My spirit is deeply moved with gratitude and a deep longing to please the Lord. It's been three years since The Diagnosis. I was miraculously healed more than 2.5 years ago, yet I still haven't been able to express words that truly convey my appreciation for that gift.
When I think back to this time in 2011, my heart still races and I lose my breath. The day before Thanksgiving I met Dr. Rassam and he first told us I was dying. When I replay all the events, good and bad, that I've experienced since then I'm awestruck and humbled that He cares so much about me. I didn't deserve to be healed, but He did that and continues to carry me along this journey of sanctification. And I'm a bit gutted that I still have so far to go before being truly sanctified, or set apart and holy for Him.
‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 22, 37-40).
Over the past few months the Holy Spirit has been urging me to set apart a time specifically to focus on Him. He finally motivated me to do so in a variety of ways until I could not put it off any longer. Now that we are committed I am really looking forward to it. Yaacov, the girls, and I are going to take this week leading up to Thanksgiving and set it apart as a time of gratitude for the Lord. It's sort of like a lifestyle fast I suppose. There will be some exceptions because we had already committed to attending some events, but in general we are streamlining everything. We will live off primarily "needs" instead of "wants". The girls will have a few books and toys to hold onto, but the rest will be off-limits. We will only use phones and other electronics for work or as truly needed, and we will alternate through 3 outfits. We won't have treats, extra outings, snacks, tv or music, and the meals will be simpler than usual. Maybe we will turn the furnace off but I'm not sure. If others have done things like this, please comment with how yours went! Hopefully we will become much more focused on the Lord and blessing His people, and much less focused on ourselves and our fleshly desires.
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled" (Matthew 5:6)
We are not doing this to become more worthy of the Lord's love. We will not be earning a place in heaven or anything. It's just to get back to what's important and to appreciate the many blessings He bestows on us for what they are--unmerited grace!
Titus 3:4-7, "But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life."
