Monday, August 27, 2012

Give it to God

There are numerous shows on television today having to do with why. Doctor shows delve into why a patient is sick. Cop shows look into why the crime was committed to figure out who done it. Show after show get us tuned into figuring out why. So, when things go wrong in our lives we turn into a detective and work overtime to figure out why this thing happened.

Give it to God. We have all heard that simple truth and yet we wait until we cannot figure it out before applying it in our own lives. We seem to forget that with God all things are possible. He did not tell us to look into the why, but rather to reach out and give the problem to Him. He does not need to figure it out. He just fixes it!

Do we spend too much time looking for the reason instead of looking for results? Let's give it to God right away and know that He will pull us through to the other side.

Monday, August 20, 2012

Growth

Acts 12:24 
Meanwhile, the word of God continued to spread, and there were many new believers. (NLT)

I remember when I was growing up my mother would stand me in front of one of our door frames and using a ruler on top of my head she would mark the door frame and date it. By looking at all those marks and dates you could see the progress I was making year after year.

We do not have that kind of marking system for growth in God, in our relationship with Him. Often, even we cannot see where any change has occurred. Others who have not been with us for a long while notice, especially if they are non-believers.

Change does not occur because we will it to happen. Sure, we know what the Bible says about certain things. We think ourselves into doing right and kick ourselves when we don't. But this is not real change. How can we have the mind of Christ when we have to decide not to do what we know is wrong? I do not believe Jesus had to make those kinds of choices. As we get His mind in a particular area we never have to make that choice again.

Not too many years ago we would watch R movies and know we should not be subjecting ourselves to the language we were hearing. But we like the movies and made the choice to view them. Now we cannot watch them. If we happen upon one we have to turn it off. It actually offends us. We have changed. We no longer decide not to, we cannot.

What about church growth? Most have those marks on the wall in the form of a sign updated weekly for attendance and offering amounts. Growth is measured by how many come to the service. This is not bad, but is it measuring Kingdom growth? I think not.

We have gotten away from growing the Kingdom as we concentrate on growing our congregations. And most of that growth comes from other churches!

It is by spreading the Word of God that Kingdon growth occurs. And that does not happen in church. It happens because we have grown in Him. As we walk out into our communities giving to all we meet in some way, a smile, a hello!, a touch, serving in some way His light shines and we are able to speak about what Jesus has done in our lives. The result will be many new believers!

Monday, August 13, 2012

Taking Chances

Proverbs 16:33 
We may throw the dice, but the LORD determines how they fall. (NLT) 

You might be wondering about the Bible mentioning dice. Fact is dice have been around longer than recorded history. They were discovered in a dig that was five thousand years old! So, dice and dice games (gambling) may be older than dirt.

We all take chances as we make choices in our daily walk. Isn't it great to know God is determining how they fall for us as believers?

Now I did not say to take some of hard earned cash and plunk it down on a horse race or even a lottery ticket. Unless Holy Spirit directs you to do so, you are taking a chance and He is not in the mix. Odds are you will lose.

I belong to a computer club that meets once a month. They have a raffle each meeting and to support the club I always buy a ticket. Still waiting to win! My reason for playing is not to get the prize, but to support the club. A serendipity of doing so could be winning something.

If we are walking a path in life led daily by Holy Spirit, how can we fail?

Monday, August 06, 2012

Go and Tell

Acts 4:20
We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard. (NLT)

It was the big High School game. You were in the finals and against all odds, your team won the game. Wow, were you excited. Everywhere you went for the next week or more you could not help but tell everyone what had happened.

Heck, most get real excited when "our" professional team wins and they are getting paid to do just that. We even pay big bucks for tickets to the games. And yet, we still get excited as though we were on that team, too.

When a big event occurs in our life we usually tell others about it. Sometimes it is good news and other times it is bad news. We want others to rejoice with us or to join us in our misery. But, we tell about it.

Then we hear the gospel message at some point in our life and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Do we tell others? Some do, especially at first depending on the experience. Then like most we head to church on Sunday morning and live our lives each day without telling anyone about our experience.

Oh, we may tell our Christian friends a thing or two. We may even get up and testify at a church meeting. But, do we talk about Jesus at work like we talk about the big game?

Isn't it time we told others what our relationship with Jesus has done in our lives? After all, that is what He commanded us to do in the Great Commision. We are to GO and TELL.