Fantastic Friday #987 - Freedom

Freedom

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1

If you live in a Democratic country, do you ever stop to think about the freedoms you have daily? I see news reports of the lack of certain freedoms in many countries around the world, and places where even basic freedoms do not exist. We are very lucky in the U.S. to have freedom, including religious freedom. This type of freedom helps us worship God openly and freely without retribution. However, we are starting to see how people's proclamations of their faith are attacked, and this is something that even in Paul's day was a common occurrence. We need to remember that nothing can take away our freedom that Christ has given us. The battle has already been won, and for those who burden themselves with fear and anxiety, remember the freedom that Christ has given you. Our freedom lies in our God that created us for a good work, and don't let the world tell you any different. Practice your freedom and proclaim your faith proudly.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Fantastic Friday #986 - Hardship

Hardship

23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Colossians 3:23-24

Life can be full of hardships and struggles. I think I want to focus on working through those hard periods and struggles. Many times we can give up on overcoming the challenges in our lives, but I think God wants us to focus on another avenue. When you look back on your own life, you don't want your children to go through all the same struggles you had, but you know they will go through some. Our job as parents, grandparents and friends is to provide sound counseling, and I can't think of a better scripture to model how we overcome those things. If we look at overcoming our struggle by working for the Lord, then it puts things into a new perspective. God wouldn't want us to have hardships, but when we do we can rely on Him and work for Him. While this was an encouragement to the young church, you can say that it can apply to anything we do, whether it is our work, our school or our relationships. We need to work with our heart and when we do, the struggles will be overcome, and when we can't do it on our own, let God help but remember He won't do it for us, we have to be an active part in this.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Fantastic Friday #985 - Served

Served

7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4:7-10

After hearing a message on prayer this week, I honestly thought that sometimes because of the way I pray my prayers hit the ceiling and stop there. I know this sounds absolutely ridiculous, but it was just the way I felt. I then came across this scripture talking about being alert and having a sober mind, and I wondered with all the noise we have these days if maybe it wasn't that my prayers were hitting the ceiling but how I was praying. God knows our heart, and wants us to continually rely on Him, but also we need to remember to use our gifts with others to place us in the right frame of mind. If we spend all our days focusing on our own needs and not the needs of our family, friends and strangers, then our focus will be off and our prayers may not have the same sober request. Take a few moments to focus less on what you need, for God already knows that, and pray for those who need our support and love. I think verse 8 should be printed on a T-shirt or at least embedded in our minds, because Love conquers all.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Fantastic Friday #984 - Direction

Direction

34 Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law
and obey it with all my heart.
35 Direct me in the path of your commands,
for there I find delight.
36 Turn my heart toward your statutes
and not toward selfish gain. Psalm 119:34-36

Do you ever wonder what direction you should be heading? Our paths of travel in life can be very challenging at times to choose, and sometimes our paths can cross places we don't want or need to be. I think at times of my past decisions of travel and what different choices I could have made. It is not good to always look back, because you cannot dwell on poor choices too much. What we should focus on is gaining that understanding from our Father in Heaven in order allow Him to guide us on the right path. He will always provide good direction and will never guide us down a path of sin. That path is our choice and we probably should think about allowing our heart to lead us down the path that brings us closer to Him. Choose your direction wisely.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Fantastic Friday #983 - Living

Living

11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. 2 Peter 2:11-12

What kind of life do you find yourself living? Is it a life that focuses on your own needs and your own life more than others? Focusing only on yourself can bring about a selfish path to giving in to your own desires and not what God wants for you. When we surround ourselves with people that focus on sinful desires, this opens us up for these desires and allows the enemy to take hold. So, what do you do when people around you are trying to pull you away from living the life God intended? God talks about helping those in need and less fortunate, and while some may not be able to financially assist someone in need, there are other ways that you can care for those around you. When you care for those who need some kind of connection in their life, your good deeds can empower you to come closer to all that God has intended. And those people who tried to pull you away will see that your intention of focusing on God and what He has for your life will certainly have an impact on them. Focus intentionally on living a life God wants for you and not one that you think you want for yourself.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Fantastic Friday #982 - Choices

Choices

21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; Philippians 1:21-23

We all have choices we make daily, some are good and some not so much. The freedom to make choices is a true blessing from God, and you probably wonder how I can say this when some of our choices are not the best. Well, if you think about all your choices you make daily, the good ones have a positive impact and the bad ones, while maybe have a negative impact, in the long run there may be something positive that comes of it. Negative or bad choices are typically influenced by the enemy, and usually when we make these choices we are further away from God and His teachings. When we see the negative impact of our choice, I can think that most times we can see how this drives us down a path we don't want to be on, especially if we want to follow Christ and His teachings. So when we see that we are on the wrong path, we have to choose to get back on the right path, a negative choice becomes a positive one as long as we choose to work on ourselves and come closer to God. I am not saying negative choices are good, but I am saying because of the goodness of our Lord and Savior, we can turn those into positive choices by His forgiveness. Take a moment to think about your choices today and what kind of impact they will have on others and yourself. The power to choose is very powerful and we need to remember who chose us.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Fantastic Friday #981 - Refreshes

Refreshes

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me. Psalm 23:2-4

This scripture is part of a longer one that is most often read at a funeral, but if you look carefully there is some other contextual information that we can use daily. How often I want to be refreshed, and especially this week when I have been sick, I have searched for refreshment and hoped for the illness to leave me. Just like many times that David cried out, I did the same but I didn't think about him refreshing my soul at the same time of taking away the illness. We can get narrowed in on the wrong things many times and lose focus on what we should, when our hope should be in our Lord and Savior and not what we want. If we spend more time looking for the refreshment that our Lord and Savior provides, we will come closer to Him and what He has for us.

Have a great weekend.

Matt