Leaving

Matthew 8:34 -- "... and when they saw Him, they begged Him to leave their region."

WOW! Can you imagine seeing the holy Son of God and immediately asking Him to leave? Word had most likely spread from nearby regions to their area of His miracles and healings, yet they asked Him to leave. Don't we as believers ask Jesus to leave certain areas of our lives when we try to take the reins of control back? He is the Creator Lord of heaven yet we try to control our lives and our futures. Hmmmm, crazy idea huh? He knows the very infinitesimal millisecond that everything will happen in our lives but still we try to control Him. In essence what we are doing is robbing ourselves of blessings that He may have in store for us. What areas immediately sneak into your mind as you read this? Birth control, lack of faith... etc? He is the Lord and His name shall be exalted.

"If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" Matthew 7:11

Book Review for BookSneeze

Cast of Characters, Common People in the Hands of an Uncommon God by Max Lucado is a wonderful book. This book is a collection of short stories about people in the bible. Some of the individuals are ones you have heard of and remember their stories; others are not as well-known. Max leads you to think about these common stories in a totally different light and to in turn examine yourself in that light as well. One example is Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father. Who would have dwelled and thought on the matter of Joseph pacing outside while Mary is inside laboring to give life to the Creator of the Universe? He is being brought into this world in a filthy stall. Who wouldn’t rail at God at the unfairness of it all? Then Joseph remembers that Jesus is God’s son, He has a purpose in the timing and in the place of Jesus’ birth. That is just one example of the many stories that are included in this read. Max puts a twist on well-known stories that make you think and yearn to dig deeper into God’s word and contemplate the thoughts and feelings behind the people there in that time and age. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will recommend it to others who think that they know all the stories, to challenge their views and make them seek to drink deeply of God.

New To This

So here I am writing on my first blog. I don't expect to come out of this as an author or to inspire many people, I first started a blog for the sole reason of doing book reviews for books offered for free from BookSneeze. If anything else comes of it then that is God's design and plan and I will gratefully follow his leading. So The Musings of a Meandering Sheep, huh? Yeah, kind of a unlikely name but I know we are all sheep of the Good Shepherd and sometimes I've been known to be a little hard-headed. I don't always follow when I should, sometimes I like to try to lead. Meandering according to Webster is to follow a winding or intricate course. I think that this is the life a Christian leads; it is a winding and intricate course. Although meandering can also mean to wander aimlessly or casually without urgent destination, I greatly don't want my type following to be of this ilk. I want to follow with great urgency to the destination of being at home in my Shepherd's arms. I think that most Christians though do go through times when they just mosey on along being a slow poke about their walk with the Lord and they aren't on fire for Him. I don't want to be this way, I want to be red hot in my pursuit to follow Jesus, I want to seek Him daily and yearn to be the disciple that He created me to be. And frankly, I'm not there yet. There isn't nearly the amount of growth happening that I desire. And what to do? How to achieve that? It's all in the question and the searching. It's following after Jesus and asking Him on a continual basis to draw you close to Him, It's seeking His face in every situation you are put in, It's turning to Him when you most want to turn away. This searching and following is a lifelong commitment but aren't the best things that we value in this life aren't they worth waiting (or working) for? There are times when we feel like we have failed our calling but we have not, we are at a point in our lives where someone else is fulfilling theirs by being an inspiration to you. So, I guess these are the first musings of this meandering sheep, I know not all posts will be this intrinsic but this is just what spilled out of my mind and heart as I sat here and began to write.