Wednesday Wake Up #34

What Do I Get?

There are conversations I have had with people regarding their life situations and the Christ-like, God honoring response to an issue rather than the typically unfiltered human reaction. The question that usually comes from a conversation like that is "But why would I do that?" Basically, they are having an issue with not being encouraged to just respond the way that they are accustomed. They don't see the benefit in responding in a way that honors God or shows that they are a disciple/follower of Christ. I will say this, if you are a Christ follower then your focus should not be on "why be loving" but on "how can I be loving?"

Ask yourself "how do I serve the Kingdom of God (in terms of serving those who are poor and less fortunate). If you do not, can you? Of course you can. Maybe you truly cannot afford to buy the homeless food, but one thing people need is time. Would you ever spare some time? Can you spend some time once a month with the homeless in a shelter or some sort of function? You can. Maybe not the homeless, what about the elderly? Kids? The sick? The poor? There are all types of people who could use financial help or just some time. What can you do? Something. If you need some encouragement, read Proverbs 21:13 and know that when you hear that the poor need help and you answer it benefits you. But do it out of love, not obligation.

What about the problems we have with people? There are ways to respond and ways to not respond. First, think about James 1:19 and remember to be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. We might think "But they said 'x-y-z'. I cant let them get away with that. My response is, look at how Jesus responded to the Pharisees. Read through the gospels and examine the responses Jesus had. When he "lost his cool" it was because people were being cheated in the church which was also being used for non church/God things. When it comes to people we have to remember to look at the perspective of not just what is best for us personally, but what benefits others and honors God. In Philippians 2:4 we read "Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." In verse 3 Paul writes "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves." So when you question "what's in it for me", rethink that and turn it into "how can I honor God?"

PLEASE SEE THE LOGOS AND LINKS BELOW TO SHARE VIA EMAIL, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, PINTEREST AND GOOGLE PLUS. THANKS!

Friday Focus #4

Staying in God's Will

Think about a time that you regret doing something. Seriously, take a second to think about it.

Whatever answer you came up with, ask yourself this question "Was I in God's will when I did that?"

I have made many bad decisions in my lifetime and many of those are made out of selfish decisions that were not endorsed by God. God's word and will need to be first in my life, not secondary.

When we look at the story of King David and Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11) we see two people who engaged in lustful acts that led to a child out of wedlock. Bathsheba was married and slept with another man and ended up pregnant. David conspired to have her husband, Uriah, come home from war in hopes that he would sleep with his wife and David and Bathsheba could cover up their sin. But, when Uriah came home he got too drunk and didn't sleep with his wife. So David sent Uriah back into battle, but put him in part of the battle with the hardest fighting and then draw back from Uriah so that he may be struck down and die in battle. Do you see how being out of God's will and giving into their own lustful thoughts and ideas led to a man's death? Is that in God's will?

In 2 Corinthians 10:5, we are to take every thought captive and align it with how Christ thought. That means making God's will first in our lives.

We are to live our lives like Jesus. We are to think like Jesus. In Philipians 2:5 we are told to have the same attitude as Jesus. That means thoughts of selfishness, envy, self-righteousness, wrath, lust, etc, are not of Christ. We are to become Christ like.

I found a video from Pastor Rick Warren on Recognizing God's Voice which really goes into detail on how to know when what we think or feel is of God or of evil: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-827QmRDjUA



PLEASE SEE THE LOGOS AND LINKS BELOW TO SHARE THIS VIA EMAIL, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, PINTEREST, AND GOOGLE PLUS. THANKS.