I was talking a a dear friend last night whose sister had a brain tumor removed yesterday and as he was sharing how well things went, he also shared that another friend's mother passed away. This woman had fought through cancer. My friend had gotten a text that she had broken her hip...then that the fall had been caused by a heart attack...and finally that she had gone to be with the Lord. I knew this woman only in my prayers as my friend had been asking me to pray for her in her struggles this past year.
As I read this chapter, it was verses 16-18 that spoke to me, "That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever."
I am reminded to focus on things eternal. Yes, bodies break down, but spirits go on. The Bible tells us that we will receive heavenly bodies. We know that this one, that we have here on earth is just for this place, but God is molding our character into perfection, working on us until the day we die, preparing us for work in the heavenly kingdom. Earth is not really our home. It is the place we live and in our temporal thoughts, it is home because we don't remember/know anything else, but the truth is our time in eternity with God, in God's Kingdom will be much greater and is our true home.
While we don't know too much about what it will look like and all that we will encounter there, just like we would for a trip, we can look up information to help us prepare. The Bible tells us a great deal about heaven (I can recommend Randy Alcorn's book, Heaven if you are looking for a book that walk you through what the Bible says about heaven) and we can use this to prepare. We will find that it is our spirits, not our bodies that we need to work on. Therefore, focus on eternal things, those things that will last and remain when life on this earth is finished.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
2 Corinthians 3 - Would God get the job?
What kind of recommendation would you give for God if someone called and asked? Would you have wonderful things to say about God? Now, what if your life was God's recommendation, what would it say? Would people looking at your life be interested in God and wanting God around, or would they decide not to interview God further?
Verse 2 reads, "The only letter of recommendation we need is you yourselves. Your lives are a letter written in our hearts; everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you." Paul was speaking to the fact that the lives the people in the Corinthian church were living was a letter of recommendation for Paul and how he had brought them to Christ. But how much more are we a letter of God's work. Just as verse 18b says, "...And the Lord - who is the Spirit - makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image." But this only happens when we open ourselves to God and allow God to mold us.
So today, I plan to look through my heart and see those areas where I am allowing God to have control and mold me...and see what areas I am holding back and reflect on what my life looks like to someone who might want to know Jesus. Will they be encouraged to get to know God, or are those areas where I reflect myself instead of God going to send them looking elsewhere?
I want to be a strong letter of recommendation for God. I would like to think that others' would look at the way I live my life and say they want to know the people that shaped me...my parents and God. What about you? What does you life say about God? What strengths of God's does it speak of? What weaknesses of your might people think God has based on your life? Take the time today to examine yourself and think about your life as a letter of recommendation...would God get the job?
Verse 2 reads, "The only letter of recommendation we need is you yourselves. Your lives are a letter written in our hearts; everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you." Paul was speaking to the fact that the lives the people in the Corinthian church were living was a letter of recommendation for Paul and how he had brought them to Christ. But how much more are we a letter of God's work. Just as verse 18b says, "...And the Lord - who is the Spirit - makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image." But this only happens when we open ourselves to God and allow God to mold us.
So today, I plan to look through my heart and see those areas where I am allowing God to have control and mold me...and see what areas I am holding back and reflect on what my life looks like to someone who might want to know Jesus. Will they be encouraged to get to know God, or are those areas where I reflect myself instead of God going to send them looking elsewhere?
I want to be a strong letter of recommendation for God. I would like to think that others' would look at the way I live my life and say they want to know the people that shaped me...my parents and God. What about you? What does you life say about God? What strengths of God's does it speak of? What weaknesses of your might people think God has based on your life? Take the time today to examine yourself and think about your life as a letter of recommendation...would God get the job?
Monday, July 11, 2011
2 Corinthains 2 - Grief and Joy
As I read this chapter I was looking for answers, which I didn't find but instead found these verses, "For if I cause you grief, who will make me glad? Certainly not someone I have grieved. That is why I wrote to you as I did, so that when I do come, I won’t be grieved by the very ones who ought to give me the greatest joy. Surely you all know that my joy comes from your being joyful."
Paul is trying to avoid a situation where he has to correct the Corinthian church in person, knowing that he will cause them grief, thereby breaking his heart and making his visit unpleasant. He would rather write to them and give them the corrections and feedback to correct the situation before his visit so that they can enjoy a time of joy when he comes.
But what really got me about these verses is somewhat outside of what exactly Paul was saying. For if I cause you grief, who will make me glad? Have you ever been in a situation where you must cause some one grief and it breaks your heart? How do you do that? I walked into today's reading knowing that I have to make a choice that is likely to cause grief to someone. I was looking for answers as to dealing with the situation and I received a reminder that the grief I cause, will also be my grief. It is always a difficult situation when you must cause another grief, especially when that person is someone you care about and you know that how they feel will have a great impact on how you feel. We struggle to see someone we care about in pain.
So how do you deal with that kind of a situation? Well, Paul wrote a letter in hopes that the Corinthians would solve the issue before he came for a visit. Unfortunately, that will not work in this situation and my question of what to for was not answered by these verses, but I received a valuable reminder that I need to be careful. Maybe the answers will come as I continue to meditate on this chapter and other verses God brings to mind.
My call to you is to do what you can to maximize the joy of a healthy relationship with Christ in those around you. knowing that in their joy, you will find joy and in their grief, you will find grief.
Paul is trying to avoid a situation where he has to correct the Corinthian church in person, knowing that he will cause them grief, thereby breaking his heart and making his visit unpleasant. He would rather write to them and give them the corrections and feedback to correct the situation before his visit so that they can enjoy a time of joy when he comes.
But what really got me about these verses is somewhat outside of what exactly Paul was saying. For if I cause you grief, who will make me glad? Have you ever been in a situation where you must cause some one grief and it breaks your heart? How do you do that? I walked into today's reading knowing that I have to make a choice that is likely to cause grief to someone. I was looking for answers as to dealing with the situation and I received a reminder that the grief I cause, will also be my grief. It is always a difficult situation when you must cause another grief, especially when that person is someone you care about and you know that how they feel will have a great impact on how you feel. We struggle to see someone we care about in pain.
So how do you deal with that kind of a situation? Well, Paul wrote a letter in hopes that the Corinthians would solve the issue before he came for a visit. Unfortunately, that will not work in this situation and my question of what to for was not answered by these verses, but I received a valuable reminder that I need to be careful. Maybe the answers will come as I continue to meditate on this chapter and other verses God brings to mind.
My call to you is to do what you can to maximize the joy of a healthy relationship with Christ in those around you. knowing that in their joy, you will find joy and in their grief, you will find grief.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
2 Corinthians 1 - Purpose in Suffering
I don;t think I could have ended up with a more fitting chapter for me. I needed this reminder for me, both as an encouragement and a reminder as to part of God's purpose for me. For those of you who have known me for awhile, you know that the last six years of my life have been filled will challenges, roadblocks and suffering, I can relate to Paul's comment, "We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it...But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead." verses 8 & 9. There were many times in the past six years that I thought that season wouldn't end or that I couldn't live through it, and neither could my faith. Fortunately, like Paul, the lesson I learned was to rely on God and not myself. Something which increased with time. (Oh, that I could have learned that fully right away). But, as I read some of the other verses in this chapter, I am encouraged and reminded that my suffering and circumstances help me to walk through others' suffering and struggles and offer them the comfort of Jesus Christ. I particularly like verse 4, "He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others." I believe that God walked me down the road of the last six years. Along that road, God built my faith, God remolded my character to make me a more compassionate person, and come to love the person God created me as, and God put on my heart a passion for helping others who struggle in life and feel like they are outcasts from society.
All of us have suffered, all of us have received the comfort of God. The question is what do we do with that? Do we use that as a catalyst to see others' suffering and walk with them to offer them what we have received, or do we use that to crawl into ourselves and live in our challenges? I want to encourage you to let your suffering inspire you to to reach out to others.
Funny, as I write this, I am reminded of some of my friends (who may be reading this) and I realize you, too, have used your suffering to reach out to others and I hope this encourages you that you are of God's path. For those of you who are caught up in the suffering, know that if you allow it, God will use your suffering to help and inspire others. And in that service, you will find joy and purpose for your trials. For me, them became objects of growth for me and experiences that would help me to better understand and help others. God will walk you down that path too, if you are open to it. It will also bring you freedom for the discouragement and depression we can get into when we focus on our suffering.
Not only does this chapter encourage and affirm all that I have walked through, but it also it like a trumpet call, reminding me that is is my purpose to provide comfort to others. To remember that many are suffering and that we were not meant to walk through that alone. God walks through all of our suffering with us, but sometimes God uses us to be that human hand that embraces a friend near the end of their rope, God's voice to pray with a person so discouraged that they can't see past the darkness, or God's ear that listen's to all the woes, fears, and worries so that they can be released from a friend's heart and replaced with hope. Do you hear that trumpet sounding? Can you see someone around you who needs God's comfort? Do you see someone God is calling you to reveal those parts of God to? Don't ignore that call! Sometimes, one word, one gesture acted out in God's purpose makes all the difference to someone. As God has walked with you, walk with others!
The other piece of this...if you are walking the road of suffering, know that around the bend is blessing. I want to encourage you by saying that the six year season of great challenges and difficulties did come to an end for me and God brought me to my own "Promised Land", filled with milk and honey. God brought me to a new place and a new life that is the rainbow at the end of the flood of my life. Oh, I know I will still have challenges and walk in suffering, but I will always have the encouragement of what God has done for me as a reminder of God's faithfulness! Seasons of suffering do not last forever and God's blessings will fall to you in your faithfulness to God.
All of us have suffered, all of us have received the comfort of God. The question is what do we do with that? Do we use that as a catalyst to see others' suffering and walk with them to offer them what we have received, or do we use that to crawl into ourselves and live in our challenges? I want to encourage you to let your suffering inspire you to to reach out to others.
Funny, as I write this, I am reminded of some of my friends (who may be reading this) and I realize you, too, have used your suffering to reach out to others and I hope this encourages you that you are of God's path. For those of you who are caught up in the suffering, know that if you allow it, God will use your suffering to help and inspire others. And in that service, you will find joy and purpose for your trials. For me, them became objects of growth for me and experiences that would help me to better understand and help others. God will walk you down that path too, if you are open to it. It will also bring you freedom for the discouragement and depression we can get into when we focus on our suffering.
Not only does this chapter encourage and affirm all that I have walked through, but it also it like a trumpet call, reminding me that is is my purpose to provide comfort to others. To remember that many are suffering and that we were not meant to walk through that alone. God walks through all of our suffering with us, but sometimes God uses us to be that human hand that embraces a friend near the end of their rope, God's voice to pray with a person so discouraged that they can't see past the darkness, or God's ear that listen's to all the woes, fears, and worries so that they can be released from a friend's heart and replaced with hope. Do you hear that trumpet sounding? Can you see someone around you who needs God's comfort? Do you see someone God is calling you to reveal those parts of God to? Don't ignore that call! Sometimes, one word, one gesture acted out in God's purpose makes all the difference to someone. As God has walked with you, walk with others!
The other piece of this...if you are walking the road of suffering, know that around the bend is blessing. I want to encourage you by saying that the six year season of great challenges and difficulties did come to an end for me and God brought me to my own "Promised Land", filled with milk and honey. God brought me to a new place and a new life that is the rainbow at the end of the flood of my life. Oh, I know I will still have challenges and walk in suffering, but I will always have the encouragement of what God has done for me as a reminder of God's faithfulness! Seasons of suffering do not last forever and God's blessings will fall to you in your faithfulness to God.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Esther 10 - Good Deeds
I want to start with an apology...I have had some computer issues and have been using my morning time to try and fix them...and hallelujah, yesterday I finally did.
As I read this chapter, I started to see similarities between Mordecai and Joseph. Both did things for a king which resulted in their elevation to a position of influence that allowed them to protect the Jewish people. As I thought about this, I also considered that neither of them seem to have done these things with the motivation of gaining power. They were motivated by doing the right thing and helping other people...being instruments of and for God.
What about the good deeds we do? If you are like me, I am sure their is a mix of those that are motivated by kindness and those that are motivated by hope of what you will get in return. It seems like an obvious answer if we pose the question about which God can use in a more powerful way...but the truth is that when we do things without selfish ambition of desire for a certain outcome, God has more room to operate. Also, when we have developed a habit of doing right and kindness, we will see those returned to us...in ways beyond what we could imagine. You never know what kindness you do will influence another. It may be what sparks them to do a kindness for some one else, or it may be that they come to respect you and allow you to have influence over other decisions and events.
Today, begin a habit of righteous kindness. Open yourself as an instrument to God and see how God uses you!
As I read this chapter, I started to see similarities between Mordecai and Joseph. Both did things for a king which resulted in their elevation to a position of influence that allowed them to protect the Jewish people. As I thought about this, I also considered that neither of them seem to have done these things with the motivation of gaining power. They were motivated by doing the right thing and helping other people...being instruments of and for God.
What about the good deeds we do? If you are like me, I am sure their is a mix of those that are motivated by kindness and those that are motivated by hope of what you will get in return. It seems like an obvious answer if we pose the question about which God can use in a more powerful way...but the truth is that when we do things without selfish ambition of desire for a certain outcome, God has more room to operate. Also, when we have developed a habit of doing right and kindness, we will see those returned to us...in ways beyond what we could imagine. You never know what kindness you do will influence another. It may be what sparks them to do a kindness for some one else, or it may be that they come to respect you and allow you to have influence over other decisions and events.
Today, begin a habit of righteous kindness. Open yourself as an instrument to God and see how God uses you!
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Esther 9 - Joy = Giving
So the Jews have victory and and declare a celebration, but I love the most about all of this is the way they choose to celebrate. Let's look at what verse 22 reads, "He told them to celebrate these days with feasting and gladness and by giving gifts to each other and to the poor. This would commemorate a time when the Jews gained relief from their enemies, when their sorrow was turned into gladness and their mourning into joy."(emphasis mine)
I love that in recognition of their joy, the response is to give gifts. Not just to each other, but also to the poor. When I look around at society today, I see many people who also celebrate holidays in this way, focusing on others, but I also see those who focus on themselves. I often ask myself, how this world would be different if all people were more focused on themselves than others, even if it was just on holidays. Could we have times when no one went hungry and no one felt like they weren't cared for? And if we could do that a few days of the year, couldn't we do it for everyday?
Statistically, there is enough food grown on the earth for each person to eat and not go hungry. The problem is that we have many places where food sits on shelves and as it gets old, some of it is thrown out and there are other places where people walk miles to get a few mouthfuls of cooked grain...or find that there is nothing left for them.
I don't have the answers or the solutions, but I pray that God will provide them. But I do want to highlight a program that a bunch of people I know are doing, and could be done by people all over, if they could spare a little bit of time each week. These people have set up a deal with a local Big Y grocery story and once a week they pick up the leftover bakery products and deliver them to ministry that feeds the poor. I happen to know that the local Stop & Shop also has groups that pick up the older baked goods regularly and deliver them to a variety of places that need them.
So I ask you, does your local grocery store do this? If they don't and would be willing, could you find four other friends, and each one of you pick up these baked good once a months and deliver them someplace where they could be used to feed those in need? How would this spread? Could your example spark a change much greater than yourself?
I challenge you to pray. Maybe God has a different plan for you, but look around and listen to God's call and see how you can celebrate the joy your have in the Lord by giving gifts to others and the poor!
I love that in recognition of their joy, the response is to give gifts. Not just to each other, but also to the poor. When I look around at society today, I see many people who also celebrate holidays in this way, focusing on others, but I also see those who focus on themselves. I often ask myself, how this world would be different if all people were more focused on themselves than others, even if it was just on holidays. Could we have times when no one went hungry and no one felt like they weren't cared for? And if we could do that a few days of the year, couldn't we do it for everyday?
Statistically, there is enough food grown on the earth for each person to eat and not go hungry. The problem is that we have many places where food sits on shelves and as it gets old, some of it is thrown out and there are other places where people walk miles to get a few mouthfuls of cooked grain...or find that there is nothing left for them.
I don't have the answers or the solutions, but I pray that God will provide them. But I do want to highlight a program that a bunch of people I know are doing, and could be done by people all over, if they could spare a little bit of time each week. These people have set up a deal with a local Big Y grocery story and once a week they pick up the leftover bakery products and deliver them to ministry that feeds the poor. I happen to know that the local Stop & Shop also has groups that pick up the older baked goods regularly and deliver them to a variety of places that need them.
So I ask you, does your local grocery store do this? If they don't and would be willing, could you find four other friends, and each one of you pick up these baked good once a months and deliver them someplace where they could be used to feed those in need? How would this spread? Could your example spark a change much greater than yourself?
I challenge you to pray. Maybe God has a different plan for you, but look around and listen to God's call and see how you can celebrate the joy your have in the Lord by giving gifts to others and the poor!
Friday, July 1, 2011
Esther 8 - Restoration
This chapter continues the theme of restoration and God's care. The thing is that Mordecai and Esther could have given up many times. It was their persistence that allowed God to bring restoration. Funny that I read this before my morning run...I have just upped my distance and this morning I was trying to cut down my time/pace. I kept thinking that it would be easier to stop and give up, but I kept remembering the persistence that Esther and Mordecai showed in the face of what could be very discouraging circumstances. I kept convincing myself that I could run just a little farther. I set mini-goals and each time I got close to one, I decided I could run just a little farther. Eventually, I found myself at the end of my run, having gone the distance.
How often have you given up on something? Would you persistence have given God the chance to operate in the situation and demonstrate love and grace in that situation? Can you run just a little longer and see if you can make it a little bit farther? Take a few more steps and see what God has around the corner.
How often have you given up on something? Would you persistence have given God the chance to operate in the situation and demonstrate love and grace in that situation? Can you run just a little longer and see if you can make it a little bit farther? Take a few more steps and see what God has around the corner.
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