Peace and Power

"Our sanctuary is the throne of God. That is where we find peace and power. That is where we find the confidence to go where God wants us to go and do what God wants us to do. The more time you spend kneeling before the throne the more peace and power you'll have. Period."
—Mark Batterson, Evotional.com

You can read the entire post here.

Bearing Fruit

My fruit is better than gold, even pure gold,
And my yield better than choicest silver.
Proverbs 8:19

We've been talking about bearing fruit in class the past two Sundays, and as I was reading in The Cost of Discipleship last night, I came across the following passage that I think you will find helpful.

In the world there are "the works of the flesh," in the Church, "the fruit of the Spirit" (Gal. 5:19; Eph. 5:9). What does fruit mean in this context? There are many works of the flesh, but only one fruit of the Spirit. Works are done by human hands, fruit thrusts upward and grows all unbeknown to the tree which bears it. Works are dead, fruit is alive, and bears the seed which will bring forth more fruit. Works can subsist on their own, fruit cannot exist apart from the tree. Fruit is always the miraculous, the created; it is never the result of willing, but always a growth. The fruit of the Spirit is a gift of God, and only he can produce it. They who bear it know as little about it as the tree knows of its fruit. They know only the power of him on whom their life depends. There is no room for boasting here, but only for an ever more intimate union with him. The saints are unconscious of the fruit they bear.

Thank you for your kind comments and emails regarding my last post. I will continue blogging. My prayer is that what I produce here will be fruit rather than works of the flesh. I love you all!

Thinking Out Loud on Blogging

My giveaway and the response to it has caused me to think a lot about blogging. My heart in having the giveaway and promoting it as I did was to give as many people as possible the opportunity to win a book that I have come to consider essential reading for every Christian. In addition, the reason bloggers have giveaways is to ascertain who is reading their blogs. Based on my experience here, I must conclude that not many people are actually reading this blog, and among those who are reading it, very few have taste in books similar to mine. I also know that some people are simply busy and can't be bothered. I understand that.

I have done a good bit of blogging over the past several years, and I have never been very successful at it. Success in the blogosphere is measured via comments, and even my most popular posts on my other blogs have rarely numbered comments in the double-digits. I didn't necessarily expect that here, but I must admit I am disappointed.

I imagine that some people think it is the height to arrogance for someone to write something down and assume that other people want to read it. People who think that way are clearly not writers. Writers write because they cannot help themselves, and if they feel they have written something entertaining or interesting or profound, they feel compelled to share it. It is like having a spiritual gift and being naturally motivated to use it. Those of us who are prophets and teachers as well as writers are even more inclined to share because that is inherent in our gifting. When we learn something from God, we want to tell others about it. We are excited and motivated, and we want others to share the experience. When people don't respond as we hope, it is disappointing.

I will admit that with my other blogs, I wrestled with aspirations of popularity. I promoted those blogs and worked to generate reciprocal comments. When I started this blog, I had no such ambitions. It was simply a way for me to communicate with and encourage my class members and to supplement what we cover on Sundays. I shared the fact that I was blogging again with others who I knew had read my other blogs and had responded positively to my past efforts. But beyond that, I simply posted as I was inspired to do so.

At some point, I allowed some of the feedback I received and my natural performance mentality to distract me from my original intent, and I started doing a little self-promotion, which led to the giveaway and the declaration that I would start blogging more regularly with more original content. I even presumed to ask for feedback. All of this was nearly totally ignored, with the exception of a few faithful friends who love me despite my faults and did not want me to be disappointed.

I don't know why I allowed myself to fall into this trap. If I've learned one thing in recent months, it is to "Be still and know that He is God." (Psalm 46:10) If God wants it to happen, it will happen. All I have to do is be obedient. And as far as this blog is concerned, obedience is posting as I feel inspired in an effort to encourage and edify my Sunday school class members. The next time I want to give away a book, I'll bring it to class and have a drawing there.