Know what you read.. May 14, 2010
Today, I've got on my mind the way words have lost their meanings. When words are "overused” they lose their effectiveness. Just as when scripture verses are "overused" they tend to lose their effectiveness. Take for example a scripture like Romans 8:28 (And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.)
We hear this every time someone's going through a storm! "Well just remember all things work together for the good." It's almost become a thoughtless response. It's the "how are you doing" mentality, a thoughtless automatic greeting. In reality if anyone ever stop to tell us how they really were doing, we'd be totally caught off guard, and probably rendered speechless for a few moments!
How many times have we heard that scripture quoted?! Oh my Lord, I can tell you it was common response around my house. I come from a family of total worriers! But to be honest, it never brought me comfort. It just became a kind of cliché. I never really saw and thought about the words in this verse.
While it contains a lot of good words in it, the most important word that holds such big meaning in such a little word is often overlooked!
"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."
That's the word ALL! The dictionary defines all as "the whole extent or quantity of." The whole quantity of! That means there's nothing outside of it! All is everything! It's a small word with a big meaning! So it's saying there is not one thing that can happen to us that God doesn't work back together for good! Not one thing! ALL! So why do we worry?
Another big overused and overlooked word is "forever" Hebrews 13:8 says "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and FOREVER"
Forever is defined in the dictionary as "without ever ending; eternally; continually; incessantly; always." When you read this, do you grasp the enormity of it? He is the same FOREVER! He will not change! If He's brought you through one storm, He'll bring you through another! Life with God is no guessing game!
God is the only true constant in our lives! He does not change! So once again, why do we worry?
If he works ALL things together for the good, and He's also the same yesterday, today, and FOREVER..We have nothing to worry about! We are in His hands! We need to leave the worrying to Him, and get about His call! People are dying around us, they don't know these promises! It's our jobs to tell them!
Next time you sit down to read your Bible look at the words that are used! Notice the finality and matter of factness within them! Don't just skim the Word of God, know it! Don't just quote the Word of God flippantly; realize the power in the words you speak! After all they truly are the words of our God!
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Remember your wilderness.. April 17, 2010
I've had my ups and downs like everyone else. So as I read about the Israelites in the wilderness I thought of this.
Something goes wrong in your life. You have 2 people to choose to go to for advice or just a shoulder to cry on. One is a friend you've had for years, the other is someone you just met yesterday. Which do you choose? I'm gonna guess you've probably said the person you've known for years. Why? Cause you know them? Cause at some point in your relationship with them, they have shown themselves to be trustworthy. Probably at some time that person was the person who was there for you to lift you up when you were having a hard time walking through life. In being there for you, a trust was built between you and that person. So going back to the person you met yesterday, there's a chance at some point you will also build this bond of trust with them, but most likely, it's gonna take something negative to happen in your life, not necessarily something earth shattering but something that bothers you enough to cause you to do the natural human thing. To reach for help.
I find that people bond much easier in heartache than anything else. This is no surprise to God. He created us this way! Although His purpose was for us to run to Him first. (which I'll be the first to admit, that is something I struggle with & I'm trying to learn..but that's a whole different subject matter anyway) My point being, He knows what makes us tick. He brings us into our own personal "wilderness" in order to give us something to stand and draw on when the rubber meets the road!
When it comes time to fight your big battles, don't you want to know that you have something you can trust and rely on? You think it's hard to trust now?..Imagine having to trust in someone you have no experience with. Imagine having to trust in someone you don't know! Yet people try to do it all the time! If you don't get into the Word, how will you ever know who you are to put your trust in? How will you ever remember, to draw on the fact that in your last "wilderness experience" He proved himself trustworthy! God does not change! He was trustworthy before, I'd be willing to bet He'll never prove himself to be anything less!
If you're going through your wilderness, don't rely on yourself. Rely on your Father! He's molding you! One day everything will make sense, and you'll look back laugh and go, why did I even doubt?
How long will this people despise me? How long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs I have wrought among them? Numbers 14:11
I've had my ups and downs like everyone else. So as I read about the Israelites in the wilderness I thought of this.
Something goes wrong in your life. You have 2 people to choose to go to for advice or just a shoulder to cry on. One is a friend you've had for years, the other is someone you just met yesterday. Which do you choose? I'm gonna guess you've probably said the person you've known for years. Why? Cause you know them? Cause at some point in your relationship with them, they have shown themselves to be trustworthy. Probably at some time that person was the person who was there for you to lift you up when you were having a hard time walking through life. In being there for you, a trust was built between you and that person. So going back to the person you met yesterday, there's a chance at some point you will also build this bond of trust with them, but most likely, it's gonna take something negative to happen in your life, not necessarily something earth shattering but something that bothers you enough to cause you to do the natural human thing. To reach for help.
I find that people bond much easier in heartache than anything else. This is no surprise to God. He created us this way! Although His purpose was for us to run to Him first. (which I'll be the first to admit, that is something I struggle with & I'm trying to learn..but that's a whole different subject matter anyway) My point being, He knows what makes us tick. He brings us into our own personal "wilderness" in order to give us something to stand and draw on when the rubber meets the road!
When it comes time to fight your big battles, don't you want to know that you have something you can trust and rely on? You think it's hard to trust now?..Imagine having to trust in someone you have no experience with. Imagine having to trust in someone you don't know! Yet people try to do it all the time! If you don't get into the Word, how will you ever know who you are to put your trust in? How will you ever remember, to draw on the fact that in your last "wilderness experience" He proved himself trustworthy! God does not change! He was trustworthy before, I'd be willing to bet He'll never prove himself to be anything less!
If you're going through your wilderness, don't rely on yourself. Rely on your Father! He's molding you! One day everything will make sense, and you'll look back laugh and go, why did I even doubt?
How long will this people despise me? How long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs I have wrought among them? Numbers 14:11
What I’ve learned.. April 13, 2010
These last 2 (annoying) months I've learned..
I have no choice in most of my circumstances.
But I can choose to be content in where God wants me to be right now.
I have no choice in the way other people act.
But I can choose how I react.
I have no choice in how others perceive me.
But I can choose whether or not to reflect Christ no matter what.
I have no choice in things that have past.
But I have a choice in the things of the future.
I have no choice in who the person my past has made me believe I was.
But I do have a choice to BELIEVE IN the person, God says I am.
I am God's daughter, He's my father, and He actually chose me because of who I am, and who He knows I'll be!
I can't be "good enough."
But somehow I'm still "good enough!" If that makes any sense! =)
These last 2 (annoying) months I've learned..
I have no choice in most of my circumstances.
But I can choose to be content in where God wants me to be right now.
I have no choice in the way other people act.
But I can choose how I react.
I have no choice in how others perceive me.
But I can choose whether or not to reflect Christ no matter what.
I have no choice in things that have past.
But I have a choice in the things of the future.
I have no choice in who the person my past has made me believe I was.
But I do have a choice to BELIEVE IN the person, God says I am.
I am God's daughter, He's my father, and He actually chose me because of who I am, and who He knows I'll be!
I can't be "good enough."
But somehow I'm still "good enough!" If that makes any sense! =)
What you should never hear.. April 13, 2010
What you should never hear in ministry work...
I hate the phrase.. "look! I'm just a volunteer here. You don't pay me to do this" Like seriously, what does that mean? That just because this job doesn't pay you, that you won't do it to the best of your ability?! That we get some sub-par version of the job you're here to do?
Shouldn't you want to do it to the best of your ability? Besides who are you volunteering for? It's a ministry!
Really, it IS a "paying" job! We don't get paid monetarily, we get paid..in souls! Well, He gets paid in souls. No monetary value can be put on that! It's worth doing the best job possible!
It's a very easy outlook to get because at times it does get very tiring. But remember why you got involved in your particular ministry in the first place! Because the reality is, we've all probably thought this or have said it one time or another. I know I have!
We've got to get focused on the right things again! It will bring us together and make us so much stronger in the fight to win the world for God! Shouldn't that be our ultimate goal?!
What you should never hear in ministry work...
I hate the phrase.. "look! I'm just a volunteer here. You don't pay me to do this" Like seriously, what does that mean? That just because this job doesn't pay you, that you won't do it to the best of your ability?! That we get some sub-par version of the job you're here to do?
Shouldn't you want to do it to the best of your ability? Besides who are you volunteering for? It's a ministry!
Really, it IS a "paying" job! We don't get paid monetarily, we get paid..in souls! Well, He gets paid in souls. No monetary value can be put on that! It's worth doing the best job possible!
It's a very easy outlook to get because at times it does get very tiring. But remember why you got involved in your particular ministry in the first place! Because the reality is, we've all probably thought this or have said it one time or another. I know I have!
We've got to get focused on the right things again! It will bring us together and make us so much stronger in the fight to win the world for God! Shouldn't that be our ultimate goal?!
Sometimes I hate my job.. March 30, 2010
He was in Brazil. After having a very bad day where everything went wrong, he let his thoughts convince him that he was a victim of injustice..
Then he came upon Jose a 9 year old dirt encrusted orphan on the street with his two friends asking for change. He gave that orphan more money than he and his friends had collected all day long. One dollar. The orphan’s eyes lit up, as he ran to his friends to show them what he'd received.
He drove away hearing these words.."You're complaints are not over the lack of necessities but the abundance of your benefits. You bellyache over the frills, not the basics; over benefits, not essentials. The source of your problems is your blessings."
I read this in a Max Lucado book. It touched my heart. So I thought I'd share.
My lesson of the day! Tired of your job?..At least you have one.
It sounds so simple and it is usually the first thing you hear when you complain about your job. You get the "in this economy you should count your blessings that you have one" response. But really, who does that? Someone tells you that, and maybe for an hour, you are grateful that you have a job. Right up until you have to deal with that annoying co-worker, the useless boss, the computer that just doesn't want to co-operate.
So quickly and easily we forget. So easily we become spoiled people, thinking we deserve more than we have. Everything we have comes from God. He takes care of His children! Don't be-little that! See it as the gift that it is!
Gratitude: More aware of what you have, then what you don't.
He was in Brazil. After having a very bad day where everything went wrong, he let his thoughts convince him that he was a victim of injustice..
Then he came upon Jose a 9 year old dirt encrusted orphan on the street with his two friends asking for change. He gave that orphan more money than he and his friends had collected all day long. One dollar. The orphan’s eyes lit up, as he ran to his friends to show them what he'd received.
He drove away hearing these words.."You're complaints are not over the lack of necessities but the abundance of your benefits. You bellyache over the frills, not the basics; over benefits, not essentials. The source of your problems is your blessings."
I read this in a Max Lucado book. It touched my heart. So I thought I'd share.
My lesson of the day! Tired of your job?..At least you have one.
It sounds so simple and it is usually the first thing you hear when you complain about your job. You get the "in this economy you should count your blessings that you have one" response. But really, who does that? Someone tells you that, and maybe for an hour, you are grateful that you have a job. Right up until you have to deal with that annoying co-worker, the useless boss, the computer that just doesn't want to co-operate.
So quickly and easily we forget. So easily we become spoiled people, thinking we deserve more than we have. Everything we have comes from God. He takes care of His children! Don't be-little that! See it as the gift that it is!
Gratitude: More aware of what you have, then what you don't.
Just listen.. February 28, 2010
Ignace Jan Paderewski, the famous Polish composer-pianist, was once scheduled to perform at a great American concert hall for a high-society extravaganza. In the audience was a mother with her fidgety nine-year-old son. Weary of waiting, the boy slipped away from her side, strangely drawn to the Steinway on the stage.
Without much notice from the audience, he sat down at the stool and began playing 'chopsticks." The roar of the crowd turned to shouts as hundreds yelled, 'Get that boy away from there!" When Paderewski heard the uproar backstage, he grabbed his coat and rushed over behind the boy. Reaching around him from behind, the master began to improvise a counter melody to 'Chopsticks." As the two of them played together, Paderewski kept whispering in the boy's ear, 'Keep going. Don't quit, my child...don't stop...don't stop."
"Keep going. Don't quit, my child...don't stop...don't stop."
It's what God is constantly saying to us is you, if you'll just stop and listen!
Ignace Jan Paderewski, the famous Polish composer-pianist, was once scheduled to perform at a great American concert hall for a high-society extravaganza. In the audience was a mother with her fidgety nine-year-old son. Weary of waiting, the boy slipped away from her side, strangely drawn to the Steinway on the stage.
Without much notice from the audience, he sat down at the stool and began playing 'chopsticks." The roar of the crowd turned to shouts as hundreds yelled, 'Get that boy away from there!" When Paderewski heard the uproar backstage, he grabbed his coat and rushed over behind the boy. Reaching around him from behind, the master began to improvise a counter melody to 'Chopsticks." As the two of them played together, Paderewski kept whispering in the boy's ear, 'Keep going. Don't quit, my child...don't stop...don't stop."
"Keep going. Don't quit, my child...don't stop...don't stop."
It's what God is constantly saying to us is you, if you'll just stop and listen!
My synopsis.. February 24, 2010
My overall, feeling through this whole Bible study is that He is a personal God. He’s not just some big dude in the sky there to keep a record of the things we've done, whether right or wrong. He's not a score keeper. I've realized that, while He is holy, He's also a friend! Everything with Him is personal! I am so important to Him, that even if I was the only person in the world, He still would have died for me!
Makes me feel special. And like I matter. In reality, with that in your corner, why do you need anything else. Somehow through this I've realized my importance. If God loves me this much, what is there to worry about?
What is even more awesome, is the fact that I know He never changes. I can actually rest assured in the fact that no matter what, I'm loved. No matter how I feel. And it's not based on the things I do, or how good I am! And it will never change!
As I sit and think about my constant search for love in this world. I realize now why I was never able to find it. (with friends or family) Our hearts were made for so much deeper a love than any human being could ever offer. Everything has always been based on how good I am, or the amount of things I do, or how much I matter to someone. Now I realize that I am not a failure just because of the fact that I'm only ever "wanted or loved" for just a short time.
I've spent 30 years, looking for what I've realized tonight!..
I am the way God made me to be, and wants me to be. I am His treasure. And I AM wanted and loved by someone! Eternally. Just as I am.
"The atonement finds its ultimate explanation in an unfathomable urge in God toward His sinful and alienated creatures. He has been pleased, for reasons known only to Himself, to set His love upon those who are unworthy."
My overall, feeling through this whole Bible study is that He is a personal God. He’s not just some big dude in the sky there to keep a record of the things we've done, whether right or wrong. He's not a score keeper. I've realized that, while He is holy, He's also a friend! Everything with Him is personal! I am so important to Him, that even if I was the only person in the world, He still would have died for me!
Makes me feel special. And like I matter. In reality, with that in your corner, why do you need anything else. Somehow through this I've realized my importance. If God loves me this much, what is there to worry about?
What is even more awesome, is the fact that I know He never changes. I can actually rest assured in the fact that no matter what, I'm loved. No matter how I feel. And it's not based on the things I do, or how good I am! And it will never change!
As I sit and think about my constant search for love in this world. I realize now why I was never able to find it. (with friends or family) Our hearts were made for so much deeper a love than any human being could ever offer. Everything has always been based on how good I am, or the amount of things I do, or how much I matter to someone. Now I realize that I am not a failure just because of the fact that I'm only ever "wanted or loved" for just a short time.
I've spent 30 years, looking for what I've realized tonight!..
I am the way God made me to be, and wants me to be. I am His treasure. And I AM wanted and loved by someone! Eternally. Just as I am.
"The atonement finds its ultimate explanation in an unfathomable urge in God toward His sinful and alienated creatures. He has been pleased, for reasons known only to Himself, to set His love upon those who are unworthy."
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