(God says) “Find out what I’m doing and then do it. Find out what God is up to and move in my faith and do it. Well, I learned that actually this human being is made to contain God, He isn’t something flying about. Christ is In me. He made me wonderful, but to contain a wonderful God. When I know that, life is simply ‘do the next thing.’ What I’m saying is God is operating in me and I’m Native to His operation. I move as a real person with a real God inside me.” — Norman Grubb
Norman Grubb
Norman Grubb was a missionary to Africa and a friend of my mother’s. They corresponded by letter often. My mother was an author who wrote material for Christian media. There were a few occasions that Dr. Grubb (as I called him) would visit our house. He and my mother would have lengthy discussions about the Bible and how God was working in each of their lives. I remember him as a spiritual grandfather to me. He was a positive man with a genuine love for Jesus. I remember his encouragement to me as a young child to grow in the knowledge of God and allow Him to work through me.
Recently, a friend posted a video with Dr. Grubb in it which brought tears to my eyes. They were not tears of sorrow, but tears of joy, remembering a life well lived. It was fun to hear his rapid English accent, a sound that brought a feeling of comfort. There are times you just know when you have been in the presence of someone who truly sought God. I remembered his gentle personality and the love of God he expressed as I watched the video.
I love the prayer Dr. Grubb used daily asking God to direct him. My own day is much more productive and worthwhile when I allow God to guide me from the start of the day. In Dr. Grubb’s prayer, he says that God made us wonderful human beings to contain a wonderful God. When he says contain, he is speaking of embodying the Spirit of Christ. I know that he doesn’t mean that we could ever actually ‘contain’ God in the sense of keeping him in a box. God cannot be contained and His presence is always with us, in us, and around us. He is real, Yes! God is real. We must know the tangibility of God, know that He is forever with us, know that He is in us.
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? I Corinthians 6:19 NLT
But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. Romans 8:9-11 NLT
Nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:21 NKJV
Prayer: Father, I thank you for being in me. I thank you that you have chosen me. Help me to understand what I am to do to fulfill your will. Let me speak with your voice, hear with your ears, see with your eyes, and Love with your Love, so that others may see that you are real. Help me to ‘do the next thing.’ Amen
There are six things the Lord hates—no, seven things he detests: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family. Proverbs 6:16-19
As I thought about these verses yesterday, I came up with these sayings:
You can dress up a lie with flowery words and the allusion of honey, but in the end, it is still a lie.
False accusations will eventually bring sorrow to those who speak them.
A smooth lie wounds deeper than a harsh truth.
A vicious tongue cuts deeper than a sword by dividing relationships.
Controlling what comes out of our mouths is essential to peace in every facet of our lives.
Once a person becomes used to lying, they become immune to understanding truth.
If you claim to show love, but cannot control your tongue, the only person continually fooled is yourself.
A salty ocean cannot produce pure sweet water.
Pleasant words and a bitter heart are in conflict with each other. They produce dissension and division.
Those who pretend to be your friend and gossip behind your back are not your ally.
If you want to put out a fire, don’t give air to a spark of rumors.
When you listen to rumors, you are as guilty as the one who gossiped and when you repeat the gossip, you are embellishing hearsay. You start with a domino effect and create an avalanche of trouble.
Prayer: Lord help me to control what comes out of my mouth and may all my words be a blessing to you. May I glorify God as I journey through this life. Allow the Holy Spirit to say words that are worthy of your honor and in a timely manner.
So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Galatians 5:16-25
As I weed my garden, I often think of scriptures and their meaning. I find peace in the garden amongst the beauty of nature. Yesterday morning my thoughts went to a phrase spoken by Jesus. When Jesus said “Your sins are forgiven” to the lame man to be healed… which was the greater blessing? Was it that he was physically healed or that he was given Eternal life? While it is wonderful to be healed, especially of a debilitating illness or emotionally healed of the problems we deal with, isn’t it better to be given life everlasting? The lame man was given both physical healing and spiritual cleansing. We are given both through faith and redemption. The woman with the issue of blood, who had been bleeding for twelve years, knew that if she only touched Jesus’ garment, she would be healed. She had faith in his ability to heal. Shouldn’t we have faith in his power?
Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.” Luke 8:48
He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20
Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” “Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.” John 4:13-15
Faith is all it takes for miracles to happen. The woman at the well believed and brought many more to believe by telling them of Jesus’ words. She had faith enough to gather others. She and Mary Magdalene knew their sins were many and saw the great blessing in what Jesus offered. Mary Magdalene anointed Jesus’ feet w/costly perfume and her tears… those who have been forgiven of much, show more gratefulness & love! She recognized the blessings he could give her were far better than anything she could achieve on her own. Faith and belief are synonymous here. We cannot be saved by how we live, but with the Spirit of God it is Possible to receive eternal life!
Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. John 3:5-6
Prayer: Thank you Father for sending Jesus to bless us with salvation and giving your Holy Spirit so we can live a life full of blessings!
Norman Grubb
Katie Storme 