The Power of Words by Susan Shull

We had a wonderful church service Sunday! I almost said awesome, but I stopped myself. Mark, our preacher, encouraged us to reserve that word for describing our Lord and Savior. I agree with him that we throw “awesome” about in casual conversation when we should save it for its appropriate use. Anyway, back to the point…… The singing was beautiful, the sermon was very challenging, and I have been thinking about it off and on ever since. The presence of the Lord was palpable. He was there just as He promised in the scriptures to be if two or more were gathered in His name.

In her post, Theresa referred to Mark’s challenge to write down our beliefs, but I was inspired in another way. Last June when I went to Women of Faith in St. Louis, I purchased the book Same Kind of Different as Me, a nonfiction book co-written by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. The book lay on my nightstand for months untouched. However, I recently picked it up and started reading and finished it last night. What a book! What an inspiration!

The lessons of the book were so motivating and meshed with what I learned from Sunday’s sermon. In the book one woman felt led by the Holy Spirit to become involved with a homeless mission in Fort Worth, Texas. Not only did she feel led, but she followed through. As a result of one person’s faith and obedience, God worked in the lives of many, many others. In his sermon, Mark urged us not to focus on the whole world but to narrow our focus to one person in our sphere of influence who needs the Lord. Can you imagine how Jasper County would change if all of us Christians would really do this? Heaven knows our world needs what the Lord has to offer free of charge.

Our God is a truly awesome God, and I pray that I will not miss his calling to me. I pray that I (and you) will follow his leading in my life. If all of us would do what he asks us to do, He can change the world.