Love, Admire, Trust, and Depend

Driving is a great time to think, meditate, or pray. Today's subject was "being an effective Christian". Most of my several decades of Christian walk have felt rather ineffective. Perhaps you know what I mean: unanswered prayers, decidedly un-noteworthy ministry efforts, and generally always feeling like you just aren't quite getting it right. Ineffectual. Not, truly, due to a lack of effort or want-to or love for God. Just, lacking that something something that some other Christians have.

Satan would love for us to believe that those of us seemingly trapped into this perpetual ineffectiveness are just doomed as second-class Christians. Bridesmaids who just aren't quite good enough to be the Bride. We reject this hogwash. Or at least, we try to. But, some little bit of it manages to stick. We try not to be jealous of the Christians for whom answered prayers -- downright miracles -- are the norm rather than the exception.

We can change things. We can join the ranks of the effective Christians. We don't need a secret decoder ring or to learn a special handshake. There is no Bible Code that will unlock special top secret secrets that will let us into the inner circle. Nope. The great mystery is no great mystery at all. Communion.

Communion with God through Bible reading, meditation, prayer, fasting, and giving. Driving home today I found myself repeating four words: love, admire, trust, and depend.

Love: read and meditate on the word; pray; share God's love with others.
Admire: meditate on His attributes; worship Him
Trust: pray believe He will answer; give ...trusting there will be more where that came from
Depend: make Him your source for wisdom, love, provision...

I'm doing some spiritual housecleaning with the intention of living a more effectual Christian life. Care to join me?

Today's Reading: Matt 5; Gen 5; Rom 5; 1 Thess 5; Job 5; Ps 5; Prv 5; Jsh 5; Isa 5; Acts 5