Fantastic Friday #770 - Cold

Cold

14 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. Revelation 3:14-16

I found myself experiencing many temperatures outside that gave me a false sense of how the weather should be this week. One day the sun is beating down and it is almost 70 degrees and another day the morning temperature is 28 degrees with a wind chill of a few degrees colder. I just wish that the weather would find a happy medium. That should not be the case for our daily deeds in how we treat others. We need to be consistent in our fairness and treatment of others, rather than being fake, or better yet lukewarm. God wants us to be one way with others and not constantly bouncing around. He wants our focus to be on how we can help, and not be wishy-washy. If I had to guess, God wants us to be filled with fire in our actions and not just lukewarm. If you are lukewarm, you are just pacing yourself through life with no true intentional driven effort. Experience the heat that intentionality brings joy, and enjoy your deeds. You don't want to be spit out.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Fantastic Friday #769 - Slip

Slip

30 The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom,
and their tongues speak what is just.
31 The law of their God is in their hearts;
their feet do not slip. Psalm 37:30-31

Did you know that people don't just slip on ice? There are a number of things you can slip on and I did just that this week. When it was raining, I came into my building at work and slipped on the nice and shiny floor. Lucky for me, I am agile and react quickly at my young age to falling and was able to avoid disaster. The question is, how agile are you when the enemy comes around the corner at you moving in to let you know that he thinks you don't have solid footing? Our strength and agility to avoid the enemy can be directly related to the amount of time we spend with our Heavenly Father in prayer and scripture. If His teachings are in our mind regularly, we relate to them, and find ways to share them, it can give us the firm footing we need when the enemy challenges us. If we ignore the teachings, and spend no time with Him, it's like a floor covered in vegetable oil and all we are doing is reaching for the first thing to get us up, and most times it is not our Father. Keep God's teachings close and Him closer, and you will find that your footing doesn't slip.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Fantastic Friday #768 - Sensitive

Sensitive

Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him: “Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips. Hosea 14:2

How receptive are you to people when they interact with you? Are you keen on what someone is trying to share? Being receptive and keen are just another way of being sensitive to others and their information they share. Being sensitive could mean that you are engaged in a conversation by only listening and feeling what is trying to be shared. How many of us have conversations that we are half listening to and then proceed to act like you completely understand what the other person is going through; although you really didn't listen well enough to know the real point of the conversation. We have to start being sensitive to others and their needs, and stop being so selfish with our own needs. If we are chasing God to forgive us, aren't you happy that He receives us graciously? Would you want Him to receive us half-heartedly or only partially listen to us? We need to listen to others how He listens to us, with a grace and sensitivity that allows us to truly develop the relationship. Start being sensitive, receptive, keen and gracious.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Fantastic Friday #767 - Proper

Proper 

15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. 16 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. 17 Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor. 1 Peter 2:15-17

We all know there is not enough good in the world right now and there is definitely some ignorant talk because people just don't know their history, how to communicate or how to be kind. God gives us the freedom to choose and some people continue to choose unwisely. I am not speaking politically, because that is just a small part of the lives we live on a daily basis. I am speaking about truly being kind to everyone you come into contact with, because you might not know their background of beliefs or where they are coming from. Maybe the only contact with God they will have is with you and how you treat them on that particular day. So, when you have the choice between silencing someone with your opinion, take the higher road and just do good and that will have an impact far greater than you can imagine. Respect those around you, because you might be that one shot they have to see God in someone.

Have a great day.

Matt

Fantastic Friday #766 - Determined

Determined

37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39 Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 1 Corinthians 15:37-39

At this time of year people start making resolutions to better themselves, kind of like a fresh new start. Typically 80% of the resolutions people make fail for many reasons, but mostly because they are either unachievable or we are not determined enough to continue on past the first few weeks. This section of scripture comes from an area where the resurrection of the body is discussed. God gave our spirits a body, as He determined. Can you imagine if God had not followed through with His plan, what kind of bodies we could have? You could have tentacles coming out of your head. In reality, God's plan is perfect, and He determined to give us a body that will be resurrected one day, we just need to be determined to take care of this body while we are on this earth. Take your vitamins, exercise, don't give the enemy an excuse to sneak in and steal your determination. Be still and know that as we enter this new year, 2020 will be a small blip in what God has determined for us.

Have a great weekend.

Matt