Interstitial (Acts 17:26-27)

Good morning ladies,

The word of the day is “interstitial.”  Have you ever wondered about how you ended up at this particular place in life? I know for me, I often ponder where I would be if I made different decisions over the course of time. When I first became a Christian I remember my pastor telling me that I would be the sum of the people that I hung out with, and the books that I read. I decided early on to take that to heart. I realized that some of the people I was hanging out with were not really the best influence on me. On the other hand, there were some very good relationships that I had. It was now up to me to decipher from that point on which ones were good and which ones were not very helpful. The best part about all this though, was that I started to gain an understanding about what it meant to trust God through the process.

“From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.” ~Acts 17:26-27

My question is: if God is the one who ordained and appointed the boundaries of time, what are you doing to fit within that kind of God-inspired life? May be a little bit deep, I know. But, if we want to be on the same page with God we must allow him to permeate every part of our being. Each day brings something new, and someone or something that will influence us. Sometimes it is the interstitial times in life, within thin threads, that we experience God. My prayer is that you are open to God speaking to you in new ways each day.

Praying for you,

MO

Bibliotaph (1 John 5.14-15)

Good morning ladies,

The word of the day is “bibliotaph.”  I remember the first semester of my Masters program. I have never done so much reading in my life. In fact, up until that point I don't think I had ever read an entire book all the way through. Sure, I had read parts of books for school and for fun. But, I really did not have a love for reading. That's when I realized that if I was going to get through a full Masters degree program I was going to need to love reading… and fast. That was the only way I was going to be able to read 10 huge books a quarter. I prayed hard, and miraculously, God answered.

“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” ~1 Jn. 5:14-15

My question is: do you pray for the stuff that God would want for you? One of the main lessons I learned in the beginning of that program was if I prayed according to God's will, he would answer. And, I am absolutely positive that there is no way that I would have made such a miraculous jump from hating to read, to the other end of the pendulum and loving to read, unless it was by God's divine hand. Now, you may or may not believe that. But, I am a firm believer that if we ask according to God's will, he will answer us. My prayer is that you do just that… Pray according to what you believe God would want for your life. This is tough because we know that sometimes God may not want the things that we do. But, it works out when we trust him. Hey, how else would I have ended up one of the world's great bibliotaphs?

Praying for you,

MO