{"id":35615,"date":"2023-08-04T03:30:35","date_gmt":"2023-08-04T10:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/?p=35615"},"modified":"2023-07-28T17:37:41","modified_gmt":"2023-07-29T00:37:41","slug":"august-4-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2023\/08\/04\/august-4-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"August 4, 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Growing Up<\/strong><\/h2>\n

“For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.” <\/em>Isaiah 41:13<\/p>\n

During these last years and all I’ve gone through, my heart’s desire has been to grow.\u00a0To grow in being more like Jesus.\u00a0To grow in intimacy with the Father.\u00a0To grow in maturity. To grow in wisdom.\u00a0To grow in trust.\u00a0Just to GROW.<\/p>\n

I didn’t want to go backwards in my walk with the Lord.\u00a0I didn’t want to blame, or mistrust, or grow cold in my walk with the Lord. There were hard things to deal with. There were many things I didn’t understand.\u00a0There were times when I felt stretched to what I was sure would be my breaking point.\u00a0There was pressure upon pressure.\u00a0 And there were so many times when I didn’t know what to do and I had huge decisions to make.<\/p>\n

Through it all I told the Lord I wanted to grow\u2014and I asked him to help me!!<\/p>\n

A friend sent me a video clip recently that warmed my heart.\u00a0It so resonated with me. I had to share it.\u00a0I’m attaching it below, but I’ll explain it as well.<\/p>\n

There’s a small stump of a tree right beside a\u00a0metal pole of a stop sign.\u00a0Out of that stump a tree starts growing inside the metal pole\u2014up, up, up until it reaches the top of the red stop sign.\u00a0From there green branches of leaves burst forth in abundance.\u00a0It’s quite amazing!<\/p>\n

It speaks to me that when we want to grow, nothing, absolutely nothing, can stop us…and certainly not with the Lord helping us.\u00a0I’ve grown these last years.\u00a0It’s sometimes been painful growth, but the Lord has been right by my side, holding my right hand, and helping me.\u00a0I am eternally grateful for God helping me grow in the midst of extremely difficult times.<\/p>\n

The Lord wants nothing more than for us to grow closer and closer to Him.\u00a0He will help us get through every obstacle we face.\u00a0He loves us and wants us to have intimacy of fellowship with Him.\u00a0What a precious gift it is.<\/p>\n

Father, use all the circumstances of our lives to cause growth in us. We know You won\u2019t allow us to stay childish in our ways, so we welcome Your hand that works in us. Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n

Click here to watch the video on YouTube.<\/a>*<\/p>\n

*”Tree Grows Through Metal Sign.” YouTube. Uploaded by Viral Hog. 29 October 2021. https:\/\/youtu.be\/qDYTSvPEbxA<\/h6>\n<\/div>
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