Fantastic Friday #764 - Kindness

Kindness

6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:6-8

This week someone I know stated that they were just too nice and they seem to get hurt when they are nice. This got me thinking that being nice is not the same as kind. There is nothing wrong with being nice or doing something nice, but this reminds me of something that is fleeting and you can be nice and then turn right back around and be mean. It is very possible that kindness is what leads you to do something nice, but at the same time I only see niceness as an action in a brief moment. I look at kindness as something that is done from the heart and something that makes a significant impact. Just as God expressed in His kindness, we can express in our kindness from our heart. Remember that God first showed us kindness, so we can definitely return the favor and show kindness to others. Focus the next time you do something nice, and ask yourself if it is coming from a heart of kindness or a heart of necessity. Look to see how your kindness can improve your heart condition and those around you.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Fantastic Friday #763 - Resist

Resist

7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. James 4:7-8a

What have you had to resist this week? Maybe it was a temptation to eat one more piece of cake, have one more drink, or maybe it was to take a shortcut with something. While shortcuts can be advantageous for some things, when you leave steps out, it can have a great impact on the end result. God wants us to take steps to improve ourselves, but the enemy wants us to take the easy way out and follow him. The enemy wants to take us down a path of self-destruction as well, and this is what we have to be diligent about daily. This is a very simple scripture that is not always so simple, but if you look carefully, you can notice something that will help with resistance. That is where we are in our relationship with God. We need to stop and focus sometimes on how close we are to God. We should focus on Him and His previous impact on our lives, so we can resist when the enemy tries to pull us away. Submit, resist and come near God and I guarantee you will see a difference in your life.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Fantastic Friday #762 - Good

Good

15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. 16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Hebrews 13:15-16

What have you done that is good for someone besides yourself this week? It is probably not a question you ask yourself very much because things like that are not always on your mind. What did you sacrifice this week? Another question that could be very difficult to answer, but one we should probably focus on more daily. A sacrifice is sometimes viewed as hard because it would mean you would have to give up something or time to accomplish something. Most have time that you think is very valuable and you could be doing something for yourself. Whoop, there it is, giving up what you want for something or someone else. Isn't that what God wants, us to share with others and by sacrificing our money, time, energy it is pleasing to God. So, think about something good you can do this week, but something good that causes you to sacrifice something.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Fantastic Friday #761 - Servant

Servant

4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5 “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,”[a] bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory. Hebrews 3:4-6

Have you thought about being a servant to someone else? I don't have a huge servant's heart, but I am beginning to learn what it is like to serve others, sometimes without the thanks. That is where the problem is, and my view is skewed. A true servant should never search for anything in return but should serve faithfully those that God has placed before you. We should also remember that as we are serving those others, we are serving God. I need to pray for more of a servant's heart and less of a desiring heart.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Fantastic Friday #760 - Giving

Giving

15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Epehsians 5:15-20

I am not going to talk about giving in this season of our lives, I am going to talk about giving thanks to our Father in Heaven. Every day we can find ourselves trapped in the world of living unwise, thinking of how we can get and not what we can give. We all live different lives, have different roles and jobs, but how many of us stop down to give thanks to our Father in Heaven for what He has given us? Instead we shuffle around wondering what is next for us, what new toy we can get, where our next meal is coming from or how we can get ahead of that person that seems always to be out in front. We need to pause our giving, not actual giving, but giving in to the enemy and begin to thank God for everything in our life. Once we start living a life of gratefulness, our eyes will be opened to what we truly have, and what we can look forward to. In this season of giving, give thanks to our Lord and Savior first.

Have a great weekend.



Matt

Fantastic Friday #759 - Drift

Drift

We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2 For since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, 3 how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4 God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. Hebrews 2:1-4

Do you find that you drift from time to time where you lose your focus with what you are working on? When you drift, your mind wanders and the attentiveness you had is suddenly lost in whatever you begin to think about. Have you ever had someone just say a phrase or a word and then you are just gone? Like orange and white stripes, what immediately comes to mind? That's right, you are probably thinking about a Whataburger right now or maybe a Taquito. The same thing occurs when the enemy drops something in your lap to pull you away from God and what he wants for us. The great thing about God is that He gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit and if we listen to the Spirit, these distractions can be minimized if not completely forced away. Keep in mind the enemy is always lurking and we can escape the clutches of the enemy if we stay focused and don't drift.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Fantastic Friday #758 - Separate

Separate

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. 2 Timothy 3:1-5

Either way you pronounce the word, whether it is a short a or a long a, the word separate can still be applied daily. In these last days, we are seeing the fruit of the enemy impacting people and their lives. How many of us see people focused on money as the most important aspect of their lives, where they focus on the pleasures of this world rather than the pleasures of God? Don't get me wrong, God wants us to enjoy our time together here and all the earth offers, but what He doesn't want is the focus of our lives to be on the things of the world. He wants us to separate our lives from people who chase the things of this world. He also does not want us following things that separate us from Him. Keep this in mind when the hate and lack of self-control of those around you start to creep into your life, focus on walking with God and what He wants us to avoid. Don't be a lover of yourself, but a lover of others.

Have a great weekend.

Matt