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Thankful Thursday: The Holy Spirit's Moving

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Faith's Firm Foundation: Thankful Thursday: The Holy Spirit's Moving

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Thankful Thursday: The Holy Spirit's Moving

It's Thankful Thursday, and I'm so grateful today for the Holy Spirit and the Word of God! I'm so thankful that the Lord speaks to me through His Word, and prods me in my spirit to know it's Him. He is teaching me and even makes the words seem to jump off the page at times!

Proverbs 15:10--"Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way, and he that hateth reproof shall die."

Proverbs 15:31-32--"The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise.  He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul:  but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.  The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom:  and before honor is humility."

Proverbs 12:1--"Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge; but he that hateth reproof is brutish." (brutish basically means "stupid.")

Yesterday and the day before, as I read these words of Scripture, there was a VERY CLEAR MESSAGE!  Listen when your husband corrects you!  If you don't, you're a fool, not Godly, not wise, and will come to ruin--you'll be destroyed.

Pretty straightforward.  Good thing the Lord gave me a "heads-up" so to speak.  This morning, I had a chance to put my learning into action.
First thing this morning, my husband told me he wanted me to put everything I can into getting physically ready to walk all day every day when we go to Washington, DC.  It's a "walking city"!  He told me I have a month, and he wanted me to give it my all.  He was like a coach at halftime!  Now, I don't know about you other gals, but I've noticed that guys really respond to being yelled at during halftime, but we gals, we're made a little differently:)  But, I had been told by the Holy Spirit to listen to my husband! So, I took this as straight from the Lord!!  He even told me to walk on hard surfaces like we'll probably be experiencing in museums, etc.

It was pretty intense, but I knew he was right, and I knew it was what I needed.  Fortunately, I'd been prepared by the Holy Spirit.  Good thing.  Or I might have been offended, or defended myself.  But, it wasn't the first time the thought had been brought to my mind.  I had been thinking that I needed to start a walking regimen a few weeks ago.  Basically, within 24 hours of starting at that time, I had turned one ankle and had a flare-up of my arthritis on the other side that hurt so bad, I was almost in tears.  That was pretty discouraging.  I didn't know how I was going to walk around DC with my arthritis being so bad.  It had never acted up like that before.  So, these last two weeks I've been really praying.  After that flare-up, I haven't gone for long walks, but I've been on my feet a lot, just due to the busyness and responsibilities I've had.  In the last week I co-hosted two big shower/receptions with 65 and 90 people each. We also babysat my great-nieces, who are 3 and 1, for the weekend.  And my feet have been doing a lot better, for which I'm so thankful!  But, I was also thankful for the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit, reminding me to listen to instruction, and prompting me to respond to my husband as I would to the Lord.

Today, I was the most grateful! My daughter and I had driven into Maple Grove, and I was waiting for her to pick me up, but instead of just standing or sitting there, I headed out walking!  I didn't know exactly where I was going to go, but I saw a big hard-pavement parking lot, actually parking lots(!) in front of me, and I thought they perfectly fit the bill of "hard surfaces" to walk on! So, I picked up my large gift bag that my friend had just given me in one hand, and in my other hand I took my large bag filled with books and CDs that I'd brought with me to show her, both weighing several pounds, and I set off walking!  Expecting to see my daughter pull up at any moment, I just kept on walking briskly, finally ending up at Barnes and Noble in the strip mall, enjoying this gorgeous day, and enjoyed getting my heart rate up, and working up a sweat even, due to the afternoon sun beating down.  I wasn't dressed for the experience, or even wearing proper walking shoes, but nonetheless, it felt really good, and turned out to be about a half hour or so walk!

Now, walking might be nothing to you, but walking for even a few blocks lately had caused me a great deal of pain.  As I said, I've developed arthritis in my feet, and when I had a flare-up a couple of weeks ago, I thought, "Oh, no."  I could hardly stand the pain, so I took extra-strength Tylenol (rapid release) which I reserve for migraine headaches which on rare occasions hit me.  The pain hit me on a Sunday morning, so off we went to church.  I thought I was going to cry, it was so bad.  I had to take another dose of Tylenol later that day, just to make it through.  I was limping all day.  Even sitting, my foot hurt terribly.  Walking was excruciating.  So, today, I just want to give glory to God and praise the Lord!! My arthritis didn't hurt at all!!  And I was able to walk a long ways (on hard pavement:) and I just looked up to heaven, and said, "I'm obeying You, Lord!" And I knew it was the best thing for me to do.  And He helped me to do it.  I'm praying that He will continue to enable me to walk and get back into shape, and be able to enjoy my family and our time walking around all the fun places that we'll be going to, and not to hold them back at all.

It's so good to hear from the Lord, and know you've heard from Him.  As wives, we can know that the Lord will speak and lead through our husbands, but sometimes we don't want to believe it.  I'm grateful that we have such a loving Lord Who has given us His Holy Spirit and the Word of God. To participate and read other thankful posts, visit Iris, at Grace Alone--Thanks, Iris, for hosting!
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10 Comments:

Blogger Denise said...

I love you sis, and I am praying for you.

September 2, 2010 at 12:38 AM  
Blogger Joan Hall said...

While at my weekend retreat last week, we walked along a walking trail in a state park. I realize how out of shape I am. Your post encourages me to walk!

Lifting you up in prayer.

Blessings,
Joan

September 2, 2010 at 6:06 AM  
Blogger Self Sagacity said...

Hi Wendy, it's nice to see a familiar face. I am one of your followers, and great to be back again. I enjoyed the read, it is good to be humble to the hubbies, they do make very good points, sometimes.

September 2, 2010 at 6:53 AM  
Blogger LAURIE said...

Wendy, thank you for sharing your grateful heart with us today. Loved, LOVED the scriptures that you shared! Happy TT!

September 2, 2010 at 7:06 AM  
Blogger Kel said...

What a great reminder. Growing up in today's world where women try to prove that they more than men, we tend to forget to stop and listen to our husbands. I'll pray for your healing. I was a gymnast for 20 years and my body aches daily so I know what a burden the pain can be for every day activities.

Blessing,
Kel

September 2, 2010 at 7:35 AM  
Blogger Joshlin said...

It always makes me say WOW! when I read someone say that they really felt the Lord was talking to them. I have felt that way on occasion and know how great that felling is! We are Blessed Wives to know when God talks to us and to listen to our Husbands! Have a great day!

September 2, 2010 at 9:36 AM  
Anonymous Angie said...

What a blessing your words were to me Wendy! It is great to happen upon treasures like your blog..
Blessings

Angie

September 2, 2010 at 2:55 PM  
Blogger Lena said...

Thank you for the wonderful post. I love reading the bible, it seams the more I read the more I enjoy it. May God heal you and give you strength.

September 2, 2010 at 8:49 PM  
Blogger Wendy said...

Hey everyone--just got back from the State Fair (8:00a.m. to 8:00 p.m.!) and saw all the comments--it made me feel so good!! You're the best!!

Denise, thanks...I love you, too!

Joan, Oh! I am so out of shape, I can't believe it! I don't know how it got this bad--at the Fair today it came crashing home--gotta keep walking! (and lose weight!) :( Let's pray for each other, OK? Thanks!

Self-Sagacity, Hey! Great to have you back and thanks for the comment! You know, it's hard to take advice from those closest to us sometimes, but I know that God wants me to listen to my husband--it just takes so much HUMILITY!! :)

Laurie, As I was saying just now to Self-Sagacity, pride gets in the way of my listening to instruction, and it's so hard to hear advice and correction! This is a major failing in me! God has been really speaking to me about this. Christ was so humble and quiet before His accusers! What an example! (I don't love those verses, but they're good for me! :)

So, Kel, one more thing to find out about you! You were a gymnast, huh?! I'm sorry you have daily pain--that's hard to deal with. I really appreciate your prayers for my healing. It's kind of a vicious cycle--I need to exercise and walk to lose weight so my arthritis won't hurt, and my arthritis hurts which keeps me from walking and getting exercise! But, I'm going to do it anyways. Thank you so much for the prayers! That's what's going to make the difference!

Joshlin, love your name--Welcome, and thanks! You are so right, we are truly blessed, in many ways: when we have a God Who communicates with us, and loves us, and we have husbands who care enough to give us counsel. It has been a joy to hear from the Lord in my Quiet Time in His Word lately. I KNOW He is at work in me and also my family--I've been really praying, and especially that the Lord would give me a deep, deep love for Him, that He would ignite the fire of my love for Him! Change me, Lord, I know it's high time I grew up in the Lord, and I'm saying, "I'm available, Lord! If you have something You want me to do--I'm here!" I really appreciate your words about the blessing of listening to our husbands--so true!

Thank you, Angie! What sweet words! I'm so blessed!! I hope you'll follow and that the Lord will speak through this blog, and you'll experience a lot of blessing here! Thanks for commenting!

Lena, Yes, the Word of God has to be read often and deeply to be appreciated. And without the Holy Spirit shedding light on what it means, it's totally un-understandable! I realized recently that I was just going through the motions of reading it one day, and I stopped, and asked the Lord to show me something, and it was so cool, because He showed me something so profound in a relatively dry passage! He's amazing! Praise the Lord for His Word, and that He works in me through His Spirit! Thanks for the prayers for healing and strength--you are so sweet and I really appreciate them!!
Blessings Everyone! I love you all!
Wendy

September 2, 2010 at 9:22 PM  
Blogger Sharon said...

Wendy,
I'm just catching up with everyone. This was a great post! Yes, guidance from our husbands is sometimes hard to listen to - they DO have a different approach! But you'll be glad you did.
I went on a 2-day, 16-mile hike in July - I NEVER thought I'd be able to do that. Not at MY age. But I really think the walking I did before I left really helped get me ready - it will do the same for you.
I will pray that the arthritis subsides, and that God will prepare your whole body and mind for this trip.

YOU CAN DO IT, friend!! I'm so proud of your accomplishments so far :)

GOD BLESS!

September 3, 2010 at 2:20 AM  

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Hi and welcome to my blog! Come on in and make yourself at home! I love connecting. Comments are the way to do that! Tell me about yourself. Please connect back, ok?
Blessings,
Wendy
If you would rather, my email address is faithsfirmfoundation(at)embarqmail(dot)com

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