Fantastic Friday #956 - Persevere

Persevere

15 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. 16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. 1 Timothy 4:15-16

For as long as I can remember, my children have had thoughts about what they want to do with their lives. It wasn't something that I much thought about until recently when a couple of them have started their professional careers and another one is well on his way to success. I know that they haven't done this alone, and Debbie and I have walked alongside them to encourage them and provide them guidance, but really the true guiding hand has come from their Father in Heaven. God has worked in all of our lives, even if we don't think He has. However, those of us who have persevered through the challenges, He has rewarded us with the path we were to follow. Notice I said He did not reward us with great financial security or a job that we were completely happy with, but I said He has rewarded us with the path we were to follow. We need to remember that our path to success is not always His path to success and we need to be cognizant of His hand in our path to achievement. God works in us as long as we are willing to allow Him to work in us.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Fantastic Friday #955 - Give

Give


11 Faithfulness springs forth from the earth,
and righteousness looks down from heaven.
12 The Lord will indeed give what is good,
and our land will yield its harvest.
13 Righteousness goes before him
and prepares the way for his steps. Psalm 85:11-13


When you think about giving, do you often think of what God gives you? We can tend to get caught up in asking for things before we give, because giving is not always easy. Whether it be money or time, our lives can easily get distracted by something we feel we need to be given. I know that it is hard to give my time after working a long day, but that is not how our process should work. It is hard not to think of yourself first, and even more challenging to give of yourself when you may want to be doing something else. It is a mental refocus of thinking of others before yourself. Then, it is a daily reminder that we need to give to others before our needs. I am not even close to being where God wants me to be, but I do think about how I give and how I can give more. I also believe our righteousness has a direct influence on our giving. If we are living a life that God wants us to, the giving should be easy. God only gives good and we should follow in His footsteps, and God gave the greatest gift of all, His Son.


Have a great weekend,


Matt

Fantastic Friday #954 - Ears

Ears

6 I call on you, my God, for you will answer me;
turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.
7 Show me the wonders of your great love,
you who save by your right hand

those who take refuge in you from their foes. Psalm 17:6-7

When God created us, he gave us two ears. There is something to be said about symmetry and I am sure there is some deep answer to why we have two ears, but how often do we use those two ears to really listen to what God tells us? I personally believe it all starts with prayer. By taking time to specifically pray to God, it gives us that personal one-on-one time with our Heavenly Father and gives Him the opportunity to hear what we cry out to Him for when we have our deepest need. Now, that doesn't mean that we don't pray when we don't need anything, but we pray to continue strengthening our relationship with our Lord and Savior. Prayers don't need to have big words, or be long and drawn out. They can be simple requests and prayers that get to the point of your need. But. you also need to be thankful for what God has provided you in your life. The second part of prayer is listening and using our ears to hear what God has to say. There might be silence at times, but strenghthening that relationship through regular prayer only makes the listening easier, and gives you the ability to truly hear when God answers you. So use the ears God gave you to listen to that voice that is clear at times, quiet at times, but is always there for us.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Fantastic Friday #953 - Higher

Higher


8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9


Do you ever find yourself comparing your stature to others? Maybe you think you hold a higher status than someone because of the kind of position you hold, the amount of money you make, the amount of time you spend helping others, or your relationship to our Father In Heaven. Here's the trap, we are always so caught up in how we can get ahead, we rarely think of our lowly status that we have as a sinner. God, however, is at a status that we certainly cannot achieve in our mortal existence. So, what do we do? The first thing is to not let ourselves get caught up in placing others on pedestals, including ourselves. There are many times people put leaders of nations, businesses and even churches on these pedestals, and there is no room for this. No man is any better than anyone else, however some may have blessings and opportunities that others don't have while here on earth. We need to remember that we all need to strive to live the life that God has given us, to grow closer to Him so that eventually we find ourselves striving for that eternal existence with our Father In Heaven. One day we may know the thoughts of our Father, but until that time, live a life free of placing ourselves above anyone else.


Have a great weekend.


Matt

Fantastic Friday #952 - Work

Work

25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In your anger do not sin”[d]: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. Ephesians 4:25-28

I heard on a podcast this week that a man who was a part of a family with 11 kids was brought up with the philosophy that he had to work hard in order to contribute to the family and be fed. This person was a member of a poor farming family, and everyone had to contribute. I think back about the work that I have put in over the years to support my family and it was nothing like what this man had to go through. The blessings I had were very different, but listening to his story made me think about what I have done to work for others. Have I shown my kids how hard work can get you to a position where you can support your family and live a comfortable life, while still giving to others. It made me truly reflect on hard work and what it truly means. Sometimes we don't think of hard work and where it takes you in your walk with Christ. I work hard both at home and at work, but how hard am I working to show others the love and caring they deserve, and how hard am I working to become more like Christ intended. While we have Grace, we need to remember those who don't know about this wonderful gift and where we might be able to make an impact. I am going to look at working hard on how I can make an impact on those people who truly need it.

Have a great weekend.

Matt