Journey with Acts 2:47

Greetings Everyone, 

They praised God and were liked by all the people. Every day the Lord added those who were being saved to the group of believers. 44.2.47 NCV

These verses and those that come before it are some of my favorite verses in the book of Acts.  In my Bible verses 43-47 are given the title 'The Believers Share'.  I've always been fascinated by these verses as well. I often read through them and wonder how something like this could have actually happened. 

Simple Things- The Journaling Phenomenon

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Romans 15:4 ESV

A journal is something that almost everyone has taken upon themselves to write as they have grown up. How long the commitment was may not have been the best but the idea of writing down your thoughts and experiences is something that many have wondered about, and were most likely forced to do in school.  

Journaling your thoughts on a daily basis can give you something to refer to when difficult times come, as sort of a guide of it’s own. It can show you where you’ve been and give you a clearer picture of what God is trying to reveal to you in your time with.

There have been many times others have been impacted by an entry in their personal journal that was scribbled down several months or even years back.  God has a great way of taking our experiences from the past and bringing back to the forefront of our mind. Having a Journal to refer back to when these times come can be very encouraging.

Today, I still look back on several of my blog posts or “journal entries” and learn something new.  The Bible is the same way. Some of my best ideas come from when I journal about a scripture that has really impacted my life. The result of writing that passage down, along with a few of my thoughts, has birthed most of what I write.

Blessings in Christ and Thanks again for visiting us at "The Gathering Room."

"Times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord." 45.3.20

M.J. Elliott

Simple Things- The Ambulance Effect

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

- Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV

 As a child growing up my mother had this little thing she would do every time she heard a siren, hence the name: The Ambulance Effect. She would stop everything she was doing and say a simple prayer, “Lord be with them and keep them in your love and give them understanding. Amen.” Many times us kids would ask why and she’d simply answer, “because Jesus would.”

That answer is the root of everything I hold dear in my life, many who know me know one of my ministry sayings is “Love them Crazy, Just like Jesus.” My mother taught me this and while she never really found out what became of all those she prayed for, it was important that she took the time to stop and do something for someone else, regardless of knowing the outcome.

As an adult, I have continued to follow her lead. I have adapted my prayers a little but still, there is something that clicks in my heart when I embrace an opportunity to help someone else in need, whether it be through these simple prayers or something bigger. So next time you see someone struggling embrace the ambulance effect.

It will do more than change your heart, it will change the hearts of others as well when they see the example you set with whatever assistance you offer those around you. One of the ways I like to keep track of those moments where embracing the ambulance effect really makes a difference is by journaling the events that lead to them.

Blessings in Christ and Thanks again for visiting us at "The Gathering Room."

"Times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord." 45.3.20

M.J. Elliott

Simple Things- The Formula

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

- Matthew 7:7-8 NIV

Life is full of it’s ups and downs, God gives us a formula to live by through the scriptures as a way of guiding us towards the patch that we have been called to take.

This formula gives each of us a basic guideline to helping us grow closer to God.  While each of us is given a specific formula for our life all of them come down to simply this, we must ask God to teach us his ways, then we must seek God with all that we are, and then we must knock on the doors he places before us.

With each door that opens, we grow closer to awakening our faith. What matters is how we go about completing that formula.  There is not one specific way that is right or wrong as long as that formula includes all three.  

As you continue to read the next few posts about this project, it is my hope that they will give you ways to combine all three in some form or another. One of the very first things I learned was to Stop and Pray for God to open the doors he has prepared for us to walk through in this life.

This lesson plays a very important role in identifying which formula will work best for you. So, as we will talk about in the next section, make it your choice to go to God in prayer everyday as you seek his guidance in identifying which formula will work best with who you are.

Blessings in Christ and Thanks again for visiting us at "The Gathering Room."

"Times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord." 45.3.20

M.J. Elliott

An Introduction to Simple Things P2

When I began to think about a project Love the Saints Ministries could offer to our readers freely, my thoughts were taken back to the original project and then to the sermon series I mentioned earlier.

Our hope with this project is to give the reader a small guide they can look back on to help them when life just simply gets in the way of Awakening your faith.

Now, I’m not suggesting that all it will take to awaken your faith is a little God in your life, it’s not that simple. There are certain things that we must do in order to find ourselves growing closer to God.

There are always going to be struggles and temptations that we have to overcome. What I am suggesting is that even though your life may contain heartache and suffering, YOU have the ability to work through the pains of this life and embrace a joyful heart.

Life has given each of us so much opportunity to embrace a little more joy and the thing we experience, big and small all play a role in forming that desire deep within the confines of our hearts. If personal experience has taught me anything, it is that our experiences do matter and that they can lead us down the path of righteousness or a path of destruction.

So let’s embrace the simple things and start preparing ourselves for an awakening, an awakening of the heart. The journey won’t be as easy as you might think but through Christ and each other we can accomplish the task that has been set before us, to find ways we, as individuals and as believers in the way , the truth and the life, can grow in our walk with God.

There are many different ways a person can do this and as your read the pages of this book you may find some you would like to try and others that you may think are kind of ridiculous. In the end, the important thing is that something begins to awaken, something that will change your life forever.

Blessings in Christ and Thanks again for visiting us at "The Gathering Room."

"Times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord." 45.3.20 M.J. Elliott

An Introduction to Simple Things P1

Have you ever wondered about growing closer to God?

 A While ago, I put together a sermon series that taught about the simple things in life and how they can help awaken your heart, at the time I never really thought about using what I learned as I put that series together in a small eBook like this.

That’s the beauty of God though. He loves to use the “Simple Things” in life to help us understand the vastness of his great love and of the growth we can have in our own walks with God.

There are big things and small thing that we can do each day to help remind us of what our faith is all about and embrace the opportunity to do these things more in our daily lives, the possibilities are endless.

This little Project is just starting off so we are not really publicizing it just yet, but I needed to post something and this is what's on my heart right now. My hope in sharing this project “Freely” is that it will give you, the reader, a little glimpse into what God can do in your life through the “Simple Things” that we often forget about or pay little attention too as we go about our daily routines.

Blessings in Christ and Thanks again for visiting us at "The Gathering Room."

"Times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord." 45.3.20 M.J. Elliott