Wow, church was good on Sunday! I feel sorry that you missed out. ok, I'm sure that your church was good on Sunday, too. Pastor has been doing a series on living at the boiling point with God. Each week, he's been given "how to's" on living at the boiling point. This week he spoke on purposely depositing good in your life.
A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. Luke 6:45
Two misconceptions on having the good life is a) that "zap," it'll just happen and b) there's a list of rules to follow in order to get the good life (read x # of chapters a day, pray for 1 hr a day, etc.).
"You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you'll find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the trees. These Scriptures are all about me! And here I am, standing right before you, and you aren't willing to receive from me the life you say you want." -Jesus, (Message John 5:39)
It's all a matter of the heart. Purpose to put good there. He gave a scenerio of a day and how we get so busy and don't find time to deposit good into our life. We can not expect to grow in the Lord if we don't purpose to. He then gave a scenerio of a day where we purposely deposit good in our lives. They were practical steps. Simple. Didn't include hours of prayer or Bible study. Just say a prayer of thankfulness before you get out of bed. Read a few minutes of the Word before you head off for work. Put on preaching CD's in your car to listen to as you travel. Remember that you are the salt of the earth when talking to people. Don't be weird, but listen for opportunities to share. Or just tell someone who's going through a hard time that you're praying for them. Have dinner as a family. Do a short devotional with your kids before bed. Play with your children. Listen to them. Although his scenario differs dramatically from my life - his day starts with "beep beep beep" and mine starts with "wah wah wah," it was exactly what I needed. I've been beating myself up about not reading my Bible enough because my day is consumed by these little children. His ideas were so practical and do-able. This morning, Ca got up really early, so I rocked him for a long time so he'd sleep more. Instead of letting my mind drift, I prayed. It was such a nice time with my Father. A re soaking of his presence. Good stuff.
6 comments:
I'm glad you have such a great Pastor. It is no surprise. You seem to be very mature in Christ. Thanks for sharing.
AMEN
oooooo I like it!
I think it's really important to always remember that no one knows better what your day is like than God. Don't beat yourself up anymore. I don't let people do that to my friends!
Thanks for the encouragement. I'm so glad that we can "pray always" anytime, anywhere.
Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. James 5:13
I do my best praying as I go. My favorite prayer is "help me Jesus" and my next favorite is "Thank you, Jesus!"
I was just meditating on this verse yesterday:
Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue,And those who love it will eat its fruit.
For the first time I thought about loving the "life fruit". The death part had always thrown me off.. We can purposefully work on the "life fruit" and then enjoy the fruit of it.
Then this verse, too..
Philippians 2:13 [Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight.
I love that all we have to do is shift our focus then God works in us the rest.
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