Once again, we have been enjoying a warmer, dryer, sunnier winter. Sure, it's February, but it certainly does not feel like it. Yet, here and there we have had snow and wind and ice and cold.
Extremes always remind me how needy I am. Every breath should be a reminder that I need God. It usually takes something more drastic to get my attention!
Acts 17:28 "In Him we live and breath and have our being."
My needs, my neediness have been given to me. I have been made to need, to depend on something outside of myself. There is only One who can sustain me. By God's grace, my needs continually bring me to the place where I look to Him.
By God's grace, my needs continually bring me to the place where I know Him.
He has given me life. He gives me breath and He will provide all that is best for me for all of eternity. I am at my best, I have the most joy, when He is front and center. When all my eating and drinking and prioritizing revolve around His glory and becoming like Christ in being concerned about the salvation of those around me....There I see the fulness of His grace.
For on my own without God's grace, the beauty would be there but I would not have the eyes to see it for what it truly is.
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Wednesday, February 08, 2012
Thursday, February 02, 2012
Community
Growing up in a small town, I didn't really think much about community. Everyone has some form of community. In my little town, we all know each other but very few people truly KNOW each other. Very few people actually share life together. When people gather, they do not seek counsel from one another. They do not share their own hardships and struggles. They do not offer words of encouragement.
This is part of being a sinner...We always want to get our fingers pointed at someone else and their problems.
Perhaps that's what's really wrong with gossip. Sure, it's wrong to talk about others, especially when you are speaking things that you do not know to be true. But, more importantly, why waste the opportunity to build one another up in Christ?
If you meet with a believer, share with him the riches of the Gospel! Encourage him with God's Word, truth, and love. Ask him specifically what God has been teaching him or what he has been struggling with. Pray with him and for him.
If you meet with an unbeliever, share with him the riches of the Gospel! Encourage him to know God, explain to him God's Word, truth, and love. Listen to his questions. Pray with him if he will. Pray for him if he won't.
No matter who you meet, he will either be walking with God or not walking with God. Either way, he needs more Gospel!
Take the time to build community, gospel community. Building one another up in Christ is the foundation. Gospel community begins with the daily interactions we have with people.
Proverbs 10:11&13a "The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. On the lips of him who has understanding, wisdom is found..."
This is part of being a sinner...We always want to get our fingers pointed at someone else and their problems.
Perhaps that's what's really wrong with gossip. Sure, it's wrong to talk about others, especially when you are speaking things that you do not know to be true. But, more importantly, why waste the opportunity to build one another up in Christ?
If you meet with a believer, share with him the riches of the Gospel! Encourage him with God's Word, truth, and love. Ask him specifically what God has been teaching him or what he has been struggling with. Pray with him and for him.
If you meet with an unbeliever, share with him the riches of the Gospel! Encourage him to know God, explain to him God's Word, truth, and love. Listen to his questions. Pray with him if he will. Pray for him if he won't.
No matter who you meet, he will either be walking with God or not walking with God. Either way, he needs more Gospel!
Take the time to build community, gospel community. Building one another up in Christ is the foundation. Gospel community begins with the daily interactions we have with people.
Proverbs 10:11&13a "The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. On the lips of him who has understanding, wisdom is found..."