What If?

What if we live as if we are called by God?
Ephesians 4:1 "I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called."

How would our lives change, if we believed we were adopted sons and daughters of Father God, and if we believed God has chosen us to love? What if He has picked us to share His love with those we come in contact with each day? What if we really accept that the resources of the Father are accessible to us? 

To walk in a manner worthy-is to live a life that measures up to something-that is balanced to your worth-the word for worthy here, is about something with intrinsic value. It can be different than the external or appraised value. For example; a house has an appraised value based on the size, the location, the quality, and the other houses in the neighborhood. But a home has an intrinsic value that is based on memories, comfort, and your style, it's your family's place to dwell. The intrinsic value can mean very little to others, but it can be priceless to you.

We have an incredible value to God, Jesus Christ died for us, He gave us life, what is that worth to us? I have been asking myself, and I will ask you-what have you decided your salvation is worth? How have you appraised your life in Christ?  

What is it worth to you to be a Christian? The answer will determine how you live. Do you believe you are the beggar who has bread and you can’t get enough of it-you want to tell others you have the answer to their life questions? Or today has life become to you like the Israelites in the dessert who complained about the manna? What God had provided wasn’t enough-they wanted meat. Often we want more than what God have given us, we want something different.

What if we really lived today as if we were called by God, loved by God, and we just get the privilege of sharing His love? Our purpose in life and how we walk in manner worthy is simple-we grow in our love for God and we allow Him to love others thru us. It is simple, not easy, but what if we, as individuals and as a church family live as if we were called by God-simply to love Him and love others?

Grace that is Greater than Healing

This is a simple post from the Message Bible..

Message Bible-2 Corinthians 12:7-10

"Because of the extravagance of these revelations and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty.

At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and I begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then He told me “My grace is enough, it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.”

Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift.

It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take the limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size-abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks-I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become."

The Christian life is simple-not easy. We are called to surrender to Christ, to abide in Him, and to walk in the Spirit. Simple-not easy.

Shalom

 I need shalom, I want shalom! Shalom is really something we would all like because it is what we all need to enjoy everything else.

Shalom is captured by the following terms; wholeness, blessings, prosperity, calmness, stillness, being undisturbed, being complete, having security, and the profound word of Peace.

 No matter how old or young you are, shalom is the secret to making life fulfilling. You can have everything this world offers and without shalom, it’s all hollow-it doesn’t satisfy-there is always something missing. 

Our world in 2013 is in desperate need of Shalom. Shalom is an old Hebrew term, there are more than a dozen English words that try and capture the meaning of shalom.

 We all crave shalom, we want shalom, and we need shalom-it’s like this unspoken thing that we are all trying to get but we don’t consciously know that we are striving for shalom. We feel empty when we don’t have shalom, there is something wrong that is hard to define, so we try and get more stuff from our world. We think that our wish list will solve the emptiness, but the only One who can meet the need for shalom, is the One who created the need. Our world system and the stuff from this world doesn’t satisfy- we all need and want true shalom, ultimate peace-but it is only found in a relationship with God. 

As hard as we try to get peace by just getting one more thing from our list, it will never completely satisfy. My desire is that we would all experience shalom. Wouldn’t you really love to have shalom this season? Turn to the God of the universe-Yahweh-and ask Him for His Peace, that peace that passes understnding.

Complain or Change our Focus

We have no excuse for our attitudes of despair-no excuse for being tired-as I complain about other believers, as I complain about our government, as I complain about my circumstances-I am ultimately complaining about God and doubting His goodness. We can change our attitudes by changing our focus-move our eyes off of our circumstances and look to the God of circumstance! He is not tired, depressed, or worried and He lives within you-believer!

Please People or Please God

Who are some people you are trying to please?

We are taught that to get ahead in this life we need to learn to focus on pleasing people-the never ending game begins by trying to meet our own needs and then we move to the needs of those around us. We try and meet our needs, the needs of friends, the needs of parents, and of course, all the needs of the kids. We try and meet the needs of our spouses, our bosses, and our co-workers. On top of that comes trying to meet the needs of our religious leaders, our church, and then at the root we try and meet the needs of God- we try to live up to some standard that makes us okay with our Holy God.  How is that working for you? 

  I find that if I forget my identity as Abba’s child-as the beloved, accepted child of God-I become enslaved to the approval or the disapproval of others instead of being who I am-a bond-servant of Christ.

That is what happened to the Apostle Paul as he was climbing the ladder of success-moving up in leadership in the Jewish religion of all places(what a better place than to be pursuing religion)-God stopped him cold-knocked him down-humbled him!    

 Galatians 1:10 Paul learned to stop and consider that in Christ, he is pleasing to God.

What are some ways God stops us when we are going our own way-when we are trying to please ourselves and other people?

Is God reminding you that you are acceptable and pleasing to Him?

Is it time to step aside and allow God to be God in your life and the lives of those around you?

 Rest in Him! It is amazing what God can accomplish without our help.