Pentecost Sunday!

Lord, God, we thank you for the gift of Holy Spirit, which we celebrate today.  I pray that we will never forget nor take for granted what an awesome and wonderful Gift He is.  I thank You for all that Your Gift has meant in my life, for all that He has done in me and for me and through me.  

Holy Spirit is so precious to me.  He has changed my life so tremendously and blessed me so far beyond anything I could ever have imagined.  But so often we as the church seem to overlook Him or take Him to be an afterthought of God.  If Jesus told His disciples to wait for the Gift of God, the Gift foretold throughout the Old Testament, how can we take Him so for granted?  He is the embodiment of God and all that Christ has done for us dwelling within us.  Our Comforter, our Counselor, our Teacher and Guide.  

Father God, I love You!  Lord Jesus Christ, my Savior and my Righteousness, I love You.  Holy Spirit, my Guide and my Hope and my Inspiration, I love You.  

On this Pentecost Sunday, I encourage you to recognize the ministry of Holy Spirit in your life.  Take this opportunity to thank Him and to praise Him for all that He is and all that He is doing in your life.  He is so worthy of our praise and our love!!!!

Love,

Ev

One thing have I desired and that will I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to enquire in His tablernacle. Psalm 27:4

Uniquely and Wonderfully Made

I thought I would share something a little more personal with you. Actually, I began writing this over the weekend, but my computer went down and so I had to start it again from scratch. Bummer!

As I was praying Saturday morning, I just felt so thankful to God for so many things. One of the areas of my life that I am particularly thankful for is the realization that I love the person God created me to be. Not that I love everything about myself; there are still so many things that I want to see changed in my life. But I am much more comfortable with the basic nature of who I am than I used to be.

I remember growing up, wanting to be like “everyone else.” I wanted to fit in so badly. I remember my mom comparing me to my brother and sister, and it usually was not complimentary towards me. My sister was (and is) beautiful, graceful, talented, and confident, and my brother was into sports, very “easy going,” and confident as well. They seemed to draw people to themselves.

On the other hand, I was more introverted, and I took things that people said very hard. Although I know now that I was loved and appreciated, I often felt left out and nearly invisible at the time. Because of these feelings, I withdrew even more, feeling that there was something wrong with me, and I went through some very difficult and lonely times. I honestly felt as though I were on the outside of some wonderful society, but could never quite be accepted.

This sense of being unacceptable, led to some very bad choices as I grew into an adult. I married a Muslim man, whom I knew did not love me, because I was afraid that it would be my only chance, and I was so terrified of being alone. I tended to hide and avoid any potentially difficult situations because rejection would be too hard to face. And I tried hard to force my marriage into something it could never be.

After going through some very difficult times, which included my divorce, God began to help me understand the difference I sensed in my life. He explained it in such a way that I could understand how this difference is the very thing that makes me who I am (exactly who He created me to be), and I realized that I love being that person. Although I may not be popular and outgoing, as I looked at my circle of friends, I recognized how near and dear to me each one was and is. I also began to recognized that I NEED time alone to read and write and study, time to dig deeper into ideas and thoughts. Now I LOVE my alone time, and I sometimes have to push myself out of my room to spend time with my family.

The idea that being different means being unacceptable is such a lie from the pit. Every one of us is uniquely and wonderfully made by our Creator to be exactly the one He wants us to be. And, when we are able to let go of the comparisons and the fears, we will find out that the person He created us to be is a glorious gift to the world and to ourselves. I am so thankful to God for who He created me to be, and even more thankful that He helped me to see my life from a different perspective.

Love,

Ev

One thing have I desired and that will I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to enquire in His tablernacle. Psalm 27:4

The Desires of Your Heart

Delight thyself also in the Lord
and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Commit thy way unto the Lord;
trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.
Psalm 37:4-5

I remember when I first read and memorized these verses. A commentary I read at the time said that "He shall give thee the desires of thine heart" was not to say that God would give you anything and everything you ever wanted, but rather that He would give you the desires to have, He would place within you His desires for you. At the time I appreciated the thought, but didn't really see it in my life.

This morning I was working on my study of Experiencing the Spirit, and I read:

"God has also called you. He has sent you. And He has given you the Holy Spirit because He has a purpose for your life. Remember again: it's the Lord's purpose, not yours. The Holy Spirit was sent to help you achieve God's purposes, not your dreams. and if you aren't willing to do His purposes, the Holy Spirit cannot work in you or through you."

Henry and Melvin Blackaby, Experiencing the Spirit.

At first I was rather put off by this concept. "The Holy Spirit was sent to help you achieve God's purposes, not your dreams." This was what brought the above verses to my mind, "He shall give thee the desires of thine heart." There seemed to be a disconnect somewhere.

As I thought back on my life and where I have been, I realize that at the time I first read these verses from the Psalms, I had no more desire to write or teach than I had to fly. You know, I really don't know whether I had any dreams back then or not. I do remember that for a while I felt like a rudderless ship, with no idea of where I even wanted to go.

As I walked with God since that time, through many changes and even 'upheavals,' God seems to have awakened within me desires or dreams I had never considered. In fact, I remember the exact moment that the dream to teach God's Word came to me. I was sitting in the middle of my bed, surrounded by my Bible, notebook, and other resources (commentaries, Strong's Concordance, etc.). I had just made a startling discovery as I was reading through of all books, Leviticus. I saw how precisely God had planned and foretold the suffering and death of the Messiah, and that Jesus hung on the cross to a specific moment in time in order to fulfill the prophetic picture that God had drawn in the directions for celebrating the Passover. At that moment all I wanted to do was gather some folks together and take them through the wonder and majesty of God's plan and purpose, and share with them the amazing love of Christ that I saw in His willingness to endure such pain and suffering until the precise time God had prescribed for the killing of the Passover lambs.

After God awakened that desire/dream within me, He brought people into my life to confirm that this was His will for me. He drew even closer to me, encouraging me and giving me such joy in His Word. Not long after that, He opened the door for me to begin walking in the dream! In an amazing series of circumstances, God opened doors I would never have dreamed possible. (Now before you get some false notions built up in your mind, I want to say that for many, the doors God opened for me were no big deal. I don't want to give you any inflated ideas. But for me, the opportunities God gave me were beyond what I thought He could ever want for me. Anyway . . . ) The interesting thing is that there were times of struggle and opposition, but God was so gentle and lovingly kind. I have only praises for what He has done in my life.

Later, there came a time when life led me into a wilderness. (I say 'life led me' because I don't know whether it was God's will, my failure, or the insecurity of another. Doesn't matter in the least to me because God works everything out for good.) There were no opportunities, not even fellowship with the body. I went through a time of feeling so alone and rejected. As God led me back out of that time and began to reawaken my heart, He also began to tweak the dream that I had watched die. I don't remember exactly what it was, but one morning God so touched my heart with His Word that I HAD to share it. When I got into work that morning, I sent the passage of Scripture with a short comment and/or praise to my friends. That was the point A Thought for Today! was born together with my dream of writing to encourage and exhort the body of Christ.

I guess that what I am beginning to see is that as we walk with God, His purposes and our dreams become one and the same thing. If we delight in Him, as we are seeking Him (to KNOW Him), He will place within us the very dreams that He will use to fulfill His purposes for us and through us. Now as I look at those verses from Psalms, I am able to appreciate them with a heart that has experienced the truth they profess. God has both given me the desires of my heart, and I believe I see Him bringing them to pass.

When you think about it, how amazing is it that the God of all creation cares about our dreams and our hearts. Of all the religions in the world, all the concepts about 'a higher power' that are out there, could anyone have possibly imagined a God like ours? I am so thankful to know Him. I am so grateful that He ever considered to reveal Himself to us in One such as Jesus Christ. I love Him so much, not only for what He does in and through my life, but for WHO HE IS!! Praise His glorious Name!

Love,
Ev

One thing have I desired and that will I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to enquire in His tablernacle. Psalm 27:4

Holy Spirit and MORE!

(Sorry, it got away from me this morning. I started out wanting to say something nice and interesting, but my heart just took over and ran on ahead of me with something else.)

Hi! I was reading Experiencing the Spirit this morning and came across this:

"And why does He send the Spirit to believers today?
"Simply this. He has a mission. In sending the Spirit, God is at the same time giving an assignment. For unless there's an assignment, there's no need for the gift of Pentecost.
"Because God has a purpose for your life, He has sent you the Holy Spirit to enable you to fulfill the assignment He wants to accomplish through you. God isn't looking for proven leaders; He's looking for those who have hearts that are pure and responsive, and then He equips them by His Spirit to be leaders. So hear this carefully: The Lord is looking not for the talented, but for the obedient. He's looking not for the skilled, but for those who are sensitive to His Spirit." Henry and Melvin Blackaby, Experiencing the Spirit, pages 83-84.

Wow! A powerful chapter, "Shaped for Service." The author(s) also make the point:

"Many want the Spirit's power but not the Spirit's purity. The Holy Spirit does not rent out His attributes. His power is never separated from His glorious Self." (page 92)

"Remember again, your spiritual gifts are for the particular assignment God has for you, and assignments are always based on your character. So don't seek gifts of the Spirit -- seek the Holy Spirit in His fullness, and let Him prepare you for God's purposes." (page 96)

"It costs much to obtain the power of the Spirit: It costs self-surrender and humiliation and yielding up of our most precious things to God; it costs the perseverance of long waiting, and the faith of strong trust. But when we are really in that power, we shall find this difference, that whereas before, it was hard for us to do the easiest things, now it is easy for us to do the hard things." A.J. Gordon (as quoted in Experiencing the Spirit, page 96)

Maybe that is one of the reasons we see so little of Holy Spirit's power in our lives, our unwillingness to set aside distractions, our desires, our priorities, and to embrace the cross of Christ and the will and priorities of God (Are we willing to accept His assignments, or are we caught up in doing what we want to do for Him?). We want the power, if nothing else the power over sin, but the cost is so great.

I believe another reason is that many of us are not even aware that such power is to be expected in our lives. We see the lives of those in the Bible, especially the Apostles, and we believe that the power and purity of their lives was the exception, God's purpose and will in that day was somehow different that His will today. We think that God wants eloquent preachers, large venues, mission boards, media outlets, and internet sites to accomplish His purposes in this day and age, that these are "the greater works" that Christ said we would do. We have come to expect less because we see less. Perhaps we see less BECAUSE we expect less. Shouldn't we be basing our expectations on the Word of God rather than what we are seeing "in the world."

My goal first and foremost is to KNOW God, to draw as close to Him as I can get, to wrap myself up in Him and to be filled with Him like a sponge (the ONE THING of Psalm 27:4, Luke 10:41-42, and Philippians 3:13-14). But my second goal is to know and experience all that God has for me. I don't want to be limited by what the world, the denomination, the well-meaning, or anyone else says. I want to know what God says He has made available in His Word and go for that with all my heart!!! My desire is to know and understand all that God has purposed for me and provided for me and to go for it full steam and straight ahead.

BELIEVE ME!! I am NOT THERE . . . YET! I am still asking, seeking, knocking, as well as longing, desiring, and waiting on Him. I have tasted of it. I have a measure of it. I want MORE! I want MORE of GOD, MORE of CHRIST JESUS, MORE of HOLY SPIRIT, and MORE of the WORD of GOD in my life.

Love,
Ev


One thing have I desired and that will I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to enquire in His tablernacle. Psalm 27:4

Where I'm Coming From

Before I start my blog for today, just wanted to mention again that I got started writing by creating a Yahoo! Group, "A Thought for Today" (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thoughtfortoday/). So if you are interested in taking a look at any of my past posts, you will find them archived there.

I also should mention that my blogs will most often be drawn from my studies, and I am usually involved in multiple studies at any one time. Currently I am involved in:

• My life long study through the Bible, using a book called "Study the Scriptures." This book takes you through the Bible in three years (if you are consistent, and do one study every day - which I don't). I began using this study guide back in the early 80's and still find it a great tool. Rather than a devotional, it gives you a portion of Scripture to read and then asks you about 3 questions, which you are encouraged to write out your answers to. I think that after the work of Holy Spirit and the Bible itself, I would credit this as the thing that has most impacted my knowledge and understanding of the Word of God.
• Experiencing God is a study I am working through as part of an amazing group of Christians. This is one of those Bible Study groups that everyone longs to be a part of, but is such a rare thing to find.
• Experiencing the Spirit. Because of the impact that the Experiencing God study is having on my life, I wanted to get this book by the same author and take the same approach to Holy Spirit. I am doing this study on my own.
• Bad Girls of the Bible is a book I am reading for our Women's group. Over the summer, rather than the usual type of Bible Study, we are doing a Book Club, which we will be starting in a couple weeks. As I will be facilitating the group, I have already begun reading through the book to prepare.
• My wonderful friend, Leanne, and I are also doing a study. She had read a book and seen a video regarding the Kingdom of God and wanted to dig deeper. Leanne and I are such good friends. And when it comes to studying God's Word, we have the same hunger and the same desire to handle it properly, so we make great study partners.

Anyway, as I blog my way into your life, these are some of the sources that you will see coming up over and over. Of course my blog will also probably include my general and personal ramblings on about my life 'cause that is also something that is very important to me. LOL! But I wanted to let you know this so that as I seem to switch from one topic to another, you will understand where that is coming from.

Love,
Ev



One thing have I desired and that will I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to enquire in His tablernacle. Psalm 27:4

My Dilemma

I desire so much to be an exhorter and an encourager to the body of Christ. I long to call myself and my brothers and sisters into the deep end of the pool, so to speak. Sometimes it seems that we are all so comfortable with our safe concepts of God and what He will and will not ask us to do. And, I feel such a need to say, "Wait a minute! Excuse me! God is NOT safe, but He is GOOD."

When I look at the Bible, I don't really see God calling His people to safe, sane, comfortable actions in His name. I do see Him calling them to step out in faith to part the sea, to heal the lame, to raise the dead, to stop and start the rain. When and why did God stop calling on his people to do these things?

OK, I say that I desire to be that exhorter and encourager. However, when it comes down to it, I want to be accepted. I want to be thought well of. I don't want to "turn people off" by my enthusiasm and my extremism.

Perhaps the faith that God wants me to exercise is the faith to say what I really think and believe without regard for how it will or won't be accepted. And without always being so afraid that I will say things in the wrong way, that I will hurt someone's feelings, or that I might say something a little too strongly and offend someone.

But I don't want to offend anyone, especially those I really love and respect and look up to. Well, maybe it is all just a case of my being overly emotional. I do happen to be a little off balance emotionally right now. Maybe it is better to be quiet and listen.

Ev



One thing have I desired and that will I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to enquire in His tablernacle. Psalm 27:4

Remember!

Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? [It is] he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof [are] as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.

To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.

Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these [things], that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that [he is] strong in power; not one faileth.

Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God? Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, [that] the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? [there is] no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to [them that have] no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew [their] strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be
weary; [and] they shall walk, and not faint. Isa 40:21-31


I [am] the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King. Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters; Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow. Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, [and] rivers in the desert. The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, [and] rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen. Isa 43:15-20


Please remember Whose you are ! ! ! Remember Who Your God is ! ! ! He is not weak, forgetful, or careless of you need. But have you trusted Him for your situation? Have you turned to Him and given over to Him your need? Have you repented and called on Him, waited on Him for an answer?

It seems so difficult sometimes when we are in the midst of the trial and the anguish to take the time to seek the Lord. The enemy would keep us on the run, on the run from God, on the run from our brothers and sisters, isolated. Stop. Come to the feet of Your God, wait on Him, open your ears, quiet your heart.

Seek Him in the Word, seek Him in prayer, seek Him in the fellowship. Remember Who He is. No matter how big your trial seems, no matter how painful or ugly or "hopeless" it seems, No matter how lifeless and dead your way seems, God is greater!! God is able to provide springs in the midst of the desert ! ! There is nothing and no one and no thing greater. No thing to big for Him. No situation that He can not heal, cleanse, and restore.

Please, turn to Him. Seek His hand. He is gentle and He is powerful and He is waiting to heal and to restore.

Love,
Ev

Welcome to A Thought for Today by Ev!

Hi, and welcome! My name is Evelyn Noweder (I sign everything "Ev"). I am a 54-year-old grandmother, a Christian, and a lover of God and His Word. I have a rather unique background, especially in that I was married for 23 years to a Muslim and lived for six years in Amman, Jordan, where two of my sons were born. I currently live in the Phoenix, Arizona area, but have not yet acclimated to the 3-digit summers and the desert landscape. Oh, don't get me wrong, I love the mountains, the sunsets, and the amazing skies, I just miss the green grass, refreshing spring rains, the colors of fall, and hot chocolate on a frosty winter morning. (I'm originally from the Chicagoland area.) So, why am I in Arizona you might well ask, and thank you for asking, I moved here two years ago with my oldest son, Amir, his family, and my youngest son, Leith. I guess in my book, family comes before green grass, etc.

Well, let me introduce my family. I have been divorced for the past 13 years or so, although I am still on good terms with my ex-husband and his wonderful family. My three wonderful, amazing sons are:

Amir (pronounced ah-mr, I misspelled his name in English when he was born - DOH!), is my oldest son, and he will be 30 this year. He is a Marine (already discharged from active duty), and what a good looking guy. He is married to a WONDERFUL BEAUTIFUL woman, who actually allows me to share a home with them!! God was so good to give me such a gracious and spectacular daughter[-in-law]) such as Dana (Oh, and everyone says we are so much alike. Hmmmm. Does that mean I am spectacular, too? LOL!!) Dana is an outgoing, loving, and very smart teacher. She also works with the youth group at church. Amir and Dana have 3-1/2 super-amazing, stupendous children:

• Gabi, the teenager, who is so on fire for God and doesn't care who knows it. She is a leader in her youth group, a writer, an actress, and a singer!! WOW!
• AJ, who is in 2nd grade is so full of life and questions and answers and energy and charm!!! He is constantly on the move, full of life.
  
• Alexander, is nearly 2 years old, a little football player in the making, so cute and smart and funny and sweet. He loves music and dancing, and it is so fun watching him learn new words daily!
  
• Olivia Rose (or ??), we're not quite sure at this point as the baby is still in the early stage of production. LOL! Dana is carrying their fourth baby - whom we are praying will be a little "Daddy's Girl," but we will be so thankful and full of praise for the baby God chooses to entrust to us

Eyad is 28-years-old, and hey, girls, he is single and very good looking. He lives in Amman, Jordan, where he works as a pilot for Royal Jordanian Airlines (RJ). Because of modern technology, we are able to keep in touch regularly, and his flights include Chicago, New York, and Detroit, so he is in the States quite often.

Leith is 24-years-old, and is also single and quite good looking. He's has a bit of the poet in him, and loves deep discussions. He has killer blue eyes. (Not that I'm matchmaking or anything. LOL!)

I am so very proud of my sons, my daughter(I-L) and my grandbabies. God could not have blessed me any more than He has!! Sometimes I stand in amazement at all that He has done for me and all that He has blessed me with.

Well, anyway, I have had a Yahoo! Group since 2004, through which I have sent out my thoughts and ideas and experiences. But, I think that it is time to move on to the next step, BLOGGING! As this is rather new for me, however, I hope you'll "be gentle."

Yes, I am one of those people who feels the need to write through their lives, AND who feels the need to make those writings available for all and sundry to read. Why you should want to read my life and my mental meanderings, I have no idea. Nevertheless, I have been told many times that my friends have been blessed by something I have written, so just in case there might be something of the Lord for you in all this, I will write.

All that being said, "Welcome to my Blog!" I pray that God will bless you and draw us all closer to Him as we journey this life together.

(Oh, BTW, I tend to post things without too much editing because once I get started, I find it very difficult to stop. I would never get anything posted if I edited it as much as I think it needs. Therefore, I would ask you to overlook the occasional misspelling. I really do know how to spell correctly.)

Love,
Ev