Learning to blog has been pretty comical here at my home. My husband would come in now and then to see what I was doing. I had accidentally put myself on as one of my own followers and had been trying to figure out how to get it off. He came in after some time and said "Well sweetheart, has anyone been hittin' on you yet?" :) He is alway trying to crack a joke. I said "Well the only one was me, I've hit on myself. :)
Trying to learn how to blog took me back to a time in my life when the Lord had shown me something that I call one of my 'Light Bulb Moments'. A 'Light Bulb Moment' is when God shows you a spiritual truth in something and it becomes so clear to you that you wonder why you never saw it that way before. It's as if He shines a light into your spirit about something and you see it so clearly.
This 'Light Bulb Moment' happened when I was teaching Headstart years ago. We always tested our four year olds at the beginning of the year to see where their strengths and weaknesses were. I would then write up an IEP (Individual Education Plan) on each child then state the goals of where the child would progress to in each area by the next testing date. Then I would work with that child to help him or her reach that goal in each area.
God showed me that we each have a similar plan that He has determined for us with goals of where He wants us to progress to. An ISP (Individual Spiritual Plan) so to speak.
Just like children, we too as Christians have areas that each of us are strong in and areas that are weak and need improving. None of us develope in the same areas at the same pace. We are an individual work in progress with God guiding us toward a goal. When we reach that goal in an area then He wants us to progress even further to another goal in that same area while all the time working on multiple areas in us.
Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
When we let the Spirit of God live in us then we produce fruit with all of these characteristics. As individuals, we each mature at a different rate with each characteristic. Some may be further along in joy than others, while those same ones may be slower in temperance than others. We all have some of each of them developing at a different rate in us with God guiding the process.
Not all apples on a tree get leaves on the same day or turn the same shade of red on the same day. Each characteristic of an apple developes at a different rate and so it is with us...love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.
I pray that each of you strive to reach your goals in the fruit of the Spirit. And if anyone could let me know how to get myself off as one of my own followers on my blog, then I think I might reach one of my goals in joy quicker. :)
Be Blessed!!
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Great reminder here about how we all are growing in different areas at different rates. Just like individuals mentally and physically we mature differently spiritually.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how to get yourself off the follower. You can just leave it. Some people do that on purpose.
♥
Joy
Oh my prayer is that all 9 of the fruit of the Spirit will ripen and bear fruit in my life for Him.
ReplyDeleteSusan
I really enjoyed reading your blog today.
ReplyDeleteIt is so true and I pray that I will continue to develope each day in a new phase of his plan for me.
I don't know how to get you off of your followers either.
Thanks so much for sharing.
God bless
You have such an easy quiet way of speaking,thoughts resting comfortable on the spirit.
ReplyDeleteI think you are doing great at this blogging thing and you can tell your hubby that you now have several people "hitting on you"! Seriously, I really enjoyed reading what you had to say!
ReplyDeleteI think you are doing great on your blog so far. I enjoyed reading your post. Great reminder. Did you figure out how to stop being your own followers?
ReplyDeleteFinally made it over to say "hi". I'm a friend of Susan's and so glad to find you here. I've blogged for years, but recently took a break. I hope to be back on and off in the future.
ReplyDeleteI love your post and just talked with my coworker about this yesterday. The Lord has given us all gifts and we are all created differently and not to compare against one another. Great reminder!
I think this is a great post. ( I too did the follower thing accidentally. )
ReplyDeleteIf only we could have the vision God has for us, and the grace He has for us, I think we all would rest and run so much better in this life. He does have a path marked out for us, and to draw near to Him and Him to us in the process of walking it out is His desire.
I'm really glad you came by A FIELD LILY, and I KNOW I'm going to enjoy this journey with you! Blessings!-Kathy
The other neat thing is we don't have to compare our spiritual growth with the spiritual growth of others, when we allow the Lord to pace us.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your new blog! It IS confusing at first! I've been thinking about how children develop in different ways and on different timetables lately, but I hadn't before made the connection between our spiritual development. Thank you for expressing it so eloquently.
ReplyDeleteAhhh yes, the ah ha moment when that light bulb comes on. I seem to remember, not so very long ago, someone having a Facebook account and she inadvertently sent out random YouTubes to her entire friend list...Luckily, her account was new and the friend list consisted of her daughter and her cousins so she didn't have to hide her "face" for long...It was however a bit pink as I recall...*: (
ReplyDeleteShe moved on to blogging, leaving Facebook behind...where she began to leave comments on her own blog pretending to be a mad chicken and a cat...one day, the rooster died and the cat quit typing...*; )