Cup of Empowerment 5/28/12

Sipping on my tea and eating the last of my tiramisu birthday treat, I ponder some questions for you…

In what realm do you have influence? Where is your territory? Who listens to you? With this in mind, I realize we all touch lives and affect someone! Either for the good or for the bad…but we always influence others!

Someone asked me “what are you doing for your birthday”, and suggested someone wanted to give a party. It made me think… “What do I really want to do?” And since my life is not my own, I asked the Lord, “What do You want to do? How would You like to spend my birthday?” All of a sudden He reminded me of a desire He had put inside me when I drove by a Laundromat one day. I said…”Ohhhh, Lord, I want to help the poor and love and those needing love! Do You want that too, Lord?” And He did!

There were ones wanting to be with me… so how was I going to use my influence for the Kingdom? How can I redeem or buy up the opportunity?

Ephesians 5:15 and 16 (New Living Translation) says: “So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.”

So… He’s My Husband International team volunteers gathered and we hit the Laundromats with quarters, soap, snacks and most of all LOVE!!! We wore our shirts and offered water and snacks! We put coins into the slots of the washers and dryer and hugged on the people!

One lady before we hardly had a chance to say we were there to love her, asked for prayer! Hearts were turned to Jesus and everyone experienced the Love of God in a tangible way! We made the most of the opportunity because evil abounds but found out that so much more His grace abounded!

Notice the first part of that verse says, to be careful how we live and to not act as fools. The translation for “be careful” means “to discern, discover or understand.” It’s so that we are not unwise! Being led by the Holy Spirit is being wise, because He knows what is needed for the situation and what will bring Him most joy! (And it’s ALL about Him, not us anyway!)

Verse fourteen, preceding it says “Awake or sleeper!” And continues, “Arise from the dead and Christ shall shine, and give you light!” When we are in the dark, we are unwise. But when we choose to wake up, and arise, it releases light so we can live with purpose and buy up opportunities! Verse seventeen tells us that we can firmly grasp what the will of the Lord is! Oh, don’t we want that? He’s given us a formula that works!

Let’s choose to live purposefully fully awake to the leading of the Lord. Say to Him, “What do you want to do today? Where do you want to go? How do you want me to handle this situation? Then expect light to shine and understanding to come! I have found if the idea is smarter than me, it’s usually Him! If the thought brings me peace and the smile of God…I pay attention to it! It doesn’t have to make sense to our mind, for the decisions we make should be led by the spirit. But it must lime up with the word of God!

Look for ways to reach out to the lonely, the poor, the disenfranchised! You may not be able to go to the Laundromat but you can make a phone call! How about loading up groceries for little lady? Or walking someone to their car with your umbrella when it starts to rain? A smile, a kind word are all part of releasing His amazing love to a hurting world!

When I said “yes” to release a Birthday Love Bomb into the community, joy sprung up in my heart! Everyone that was a part of the outreach, enjoyed His love and experienced His joy as well! It was the best birthday ever…and we were redeeming the time!

Reflectively,
CarolMarie

He’s My Husband International
www.hesmyhusband.com