Freely Given

"But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. ⁷ And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give."  Matthew 10:6-8

Well, well, well. It's been a while since I've been here, and gosh, how I've missed it.  So many times a fleeting thought would appear, and I would think that I need to blog that, and then the moment passes, time passes, and days would go by.  In the back of my mind, my neglected blog has been just hanging out, just patiently waiting for me to take finger to keyboard and bring it back to life.  But I almost felt like whatever I had to say would be fake.

What do I mean by that?  I guess I've always thought that this blog is a reflection of my thoughts on various scriptures and passages in the Bible.  But so often those thoughts have been inspired by others.  Inspired by preachers, my pastors, different books, authors, even the side notes in my Bible.  And it felt like I was just sharing other people's thoughts really.  Thoughts I'd maybe adopted as my own- but someone else's thoughts in general.  It's actually pretty easy to get inspired by those around you when you are open to it.

But this past weekend I attended a three day school that completely overwhelmed me, but at the same time, completely inspired me.  In fact, the speaker shared the verse above when talking about the school we were attending.  She wanted us to take everything we were learning and share it with anyone who would listen.  And something clicked.  I wasn't just taking other people's words and giving my own twist to it.  I was trying to share what God was teaching me through His Word and the world around me- because it was freely given to me.  When a pastor gets up and shares his heart on Sunday morning, he's not preaching and hoping that his congregation will keep all his words to themselves.  His desire is that they'll take that message and carry it to others.  

Freely I have recieved, and freely I should give.  

I guess that makes me a selfish little blogger, because I've been hoarding all these thoughts and words to myself over the last months.  I guess I was really caught up in a deception of the enemy, because not only was I keeping everything to myself, but I was telling myself that people out there who stumble on my blog don't really want to read about what I have to say anyway. That they all have their own little bubbles of life, and probably don't believe that the entire Bible is for us today- including all of the miraculous and supernatural.  And maybe there are some who don't.  But I believe.  I believe with all my heart that God's Word is 100% for today.  It was for yesterday, and it's for tomorrow, and I need to get back to chronicling my thoughts here on the blog.

Because this blog is a journal.  It's not about who pops in to read from time to time.  (Though I am very glad that YOU do!) It's about me and my spiritual journey, and what God is sharing with me daily.  It's something that I can go back and read through and feel encouraged by- because boy, does everyone need encouragement from time to time!

So I think this means I'm back.  I have no idea the frequency with which I'll be blogging here.  I'm going to shoot for daily, but right now we're on summer break and I have a little extra time.  I really just need to find a good time to get some blogging and thinking done, and with God's help, I'm sure I'll find it.  I am tired of listening to the lies of the devil, and I will not remain silent in my own little world.  I'm going to keep my fingers on the keyboard and keep plugging away and sharing all that He has to share with me.  Because He sure has things to share- each and every day.  I can't wait to start talking about some of it.