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| photo by maryann |
I praise God for how our small group evolved! We're no longer contained in that mini table in a cramped starbucks. A small group friend is indeed a lifetime gift. We don't cherish that gift by polishing it with an attendance. We cherish not the session but the person--
- being interested in the going-on's of her life
- rejoicing when it's time to rejoice
- mourning when it's time to mourn
- rebuking in love
- ..but would rather win the person and not the argument
- building her up enthusiastically
- encouraging her dreams
- ..and especially who she is in Christ
- and at the end of the day talking to God about her.
In other words, RELATIONSHIP. :).
I'm a product of small groups. The existence of a spiritual family in my life puts me in a strong current that leads to God. It becomes the trend in my life. It feeds the majority of my brains with the things of God. It's my training ground and my relaxing ground. Because the battlefield is really outside the Church. In fact,I can't imagine how many times I have come crawling back to my small group--wounded, torn, shaken, confused and discouraged. In life there's only one thing that we need to remember to fight a good fight and keep the faith: who God is.
But we all always forget.
That's why I am so thankful that this group is strategically placed in my life by God to regularly remind me of who He is.
There's really nothing magical about this group. We may be just a bunch of ladies who care about each other just like any other groups out there, sure.
But one thing, one very important thing holds us up together. And that's Christ Himself.
Apart from Him, we'd crumble as easily as a piece of Polvoron dropped on the floor.
So if you currently have a small group, cherish them, love them, they are a beautiful gift from God.
If you do not have a small group yet, I encourage you to pray to God for it. Community is God's idea. And when it's His idea I guarantee you that there are plans and promises that He will bring forth through it. :)
"And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near."
Hebrews 10:25
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