Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.(NIV)
Paul tells us that we are to do all things will all our heart. With our innermost being working towards accomplishing whatever is set before us. We don't work for men. We all work for God. You don't work for your boss, you don't work for a paycheck, you don't work for your children or your spouse. You work for God. So do it with all your heart. Don't be divided in your heart over whether this person deserves your best or does this project require the energy I have put in to it. Do it all for God. Our work, whether paid or unpaid, is done in service to God and not men and we do it so that our Father in heaven will be glorified. This is hard to do some days when we don't feel appreciated or that our work doesn't make any sort of difference and we wonder if anyone even notices what we have done. Know this, God sees what you have done and according to this passage has an inheritance in store for you. Work today with all your heart.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Thoughts on Hebrews 10:23-25
Hebrews 10:23-25(NIV) 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
One way we hold unswervingly to the hope we profess is to keep walking with Jesus. Keep looking beyond your problems, your pains and you circumstances to God’s promises. Hold on to, cling to the hope that you have in Jesus Christ. Because God is faithful to do what He said He would do.
We are to spur on each other towards love and good deeds. Spur means to provoke or stimulate each other forward.
It seems as if there has always been a problem with people withdrawing from church fellowship. In fact, the writer calls it a habit. You miss one or two meetings and then you feel weird going back. Then in becomes ingrained to not go to church or small group anymore. That is where the danger lies. It is easy to fall away when you are not in a place where you are being spurred forward and where you are not being encouraged to walk with Jesus. The world will not encourage you to live as a follower of Jesus Christ. Only when you put yourself in a place where you can know others and be known will you experience growth. The enemy is constantly looking for those who wander off from the group to attack.
I have found that it is hard to encourage someone when you don’t see them very often or at all. It is hard to receive encouragement from others when you don’t share what is going on with others. Scripture is clear in that we need to meet together regularly if we are to consider ourselves as followers of Jesus Christ. We are shown that the church exists to share Christ with others and to be Christ to each other. Once we remove ourselves from interacting with others in the body of Christ we are like a branch that has removed itself from the tree and it withers and dies very quickly.
If you consider yourself a follower of Jesus Christ you need to be in regular fellowship where there is teaching, prayer and worship with others in the body of Christ. Maybe the church you were in wasn’t the place for you but there is a place for you somewhere. Find it. Get involved so that you can obey this passage and spur others on as you are spurred onward and get and be encouraged.
One way we hold unswervingly to the hope we profess is to keep walking with Jesus. Keep looking beyond your problems, your pains and you circumstances to God’s promises. Hold on to, cling to the hope that you have in Jesus Christ. Because God is faithful to do what He said He would do.
We are to spur on each other towards love and good deeds. Spur means to provoke or stimulate each other forward.
It seems as if there has always been a problem with people withdrawing from church fellowship. In fact, the writer calls it a habit. You miss one or two meetings and then you feel weird going back. Then in becomes ingrained to not go to church or small group anymore. That is where the danger lies. It is easy to fall away when you are not in a place where you are being spurred forward and where you are not being encouraged to walk with Jesus. The world will not encourage you to live as a follower of Jesus Christ. Only when you put yourself in a place where you can know others and be known will you experience growth. The enemy is constantly looking for those who wander off from the group to attack.
I have found that it is hard to encourage someone when you don’t see them very often or at all. It is hard to receive encouragement from others when you don’t share what is going on with others. Scripture is clear in that we need to meet together regularly if we are to consider ourselves as followers of Jesus Christ. We are shown that the church exists to share Christ with others and to be Christ to each other. Once we remove ourselves from interacting with others in the body of Christ we are like a branch that has removed itself from the tree and it withers and dies very quickly.
If you consider yourself a follower of Jesus Christ you need to be in regular fellowship where there is teaching, prayer and worship with others in the body of Christ. Maybe the church you were in wasn’t the place for you but there is a place for you somewhere. Find it. Get involved so that you can obey this passage and spur others on as you are spurred onward and get and be encouraged.
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Success
I have been thinking about success lately. I was in our annual district prayer conference for the C&MA in October and the subject for the conference was what is success. I was struct that we so often say success is one thing and yet work to bring about success in other areas and neglect the one area we say we need to have success in. Let me give and example. If I were to ask you what would success mean for you in your family you may give an answer that would include close relationships, openness and understanding. Yet in practice our focus in our families is just getting through the day or week and we fail to do anything to foster closeness, openness and understanding. When I first started out being a pastor a friend of mine asked me what I would consider success in my ministry. And as I thought about it I came to this conclusion. If I was faithful to do what God had called me to do in all areas then I would be able to say I was successful even if the ministry failed or fell apart. The faithfulness/obedience to God was what was important. Yet sometimes I find myself working to make sure the ministry is successful and ignore doing the things God has called me to complete. Without a constant reminder of what success really means to me I get off track. So what does success mean to you? How are you going about trying to make sure you are successful?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)