and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.
Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise;
when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent. (Proverbs 17:27, 28 ESV)
A "cool spirit" - that's like the Fonzie of spirits!! ;-)
Being able to not be over reactive to situations - not letting words fly on a whim. That is a cool customer, cool character, a man with a cool spirit.
If you don't know how good God is, stop and listen for Him. If you still don't know after that, call me, I'll tell you. :-)
1Praise the LORD!
Blessed is the man who fears the LORD,
who greatly delights in his commandments!
2 His offspring will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
3)Wealth and riches are in his house,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4 Light dawns in the darkness for the upright;
he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.
5 It is well with the man who deals generously and lends;
who conducts his affairs with justice.
6 For the righteous will never be moved;
he will be remembered forever.
7 He is not afraid of bad news;
his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.
8 His heart is steady; he will not be afraid,
until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.
9 He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever;
his horn is exalted in honor.
10 The wicked man sees it and is angry;
he gnashes his teeth and melts away;
the desire of the wicked will perish!
However, I am going to miss our old church. I love, love, love getting to lead worship. Shoot, I love just playing the guitar during worship. It's an extremely fun/honorable thing to do. I just love it. The cool thing was that the pastor was letting me lead more often it seemed. And I had the feeling, that he might even have asked more as he became comfortable with how we were doing it...But it looks like we will never know now. If I am employed by another church, I kinda have to be at that church...which means I can't be at this one. In addition, the pastor is extremely easy to listen to and does a great job presenting his material week in and week out. Our final week there (this Sunday) is the opening of the new worship center too. Man, I hope I don't cry Sunday...I will definitely miss it.
But, I have a lot to look forward to. A lot! It's an area that I have no training and have never even attempted. In fact, I think I've only been to one youth thing ever...and I wasn't impressed. In fact, my longstanding belief was that youth ministry was no place for youth. Quoting Sgt. York "the Lord sure do work in mysterious ways." So, here we go. A brand new adventure. One that I dedicate wholeheartedly to God. One that I will require full guidance/dependence from God. One that I suspect will sharpen my ability to hear Him as I seek His help. One that I am hoping will draw me even closer to Him....as I boldly seek uncharted and previously unattempted missions.
Engage.
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I thought I might start using this to keep a journal on my prayer life:
1. My mom and dad
2. My wife
3. M – strength for her day to overcome shortcomings
4. L – focus, diligence, strength in the Lord
5. C – direction, diligence, to continue becoming a warrior for Christ
6. LE – organization, continue to grow in her sweet spirit
7. J – decision making, love for his brothers and sisters
8. JD – humility, continue to grow in strength and confidence, laziness
9. N – seriousness, to throw off some of the childishness – to know you more Lord
10. Ma – that she would have a desire to be like her sweet momma
11. Z – salvation, love for his sibs, selfishness
12. BG – comfort for the passing of his mom
13. KE – her sick father – health, salvation, rest.
14. My sister and her awesome family – that they would know I love them, that they would know Gods love. Health, job, growth
15. Wife’s folks – love, salvation, strength to overcome obstacles
16. JH – health, encouragement, salvation.. to be an encouragement despite his circumstance, to his older brothers
17. Church
18. Financial decisions about house, insurance, indebtedness
19. Job
20. Patience and wait on the Lord..yet when He says to “do”, I would immediately.
21. My pastors:
a. LH – that he would seek your will and accomplish mighty things for your Names sake. That he would be overwhelmed by Your provision.
b. GS – strength for the work you have him doing. Wisdom to continue to move forward while watching you.
c. CM – his growing family. Wisdom in growing and feeding your flock.
So, I still want to play well an pick the right songs, but the pressure feels lifted. Another reward!!
I am so glad the pastor asked me to do this. I am starting to understand a little more about love and service...and the rewards involved. No, it's not about the reward since I know that so much of what we do is either done without reward (which is fine), rewarded in heaven, or not worthy of a reward due to impure motives or what ever...but, in THIS situation, I have a newly realized reward that I probably would not have considered a reward before I did this.
That probably doesn't make any sense. I guess it doesn't have to.
:-)
