Thought of the Day !!

A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.
                                                      1 Corinthians 12:7 (NLT)

Have you ever wondered if you had any particular gifts or talents for ministry?  If so, you're not alone.  Several people over the course of my ministry have come to me and shared this feeling.  As a matter of fact, before I was called into ministry, I felt the same about myself.  I'm not good with my hands, so every time we worked on Habitat Houses I was used to clean up.  I had a terrible stage fright, so public speaking was out of the question (or so I thought - God showed me I guess).  I couldn't play the piano or sing.  So I felt pretty down about my giftedness, thinking that He may have simply passed me by when He was passing out talents that could be used for ministry.

But in reality we are all gifted for something.  A spiritual gift is given "each" of us.  You may have the gift of never meeting a stranger.  Maybe your gift is the simple gift of listening to people when others don't have the time or inclination do do so.  Maybe your gift is the gift of encouragement or joy or giving or teaching or hospitality or working behind the scenes without recognition.  The list can go on and on.  But just remember that we all have gifts so that "we can help each other."  

Let me end with a story that Pastor Robert Schuller once wrote.  

A man once had a dream.  In his dream he died and a guide took him to a large room.  The room had a very large banquet table filled with different kinds of foods, and there were hungry people seated all around this table.  The problem was that they were all five feet apart and pushed away from the table.  Their arms were not long enough to reach the table and they were unable to rise from their chairs.
 
As the man looked more closely, he saw a very large spoon that was five feet long that the people were fighting over.  In his dream, he watched with amazement how one person used the spoon to dish up some food and then carefully turned the spoon around toward his mouth with all the food falling off the spoon and onto the floor.  Then another person grabbed the spoon but was unable to feed himself because of the length of the spoon.

Then the man turned to the guide and said this must be hell.  And the guide said, "You are correct.  It is.  But this is not the place for you."  He then led him to another room exactly like the one he had just seen, with a table and chairs and people five feet apart.  This room also had a single spoon, which each person took turns dishing up food from the table and turning and feeding each other.  The guide looked at the man and said, "This…is Heaven."

The genius of God's plan is that He created each of us to serve one another so that each would be served, and each would be fulfilled by serving.

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.
                                                     Proverbs 13:3 (NIV)

What comes out of our mouths cannot be put back in.  What we say can heal or increase goodness.  But it can also ruin relationships.  Be careful of what you say and how you say it, for you never know the lasting effects. 

The same goes with notes or letters that are written.  The same goes with texts and emails.  Let us not forget that every word written or typed, once the send button is hit has gone out just as if came straight from our mouths.  For words, spoken or written, show the love in our hearts or the hollowness of them.  Which will your words show today?

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
                                                                Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)

Sometimes it can feel very difficult to persevere.  The day got a rotten start.  Bad news came at some point in the day.  Drowsiness comes to us after a carb-filled lunch.  The workday ends with us having to run errands and finally get home to a messy house.  I don't know what all your day might be like at times.  But I know that things happen during a normal week that can bring us down and exhaust us.  So I can understand how it can feel difficult to persevere.

Two things come to mind.  One is that we're not alone.  The saints have gone before us and persevered the same (and even worse).  If they can do it, we can too.  They weren't super-human.  They were people just like you and me.  The second thing that comes to my mind is how they did it.  They did it by seeking solace in reading God's Word, by speaking to Him and allowing Jesus (through the power of the Holy Spirit) to comfort their hearts. 

With Christ comes a perseverance that is unexplainable because of the peace that he gives that passes all understanding.  Take Christ with you today, and bring the Scriptures with you as well.  When all seems lost, dive into them both and find your peace and your perseverance. 

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

At dawn [Jesus] appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"

"No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
                                                                                             John 8:2-11 (TNIV)

The biblical word for cheating on one's wife or husband is adultery.  And it's frowned on heavily by God.  As a matter of fact, the prohibition of it made it into the Ten Commandments (number 7).  The reason God abhors it so much is that it ruins the relationship between a man and a woman.  And God's greatest desire is for us to have relationships…relationships with each other and with Him.  

In our Scripture reading the Pharisees bring a woman who has been caught in the act of adultery to Jesus and ask him point blank…what do you say that we should do with her?  On one hand, the Law of Moses says to stone her.  On the other hand, Roman law prevented this kind of punishment.  

And then there's the fact that if he said, "Let her go", the Pharisees could say that he didn't adhere to Jewish Law.  Of course if he said to stone her, he would go against everything he taught.

What was he to do?  He simply wrote in the dirt (maybe the question – where's the man).  And when pressed, he gave an answer that's like one of those great lines from an old movie.  One that will last forever in people's memories…kind of like Frankly my dear Scarlet…or I don't think we're in Kansas anymore Toto…or of all the gin joints in all the….  He said, "He that is without sin cast the first stone."  And that line has been repeated over and over through the centuries.

Wow!  What could they do?  Uhhhh Ummm!  Can you imagine them looking at each other.  "You do it.  No, you do it."  Then one by one, beginning with the oldest (probably because they were the wisest) they dropped their deadly weapons and slunk away.  Even they weren't hypocritical enough to claim that any of them were without sin.  

When all the Pharisees were gone, Jesus asked the woman, "Where are your accusers?  Didn't even one of them condemn you?"  "No", she replied.  And then we hear those wonderful words of grace, "Neither do I.  Go and sin no more."

The original Greek means that Jesus deferred judgment.  He didn't say to her, "Forget it.  It's no big deal."  What he meant was: "I am not going to pass judgment on you now.  Go out and live a different life and do what you can to become a different person."

In a round about way, isn't that what he's told you before?  I know I've heard those words before.  He says to us, I don't condemn you.  Instead, I forgive you.  Now, I want you to change and try to become the person you're meant to be.  At that point...it's up to us. 

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
                                                                          John 3:17 (NLT)

In the Gospel of John, Jesus tells us that he didn't come into this world to condemn it, but instead to save it.  He wasn't a finger-pointing, judgmental kind of person.  He didn't come to strictly enforce the Law.  But instead, according to Scripture, he came to fulfill it.  

In John 1:17 we see that "The law was given through Moses, but God's unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ."  Through this love and faithfulness comes forgiveness.  And Jesus was not one to judge, but one to forgive.  He was not one to speak harmful words to us sinners, but one to speak words of love.  He was not one to point fingers (except to those authorities that were misrepresenting his Father's law), but one to embrace those who were unembraceable to others.  There will come a time for all to sit in front of the Judgment Seat.  But Jesus' example when he came to this world was the one for us to follow.

Much too often in today's world, we Christians forget these facts about Jesus.  And forget that we're supposed to be like Jesus in these areas.  

Let us each have a day of love and forgiveness instead of one of grudges and finger pointing.

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God not the result of works, so that no one may boast.  For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.
                                                                       Ephesians 2:8-10 (NRSV)

We see here that nothing we can do can save us, so serving God is not about salvation.  We're not a works righteous religion like Judaism, which teaches that salvation is judged by our behavior and keeping specific laws.  Instead, we believe that we receive salvation through our faith, and that our behavior changes due to our faith.

So we don't serve God to be saved.  We serve God because that's what we were created to do.  And because we were created for this purpose, that's how we'll find fulfillment.

We are meant to be used.  Paul wrote that we were created for the good works that God prepared ahead of time for us so that our lives could be fulfilling.  How fulfilling can it be to spend our lives never doing what we were created for in the first place?

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
                                                         Matthew 5:42 (ESV)

A story I found somewhere and once used in a sermon goes like this:

There once was a monk who found a precious jewel.  The monk was a traveler, and during one of his travels, he met a man.  The man had no food and asked the monk for some.  The monk, happy to share with the hungry man, opened his bag to get some provisions.

Upon opening the bag, the man saw the jewel.  On impulse the man asked the monk if he could have it.  Amazingly, the monk gave the precious stone to the man.

The traveler departed quickly, overjoyed with his new possession.  However, a few days later, he came back searching for the monk.  He returned the stone to the monk and made a request: "Please give me something more valuable, more precious than this jewel.  Please give me that which enabled you to give it to me."

A person's earthly instincts would be to keep the jewel, yet a person's spiritual insight tells him or her that the jewel is not as important as another human being.  

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

You are dust, and to dust you shall return.
                     Genesis 3:19b (NRSV)

I woke up this morning and looked in the mirror to see a black residue on my forehead that still resembled a cross.  This is what remained from last night's Ash Wednesday service when the sign of the cross was placed there to remind me of my mortality and my need for repentance. 

Today I'm reminded of just how small I am compared to God.  Yet I still often think that my desire or opinion is what matters.  It's amazing that He would even put up with us who live our lives so much for ourselves and so little for Him.  He created us.  He brought us from dust and will be around long after we return to the dust.  Yet somehow He continues to love us as the greatest of all parents can only do. 

I've taken a mental picture of the cross-formed ashes even though they were rinsed off in the shower this morning.  And I hope that this mental picture will not go away soon.  For we all need to be reminded, no humbled, by our own sinfulness that goes even beyond what we can imagine.  May we find a deep understanding of the love of the Father who sent His Son while we were yet sinners, guided by our own sinful nature (selfish desires).  And may it humble us all today.

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

Let me hear of your unfailing love to me in the morning, for I am trusting you [God]. Show me where to walk, for I have come to you in prayer.
                                                                          Psalm 143:8 (NLT)

Some mornings I receive all kinds of good news.  And then there are those where it seems everything is bad.  But every morning I yearn to hear of God's unfailing love. 

God will share His love with everyone who is willing to accept it.  And the more time you spend with Him, the more opportunities you receive to experience this love. 

The fact is that bad things are going to happen.  Pray and ask God to help you through them, therefore experiencing His love.  There will also be good days with great news or experiences.  Pray and give thanks for being able to experience His love in these times too.  Sooner or later, you will find that the joy comes just from being with your Father in Heaven.  And I think that's His goal.

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

Be careful!  Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy.  He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour.  Take a firm stand against him, and be strong in your faith.  Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.

                                                                 1 Peter 5:8-9 (NLT)

Even though the suffering that Peter was talking about here was the persecution of the new believers in the first century Church, I believe we can receive a comforting message as well as 21st century Christians.  He first tells us that the devil is real.  And that's something we must come to terms with.  Satan is not a red guy with a tail and a pitchfork like you see in the old cartoons.  He is a spirit.  And he is always lingering and "looking for some victim to devour".  
     

His greatest weapon is temptation.  And it is here that we can, oddly enough, find comfort.  You see, the devil can tempt us Christians who are robed with the righteousness of Christ.  But he can never make us do anything.  The temptations may be so strong sometimes that we believe we were made to do something.  But in reality, we all have the ability to choose.  There will be times when we choose unwisely.  But the great thing about Christ is that He's willing to forgive.

Peter reminds us that we are not alone.  If you are struggling with sin right now in your life, be it something big or some smaller things you just seem to continue to struggle with, know that you're not the only one.  We are in this together.  "Your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are", Peter wrote.

What makes this comforting is the fact that there are others out there that we can talk to and that can help.  Find someone you trust and hold each other accountable in love.  Help each other fight the temptations of the devil.  When we do this, he hasn't got a chance. 

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

And all of us have had that veil removed so that we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more.
                                                            2 Corinthians 3:18 (NLT)

Is the Spirit of the Lord being reflected in your life?  Or do others see something else when they look at you?

Be honest.  I hear so often "Well, I hope...."  Don't look at what you hope is true or what you would like to be true.  Take a good hard look at yourself today and ask yourself what others would say that they see in you if they were completely honest with you.  How many would say that they see a selfish person or a hypocrite?  How many would say that they see someone who is prideful...or how about undependable...or how about quick to become angry...or how about neglectful of others' feelings?  I'm sure I couldn't count the number of times that these have been what others have seen in me over my life.

How many would say that when they look at you they see a little piece of Christ?  My desire is that when people look at me they see a small reflection of the one who lives in me.  My goal needs to be to be more reflective of Him and less of me.  How about you?

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

O LORD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress.
                                                               Isaiah 33:2 (NIV)

Our days may be planned out, but we never know when something will come in and mess up our plans.  Surprises can happen at any time that will derail us.  But when we rely on God's strength each day, He will see us through the days that go according to planned, as well as those that don't.

This verse from Isaiah sounds like a good prayer to begin the day with.  "O Lord, my God, please be gracious to me today for I long to be with you constantly.  Be my strength this morning and save me from all the distress that will come my way this day."

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

                                                              Romans 8:28 (NIV)

 

Not in some things...not in most things...not in the good things that happen in our lives...but in "ALL" things God works for the good of those who love him. 

 

In the midst of  our personal trials, we may not think anything good can happen.  But if we will look close enough, we will see that God even uses these times.  It may be to build our character or strength.  I remember one of the Star Trek movies where someone "playing" God told Captain Kirk, the captain of the starship Enterprise, that he could take away the things from his past that caused him pain.  Kirk replied that he didn't want his past pains taken away.  These were the things that brought him character and made him who he was. 

 

We would not be who we are today if it were not for the good and bad things that happened in our lives.  We are strengthened by trials and tribulations that we've overcome.  And this is just a sample of how God "can" work for good in all things.

 

Other times that seemingly have no upside to them are times of disaster.  We all remember 9/11.  This was a terrible event in the history of our nation.  But afterwards our nation banded together and you didn't hear about political parties and other kinds of disputes.  We were all on the same team, even if only for a short while.  How did God work good in this?  Church attendance rose in the weeks following this event.  I know that many of those who started coming after 9/11 have long since quit coming again, but you and I will never know how many came back and stayed and how many found a deeper relationship with God because of it.  And God works for good.

 

Lets not forget tragic natural disasters like the massive earthquake in Haiti years ago or tsunamis or tornadoes or devastating hurricanes.  Where was God through events such as Hurricane Katrina?  I saw Him in the aftermath where people learned that they could make a difference.  He was there when neighbor helped neighbor (even if that neighbor was someone they'd never met).  People learned how to care for others and feed others and pray with others.  Many learned how to be a Christian, maybe for the first time.  And so the love of Christ has been shared throughout our lands.  And God works for good. 

 

We can see God working good in ALL things if we will only look close enough.  He didn't make 9/11 or Hurricane Katrina happen.  He didn't start the fires that seem to sweep through different places out west each year.  He didn't flood the Mississippi River a couple years ago or wreak havoc through tornadoes and oil spills.  He wasn't trying to test us, punish us, or see how we would react.  But in these events He does see us through and works good for all of us who love Him and are called to live according to His purpose.

Today you may be going through trials of pain in your life.  This pain could be physical or mental or emotional.  But whatever kind it might be, know that God is with you and that He can even bring good out of whatever you're going through.  May God bless you in whatever circumstances you live.  And may there be more good ones that bad ones.  And may you see the good that God does in your life through both.

 

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"  He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  
                                                                   Matthew 18:1-3 (NRSV)

There was a little girl who attended church and Sunday school each week.  She loved her church and wanted to be there all the time.  One day at school an older boy who was picking on her told her that there was no such thing as God.  He kept telling her that she was just a little girl and that she didn't know anything.  Finally he asked her, "Why do you believe?"  She responded very simply with "I just do".  

Later in life when she was older and in the workplace and confronted with the same question, she made a very similar response, but she would always add that her faith gave her hope.  Without it, life just wouldn't be worth living.  

Jesus didn't want us to become childish.  He wanted us to become childlike.  There is something about a child, or more specifically for today's thought, a child's faith that is incredible.  They simply believe.  So often we become calloused by the world in which we live in and lose some (or all) of our childlike faith.  

Sometimes we can't know all the answers.  We have to rely on a childlike faith and the hope that it brings us.  

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

"For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes."
                                                   James 4:14b (ESV)

We all have trials that we go through in this world.  There are temptations that we struggle with and pains that come about because of our own doing.  Many people will wonder if it's really worth it.  Many will give up on life or love or ever finding true happiness.  This is a sad reality.  It's sad mostly because there are things in this world, God-given things that can be used to lift us up.  There really are places of joy to be found for those who are hurting or just plain miserable.  There are people out there that care, even though sometimes we're hard to find because we don't show it well.

As wonderful as God made this world, with all it's beauty, with all our potential, there is a time that is coming where this old world will pass away and a new "perfect" world will arise.  And when it seems that the bad things of this world are holding you down, set your eyes to the future.  In the Book of James we read that "For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes."  You may think this life will never end.  But in comparison to eternity in Heaven where there are no more tears, pain, struggles, and most importantly sin, this life is but a mist that lasts but a little while.

Don't give up on today or you'll miss so much.  But when life gets you down, remember that what lies ahead is far better than what lies behind.  May God bless you and keep you and bring you happiness in this world and the next.

In the love of Christ,
greg