Sunday, January 27, 2008
Just Desserts
Have you received your just desserts?
As a manager in a shop of about 30 people, I get to hear, nearly every day, how people feel they deserve much more than what they are getting. It is pretty interesting, some of these people are not assigned to me and often times the things they feel they deserve do not even have anything to do with their work for me. It seems to me that we all have some sense of entitlement. We all feel like the world owes us something just for gracing it with our presence. As I read through scripture, I realize how one sided this perspective is. In fact, whether we realize it or not, or whether we would admit it or not, we are abundantly blessed even in the darkest times of our life.
The truth as demonstrated through scripture is that because of our sinful natures, we deserve nothing of what we have received. Yet God, because of His amazing love, and by his awe-inspiring grace, has determined that He would not abandon His creation, but work to redeem or reconcile it unto Himself. He continues to sustain His creation even as we abuse and neglect it. He continues to provide through the creation for this world’s inhabitants even as they consistently reject His existence. He continues to forgive no matter how far from Him we seem to go.
As we focused on this issue at our last meeting, and in the days since, it has been impressed upon me to remember His grace, and remind you to remember all that you have been blessed with. Take a moment to do a mental inventory of your life. But do not stop at the physical and tangible blessings He has provided. Think about how you have come to be able to have those things. You may have worked for the money, but how did you come by your skills and abilities? How did you get the job that you have? Where would you be without Him? Who would you be if He had just abandoned us to our own ways? What would life be like if He totally abandoned this world? It scares me to think of what a world totally void of God's goodness could be like, but I think that it would be hell.
Recently, I heard someone share a testimony of how God had to take everything away so that she could come to understand that He was all she really needed. Oh, how I can relate to this. I thank God, because His grace truly is sufficient, and His love is absolutely unconditional.
Have you received your just desserts? Absolutely not, and we can thank God for that!
The truth as demonstrated through scripture is that because of our sinful natures, we deserve nothing of what we have received. Yet God, because of His amazing love, and by his awe-inspiring grace, has determined that He would not abandon His creation, but work to redeem or reconcile it unto Himself. He continues to sustain His creation even as we abuse and neglect it. He continues to provide through the creation for this world’s inhabitants even as they consistently reject His existence. He continues to forgive no matter how far from Him we seem to go.
As we focused on this issue at our last meeting, and in the days since, it has been impressed upon me to remember His grace, and remind you to remember all that you have been blessed with. Take a moment to do a mental inventory of your life. But do not stop at the physical and tangible blessings He has provided. Think about how you have come to be able to have those things. You may have worked for the money, but how did you come by your skills and abilities? How did you get the job that you have? Where would you be without Him? Who would you be if He had just abandoned us to our own ways? What would life be like if He totally abandoned this world? It scares me to think of what a world totally void of God's goodness could be like, but I think that it would be hell.
Recently, I heard someone share a testimony of how God had to take everything away so that she could come to understand that He was all she really needed. Oh, how I can relate to this. I thank God, because His grace truly is sufficient, and His love is absolutely unconditional.
Have you received your just desserts? Absolutely not, and we can thank God for that!
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Sunday January 27
Over the last two weeks, we have begun to see some of what has been envisioned in this church plant start to take shape. We have come to describe ourselves as a community dedicated to seeking God first and demonstrating the love of God to those around us. In some way, that has been the guide to what we have done. When we meet, we have intentionally done things that allow us to talk and begin to open up to each other, confident that God would use that to begin to build our community, and our devotions have focused on God and His amazing goodness. Soon, we will begin to look for ways that we can truly love one another and the world around us. I might be biased but I think it has been great. We want to thank all that have been attending and those that have been praying.
This week will be very similar. We are not going to have a full meal but just the desserts. If you have a recipe that you know is completely unhealthy but tastes really good, bring it. We will have coffee, hot tea, hot chocolate, and that kind of thing as well. Since we are not having the full dinner, we have decided to wait until 6:30 to meet so you will have time to have a nutritious meal before you come.
The devotion this week will be based around the question, "Have you received your just desserts?" The focal passage will be Romans 3:21-26. Take some time to read this and pray over it. In addition to that, as I said last week, one of the things that we would like to begin to grow towards is hearing from one another about how God is working in each of our lives. Think about how God has shown himself to you this week. There will be no high pressure sharing time and I am not going to twist any arms. But, I have no doubt that soon we will be encouraged to see that it is a blessing to share these things with one another.
Comment on this post so we can know how many people are coming. If you are going to have a child with you, it might be a good idea for us to know that as well.
Click here for a map, we will meet at 6:30 P.M.
We hope we see you there!
This week will be very similar. We are not going to have a full meal but just the desserts. If you have a recipe that you know is completely unhealthy but tastes really good, bring it. We will have coffee, hot tea, hot chocolate, and that kind of thing as well. Since we are not having the full dinner, we have decided to wait until 6:30 to meet so you will have time to have a nutritious meal before you come.
The devotion this week will be based around the question, "Have you received your just desserts?" The focal passage will be Romans 3:21-26. Take some time to read this and pray over it. In addition to that, as I said last week, one of the things that we would like to begin to grow towards is hearing from one another about how God is working in each of our lives. Think about how God has shown himself to you this week. There will be no high pressure sharing time and I am not going to twist any arms. But, I have no doubt that soon we will be encouraged to see that it is a blessing to share these things with one another.
Comment on this post so we can know how many people are coming. If you are going to have a child with you, it might be a good idea for us to know that as well.
Click here for a map, we will meet at 6:30 P.M.
We hope we see you there!
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Influence
Who is influencing you?
I asked this question during our devotional time at our last meeting. You can imagine my surprise when this question was asked of me during a lunch meeting the very next day. The minister I was meeting with asked it just like that. “Who is influencing you?” I had already been thinking over this and examining this question in my own life, but I could not help thinking about it even more intently after being asked out loud. It was that little event that leads me to this posting, first for those that were not able to meet with us, but to also further challenge each of us to examine those things that we allow to influence us in our decisions, perspectives, and patterns of living.
Our world is full influences. We are constantly being bombarded with information. Everywhere we turn; there are advertisements, editorials, images, opinions, movies, people and even the every day circumstances of life in which we find ourselves. Some of this information is sought out voluntarily, and some is thrust at us from all different directions. Whether we like it or not, all of it has the ability to make some change in the way we think and feel about the topic to which it pertains. The question then becomes what do we accept as relevant and what do we discard?
We can find a solid answer for this in scripture. Take a second and check out Psalm 1. In this Psalm, you will see a comparison of a righteous life being lived in obedience to the Lord and a life being lived in accordance with all that is opposed to that. The fact, as demonstrated in this Psalm, is that one path leads to a fruitful and productive life, while the other leads to emptiness, despair, and ultimately death. It is at the source of this contrast that we find the one influence that we can accept as trustworthy and that will lead us to that fruitful productive life.
Look at those first three verses again. The man that does not accept the wisdom of the world is blessed. No one wants to say it out loud because it can be offensive. However, the truth of the matter is that the world’s wisdom is based upon a very limited perspective. No matter how hard it tries, the world cannot give the depth of insight required. To be completely honest, the world’s greatest wisdom is truly foolishness when compared to God. This man is blessed as he focuses not on worldly wisdom or ways but on the law of the Lord. He is like a tree planted by a river that in turn bears the fruit that it had always been meant to bear.
Notice that he was not blessed because he sought out his own ways to make himself fruitful. He did not devise profitable ways to live and then become fruitful. He did not figure out on his own what good works he could do to become fruitful and productive. He simply meditated, or focused, on the Lord and His ways, and the natural reaction was the fruit of God’s grace became evident. He became just like that tree that was given exactly what it needed to become what it was meant to be. Jesus taught good trees bear good fruit and bad trees bear bad fruit. What type of fruit are you being influenced to bear?
This psalmist is not teaching avoidance or separation from the world, but is speaking about who and what we pattern our life after. Therefore, sit in humility before God, stand by His power in faith and forgiveness, and walk in the way He leads allowing His influence to be what grows you into all that you can be.
Let me challenge you to read His word daily, read and listen to solid Christian sources teaching His truth (these must all be measured in light of scripture), pray for the help of the Holy Spirit, and ask for God’s wisdom. As you can see from the words in this psalm you will not be disappointed.
Our world is full influences. We are constantly being bombarded with information. Everywhere we turn; there are advertisements, editorials, images, opinions, movies, people and even the every day circumstances of life in which we find ourselves. Some of this information is sought out voluntarily, and some is thrust at us from all different directions. Whether we like it or not, all of it has the ability to make some change in the way we think and feel about the topic to which it pertains. The question then becomes what do we accept as relevant and what do we discard?
We can find a solid answer for this in scripture. Take a second and check out Psalm 1. In this Psalm, you will see a comparison of a righteous life being lived in obedience to the Lord and a life being lived in accordance with all that is opposed to that. The fact, as demonstrated in this Psalm, is that one path leads to a fruitful and productive life, while the other leads to emptiness, despair, and ultimately death. It is at the source of this contrast that we find the one influence that we can accept as trustworthy and that will lead us to that fruitful productive life.
Look at those first three verses again. The man that does not accept the wisdom of the world is blessed. No one wants to say it out loud because it can be offensive. However, the truth of the matter is that the world’s wisdom is based upon a very limited perspective. No matter how hard it tries, the world cannot give the depth of insight required. To be completely honest, the world’s greatest wisdom is truly foolishness when compared to God. This man is blessed as he focuses not on worldly wisdom or ways but on the law of the Lord. He is like a tree planted by a river that in turn bears the fruit that it had always been meant to bear.
Notice that he was not blessed because he sought out his own ways to make himself fruitful. He did not devise profitable ways to live and then become fruitful. He did not figure out on his own what good works he could do to become fruitful and productive. He simply meditated, or focused, on the Lord and His ways, and the natural reaction was the fruit of God’s grace became evident. He became just like that tree that was given exactly what it needed to become what it was meant to be. Jesus taught good trees bear good fruit and bad trees bear bad fruit. What type of fruit are you being influenced to bear?
This psalmist is not teaching avoidance or separation from the world, but is speaking about who and what we pattern our life after. Therefore, sit in humility before God, stand by His power in faith and forgiveness, and walk in the way He leads allowing His influence to be what grows you into all that you can be.
Let me challenge you to read His word daily, read and listen to solid Christian sources teaching His truth (these must all be measured in light of scripture), pray for the help of the Holy Spirit, and ask for God’s wisdom. As you can see from the words in this psalm you will not be disappointed.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Strike A Match in the Darkness and See How Brightly it Burns
My wife Amy sent this to me. She is not normally one that writes or philosophizes, but she makes a good point here and this is something we can all take time to think about.
Recently, I listened to an evangelist speak about being on fire for God. He really challenged me when he asked, “If you knew that you were going to get $1,000 for every person that you shared the gospel with, would you be sharing more than you currently do?” That question really hit home with me. I am a pretty shy person so just having a conversation with someone is difficult. But, whenever I think about the fact that Jesus died an awful death on a cross for me, I realize the least that I can do is share his love with those around me, to take this match into a dark world and strike it so that others can see it burn.
Jesus never said that it would be easy. But, in those times whenever we are afraid and our nerves are consuming us, we can remember that it is not about our performance or how equipped we feel. It is about being obedient to God’s will for our lives. Our job is to plant and water seeds, God is the one responsible for growth.
Let God be your words, and never doubt His presence with you as you live in His will. He is right beside you cheering you on. We know this from scripture, so we can be confident that He will never leave us or forsake us. What an amazing promise.
Recently, I listened to an evangelist speak about being on fire for God. He really challenged me when he asked, “If you knew that you were going to get $1,000 for every person that you shared the gospel with, would you be sharing more than you currently do?” That question really hit home with me. I am a pretty shy person so just having a conversation with someone is difficult. But, whenever I think about the fact that Jesus died an awful death on a cross for me, I realize the least that I can do is share his love with those around me, to take this match into a dark world and strike it so that others can see it burn.
Jesus never said that it would be easy. But, in those times whenever we are afraid and our nerves are consuming us, we can remember that it is not about our performance or how equipped we feel. It is about being obedient to God’s will for our lives. Our job is to plant and water seeds, God is the one responsible for growth.
Let God be your words, and never doubt His presence with you as you live in His will. He is right beside you cheering you on. We know this from scripture, so we can be confident that He will never leave us or forsake us. What an amazing promise.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Sunday January 20 Meeting
The plans for the meeting this week are similar to what we did last week. We are having baked potatoes and chili for dinner. Bring a topping for either. In addition to dinner we will be enjoying good solid Christian fellowship, and focusing on our amazing and glorious God and Father. Comment on this post so everyone can see what is being brought, and so we can know how many people are coming. If you are going to have a child with you, it might be a good idea for us to know that as well.
Click here for a map, we will meet at 6:00 P.M.
We hope we see you there!
Monday, January 14, 2008
A Thought for Today
What a victory we have in Jesus. Those words have been rolling around my head as I have thought about David and his many victories. As we have walked with God, I think each of us could easily point to times of victory as well. However, it goes so far beyond just victory in our day to day circumstances. No matter how bad it gets, we have an amazing future to look forward to because of what Jesus has done. Isn't that amazing?
If all we had to hang on to were the temporal items of this world, there would not be much hope. Yet, as we live our lives from day to day, we have so much hope for tomorrow, in spite of what it looks like from our current perspective. We have the promises of God to lean on, and by His own power and decree we are given great purpose and value. I believe it was in this spirit that Paul wrote the words from the following passage.
Galatians 6:9-10 (NIV) 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
Day to day life can be so discouraging sometimes, especially when trying to do that which is right. Paul understood that and you can see that in these verses. Sometimes we do grow weary. I think there were times that David, and Paul also had to persevere. Just think of all that God has brought his people through, and what He is leading them into. The great news is that He continues to do the same for us today. Hang in there, in Christ the victory is already yours!
If all we had to hang on to were the temporal items of this world, there would not be much hope. Yet, as we live our lives from day to day, we have so much hope for tomorrow, in spite of what it looks like from our current perspective. We have the promises of God to lean on, and by His own power and decree we are given great purpose and value. I believe it was in this spirit that Paul wrote the words from the following passage.
Galatians 6:9-10 (NIV) 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
Day to day life can be so discouraging sometimes, especially when trying to do that which is right. Paul understood that and you can see that in these verses. Sometimes we do grow weary. I think there were times that David, and Paul also had to persevere. Just think of all that God has brought his people through, and what He is leading them into. The great news is that He continues to do the same for us today. Hang in there, in Christ the victory is already yours!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
visit us on MySpace.com
For those of you who live on MySpace, we are there too. Visit our profile and add us to your friends list. There is no better way to spread the good news than by word of mouth. You are our voice in the community here and across the world. Help us reach the unreached and love the unloved.
http://www.myspace.com/thewaycommunity
http://www.myspace.com/thewaycommunity
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Sunday January 13
We will meet together on Sunday evening at 6:00 PM for food and fellowship at one of our homes. Click here for a map. You can RSVP by posting a comment to this blog. Just tell us the number of people coming with you and the age of your children if you will be bringing them.
We will be eating pizza, getting to know each other, and worshipping together.
We will be eating pizza, getting to know each other, and worshipping together.
Pray for us
We are a collection of individuals that God has brought together to spread the love of Jesus in our community and by doing so, showing others that Christians are just as real, just as flawed, and just as in need of God's forgiveness as everyone else. It is our desire to start a church based on the truth of God's word that is relevant and engaging to the unchurched people in our community. Will you join us? Will you pray for us?
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)