Iron Sharpens Iron As God Listens

Why and How Iron Sharpens Iron....

This weekend God once again reminded me of the depth of His word. You will find the words in Proverbs 27:17, "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another."

But let me begin at the beginning. This weekend would turn out to be one of those life changing events. God had it all set up. All I had to do was walk in obedience.

It started by keeping a lunch date with a sister in Christ. God had already given us a friendship but this day He would allow the iron to sharpen iron. We spoke of our love for Christ as we shared the goings on of our life. Then she shared a verse (Malachi 3:16) with me. Oh my goodness, how many years as a counselor and teacher have I told this story to His daughters? How many times have I envisioned these very words within my spirit and by the Holy Spirit? Picture with me if you will, a group of His daughters sitting around sharing story after story about the faithfulness of our Lord. In the spirit, I can see Him turn to His Son and say "look there are my girls again. How they love us.... I am so proud of them." Then He leans in closer and whispers, "I will hear them and give them the desires of their hearts."

With everything in me, I believed I was speaking truth to His daughters when I said He listens in on our conversations. However, the words were to become gospel as Sue shared God's word with me. Oh and by the way, I doubt Sue had ever heard me share that story.... She was simply sharing the Scripture from her morning devotion with The Lord.

The next day we were attending "Joy Conference". The conference speaker, Rhonda Holland spoke the same words, using the same Bible passage, of how He looks down, listening and calling us His. God says "Mine".

My point here is simple!  Sue gave me God's written word (one that was already deep in my spirit) and Rhoda came to sharpen the verse even more so...

We must not isolate ourselves! We must seek both Godly friendships, mentors and places to grow in God. When conferences are offered we must find the time to go drink and feed at the table God has prepared for us. God does use others to not only sharpen us but to confirm things deep in our spirit. I ,for one, am glad God sent His daughters my way this weekend. This story is only one of many I could share from this weekend! Perhaps, I will share more later.

By the Way, the truth is God does listen to our conversations and He does call us "MINE"... I won't put the scripture here for you because I want to challenge you to go pick up your bible and read it for yourself.

Malachi 3:16-17 Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament


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The Small Delicate Hand

There it was again.  How does it come upon her so quickly and without an apparent sign of its coming? Her mind seems free from concern and worries.  She cannot even visualize one solitary event leading to its appearance.  Still she can feel the weight of its presence as though she has summoned the darkness to appear. 

This thing called burden, depression or anxiety comes quickly like a thief in the night, robbing her of her peace of mind.  Not only does it steal her peace of mind but it also seems to want a piece of her soul, her very being.  It hovers over her like a cloud about to rupture at the seams. Perhaps this time it will simply swallow her whole.  At times, she wishes it would do just that.  At least then it might be over and she could simply rest.

Wait, this time she notices something quite strange.  Had she never noticed it before?  The clouds though many are pitch black, some are fluffy and white.  Looking closer, yes there it is a small delicate hand reaches high out of the cloud.  Her very being sighs with relief but why?  Somewhere in her mind (her spirit) she is acquainted with this sigh of relief. 

The clouds are drifting now.  There is a ray of light, a ray of hope.  She now realizes that small hand was lifted in praise. Then she sees His hand reaching down to grasp the small delicate uplifted hand.   She simply whispers “next time I will lift my hand sooner.”

 Psalms 42:11 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

lj04292013