Little Girl, Rise Up

He took her by the hand and told her, "Talitha koum," which means, "Young lady, I tell you, get up!" (Mark 5:41)

God has been working on me over the last 3 years.  A lot.  Granted, He has worked on me my entire life, but He's definitely put the pedal to the metal over the last 3 years. 
Three years ago, I finally read the Bible from cover to cover.  Something every single professing Christian should do.  It will change your life.
Three years ago, I started a weekly discipleship through a small local church.  Something every single professing Christian should do.  It will make you usable.
Three years ago, God revealed to me my spiritual gift.  Something every single professing Christian should seek.  It will give you purpose.

Where I was once quick to share my thoughts on a matter, God began to reel me in to be more of an observer than a participant.  Anyone who knows me personally can attest that water boarding would be a more humane sentence for someone such as myself, than to sit idly by without interjecting my two-cents.
But that's the problem:  it's MY two-cents.
My two-cents do nothing to build God's kingdom.

You see, anyone that desires to be used by God must first ask God to make them usable.  And anyone that God chooses to make useable as a mouth-piece absolutely must learn two integral things:  1.)  Self-restraint, and 2.) Discernment.
Self restraint, because it is human nature to allow our emotions to be our engine, rather than our caboose. Self-restraint, because before anything is ever said, God needs to be consulted on the matter, and God works on His schedule, not ours, and quite frankly, sometimes God takes His sweet time.  And discernment, because it's important to discern our own thoughts from those truly inspired by the Holy Spirit.  Our own thoughts aren't going to accomplish much, but those truly inspired by the Holy Spirit and founded in God's Word are "sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12)  Which means if your words are inspired by the Holy Spirit, they will be received by those meant to hear them.

That is my prayer for this blog.