miracles do not guarantee faithfulness to God

I read something extremely interesting the other day and I would like to share it. It goes along with the scripture Exodus 32:1-33:6. I have struggled with this contemporary approach and this pretty much sums up why.

"There are people who think they could believe in God, believe in God more strongly, or continue to believe in God if only He would do a miracle for them. There is even a contemporary approach to evangelism known popularly as the "signs and wonders movement" that teaches that the way to get people's attention and win them to Christ is by a miraculous display of God's power in healing diseases and driving out demons. Although God can and sometimes does do miracles, that is not the way people come to faith. What is needed in salvation is not external displays of power, but that inner change known as rebirth or regeneration, which happens as the Word of God is taught in the power of the Spirit of God. The Spirit and the Word work together."

Inner change, not external displays of power. Amen!

2008 to 2009

Wow, I can’t believe that 2008 has already come and gone! It was filled with joy, disappointments, achievements, laughter, tears, memories, and many learning experiences. Looking back on the year: I become an integral member of the “email chain;” spent good quality time with my family; many of my friends got married, but among them were three of my closest (Scottie, Rebecca, and Tricia); I fell in love, but the Lord had other plans and showed me it was not His timing yet; I have strengthened old friendships, made many new ones, and countless miles were put in between others; I turned 23; I am a proud and successful member of weight watchers; I got the incredible opportunity to travel to Cusco, Peru to provide healthcare services to Peruvian women through the Medical College of Georgia; I got to cheer on the DAWGS at every home game; I served on an Emmaus team; I moved back home to Atlanta, GA; deepened my relationship with the Lord; I traveled to the Dominican Republic for vacation; I finished graduate school; and I got a job at Scottish Rite! What a year… now on to 2009!

Punta Cana

About 2 weeks ago, 4 of my classmates and I took a graduation trip to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. We had officially completed our Masters degree in Nursing from the Medical College of Georgia and it was time to celebrate! We had an absolute blast; it was a wonderful trip! I would recommend it to anyone for any occasion! Feel free to ask if you would like more details or see more pictures! :)

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change...

The quote "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." was something I had to think long and hard about the other day.

A small thing happened earlier in the week that bothered me a lot. I mean it made my stomach turn in knots and to say the least, I was a little irritated. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that the reason I was bothered was because of the fact that the whole thing bothered me in the first place. Although I could do absolutely nothing about this episode, I still let it consume my thoughts for the better part of a day. I was in a bad mood, got nothing accomplished, had to talk to some of my friends about it, and it ultimately caused me to get angry. WHAT A WASTE, I let it ruin my day!!! The next day I was reading through some quotes and came upon the one I mentioned above. Why waste time with something I cannot change? What a simple principle! I can now look at this whole episode (and I am sure there will be others in the future) in a different manner. :)

WELCOME

Through many experiences in my life (some very recent, while others were many years ago), I am continuously reminded that "God's timing may not always be our timing, but it's always perfect timing." I have created a blog to share some of those experiences and the lessons the Lord has taught me in hopes of you finding it helpful, encouraging, informative, and fun! Enjoy!

Blessings,
Amanda