"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves." Philippians 2:3
Pride prevents progress.
It's really pretty simple. Put yourself aside and get God's work done. Christians shouldn't be working for themselves anyway. Everything we do is for the Lord. -- We know this, but yet it is so difficult for us to practice this at times.
A lot of people in our nation and world are turned off from Christianity. Christians are confused by this and wonder why this is happening. The answer lies in our own prideful behavior. When Christians act out of pride it can destroy the work that the Lord is doing in someone else's heart.
Let's remember who's team were on and bring our humble attitude so we start chalking up some points for Team Jesus!
Gotta give a shout out to our newest member! Hey Stacie!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Uncommon Sense
Common sense is not so common anymore. Why is that? Maybe we should start calling it uncommon sense to generate a greater awareness of the lack of common sense in our communities, nation and world.
Whenever we have questions like these that provoke discussion and debate within society it is our job as Christians to turn to the Ultimate Textbook which is our source for answers. Yes, I am talking about the Bible...
Listen to this verse:
"If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." James 1:5
It kind of seems like our answer is right here in this verse. We aren't asking God for His wisdom and discernment anymore. Christians and non-Christians alike are trying to go about life using their own finite logic. Christians should know better than to be doing this because we have God's instructions on what to do when our common sense meter is lacking. -- ASK HIM!!!
All we have to do is ask and God will help us. He will not turn a deaf ear to our plea for help because we are His children. Let's give common sense a comeback because we start going to God for that provision instead of ourselves.
Whenever we have questions like these that provoke discussion and debate within society it is our job as Christians to turn to the Ultimate Textbook which is our source for answers. Yes, I am talking about the Bible...
Listen to this verse:
"If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." James 1:5
It kind of seems like our answer is right here in this verse. We aren't asking God for His wisdom and discernment anymore. Christians and non-Christians alike are trying to go about life using their own finite logic. Christians should know better than to be doing this because we have God's instructions on what to do when our common sense meter is lacking. -- ASK HIM!!!
All we have to do is ask and God will help us. He will not turn a deaf ear to our plea for help because we are His children. Let's give common sense a comeback because we start going to God for that provision instead of ourselves.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Understand This...
When we finally understand that we are not supposed to understand everything we will be much better off...
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" Proverbs 3:5
There are so many unknowns in our lives. We don't know what the future holds, but God does. I find myself becoming impatient and discouraged because I do not understand everything that goes on in my life. However, I have the choice to let God be God and trust Him to take care of me and everything in my life.
Sounds pretty simple, right? Let's not fool ourselves because we know it is not! We are not wired to trust God by default. Trusting God has to be a choice that we make and relinquish our human nature to over and over. Thank the Lord we have the Holy Spirit to help us!
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" Proverbs 3:5
There are so many unknowns in our lives. We don't know what the future holds, but God does. I find myself becoming impatient and discouraged because I do not understand everything that goes on in my life. However, I have the choice to let God be God and trust Him to take care of me and everything in my life.
Sounds pretty simple, right? Let's not fool ourselves because we know it is not! We are not wired to trust God by default. Trusting God has to be a choice that we make and relinquish our human nature to over and over. Thank the Lord we have the Holy Spirit to help us!
Monday, September 27, 2010
The Paperboy
"For the word of God is living and active." Hebrews 4:12
My pastor called himself a paperboy yesterday. This was something I have never heard a pastor say, but I thought it was a wonderful analogy. He said he is like a paperboy because he is throwing out God's word to other people. My pastor didn't write the Bible just like the paperboy didn't write the newspaper.
People are so quick to give pastors grief when there is something in God's word that makes them uncomfortable. Our pastors did not make the rules! Would we run out and berate our paperboy when the newspaper headlines made us uncomfortable? I don't think so... If you did your neighbors are going to call the police.
Here's another thing to think about today... If you are a Christian, you should be a paperboy or papergirl yourself. Pastors should not be the only ones delivering God's word to the world. So hop on your bicycle and loosen up that arm a bit before you start throwing those papers.
My pastor called himself a paperboy yesterday. This was something I have never heard a pastor say, but I thought it was a wonderful analogy. He said he is like a paperboy because he is throwing out God's word to other people. My pastor didn't write the Bible just like the paperboy didn't write the newspaper.
People are so quick to give pastors grief when there is something in God's word that makes them uncomfortable. Our pastors did not make the rules! Would we run out and berate our paperboy when the newspaper headlines made us uncomfortable? I don't think so... If you did your neighbors are going to call the police.
Here's another thing to think about today... If you are a Christian, you should be a paperboy or papergirl yourself. Pastors should not be the only ones delivering God's word to the world. So hop on your bicycle and loosen up that arm a bit before you start throwing those papers.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
The Tongue
"When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts." James 3: 3-5
The human tongue is very small when compared to the rest of the human body. The body consists of many other larger and more necessary parts to sustain life. Consider the heart... It is about the size of your fist. (That makes it larger than the tongue.) The heart pumps blood continuously through our body to keep us alive, which makes it absolutely necessary for staying alive. We could live without our tongues, but we can't live without our heart.
Isn't is interesting how the tongue, which is so small and not absolutely necessary for life, makes such an impact on a person and his or her life. The tongue is either going to make or break us. What comes out of our mouth reveals what is in our minds and heart.
This scripture illustrates the power of the tongue. We often let our tongues get out of control and get us in trouble. I have fallen into that trap many times. However, reading scriptures like these gives us a healthy awareness of areas in our lives we need to focus on and give to God.
Side note: Today is my Mama's birthday! (I won't tell how old you are, so don't worry.) Happy Birthday Mama! You have preached some mini-sermons to me in the past about my tongue so I guess this should prove that I was listening!
The human tongue is very small when compared to the rest of the human body. The body consists of many other larger and more necessary parts to sustain life. Consider the heart... It is about the size of your fist. (That makes it larger than the tongue.) The heart pumps blood continuously through our body to keep us alive, which makes it absolutely necessary for staying alive. We could live without our tongues, but we can't live without our heart.
Isn't is interesting how the tongue, which is so small and not absolutely necessary for life, makes such an impact on a person and his or her life. The tongue is either going to make or break us. What comes out of our mouth reveals what is in our minds and heart.
This scripture illustrates the power of the tongue. We often let our tongues get out of control and get us in trouble. I have fallen into that trap many times. However, reading scriptures like these gives us a healthy awareness of areas in our lives we need to focus on and give to God.
Side note: Today is my Mama's birthday! (I won't tell how old you are, so don't worry.) Happy Birthday Mama! You have preached some mini-sermons to me in the past about my tongue so I guess this should prove that I was listening!
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Bible Believers
Are you a Bible believer? Don't tell me what denomination you belong to... That's not what is really important. What is important is whether or not we are believing the Bible and making its word come to life in our daily lives. When we die God is not going to ask us what Christian denomination we belonged to. God is not going to need proof of our church membership. -- God is only going to need to know one thing, which is whether or not we made His Son Jesus the Lord of our lives.
It's really pretty simple when you think about it. Our answer is either going to be yes or no.
Two verses that I really love are John 8: 31-32, "To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, 'If you hold to my teaching you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'"
The teaching that we need to hold to is in the Bible. We need to remember that the Bible is our text for life. It is truth and every word in it is designed to set us free from the sin and bondage of this world.
It's really pretty simple when you think about it. Our answer is either going to be yes or no.
Two verses that I really love are John 8: 31-32, "To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, 'If you hold to my teaching you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'"
The teaching that we need to hold to is in the Bible. We need to remember that the Bible is our text for life. It is truth and every word in it is designed to set us free from the sin and bondage of this world.
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