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Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Inside Out

God is doing something in me.

It didn't start at church or from an inspirational book.

It wasn't inspired by a worship song or a touching movie.

Something is happening deep within me.

Being exposed to a family from The Persecuted Church has changed my perspective and turned me inside out.

And yet it goes beyond this new friendship. I feel like God is wanting me to have more of less.

More of less: To simplify, every area; To reevaluate why I do what I do; My parenting, my motives, my schedule, my heart. And He's want me to give. More. Much more.

And it is uncomfortable and painful and emotional.

But it is so good.

And I'm excited about this new journey. I don't know how it will all fit together and I don't have a plan.

But I do have a command:

(My devotional reading is done in The Message Translation of The Bible).

Romans 12:1-2

"So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life--your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life--and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to it's level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you."
I live my everyday life for me. I always have.

But God is asking me to give it all to him, to take my everyday living and give it as an offering.

I think I have become very well-adjusted to my culture. I fit in without even thinking about it.

And this bothers me.

I want to stand out. I want my life to be remarkable. I want to lead my children by example. I want God to bring out the best in me, in my family.

The culture and it's demands bring out the worst in me: my desire to have more, bigger, better. My kids are stuffed into activities and valueless things and they will become professional consumers just like our society, if we continue as we are.

God is compelling me to place my life before Him.

Take time today to evaluate your everyday life. Are you a living sacrifice as God asks? Or do you fit perfectly into our culture?

I've never been more excited or more ready to be turned inside out!

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, your Word is Alive and true! May these Scriptures quicken our hearts today. Help us to live each day, each moment for You. Turn us inside out. Teach us to crave more of less. Simplify our hearts, so that we can return to the basics of intentional living by loving You first and others second.
Amen




Photobucket join Kristen daily at We are THAT family where she serves up a dose of humor daily and an occasional Hallelujah of her own!

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13 Comments:

Blogger Denise said...

Bless your precious heart.

October 8, 2008 at 12:46 AM  
Blogger Christi S said...

Kristen, YES! I want this too. You are leading me by example...I am praying this prayer with you this morning. Bless you!

October 8, 2008 at 6:26 AM  
Blogger Esthermay Bentley-Goossen said...

Wow! It takes incredible strength, faith and conviction to share this kind of revelation. To be so "excited ...to be turned inside out!" is a place I'd like to be....but I do fit so comfortably in my life right now. And -- without disagreeing with you -- I beleive I'm where I'm supposed to be with my family and this culture (for now - who knows where He will lead).... BUT, Your prayer today is my prayer too. that GOD will make every moment of my life count for HIM! Thanks for the challenge!
God Bless your journey!

October 8, 2008 at 10:25 AM  
Blogger The Wild World of Richmond said...

Kristen, I'm hearing exactly what you're saying. I'm sighing because I know that deep within me, my family too, needs this change. It's so easy to get so caught up in the running and doing and not remember the WHO that put us here. What am I teaching my little ones? It's not about priorties...or maybe it's about the wrong priorties.
Thanks for your inspiration.
Terri

October 8, 2008 at 10:32 AM  
Blogger Vickie said...

Thank you, Kristen. You are an inspiration to me. BTW, I love your blog! It is the first one I go to everyday. :-)
Vickie

October 8, 2008 at 10:33 AM  
Blogger Lisa@BlessedwithGrace said...

Kristen, Thank you for sharing your heart and being open with us, the readers. I needed to read this today.

October 8, 2008 at 10:48 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Wonderful post! God is doing great things with you!

October 8, 2008 at 12:39 PM  
Blogger Patty Wysong said...

This is something I've been 'working' toward, too. It's been calling to me...

Thanks for this post, it was just what I needed today!
Blessings!

October 8, 2008 at 12:43 PM  
Blogger Sarah said...

Awesome post. And if you don't turn things around for YOU at least do it for your kids and your Hubby. We are to be a crown to our husbands, not a sweatband! We want to be a thing of beauty! I love the version in The Message Bible. It really makes it seem more REAL! And no matter what people around you say about the changes, if God is FOR YOU, who can be against you?

October 8, 2008 at 1:39 PM  
Blogger Carol said...

What a powerful post. I, too, want to be inside out!

October 8, 2008 at 3:06 PM  
Blogger Aunt Angie said...

Kristen...some major soul searching of my own is causing me to see me differently as well. As Beth Moore says..."A fiery trial will burn the fake outta you"...and it will burn anything that is unnecessary from my life...and I will stop clinging so hard to the things that "don't matter" and cling only to HIM.

This was a POWERFUL post!

October 8, 2008 at 3:37 PM  
Blogger TheBrantners said...

In a society geared with more, more, more.. its so nice to be able to "share" with someone the same convictions we've been faced with recently!

Thank you for being so honest and posting this!

October 8, 2008 at 3:43 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow. That is a really powerful and thought-provoking post. What an amazing thing to realize and to ask oneself! God wants you to have more of less. There is serious power, through Him, in that statement.

God bless you for sharing this with us.

And to answer your question, I don't quite fit in all the way in our society but FAR MORE than is good for my Christian walk. Thanks for asking the question.

October 8, 2008 at 4:03 PM  

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