|
|
When Peter healed the paralyzed man outside of the temple, people came to Peter, wondering how he had done what he had done. Peter had to explain to the crowd who Jesus was, and that it was by Christ’s power the man was healed.
It’s the last day of Sunday school for the year. For another year the children have been taught the truths of the Word of God. We’ve made it through another year of teaching the children songs, doing a Christmas program, and a special confirmation service. How did we do this? We did it in the name of Jesus, with the strength He provided. To His name be the glory!
Share on Facebook  Tweet This Post
This week I was asked about keeping the Sabbath day holy. Those questioning wanted to know my thoughts not just on going to church, but working.
God wants us to dedicate time to worshipping Him. That may happen on a Sunday. But some people, including my husband, work some weekends, making it impossible to go to church on Sunday. Thankfully, most churches now accommodate that issue by having a service on a different evening of the week. God wants us to make time for him. It doesn’t matter if that’s on a Sunday morning or Thursday evening, as long as our heart is set to making God a priority.
Keeping the Sabbath is first and foremost about worship. It’s about a heart that seeks God. But why did God command his people to set one day aside, to not work on that day? I think it was because God knew we are prone to filling up every ounce of our time. He wanted to make sure we understood that our bodies needed time to recoup and regenerate. He rested after six days of creating. He set a day aside so we wouldn’t feel we needed to work every day. He gave us a day that we could spend time with our family, relax, and get our minds and bodies ready for the week ahead. That Sabbath rest may or may not come on a Sunday, again, because some people work on Sundays. It’s basically just about taking a day off. That doesn’t mean you don’t do any laundry, or cook any meals, but on that day you may spend time on a family walk, or watching a movie, sitting out on the deck.
The important thing to note is that God isn’t so concerned about if we’ve rested or worked on the Sabbath. God looks at the heart. He’s more concerned with if we care about what He says, if we trust He knows what He’s talking about, and if we WANT to spend time with Him and His people.
Share on Facebook Tweet This Post
“Men of Israel, why do you stand here gazing into heaven? This same Jesus will return just as you see him going!”
Tonight’s Ascension service was about the importance of Ascension. Why does it matter? First, because Jesus fulfilled everything He set out to do. He didn’t leave until He had lived the perfect life, died, and rose from the dead. Second, because if He did everything He said He would do the first time, He will certainly return as He promised He would.
The pastor reminded us that we are still gazing into heaven as we watch for Christ’s return. But in the meantime, we work. We keep going, we go about the business Christ has given us to do. Eventually we will go to be with Him …that is worth waiting for.
Share on Facebook Tweet This Post
Last night I stayed at a friend’s house. Her husband is on the board to count money at the church in her town. It was well after ten pm when he arrived home. He had been counting the offerings at church with another man and the numbers were five dollars off. So they recounted, recalculated the checks, and went through the money time and time again until the mistake was found. In all they spent almost three hours…a good deal of that time over five dollars.
Times like that show a person’s character. It would have been easy enough to let it go, to fudge the numbers so they all worked out despite the five dollars. It would have been easy enough to just put the five dollars under anyone’s offering totals. It was only five dollars afterall. But five dollars here and five dollars there can start adding up. The fact that these men who had worked hard all day and had families at home, were willing to spend so much time to make sure the church’s books were exact, tells you that these men take their role seriously. It shows their integrity.
Jesus said, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much” (Luke 16:10). That’s why caring about five dollars matters.
Share on Facebook Tweet This Post
Sometimes life seems to be going at breakneck speed. Some of it is of our own doing, and some of it is merely answering the call of God in our lives. Yesterday was one of those days that I woke up and felt crabby, not sure how to accomplish half of what I wanted to get done.
It’s on days like that that God’s words to Jeremiah come to me. “If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?” (12:5)
In other words, if these silly things like household chores wear you out, honestly, how do you expect to do great things in the kingdom of God? My answer to that is that I don’t. I see all too clearly how human and weak I am. And I know full well I can not do anything great or even good. Anything good that comes from me will not be me, but Christ working in and through me.
Just a side note. I’ll be gone for the next few days, so won’t be posting a blog again until Wednesday night. God bless your next few days!
Share on Facebook Tweet This Post
Yesterday at church I was reminded what an important role motherhood is. The pastor mentioned that a mother’s voice follows you all the days of your life. I was reminded of just how much mothers do to keep a family together, not just as they are raising their children, but even in the years after their children leave home.
It’s easy to think we’re “just” moms sometimes, especially when we don’t get a paycheck and when there’s pressure to have a title behind your name, but when you think of the influence you have not just over your own children, but their friends…it’s easy to see how important the role of motherhood is.
As with any important role, it’s crucial we team with the Lord to be the most effective mom we can be. It’s imperitive that we pray for the strength to meet the challenges of being a mother and helpmate to our spouse. Only the Lord can give us the patience to meet the demands, the understanding to meet the needs and the strength to persevere and look beyond our own needs to meet the needs of those He’s given us to care for.
Share on Facebook Tweet This Post
“But when you give, do not let your right hand know what your left hand is doing.”
Today was the Mother’s day tea at church. I was again reminded of how much is always done behind the scenes. While dropping some stuff off at church earlier in the week I ran into a woman planting flowers at the church. That same woman was at church today setting up communion. At our friends house today I saw evidence that others had been there earlier. So much done behind the scenes.
In God’s kingdom we rarely get the whole picture. We don’t see the spiritual warfare around us. We don’t see the people on their knees praying. We don’t see all the notes of encouragement, hear all the phone calls to tell someone they are doing a great job, have the benefit of knowing the gifts given to keep the kingdom running. We see so little.
It’s good to remember that when we don’t understand. We don’tneed to understand. We don’t need to know it all. God does and He’s got it all under control.
Share on Facebook Tweet This Post
Five virgins were wise and had plenty of oil. The other five were caught off guard and were not prepared.
May is a busy month. Everything is wrapping up. There are confirmations, graduations, field trips, track day, sports, homework assignments. The list is exhausting in itself. When we’re busy, we’re open to being caught off guard.
In case May is getting to you, take a few minutes, open your Bible and gain perspective. Our lives are short. Our mission is big. What matters? What doesn’t? Don’t be caught off guard. Pray. Read your Bible and keep watch.
Share on Facebook Tweet This Post
Chuck Swindoll preached on Mark 3:14 yesterday. It says, “[Jesus] appointed twelve–designating them apostles– that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.” Chuck made the point that before we are sent out we need to be with Jesus. We need to be meeting Him in our quiet time, in prayer and Bible study. Then and only then will we be properly prepared to do His will and to go out to others.
Anyone in ministry knows the temptation is very real. I’m in the Bible to write my blog, to do devotions with the kids, to write Bible studies. Do I really need more time in the Bible? Yes. Unless I fill up, I won’t have anything to give. If I let my guard down and let go of the routine which keeps me in God’s Word, then how can I be effective to teach?
Daniel was a busy man. He was very high in the kingdom of Babylon, which was the ruling power of his day. Yet, he managed to pray three times a day. Was it convenient? Didn’t he have other things to do? No and yes. He carved that time out of his day that he might be effective in the kingdom. The same is true for you and me.
Share on Facebook Tweet This Post
“All the poor and powerless, all the lost and lonely. All the theives who come confess; know that you are holy.” These lyrics start the song “All the Poor and Powerless.”
There’s a misconception that all the people in the church pews are righteous. They’ve lived a spotless life and walk around not being able to relate to the poor, the scarred, the bruised, the broken. In truth, it’s the poor and the powerless who reach out to God, knowing they are totally and completely unable to cope, unable to heal, unable to bind on their own.
People came to Jesus after years of suffering. They came when their children were dying, because no one else could heal.
I’m so glad He takes us as we are. I’m thankful it only takes faith the size of a mustard seed, because let’s face it, we have so little to offer Him and so much to gain.
Share on Facebook Tweet This Post
|
|
