The Power of an Invitation

I have wanted to lose weight and get in shape for at least the past three years. I’ve tried counting calories, trudging the treadmill, and dancing with a DVD…..all without results. Nope, not a pound thinner. Then, a couple of weeks ago, a friend handed me a card and invited me to join her at the gym. It was an invitation that is changing my life.

Her invitation has empowered me toward my goal—I’ve already lost a few pounds and feel more toned. If she hadn’t invited me, I’d still be plodding around my same mountain of frustration. But I’m not, I’m changing. And it wasn’t just about my getting into shape. It was an invitation to relationship—to join her at the gym and journey together in our quest for fitness.

Her action made me think about how a personal invitation can literally change a person’s life. We can all feel “stuck” in some way—whether physically, emotionally or spiritually. I was stuck regarding my fitness and couldn’t find how to get out of my rut, until I got an invitation that would give me the tools needed for change. In fact, as I think of it, every major change in my life has come through an invitation: an invitation to a Bible Study where I received Jesus, to a Home Group where I encountered the person of the Holy Spirit, to a conference where I experienced worship for the first time, to marriage with my wonderful husband, and the list goes on.

We were created in the image of God who extends the greatest invitation of all—relationship with Himself through His Son, Jesus. And for most of us, that invitation came via somebody who told us about that divine invitation!

So here’s my thought in all this: There are many who we meet every day who are trudging around some mountain in life and are just waiting for someone—like you and me—to extend a personal invitation to join us on our journey into greater fitness in spirit, soul, and body. There are hearts that are longing for someone to invite them to get out of their rut and into a greater place of freedom. Today, extend an invitation of relationship to someone. It may just be the invitation that changes their life.

“The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come’….” Rev. 22:17

J Nicole – Being parented by God

Staying Whole in the Fire

I was hosting a dinner party the other evening and wanted to use special dishes, as it was a special occasion. I had a beautiful white milk glass bowl with an engraved rose designed that I inherited from my grandmother that I thought would be great for the corn. I wasn’t familiar with how durable milk glass is, but as there were a few stains on it I decided to try and clean the bowl by filling it with hot water….boiling hot water. Within seconds the bowl split in two, fell apart, and the water went everywhere. 

As I cleaned up the mess, I reflected on how God, as the Heavenly Potter, works with us, shapes us, and knows our make-up, and yes, allows us to pass through necessary fires that work to change the very fiber of our faith and character—changes that make us useful vessels for Father’s purposes. But unlike what I did with my bowl, His work with us is perfect. And if we crack and break, His love holds us and He starts anew. He doesn’t throw us away.  

My little milk bowl was pretty, but it couldn’t take the heat. But Father isn’t making us pretty little bowls to sit on a shelf, but sons and daughters in His image who go through the fire….a fire that burns away the dross and purifies our walk, until like Him, our feet are as burnished bronze in a world of clay and our eyes aflame, not with judgments, but with divine love. And what’s more, He walks through the fire with us, preparing us for ever greater realms of Kingdom service. 

Peter said to rejoice, even though we are tried by circumstances (as though tested by fire), knowing that something is happening inside us in that very process of firing. Something is changing—what is unsound is becoming sound. Our very structure is being transformed into the likeness of the Son.

If you are going through some fire, trust Father’s care, for you are not just some pretty little bowl, but a vessel of honor that He is shaping for His great purposes through you. Rejoice and give thanks—you will come through without even the smell of smoke on you, and you’ll discover the chains that once hindered you to be no more.

J Nicole – daughter of the King

pic by mysoulrhythms.com