“Every lesson is a widening and deepening of consciousness. It is a stretching of the mind beyond its conceptual limits and a stretching of the heart beyond its emotional boundaries. It is a bringing of unconscious material into consciousness, a healing of past wounds, and a discovery of new faith and trust.” ~ Paul Ferrini
~~~
Well dear ones, the end of the year has come upon us. I want to thank you for letting me invade on your shower time and graciously allowing me to share my thoughts with you. I hope you have been challenged and encouraged in your walk with the Lord, and I pray that he would continue to speak into each and every one of your lives.
I want to leave you with one last thought, which I have said before and will now say again: you are loved. The very Creator of the universe has placed you here for a purpose. He has ransomed you from the darkness and is molding and shaping you to be the salt and light of the earth. You are his beloved daughter, and he knows your story. He knows your pain, your laughter, your struggles and triumphs—you can trust him with all that you fear and all that you hold dear. He will never leave you nor forsake you, no matter how hard the road gets or how far you may turn from him. You are beautiful, you are valuable, you are a child of God.
I pray that you may always live life less ordinary for God. Good luck with all your finals and have a blessed summer!
In Christ,
Angela Hoover
~~~
Be restored, be encouraged, be of the same mind, be at peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.
~2 Corinthians 13:11
~~~
Life Less Ordinary for the week of April 21, 2009
“But the fruit of the Spirit is
Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
and Self-Control.
Against such things there is no law.” ~Galatians 5:22-23
~~~
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says that you will know God’s followers by their fruit. As followers of God, we may wonder just how we can bear this fruit. How do we work towards being a more Spirit-filled person?
We don’t! See, the fruit of the Spirit is a set of characteristics we become, not a list of actions we do. If the Holy Spirit is already dwelling within us, then there is nothing we can do to merit any more or less from him. This is the part where grace comes in—God doing for us what we don’t deserve. When we are weak and not enough, that’s when God’s power is made perfect through grace.
Robert Longman Jr. says that “these matters of character are the stuff which gives life-ness to life. It is holiness taking root in you.” Yes, there are actions we must take, but as imitators of God—we watch what he does, and then we do it, like little children. And the Spirit, who is constantly at work within us, will change and form us into people who are characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Isn’t that awesome? :)
Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
and Self-Control.
Against such things there is no law.” ~Galatians 5:22-23
~~~
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says that you will know God’s followers by their fruit. As followers of God, we may wonder just how we can bear this fruit. How do we work towards being a more Spirit-filled person?
We don’t! See, the fruit of the Spirit is a set of characteristics we become, not a list of actions we do. If the Holy Spirit is already dwelling within us, then there is nothing we can do to merit any more or less from him. This is the part where grace comes in—God doing for us what we don’t deserve. When we are weak and not enough, that’s when God’s power is made perfect through grace.
Robert Longman Jr. says that “these matters of character are the stuff which gives life-ness to life. It is holiness taking root in you.” Yes, there are actions we must take, but as imitators of God—we watch what he does, and then we do it, like little children. And the Spirit, who is constantly at work within us, will change and form us into people who are characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Isn’t that awesome? :)
Life Less Ordinary for the week of April 17, 2009
Dangerous
Attaboy
I don’t get you
What you want is bigger than I am
I don’t think I’ll ever understand
Why you’re asking me to just jump in
You’re a hurricane in a deadly spin
The way you move is dangerous
You take me to the edge of trust
But I’ll have faith
Even if your way is dangerous
In the darkness
I won’t doubt what You said in the light
I will not be stranded in my midnight
You keep asking me to face my fear
Honestly it’s so unclear
The way you move is dangerous
You take me to the edge of trust
But I’ll have faith
Even if your way…
…is terrifying me
Not what I would choose
Despite my disbelief
I will follow you
The way you move is dangerous
You take me to the edge of trust
I’ll have faith no matter what
Even if you’re dangerous
~~~
I’m pretty sure that I could play this song 1000 times in a row and never get tired of it. When I listen to it, I picture myself standing at the edge of a cliff, looking down at Jesus standing there asking me to jump off. I’m thinking, is he crazy?
Oddly enough, he is. God moves in really dangerous ways. He asks us to stand in the face of persecution. To deny ourselves for the sake of others. To take up our crosses daily. He asks us to trust him, even when we are terrified. It’s mad. It’s ridiculous. It’s backwards. And honestly, it makes me want to give up sometimes.
I suppose it’s an odd topic to talk about right here at the end of the year; I feel like I should be writing about the future, or about focus, or drawing on God’s strength. But I think the issue of trust and truth permeate all of that. He may take us right up to the edge of our ability to trust him—but he has promised us that he will not strand us in our midnight. He will always be there, in all the stress and struggle and weariness. Hang in there, girls.
“Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep…The LORD will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life.” ~ Psalm 121
~~~
Check out more of Attaboy's music at http://www.attaboyonline.com/!
---
Attaboy
I don’t get you
What you want is bigger than I am
I don’t think I’ll ever understand
Why you’re asking me to just jump in
You’re a hurricane in a deadly spin
The way you move is dangerous
You take me to the edge of trust
But I’ll have faith
Even if your way is dangerous
In the darkness
I won’t doubt what You said in the light
I will not be stranded in my midnight
You keep asking me to face my fear
Honestly it’s so unclear
The way you move is dangerous
You take me to the edge of trust
But I’ll have faith
Even if your way…
…is terrifying me
Not what I would choose
Despite my disbelief
I will follow you
The way you move is dangerous
You take me to the edge of trust
I’ll have faith no matter what
Even if you’re dangerous
~~~
I’m pretty sure that I could play this song 1000 times in a row and never get tired of it. When I listen to it, I picture myself standing at the edge of a cliff, looking down at Jesus standing there asking me to jump off. I’m thinking, is he crazy?
Oddly enough, he is. God moves in really dangerous ways. He asks us to stand in the face of persecution. To deny ourselves for the sake of others. To take up our crosses daily. He asks us to trust him, even when we are terrified. It’s mad. It’s ridiculous. It’s backwards. And honestly, it makes me want to give up sometimes.
I suppose it’s an odd topic to talk about right here at the end of the year; I feel like I should be writing about the future, or about focus, or drawing on God’s strength. But I think the issue of trust and truth permeate all of that. He may take us right up to the edge of our ability to trust him—but he has promised us that he will not strand us in our midnight. He will always be there, in all the stress and struggle and weariness. Hang in there, girls.
“Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep…The LORD will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life.” ~ Psalm 121
~~~
Check out more of Attaboy's music at http://www.attaboyonline.com/!
---
Life Less Ordinary for the week of April 4, 2009
I apologize for the delay in the shower devos this week. Even a chaplain needs a break sometimes! :) I want to share with you something from Rachel Sherer, our beloved ARD:
"Be Thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight;
Be Thou my armor and be Thou my might;
Thou my soul's shelter, Thou my high tower;
Raise Thou me heavenward, O power of my power."
Dear, dear, women of God and sisters in Christ,
Some of you may recognize the above verse from "Be Thou my Vision" which is also the verse that we sang together on Wednesday's chapel.
I just wanted to share with each of you how amazing I thought it was that all of the women sang this verse.
We as women have this tendency to desire all of the above things in a man who can take care of us and I just challenge you to put God in that place because that is where He rightly belongs. Really, read over this verse and get a feel for what the author is saying. Are you trusting in God as much as you should? Is He the one you turn to? I pray that God will be your strong tower, whom you turn to in times of pain, confusion, and heartache. God is the one who makes us strong, and in Him we are confident - and that's when we can truly be the women of God that He desires us to be.
~~~
I think this is an awesome thing to think about in the context of the celebration of Holy Week. Picture Jesus riding into Jerusalem on the colt, the people laying down their cloaks and waving palm branches, shouting “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”
This is our breastplate, our sword, our soul’s shelter and our high tower. This is our Jesus, hope of nations and desire of our hearts. Amen, and amen!
"Be Thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight;
Be Thou my armor and be Thou my might;
Thou my soul's shelter, Thou my high tower;
Raise Thou me heavenward, O power of my power."
Dear, dear, women of God and sisters in Christ,
Some of you may recognize the above verse from "Be Thou my Vision" which is also the verse that we sang together on Wednesday's chapel.
I just wanted to share with each of you how amazing I thought it was that all of the women sang this verse.
We as women have this tendency to desire all of the above things in a man who can take care of us and I just challenge you to put God in that place because that is where He rightly belongs. Really, read over this verse and get a feel for what the author is saying. Are you trusting in God as much as you should? Is He the one you turn to? I pray that God will be your strong tower, whom you turn to in times of pain, confusion, and heartache. God is the one who makes us strong, and in Him we are confident - and that's when we can truly be the women of God that He desires us to be.
~~~
I think this is an awesome thing to think about in the context of the celebration of Holy Week. Picture Jesus riding into Jerusalem on the colt, the people laying down their cloaks and waving palm branches, shouting “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”
This is our breastplate, our sword, our soul’s shelter and our high tower. This is our Jesus, hope of nations and desire of our hearts. Amen, and amen!
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