strongly, because I felt this is what I had been doing for the last four years or so that I have been serving in some type of ministry role.  It reaffirmed that I needed to step back and see what it was that Christ wanted me to do in ministry, and wait until His timing was right.  That same day reading through Paul's first letter to Timothy I came across the words in verse three where Paul asks Timothy to "remain on".  That word remain stuck out to me and was what I really took away from the reading.  It was as if God told me to stop trying to do things on my own power, and instead just remain where He has already placed me and serve there.  I began praying then about Him revealing to me what this meant.  Through this time I also began praying for the town that I live in, Eldon, Missouri, and felt a real heart for serving in this town. I took walks through the town, and spent much time in prayer as I went up and down each street in the downtown area.  God has given me a great longing to serve in this area, and I am currently in much prayer over how and when He wants me to serve.  While on a walk the other day, He reminded me of a dream that I had over two and a half years ago.  It was a recurring dream that I had right before I stepped down from a paid ministry role at the church.  I did not know what the dream meant at the time, but I only knew that I was feeling this strong desire to leave the ministry that I was in.  That dream became very clear while walking, and it was a dream about how the youth of this town are dyeing, and the churches and the schools are just standing by and watching.  The youth are segregating themselves into cliques and unhealthy behavior especially in the downtown area.  I am in prayer about this, and long for others to be in fellowship with me over this concern and the start of a ministry to this area.  Please, come along side with me and be in prayer for this area and prayer for the Holy Spirit to open doors to allow ministry to care for these needs.

Living in Christ

Thanks for visiting this brand new blog.  Liv2Serv is a title that I took for an email address approximately seven years ago when I became a born again Christian.  When I became born again, I threw myself into God's word, and especially found a calling to study true nouthetic or Biblical counseling.  I am currently studying to receive my masters degree in Biblical counseling, and to become a certified nouthetic counselor with the National Association of Nouthetic Counselors.  Though I have begun counseling and discipling individuals from my home, God has placed a burden on my heart for the small town that I live in.  Eldon is a small town in the Lake of the Ozarks area, and an area that has many churches, but few strong Christians making a difference by living in Christ.  I have started this blog to let those out their following know what Is on my heart, and also to begin to grow a large base of prayer, calling out to God to make a difference in the town of Eldon, and take back the town for God!  Please stand in the gap along with me and live a life that is given to serving Christ.