Friday, July 27, 2018

Fantastic Friday #638 - Mock

Mock

11 For through wisdom your days will be many,
and years will be added to your life.
12 If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you;
if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer. Proverbs 9:11-12

Do you find that you mock people at times during the week? I am not talking about openly ridiculing someone, but do you privately mock someone or their actions? Being filled with contempt is not a good thing, and it is horrible to publicly ridicule someone, but it almost is even worse to privately ridicule someone or do it in a small group. God regularly tells us to love others, and we need to find that place the pushes us far away from mocking others. This scripture is pretty clear that we will suffer if we mock others, and I think I want the years of my life to be fruitful instead of suffering. So, the next time you think of mocking someone for something really silly, you aren't making yourself feel better, you are really causing suffering in more ways than one.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Friday, July 20, 2018

Fantastic Friday #637 - Finish

Finish

2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? 4 Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? Galatians 3:2-4

How do you finish? Do you listen to the spirit or listen to someone around you? This last week was most likely my last Little League season of coaching my youngest son. We made an amazing run with his team by making it to the State Tournament, something no other Little League team had done from our league in its entire history. A pretty amazing feat since there were so many who didn't think we would make it out of our own District, and then two levels higher to state. My motto for the boys was to Finish Strong, so now back to my question, how do you finish? I believe in our spiritual life we can be thrown off kilter by those detractors who make us think we don't need to finish things in a way that God would be pleased. Maybe we are not listening to the Spirit enough, and our finish comes up way short. Take the time to take some advice to experience life and finish strong, because you certainly don't want to be left behind and not finish the race.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Friday, July 13, 2018

Fantastic Friday #636 - Hardship

Hardship

34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? Romans 8:34-35

We all face hardship in life, it is just a part of being in this world with the enemy who is around every corner. How do you deal with hardship? Do you take it on all by yourself, or do you take a different path knowing that God can intercede for us? I find those people very interesting who take every hardship as a way to play the blame game of who else is responsible for the trouble they are going through. Maybe it is the lens that people look through that is skewed and if more people looked through the lens of Christ, they would see that this hardship is only a moment in time and it will pass. Also, if you look at the hardship as a part of life that is able to be conquered by the strength of the One who died for us, then maybe our hardship wouldn't look so hard.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Friday, July 6, 2018

Fantastic Friday #635 - Calm

Calm

1Lord, my heart is not haughty,
Nor my eyes lofty.
Neither do I concern myself with great matters,
Nor with things too profound for me.

2 Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul,
Like a weaned child with his mother;
Like a weaned child is my soul within me.


Psalm 131:1-2
Do you ever find yourself getting all worked up over something, to find in the end it wasn't worth all the heartache that you put yourself through? Sometimes we can find it hard to calm ourselves because we think of the impact of this could possibly have on us. If you allow yourself the opportunity to lean into the Lord, He can quiet your soul for you and can calm your spirit. With the constant attack of the enemy, that is not always so easy, but with prayer and petition we can overcome all things.

Have a great weekend.