Haggai 1:8-9 Then God said:
"Here's what I want you to do:
Climb into the hills and cut some timber.
Bring it down and rebuild the Temple.
Do it just for me. Honor me.
You've had great ambitions for yourselves, but nothing has come of it.
The little you have brought to my Temple I've blown away—there was nothing to it. “
God’s Honor is central. We are His children. Children reflect their parents’ lives and so we reflect His life. Our bodies are His Temple. Our choices affect the quality of our lives and the honor of His name. We aren’t consciously aware of the need to honor God because our own pursuits or needs are at the forefront of our minds. We’re busy with life – our life and balancing all the balls of responsibility.
We make choices out of those needs. We respond to the stimuli around us. If we’re into balancing then His honor is just one more ball to balance. However, if we’re into centrality and Christ is at the center of everything we are and do; honoring God just becomes as natural as breathing.
A well known tele-evangelist recently said in her blog “I live in a rhythm that brings an overall balance.” Yet, that rhythm has not included honoring her marriage or her God. That is not balance; but denial. One doesn’t have to know the circumstances of the breakup to know that this is a marriage that took a backseat to ministry.
God doesn’t want our ministry without an honoring relationship. He wants relationship and He wants that relationship reflected in every other relationship in our lives, especially our marriages. Our marriage is a reflection of Christ’s relationship to the church. Our marriage brings honor and glory to God or is a living testimony that we haven’t put the Word into action in that relationship. It communicates to some that the Word doesn’t work or you can discriminate about which scripture to obey.
Let this be a warning to us to check our own lives. Are we honoring God in our relationships? Is Christ at the Center of our lives or relegated to a compartment or a ball to be balanced? Are we ministering out of selfish ambition while our marriage and family are suffering?
Today, what will “honoring God” look like in our lives?
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Hospitality -- an option or a must?
Hospitality in Biblical times was a sign of being civilized. For the Greeks it had religious significance since Zeus was the god of hospitality. For the Egyptians it helped secure a place in the future life. In general hospitality was a necessary obligation to avoid violence. There was an actual “hospitality code” that included initial invitation, screening, provision with protection and departure. A stranger presented themselves at the public gate or city well and waited for someone to offer hospitality. Screening could include asking them questions or having them display their ability in their craft as the Apostle Paul was asked to speak. Once the stranger was invited the host provided his best meal, entertainment and protection. At departure the strangers were also provided with food and water for the journey. Hospitality offered protection, warmth and friendliness to strangers and aliens. It was a necessary art in the days of no Holiday Inns.
Hospitality was practiced in the New Testament as people opened their hearts and homes to Jesus and his ministry. Mary and Martha are prime examples. Without hospitality the missionary journeys of Paul would have been impossible. He blazed new trails and started new churches as people opened their homes to this stranger.
Traveling on a journey necessitated hospitality in the first place. Abraham would have starved and died without it on his way to Canaan. Jesus would have been out in the cold and the new church would have died in the streets of Jerusalem if Christians had not practiced hospitality
Today, hospitality seems to be a lost art. Our homes are our private castle. We retreat to our homes hoping to find relief and safety after a hectic day of work filled with rejections of offers, rude customers, road rage, and unrealistic demands. Why would we want to invite anyone into our safe comfortable home and take a chance of our privacy being invaded? Why would anyone want to leave their home?
Romans 12: 13 tells us to “Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” Hebrews 13:2 “Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” Was this just for those times?
I Peter 4:7-10 tells us, “The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.” The importance of hospitality is wrapped up in a mandate for the end of times. Is this a Biblical mandate for the art of hospitality today?
Can we not share with those in need without inviting them into our homes? Can’t we just take strangers out to lunch at McDonalds or Golden Corral and play it safe? What’s the big deal? It’s not like the world is a dangerous place or something is it? We sit with these strangers in church? What more do you want, Lord?
Our Christian life is a journey and we desperately need to take in “strangers’’ in the faith. It's a jungle out there, you know. They need a friendly, warm face to welcome them into the family of grace. They need the Word to feed their souls – the Word that you have already learned and applied into your life and are living -- it's easy to receive and digest – it’s your best. Like Lazarus after being raised from the dead, their grave cloths of death can only be removed with your help. Food and water for the journey is a necessity for the disciple.
But who will entertain these strangers? Who will open their hearts and homes to share a meal – to share the life of Christ – a prayer – a word of encouragement and support for the journey?
Hospitality is more than a need – it’s a must. The shared home and meal is a sign of civilization – love and obedience to Christ. It’s a basic art that has been lost among all the progress of civilization. It’s the missing element that will fuel life and breath into the dying body of Christ. Strangers are standing at the gate? What will we do? Think about the alternatives -- "'where everybody knows their name."' How will we respond?
Hospitality was practiced in the New Testament as people opened their hearts and homes to Jesus and his ministry. Mary and Martha are prime examples. Without hospitality the missionary journeys of Paul would have been impossible. He blazed new trails and started new churches as people opened their homes to this stranger.
Traveling on a journey necessitated hospitality in the first place. Abraham would have starved and died without it on his way to Canaan. Jesus would have been out in the cold and the new church would have died in the streets of Jerusalem if Christians had not practiced hospitality
Today, hospitality seems to be a lost art. Our homes are our private castle. We retreat to our homes hoping to find relief and safety after a hectic day of work filled with rejections of offers, rude customers, road rage, and unrealistic demands. Why would we want to invite anyone into our safe comfortable home and take a chance of our privacy being invaded? Why would anyone want to leave their home?
Romans 12: 13 tells us to “Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” Hebrews 13:2 “Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” Was this just for those times?
I Peter 4:7-10 tells us, “The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.” The importance of hospitality is wrapped up in a mandate for the end of times. Is this a Biblical mandate for the art of hospitality today?
Can we not share with those in need without inviting them into our homes? Can’t we just take strangers out to lunch at McDonalds or Golden Corral and play it safe? What’s the big deal? It’s not like the world is a dangerous place or something is it? We sit with these strangers in church? What more do you want, Lord?
Our Christian life is a journey and we desperately need to take in “strangers’’ in the faith. It's a jungle out there, you know. They need a friendly, warm face to welcome them into the family of grace. They need the Word to feed their souls – the Word that you have already learned and applied into your life and are living -- it's easy to receive and digest – it’s your best. Like Lazarus after being raised from the dead, their grave cloths of death can only be removed with your help. Food and water for the journey is a necessity for the disciple.
But who will entertain these strangers? Who will open their hearts and homes to share a meal – to share the life of Christ – a prayer – a word of encouragement and support for the journey?
Hospitality is more than a need – it’s a must. The shared home and meal is a sign of civilization – love and obedience to Christ. It’s a basic art that has been lost among all the progress of civilization. It’s the missing element that will fuel life and breath into the dying body of Christ. Strangers are standing at the gate? What will we do? Think about the alternatives -- "'where everybody knows their name."' How will we respond?
Saturday, August 18, 2007
What Am I?
I can make you rise or fall.
I can work for you or against you.
I can make you a success or a failure.
I control the way that you feel and the way that you act.
I can make you laugh . . . work . . . . love.
I can make your heart sing
with joy . . . excitement . . . elation.
Or
I can make you wretched . . . dejected . . . morbid.
I can make you sick . . . listless.
I can be as a shackle . . . heavy . . . attached
. . . burdensome.
Or
I can be nurtured and grown to be great and beautiful
. . . seen by the eyes of others through action in you
I can never be removed . . . only replaced.
I am a THOUGHT.
Why not know me better?
…by Bob Conklin
I can work for you or against you.
I can make you a success or a failure.
I control the way that you feel and the way that you act.
I can make you laugh . . . work . . . . love.
I can make your heart sing
with joy . . . excitement . . . elation.
Or
I can make you wretched . . . dejected . . . morbid.
I can make you sick . . . listless.
I can be as a shackle . . . heavy . . . attached
. . . burdensome.
Or
I can be nurtured and grown to be great and beautiful
. . . seen by the eyes of others through action in you
I can never be removed . . . only replaced.
I am a THOUGHT.
Why not know me better?
…by Bob Conklin
“Every thought you have shapes your life.
The sum of all your thoughts comprises your overall attitude.”
John Maxwell pg. 11 The Difference Maker
Women, we have the power of choice. We can choose to entertain or decline the thoughts that come to our minds. The choices we make will shape our attitudes, actions and our lives while negatively impacting others. Let's not abuse or misuse this power but use it to replace the negative, critical, self-deprecating, defeating, paranoid thoughts with ones worthy of who we are in Christ. What are your thoughts?
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
See You on the Water!
This past week I had to opportunity to attend the simulcast of the Willow Creek Leadership Summit. I was given a free ticket and could stay with my sister so I took advantage of the opportunity to learn and grow. I found it very interesting that the very first workshop by Bill Hybels spoke to something my son and I had just discussed. Whew! I had given good advice but who am I next to Bill Hybels. I took great notes and passed them on.
Then Bill Hybels interviewed Carla Fiorna who was recently the number one woman in Business according to Fortune Magazine. I'm not sure she is a Christian but she said some powerful things that complimented what Bill had shared. I probably received more from her than anyone. Interesting!
One thing she said that stood out to me was "Give them a vision more compelling than their fear." Well, was she right on or what? We are all born with a sense of fear -- fear of heights, spiders - yikes; fear of speaking in public, fear of needles , fear of change -- you name it and there's a fear. But I think one that God is endeavoring to address for us as women is the fear of getting out of our comfort zones. It takes something very compelling to get most of us out of our comfortable secure boats of safety.
Carla shared that as long as we are in our comfort zone we're not growing; we're just practicing the same skill over and over. To learn and grow we need to move out of our comfort zone of ease. For some of you just hearing this caused fear to rise. For others it produced a sense of excitement.
I know He's birthing something in you just as He is in me. Keep praying and listening for His promptings in you.
What is he burdening you for?
What stirs your heart when you see or hear about it?
What talent, capacity or gifting do you need to use for Him?
What have you gone through that could be used to help someone else negotiate through those troubled waters?
What scripture verse is your favorite? Is there a hint in that verse for the place God wants to use you to minister to others?
Allow the Holy Spirit to hover over you. He's birthing His will and purposes and He wants to use you. Will you get off the bench and into the game? God promises to give you the courage and strength. You can't learn anything new if you stay in your comfort zone - you're just practicing the same skill. You have to get out of your boat to walk on water - then God miraculously enables you to operate in this new arena as you add knowledge, practice and skill.
Staying in the boat is safe - or is it? Walking on the water is exciting. Yes, it's scary but if what you're doing doesn't' scare you to death then you won't need any help from God. To me, that is more scary. I'd rather get a little wet than stagnate in my boat.
Push through the precipice of fear onto the path of preparation till you get to the pier of decision and past the point of no return onto the waters of your destiny! God is with you all the way!
What is the vision God is giving you? What vision is God giving you that is more compelling than your fear?
See
You
On the
W
A
T
E
R . . .!
Then Bill Hybels interviewed Carla Fiorna who was recently the number one woman in Business according to Fortune Magazine. I'm not sure she is a Christian but she said some powerful things that complimented what Bill had shared. I probably received more from her than anyone. Interesting!
One thing she said that stood out to me was "Give them a vision more compelling than their fear." Well, was she right on or what? We are all born with a sense of fear -- fear of heights, spiders - yikes; fear of speaking in public, fear of needles , fear of change -- you name it and there's a fear. But I think one that God is endeavoring to address for us as women is the fear of getting out of our comfort zones. It takes something very compelling to get most of us out of our comfortable secure boats of safety.
Carla shared that as long as we are in our comfort zone we're not growing; we're just practicing the same skill over and over. To learn and grow we need to move out of our comfort zone of ease. For some of you just hearing this caused fear to rise. For others it produced a sense of excitement.
I know He's birthing something in you just as He is in me. Keep praying and listening for His promptings in you.
What is he burdening you for?
What stirs your heart when you see or hear about it?
What talent, capacity or gifting do you need to use for Him?
What have you gone through that could be used to help someone else negotiate through those troubled waters?
What scripture verse is your favorite? Is there a hint in that verse for the place God wants to use you to minister to others?
Allow the Holy Spirit to hover over you. He's birthing His will and purposes and He wants to use you. Will you get off the bench and into the game? God promises to give you the courage and strength. You can't learn anything new if you stay in your comfort zone - you're just practicing the same skill. You have to get out of your boat to walk on water - then God miraculously enables you to operate in this new arena as you add knowledge, practice and skill.
Staying in the boat is safe - or is it? Walking on the water is exciting. Yes, it's scary but if what you're doing doesn't' scare you to death then you won't need any help from God. To me, that is more scary. I'd rather get a little wet than stagnate in my boat.
Push through the precipice of fear onto the path of preparation till you get to the pier of decision and past the point of no return onto the waters of your destiny! God is with you all the way!
What is the vision God is giving you? What vision is God giving you that is more compelling than your fear?
See
You
On the
W
A
T
E
R . . .!
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