Skip to main content

Walk Worthy

For a little over two years I have been recording life from the perspective of our ministry at Caribbean Mountain Academy.   This was a blog to record ministry updates, some personal updates, and family updates.  But all through the lens of keeping supporters in the loop.  I want to continue that blog, so if that's your jam, keep following the Stroups Walking on Waves page.

However, I find myself frequently wanting to share the many things that God is developing in me.   The last two years have been significant in my spiritual growth, for a lot of reasons, but I think first and foremost because I have committed myself to spending time in Scripture every day.  So, for my own reference, I want to keep a greater inventory of all the things that God is teaching me.  I love to learn, and I love to write, and although I don't anticipate any kind of large following, I do hope that anyone who does read this blog is encouraged in their own desire to learn to walk worthy.  

Many of you are probably familiar with verses in the epistles where Paul exhorts believers to "walk in a manner worthy".  My favorite passage with this concept in Colossians 1.  
Verses 9-14 read:
9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; 12 giving thanks[d] to the Father, who has qualified you[e] to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

There's a lot here.  But the truths prayed over the church in Colossae resonate so deeply in my heart.  

Paul asks with passion, for that church to be,
Filled with the knowledge of God's will, in all spiritual wisdom and understanding
Why?
So that you MAY walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.
FULLY Pleasing to him.
Bearing fruit.
Increasing in the knowledge of God
Being strengthened according to HIS glorious might.
For all endurance
For patience with joy
GIVING THANKS to the Father... 
Why?
Because He has qualified you to share in the inheritance...
Delivered you from the domain of darkness...
Transferred you to the kingdom of his beloved Son...
Who earned us redemption... forgiveness of sin.

So that I can walk worthy.
So that I can bear fruit.
So that I can increase in knowledge of God - who He is, what He has done...
So that I can experience HIS strength in my weakness.
So that I can endure through whatever He takes me through, and come out more like His Son.
So that I can experience those seasons with patience and joy, not trying to force an outcome, or skip over the hard stuff.
So that I can glorify my Papa, and live a life of gratitude for what He has done, and what He is doing in me, and somehow through me.

I don't know about you, but I want eyes enlightened by spiritual wisdom and understanding.  Give me Holy Spirit eyes for Your Word, for all of this life, for my own wicked, deceived heart.

I want all that.  Whatever it takes.  However many times I have to confess, die to self, and come back to the cross.  I want to walk in a manner worthy of what He has started in me.  In my family.  In my relationships with others.  In my ministry.  In whatever He calls me to.  

So that's what I want to talk about here.  How He is doing that work in me.... when I am willing.  

And sometimes when I am not.  







Comments

  1. mozzarellamamaMay 2, 2019 at 8:02 PM

    Oh Erin, I love your willingness to bear your soul, describe your journey and give us insight how to pray and support you!
    Love you sll! Aunt Sparkles

    ReplyDelete
  2. Meredith BlairMay 2, 2019 at 10:58 PM

    so excited to be able to keep up with you in this more personal way. thank you for sharing your heart! <3

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Unyielding Messenger

This week, God had a theme of treasure for me to unpack.   Does he ever do that with you?   You read a book, He communicates an idea that encourages your heart.   But then you forget it 10 minutes later.   You go out for coffee with a friend, and the same idea is uttered in their spirit led heart.   “Do you hear me, daughter?”   You turn on the radio, and it’s there too.   “I really want you to get this.” You open your Bible, and every verse, even if you are in some obscure book, relays the same concept.   “LISTEN TO ME!” He does this often with me, and even when I was not faithfully in the Word, He would find such obscure ways to speak to me.   That’s been my week. So, in the study on 1 John, I was digging into the word “Abide”.   Go figure, right?   John really runs with that idea, which probably stemmed from Jesus as the vine, telling us to abide in Him.   What the heck does that mean, though?   According t...
Post a Comment
Read more

No Temptation, No Test

It has been a long time since I last wrote on this weekly blog.   The month in Guatemala, coupled with visiting family, and new job responsibilities has made it difficult.   More than that though, I was sitting in a season of grumbling. I was moaning about injustices.   I was moaning about all the annoying parts of living in the Dominican Republic.   I was moaning about relational difficulties.   I was moaning about disunity.   But in the midst of that, over and over again, I knew that Jesus was gently nudging at my heart, telling me to come to HIM, for rest, but I would angrily hiss back, “your yoke isn’t easy, and your burden is anything but light!” I promised to be transparent in these blogs in the hopes that I can encourage other clay pots. Certainly not because I like it, on the contrary, it pains me to share my sinful rebellion.   With that awareness, I still chose to feel sorry for myself, but I wasn’t fully aware of the sin...
1 comment
Read more

Giants in the Land

This week was a bit of a blur, as Andrew and I had friends visiting on a vision trip.   I kept up pretty consistently with reading and studying, but have felt the weariness in my heart that comes after a long week of sleep deprivation and lack of consistency in all areas. So, this week I didn’t really have anything new and fresh from 1 John.   On Saturday night, I drug out my Sunday School materials because I was slotted to teach, and begrudgingly began reading the lesson and preparing to teach the CMA Chapel kids. That is what I want to share with you (Ironically, there was a mix-up in communication and I didn’t even end up teaching, HA!   God has a sense of humor). So, the lesson walked through Numbers 13-14, and was about the twelve spies who went into the Promised Land.   If you grew up in church, you know this story.   10 said “No”, two said, “Go, giant grapes… all of that.   As I prepared, I thought about the typical angle taken wh...
Post a Comment
Read more