I have just completed reading the blog for June 15th from National Community Church's read the Bible in a year. The reading for that day was Acts 25-26 when Paul defends himself to Festus and King Agrippa. The writer of the blog note, Maegan Stout, challenged us with the following words.
In Hebrew, the word dabar means both “word” and “deed.” Just like it’s hypocritical not to practice what we preach, deeds without articulating Christ is not the full story. Paul exchanged his defense for an opportunity to share the good news of Christ and therefore did both.
We won’t all be called on to stand before kings and risk our lives, but do we know the gospel is good enough news to share within the spheres He has placed us? That’s part of our voice - through word and deed, we all have a unique and specific way to express the gospel. Are we communicating it?
For me these words are good ones to "chew" on. You know how you read something and it just requires more contemplation. That's where I am with this. For so many years I have just charged into situations and conversations and counted the cost later. I am in sorts a daredevil - looks good, do it, think later. In some ways that has been good, when God led me to do some pretty crazy things but in other ways I have hurt myself or others with this blind rush forward. Consequently, my words have been tempered and more thoughtfully expressed.
Now recently, I have been challenged to ask myself if my more tempered pursuit of life is indeed led by fear - fear of disappointing God and not going in the direction He has for me, fear of what others may think, fear... So along with Maegan's challenge and Paul's example I prayerfully wonder if it's time to just move forward in the direction I know God has laid out for me.
Definitely food for thought. This topic will obviously need to be continued at a different time. If you have time, please pray for me as I pursue this new idea.
Showing posts with label National Community Church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label National Community Church. Show all posts
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Tasting Good
What Do You Taste Like?
Psalm 34:8 “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”
As I continue to read the Bible in a year program LXVI with National Community Church, I found myself in 2 Thessalonians. I was reading chapter 1-3. The blog author for that day, Jason Yost, looks at it with a little different angle.
“I have always understood the mentality that you should work hard for a living and provide for your family and not be lazy. Reading this passage through the lens of your household makes perfect sense, right? But what if you read it through the lens of the church. Yowzer! It puts new meaning to the phrase “if you don’t work you don’t eat.” Have you ever felt this way or ever heard someone say, “I don’t feel like I am getting fed at this church”? My question to you would be how have you invested in that church? Because this is saying if you don’t work first then you do not eat.” http://fromgardentocity.com/blog/post/those-who-are-lazy/
Jason makes a really good point but as I mediated on his thought, I took it one step further. If people are coming to church to “eat” and partake of the Spirit of God and we are the temple of the Spirit of God, these very same people could potentially be getting some of their spiritual food from you and me. Are you still with me? We interact with people while we are there, whether we speak with others or simply walk right past them and ignore them. We greet people or teach in classes or preach from the stage or participate in leading/accompanying the singing during the service or do the Bible reading for that service or collect the offering or help people through the parking lot and hallways. Whether we serve during the service time or come and participate, we interact with the others around us.
While we interact with these people, we are getting/giving some form of spiritual food in the form of love, encouragement, hospitality, generosity, God’s Word, wisdom from the Word, praise/worship of God, serving God and His people, hate, gossip, angry words, resentment, selfishness, etc. The list could go on and on in a positive direction or a negative direction.
• What do you taste like to others when you come to church or when you interact with people on a daily basis?
• Are they walking away with the sweet and moist taste of the Spirit, when they walk away because we have made sure that we asked for the Spirit of God to fill us that morning in prayer and reading or meditating on the Bible?
OR
• Did they walk away with the dry nasty taste of Renee or you, without the filling of the Spirit of God or even any season of Him at all?
Maybe Jesus doesn’t “taste” good to others because WE don’t taste good to them.
Psalm 34:8 “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”
As I continue to read the Bible in a year program LXVI with National Community Church, I found myself in 2 Thessalonians. I was reading chapter 1-3. The blog author for that day, Jason Yost, looks at it with a little different angle.
“I have always understood the mentality that you should work hard for a living and provide for your family and not be lazy. Reading this passage through the lens of your household makes perfect sense, right? But what if you read it through the lens of the church. Yowzer! It puts new meaning to the phrase “if you don’t work you don’t eat.” Have you ever felt this way or ever heard someone say, “I don’t feel like I am getting fed at this church”? My question to you would be how have you invested in that church? Because this is saying if you don’t work first then you do not eat.” http://fromgardentocity.com/blog/post/those-who-are-lazy/
Jason makes a really good point but as I mediated on his thought, I took it one step further. If people are coming to church to “eat” and partake of the Spirit of God and we are the temple of the Spirit of God, these very same people could potentially be getting some of their spiritual food from you and me. Are you still with me? We interact with people while we are there, whether we speak with others or simply walk right past them and ignore them. We greet people or teach in classes or preach from the stage or participate in leading/accompanying the singing during the service or do the Bible reading for that service or collect the offering or help people through the parking lot and hallways. Whether we serve during the service time or come and participate, we interact with the others around us.
While we interact with these people, we are getting/giving some form of spiritual food in the form of love, encouragement, hospitality, generosity, God’s Word, wisdom from the Word, praise/worship of God, serving God and His people, hate, gossip, angry words, resentment, selfishness, etc. The list could go on and on in a positive direction or a negative direction.
• What do you taste like to others when you come to church or when you interact with people on a daily basis?
• Are they walking away with the sweet and moist taste of the Spirit, when they walk away because we have made sure that we asked for the Spirit of God to fill us that morning in prayer and reading or meditating on the Bible?
OR
• Did they walk away with the dry nasty taste of Renee or you, without the filling of the Spirit of God or even any season of Him at all?
Maybe Jesus doesn’t “taste” good to others because WE don’t taste good to them.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
The High Places
I continue to read in 2 Kings and phew!! You really need to be awake to keep track of all of those people whose names begin with Jeho_____. Some are men and some are women, some are from Judah and some are from Israel. It can get a bit confusing keeping families and kingdoms straight. Well I digress.
In reading these kingdom accounts, I keep thinking about the high places. Many times in these descriptions it is said, “…and he did evil in the sight of the Lord.” But every now again you come across a king who “did right in the eyes of the Lord, but…he did not remove the high places.”
The high places…what are they? Well in going through the Bible with National Community Church blog site, I learned that not only are the high places used for the idol worshippers to sacrifice and worship their gods but they also were used by the early kings and prophets of God (Samuel) to sacrifice to the Lord before the temple was built. God commanded that the high places of the idols be destroyed and no sacrifices to or worship of Him be done where idols had been worshipped. Apparently there is still debate as to whether worshipping and sacrificing to God on the high places was “ok” prior to the completion of the Temple, since there was no central location to do this in. Needless to say, they existed for various reasons and became a means to cause the people of God to stumble and fall into idol worship. (Commentary from The NIV Study Bible, Zondervan Publishing House: 1995.)
So how do the high places fit into my life…your life? Obviously we are not having idol worship and sacrifices occurring in our cities and towns. However, are we keeping little stashes of things that get in the way of our time with God and maybe keep us from hearing Him or doing things for Him and His people in the best way we can?
High places give you the impression that they’re not that close, they don’t get visited very often, they’re so far away many people don’t see them or even know about them but they are always there and I know about them, you know about them. The knowledge of them and the frequent or infrequent visits to those high places still affect our relationship with Christ. “How?” you might ask, by keeping us from giving God our whole heart. Several passages in the Old and New Testament say we are to love God with all of our heart, all of our mind, all of our soul and with all our strength.
Are there things in your life that keep you from giving all of yourself and all of your efforts to God? Do you want the commentary on your life to read, “Joe/Joelle did what was right in the eyes of the Lord but did not remove the high places”?
In reading these kingdom accounts, I keep thinking about the high places. Many times in these descriptions it is said, “…and he did evil in the sight of the Lord.” But every now again you come across a king who “did right in the eyes of the Lord, but…he did not remove the high places.”
The high places…what are they? Well in going through the Bible with National Community Church blog site, I learned that not only are the high places used for the idol worshippers to sacrifice and worship their gods but they also were used by the early kings and prophets of God (Samuel) to sacrifice to the Lord before the temple was built. God commanded that the high places of the idols be destroyed and no sacrifices to or worship of Him be done where idols had been worshipped. Apparently there is still debate as to whether worshipping and sacrificing to God on the high places was “ok” prior to the completion of the Temple, since there was no central location to do this in. Needless to say, they existed for various reasons and became a means to cause the people of God to stumble and fall into idol worship. (Commentary from The NIV Study Bible, Zondervan Publishing House: 1995.)
So how do the high places fit into my life…your life? Obviously we are not having idol worship and sacrifices occurring in our cities and towns. However, are we keeping little stashes of things that get in the way of our time with God and maybe keep us from hearing Him or doing things for Him and His people in the best way we can?
High places give you the impression that they’re not that close, they don’t get visited very often, they’re so far away many people don’t see them or even know about them but they are always there and I know about them, you know about them. The knowledge of them and the frequent or infrequent visits to those high places still affect our relationship with Christ. “How?” you might ask, by keeping us from giving God our whole heart. Several passages in the Old and New Testament say we are to love God with all of our heart, all of our mind, all of our soul and with all our strength.
Are there things in your life that keep you from giving all of yourself and all of your efforts to God? Do you want the commentary on your life to read, “Joe/Joelle did what was right in the eyes of the Lord but did not remove the high places”?
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