A Light For His Glory

This week is the start of a new format for Deliberate Women.  We will have a short devotional on Monday and a blog post exploring the same topic more in depth on Friday.  We hope that you enjoy the new format and that we can continue to encourage you to grow in your walk with the Lord.

Matthew 5:16 "In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in Heaven."

Matthew 6:19-21 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Proverbs 31:20 "She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy."

Throughout the past few weeks, God has slammed me [Ginny] in the face with a challenge that I cannot ignore.  These verses are among many that I wrote in my devotional journal to chronical a journey that I can feel is only just beginning and has ignited a fire in my heart.

Serving and giving have always been important to my husband and me.  We love to give to others and demonstrate the love of Christ, and I thought we were doing the right thing, and we were...to a point.  Then I two books, one being Rhinestone Jesus by Kristen Welch.  Both challenged me to think about my priorities and living sacrificially.  While I don't feel called to live in a third world country at this point, I do think that we have been living more comfortably than we should and that changes are ahead. 

On Friday, I will be exploring this topic more, but this week, I challenge you to read the above verses, memorize the one that strikes you most.  Memorize all of them if you desire. 

Then take time to think through these questions:

1)  How is your light shining in your home, your community, and in the world?  Is God calling you to do something right now that scares you? 

2)  Are you prioritizing your treasures on earth above the treasure of human lives and souls?

3)  Are you reaching out your hands to the poor and needy?  Are there needs that God has put before you that you are ignoring?  If so, why?

I ask these questions because they are the same questions I have had to ask myself these past few weeks.  Answering them has changed everything and has changed my heart in a way I never knew it needed to be changed.  It has changed my perspective.

I encourage you to join me on this journey.  How would you answer these questions?  Feel free to share your answers in the comments below, and let us explore our thoughts together.

Dear Heavenly Father, We adore you.  You are the perfect picture of love and sacrifice, and we thank you for all that you have done for us.  God, may you make it clear the areas in our life where we have become complacent.  Raise us up in holy passion to be your hands and feet to the world around us.  And when we do so, we pray that you will be glorified and that the world will see you through us.  Amen.

Joyfully,
Ginny

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