Lately there has been a lot of activity on Facebook regarding the snow and the weather in general.   This picture came across my newsfeed a while back….yes….it is a picture of snow, ice, cold…..but in this beautiful intricate snowflake is a reminder that nature is something for us to look at in wonder and awe.  A gift for us to enjoy…..depending on our contentment level….ahhhh contentment a blog for another day.

Please turn your attention to the word "nature."  I refer you to John 16:26-27.  "In that day you will ask in My name…for the Father Himself loves you…"  Oswald Chambers refers to in My name as in My nature.  We talked about our simply interested or identified  friendship with God in our last blog.  I refer you to point number 4.

4.  "My individuality remains, but my primary motivation for living and the nature that rules me are 
            radically changed."

If we ask in His name, in His nature if you will, doesn't that change our perspective?  The Holy Spirit resides in us, His nature in us, so when we pray we are one with Him.  If we pray in His name, Chambers says we can be lifted into such a relationship - "Just as Jesus stood unblemished and pure in the presence of His Father, we too by the mighty power and effectiveness of the baptism of the Holy Spirit can be lifted into that relationship…one with Him." 

We are to pray to God in Jesus' name---in His nature---one with Him.  This is a gift granted to us through the Holy Spirit.  I believe we would look at the answers to our prayers differently if we were so tuned into His nature in us.   A lot seems baffling with sickness and brokenness all around us…..faith enters in here….contentment……knowing God is all knowing.  

We don't always see the intricacies of the snowflake, or the intricacies of the life circumstance…..but we can ask Him and talk to Him and when we do that in His name…..in His nature….we can rest in His care.

These cute little BFF's will enjoy their friendship for all time and eternity!    
My question to all of us is how is our friendship with God?               Are we  identified or simply interested…

I have been following the blogs of Mindy Sauer, sharing how she is dealing with  the brain cancer in her 4 yr old son; 
of Jill Kelly - battling again with Jim's cancer; 
and Cady, (23) who just lost her husband to cancer.  
The list, it seems, goes on forever as social media brings them to the forefront of our lives. I have watched all these ladies live through these circumstances with Jesus as their best friend….  
                                          
I wonder, how would I be doing in these circumstances.  If this was my story, how would it read?

                In my devotional "My Utmost For His Highest," the following sentences gripped me….

1. "Think of the last thing you prayed about -- were you devoted to your desire or to God?" 
2. "Is my friendship with God so intimately in touch with Him  that I never even need to ask Him      to show me His will?             

     3.  "My unrestrained commitment of myself to God gives the Holy Spirit the opportunity to grant to      
            me the holiness of Jesus Christ."
      4.  "My individuality remains, but my primary motivation for living and the nature that rules me are 
            radically changed."
       5.  " I live by faith in the Son of God" (Paul)…..This faith was not Paul's own faith in Jesus Christ, but                     
              the faith the Son of God had given to him."
       6.  "It is no longer a faith in faith, but a faith that transcends all imaginable limits - 
             a faith that only comes from the Son of God."

That is how they are getting through all of this "STUFF."  they have a faith that comes not from themselves - but from the Son of God living in them - their best friend living in them.
                       
                 I believe that is the difference.  They are  identified not simply interested.
  
Have I fallen into the simply interested category?   Is my friendship with Jesus a BFF friendship that is identified with Him?

My heart is heavy for these women.  I thank them for teaching me while they walk their journey with Christ as their strength.   As the snow gently falls again today,  I am reminded of how each snowflake is different as we are all different .  God will flow through each of us in our circumstances if we will just……get close enough to Him - be His BFF  - IDENTIFY with HIM.  It just takes more than being simply interested!
  

"Some days you get ice cream….some days you don't."   This video is for a newborn baby.  Yet, after watching it three or four times, I found it to be great info for all of us to ponder.  This child has great wisdom for all of us as we live life this side of Heaven.  

Spring is coming!  It appears we will go through whacky snow wednesday first.  But, we will get to enjoy all the new beautiful things that unfold as the warmth of the sun penetrates the outdoors.  Girlfriends God's Way encourages you to watch this video and realize the impact of transformation as the warmth of the Son of God penetrates all those who choose Him.

It has been a "long winter." Boy have we seen and heard tons of comments of this 2014 winter season!  What have you done with this winter?

I quote Cameron Lawrence, "It used to be that as fall became winter, the transition wrought an encroaching slowness, a quieting of the world, as the cold crept across the hills and valleys, into towns and out through farming country.  Back then, the earth decided for us when we would cease, for a time, at least some of our toil."

That paragraph made me ponder......what had I done with my winter this year?  Did I complain it away or did I "cease, for a time," and reflect on how I could make a difference in the lives of the people God had placed in my path.  Winter brings a lot of opportunities for us to love others.  Did I love? Or... was I selfish and negatively talked and walked my way through winter, missing the opportunities God placed before me.

When we live in the beautiful part of the country of four seasons, do we enjoy what each season gives us?  Maybe the days gone by could teach us.  They tilled the earth in the springtime, got ready to plant the crops that they nurtured in the summer, harvested in the fall...all to prepare for the winter.

Cameron Lawrence says:  "But today fewer people around the world are working the land.  Most of us now live in cities or their suburbs, where light continues shining long after the sun departs.  It's now possible to work around the clock, from anywhere, in the blue-hued glow of a screen.  A constant striving......"we are increasingly bad at slowing down for anything."

As spring approaches this 2014 - I wonder what it would be like for us to think through each season as a preparation for our "winter" and what that could mean to the others in our lives. 

As I write this, it is really cold outside....the sun is shining brightly and the snow is glistening.....it is beautiful.  I bet when I check Facebook Judy Thompson will have some exquisite pictures of her bird friends braving the cold and there will be pics from friends who have "escaped" the cold to live in the "warm" of the south......

......Yet, I am glad and thankful to look out my window and see the beauty of winter.  It will soon be giving way to spring - I am thankful I had the winter to gather with friends and have warm chats, coffee and coco.....I am glad Girlfriends God's Way made a difference donating food, blankets, pillows and funds to Willow Missions to help people in the cold.  I am thankful that the Fredonia Middle School knit club "Compassioknitters" made scarves and a blanket for those in need.  Winter can be a Joyful time of sharing and giving.

A lot can be done in the "winter."  How will you choose to prepare for the winter of 2015?  It will be here - that is a given - how we live it is a choice.  Let's chose to make a difference and live it to its fullest.