Giving God the glory!

Today I want to take the time to go back over yesterdays blog. I want to share with you how amazing, humurous, & right on time God is. He has lessons for us to learn & messages for us to hear & consider, if we will keep our eyes, ears & hearts open to him.  When I blog I don't plan ahead. I share with you whatever the Holy Spirit impresses upon me. I don't choose scripture ahead of time. Sometimes I really like one & think "hey I should share that cuz it's really good" but it doesn't usually work that way.  I share with you what God tells me to share.  Now, as I write, scripture may come to mind so I write it down & when I'm done writing I go back & search through the scripture asking God if this is what he wants me to say for today. Sometimes he leads me down a totally different path than what I was thinking.  I will say though that when God is doing the leading & showing me things I get really excited even when it is a scripture that steps on my toes. That just tells me that he loves me! So, on that note lets take a look back at the scripture that was used in Bloomin Onions. I did not write them out this time as an effort to keep it short  & to the point. Knowing that some of you may not go & read the full text, I want to do that now because their is so much more than my words  to consider. The first vs. was 2 Corinthians 2:14-17-But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ & through us spreds everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved & those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task? Unlike so many, we do no peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God. NIV
I also like The Message version; In the Messiah, in Christ, God leads us from place to place in one perpetual victory parade. Through us, he brings knowledge of Christ. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way of salvation-an aroma redolent with life. But those on the way to destruction treat us more like the stench from a rotting corpse. This is a terrific responsibility. Is anyone competent to take it on? No-but at least we don't take God's word, water it down, & then take it to the streets to sell it cheap. We stand in Christ's presence when we speak; God looks us in the face. We get what we say straight from God & say it as honestly as we can.  This  is so true! When we are led by the Holy Spirit & we see to it that we pray & ask God to show us what it is that he would have us to say, we cannot go wrong because it will be his words not ours. The Bible does not lie so as long as we are coming directly from his word the only thing that can happen is that someone might not like the fragrance of your onion-God's truth!  1 Corinthians 1:25-31 Christ is God's ultimate miracle & wisdom is so tinny, so impotent, next to the seeming absurdity(foolishness) of God. Human strength can't begin to compete with God's "weakness". Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don't see many of "the brightest & the best" among you, not many influential, not many from high society families. Isn't it ovbvious that God deliberately chose men & women that the culture overlooks & exploits & abuses, chose these "nobodies" to expose the hollow pretensions of the "somebodies"? That makes it quite clear that none of you  can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have-right thinking & right living, a clean slate & a fresh start-comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That's why we have the saying, "If you're going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God." (Let him who boasts boast in the Lord) The MSG  Can you see first of all that God is our strength? The foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom & the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. NIV. God's foolishness & weakness vs. man's wisdom & strength. There is no comparison, no question that he can get us through our winter.  Next is proof that he loves onions! He has always chosen the least likely, the one with mistakes, the poor, the abused etc. Even the 12 apostles! None of us are chosen because we are so great but because God is Greatest through Jesus who has given us his gift of the Holy Spirit ( A sweet perfume).  2 Corinthians 12:7-10 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. NIV.  When we put away our "onionness", our strong odors, we can then experience God's strength so that our fragrance becomes pleasing to God & those around us. John 14 tells us in vs. 6 that "Jesus is the way, the truth, & the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." & in vs 10-14 Jesus says, "Don't you believe that I am in the Father & the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work...12-I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, & I will do it." I love the fact that if we have faith in Jesus that our story aligns with his. We will do the same work that he is doing & greater!!! Wow, He must really trust us onions! So as he tells Asa in 2 Chronicles 15:7 But as for you, be strong & do not give up, for your work will be rewarded. Don't give up! Winter will pass! Spring is just ahead! A time of renewal! Bear with me as we look at Ephesians 6:10-18 where Paul tells encourages us & tells us how to survive. "Finally, be strong in the Lord & in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand agaist the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh & blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world & against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, & after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, & with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation & the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers & requests. With this in mind, be alert & always keep on  praying for all the saints."  I am here to testify that if I don't keep my armor on, evil will slay me. Yesterday Satan tried to steal my joy. It worked for awhile but not without me knowing it. Sadly he used my husband to do this. I'm not sure he even realizes this. I had already planned to come back & go over these scriptures because what God showed me through my own blog excited me. I had just started this blog yesterday but didn't finish because I ran out of time. Procrastinated & then had to leave for a ball game. Satan jumped right on that knowing that lately my joy has been short fused. But God clearly said to me, "don't let anything steal the gift of joy I have given you today. Work it out. Forgive, even if you don't want to." Today I am claiming God's word & kicking Satan's sorry attempt to derail me back where it belongs. This is hard cuz he knows that pride is one of my thorns. So...in response to Paul's charge in 2 Timothy 4:2-5 "Preach the Word; be prepared in season & out of season; correct, rebuke & encourage-with great patience & careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth & turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry."  I PRESS ON!  The Bible clearly tells us that as onions our work may be hard, may offend those on the path of destruction, soothe those on the path of salvation, but if we have faith in Him & put on his armor; through Him we will have our own magnificent onion story doing what He has done!


I give all glory, honor, & praise to God for the alignment of these scriptures cuz truly I did not come up  with these. Some popped into mind but when I went to look things up this is the garden of truth that he put me in!


His Bloomin' Onion
Stephanie Goode