Category Archives: Relationships

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“Fearfully and wonderfully made”


Psalm 139:13-15

13For You formed my inward parts;
You [f]covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise You, for [g]I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
15 My [h]frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

God created you and me, in my mind there is no disputing that. We are also all created different from each other. We are all impacted by external forces as well as by the way we were created. When we are born, we were exactly the way God intended us to be, without any environmental influences but it is not that way for long. As we grow and mature, we are bombarded by other people’s opinions, expectations, and judgements, not to mention situations beyond our control. We begin, little by little, to change who God created us to be.  These can be positive changes but, unfortunately, are often times negative. Most people seem to lose the childish, free-spirited, carefree nature that they were born with, and that God intended for us. These experiences and interactions can be the lenses through which we see and react to the world around us for the rest of our lives. For example, if we were verbally abused or neglected by family members, we can begin seeing the world through the lense of distrust or with expectations that others will treat us badly as well. This can lead to a lense of withdrawing from interactions with people that you don’t know well and ultimately believing that you are an introvert when the truth is that is not who God created you to be.

The only part of us that maintains all the attributes of who God created us to be is our spirit. We were created in God’s image so it’s not surprising that we are three-part beings. We are a spirit, we live in a body, and possess a soul.  The soul, which was alive at birth, is the part of us that we operate out of until we receive Jesus as our savior and redeemer. The soul is the part of us that has the lenses that were developed as a result of living in this fallen world. When we receive Jesus into our hearts our spirit is awakened and begins communing with God.  As we grow and mature in love and relationship with God our spirit strengthens, and we have the opportunity to begin stripping away those lenses and returning to who God created us to be. God, in His wisdom, knows how and when to bring up a wrong belief about ourselves, about people, or about the world so that we, in union with Him, can chose to return to the person God created us to be one lense at a time. However, we have to choose to operate out of our spirit rather than our soul. It is easy for me to shift between the two. For me, I can tell when I have slipped back into soulish behavior when I get frustrated or am not operating out of love. This is much more frequent than I would like to admit. I am a work in progress for sure.

He is gracious and gentle as He works with us. It is His will that we partner with Him and make steps toward becoming our true selves. For myself, I can say, that it isn’t only His will for me but my fervent hope that, before I die, I can look in the mirror and see the “fearfully and wonderfully made” creation that He intended. Can you imagine how affirming that will be? It makes me excited just to consider that possibility. How about you?

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God’s priorities


2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Matthew 9:37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

Sometimes I get frustrated because I don’t feel like I have enough time to spend with God.
I know He wants me to make Him a priority not because the bible, or my pastor, or my peers say that I should. But because it’s the best thing for me. When I am close to Him He leads me to the best choices for my life. One step at a time. So when I have time how do I choose the best way to spend it.
I know God is into relationships. Not only does He want to have an intimate relationship with me, but He wants me to have intimate, loving, caring relationships with believers so that we can encourage each other. Even further He wants me to have loving, caring, relationships with non-believers so that I can witness, through the way I live my life, to help draw them to the light that shines through me. My Jesus.
So, back to my original question. How to spend my time? I believe that 2 Peter is true and that it’s not Gods will that “any should perish but that all should come to repentance” so it must be pretty important to God that we, believers, do everything we can to draw people to the saving knowledge of our lord Jesus Christ. How? Well, since I can’t see into people’s hearts I need to stay close to the One who can. He will show me how to talk to a person. He will show me who to talk to. He will show me what they need from me so I can minister to them in the way that will soften their hearts and help them be more receptive to His love and grace.
So I guess the answer to my question is as I get closer to Jesus, He will show me how to spend my time. He is ever present in our lives. He shows us just enough for our next step (Psalms 119:105). He will guide us as we choose the next thing we should do in any circumstance (Isaiah 30:21).
We are so blessed in all that we do if we will just tune our ears in to His still small voice and become sensitive to His will. He will never lead us wrong.