Things we DON"T NEED!

Yesterday, I promised you that I was going to tell you more about my "conference weekend"! Today, I want to tell you about Friday night's speaker! Her name is Priscilla Shirer. She is the daughter of Dr. Tony Evans. (She says, "I made him what he is." ;) Her talk was about things we don't need.

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Things we need to come away from:

1. Things of this world. "It's not about you!" I need to trust that He is up to something BIGGER in our difficult circumstances. She encouraged me not to concentrate on the pain of the circumstances, but to focus on the something bigger that He is trying to accomplish in it.

2. Doubt. Do you doubt that God is big enough? Do you doubt that He will answer YOUR prayers? She encouraged me to go back to what I know about Him - to think about a time when He did answer prayer, provide, heal, forgive, whatever. For example, He has shown me that He is forgiving. Why do I hesitate to ask for forgiveness, holding on to the shame and guilt? Because I doubt He'll forgive me AGAIN! And yet, really, I know He will!

3. Being caught up in customs (you know, because everyone else is doing it!). It is important for me to remember that Jesus isn't impressed with my actions (even the good ones! Did you know that?). He wants my heart. I so often want to jump ahead and do things instead. She encouraged me to check my heart and make sure I am doing things for the right reasons.

4. Gambling with His Grace. This was a harder one for me to understand. She talked about how He has poured out His grace on America and we take it for granted. We have not been asked to give up our life for Jesus.....just our pride. Ouch.

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Priscilla talked about her 2 year old son, Jackson. She talked about her love for him, and his adoration of her. She shared how much it meant to her when little Jackson would crawl up in her lap... She read Matthew 11:28-30:

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

She said, "When Jesus said this, He must've meant, 'Crawl up in my lap, lay your head on my chest, and plant kisses on my cheek.'" What a beautiful picture of what He wants from us... our heart...our adoration.

I adore you, Lord.