Bringing it all together

bits and pieces of so many different things fill up my life...do they connect? For sure! Are they all part of a huge puzzle created by THE CREATOR many moons ago? You bet!
one piece comes on Sunday morning "church" i like to call it "a meeting of people who love the same God and can become family for that one reason only and all the other stuff is just us living in worship to Him"...not always that simple, but it's a start. So, let's review the message presented today: We are adopted by God. in short: Ephesus a city all about appearance-kids left at the bottom of a hill if they were "defected"-others could come and pick them up if they wanted to raise a "worker" (otherwise they just were left to die)-and that was the first form of "adoption"
Now: Ephesians 1:3-5 goes something to the effect of Jesus Christ adopting us into his family and that gives Him great pleasure, joy even! wow! joy! God adores us despite our defects and picks us up off the hillside to take us home with Him and finds great joy in us. He takes delight and pleasure in me, in you. Not even that, but He trusts us with His self, He made us light-bearers to shine from a hilltop (Matthew 5:13-16)
And what's more, He told Peter to feed His sheep.
Oswald talks about the process of being made broken bread and poured out wine means that we have to be the nourishment for other souls until they can learn to feed on God...so we have to be filled up at the source so others are getting the life source through us
I like this, "You have no right to say -- "O Lord, I am so exhausted." He saved and sanctified you in order to exhaust you. Be exhausted for God, but remember that your supply comes from Him. "All my fresh springs shall be in Thee.""
Self-reflection: I feel loved to know my God, Jesus picked me up from the bottom of the hill and dusted me off and said, let's go I have great things in store for you.
How do I live that day by day? Can I be feeding the sheep while line dancing, wearing a cowgirl hat, and having a drink with peers while discussing the latest research on acute care and PT? I don't see why not...do I need to be careful in that to make sure I am filled up ahead of time, to be able to say at the end of the day (or early morning) that I present myself before you Lord and am not ashamed and can present my body to you as a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to you? Yes, indeed that's why I need to be getting it from THE SOURCE.
Is it possible to be feeding the sheep while _________________?
Fill in the blank yourself...are you feeding the sheep and interacting with the motives to be able to say at the end of the day that you can stand, kneel, fall flat on your face before your Jesus and be content just staying there basking in His presence...knowing He adores you and loves you despite yourself...oh yes, He does.
How does all this get brought together? How does it neatly tie into a package to be easy to digest? It doesn't...it's the random pieces of the puzzle that don't have a match yet, it's the process of learning by feel how they all go together...it's a process directed by the most awesome God ever!