Welcome back to another week of discussing Outflow. As the weeks go by I hope the fountain of the Holy Spirit has been flowing out of you onto the lives of your family and friends. Now it’s time for the true fountain test. How about your neighbors? Has the life giving water that transformed your life begun to flow out to your neighbors? I know that Christ wasn’t just talking about our actual neighbors living next door, but I’m sure he wasn’t dismissing them either. If your like me it’s easy to show Christ’s love to those in our church, after all most of them are wearing their Sunday’s best as well. But how about when we go home and the neighbors dog is barking, or they left the trash out and some local critters got into it and once again their trash has become your trash. Is the fountain bubbling over with love or is it boiling with anger? Christ told us to love our neighbors as ourselves, so lets get busy this week. I suggest starting with prayer and asking God to change your heart, I go through this routine every now and then when my neighbors aren’t acting the way I want them to and I then realize that they are God’s children and that I need to show them grace. Christ is waiting for me to allow his fountain of life to flow over to my neighbors and hopefully bring them into His Kingdom. On Pg. 157 in the reflection pool we are asked, “How can we move from one attitude to the other?” I personally use prayer and then I reflect back on my past and find out how I can relate to the people that I’m annoyed with. Most of time the things that get me the most angry are the things I have struggled with in my past or that I’m struggling with in the present. I would love to hear your thoughts and I look forward to writing again in a few days. For now, may God bless you and may His Holy Spirit flow out from you onto your neighbors.
Outreach Websites
We have developed a series of websites that we target for different outreach events. You can check them out by clicking on the sites below:
-
I know what you mean about being annoyed with people doing things we used to do. I have felt those things too. One thing I liked on page 58 is talking about the relationship we can have with God just like we have with a friend. If we spend time with him and ask the Holy Spirit to lead us, our direction and thoughts change. Thats what has helped me stay on the right track and get to know God better. I had a friend tell me recently that she was a believer all her life but never really got to know the Holy Spirit part of the God Head. She now feels new joy and she shares it with others. It allows us to love our families and church families more plus those outside our church family. Plus many other areas to let our love flow.
No doubt Janet, it is amazing how much the Holy Spirit’s love can begin to flow as we begin to ask him into our lives on a daily basis. It’s much easier to show love when we are filled with God’s love.