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

Fantastic Friday #980 - Relationships

Relationships

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Philippians 2:5

When you think about the relationships that you have, do you go into all of them with the same mindset as Christ Jesus? Relationships are hard, and it is something that I struggle with regularly. I have certain individuals that I can call close personal friends, my family is my number one relationship that I tend to try and work on daily, and sometimes I wonder how successful I am. The thing about relationships and strengthening them is that they require attention. The attention to detail, the focus on communication, the clearness of our intentions, and the true love of God behind us and our role in these relationships. There is no self-help book that can grow a relationship, while there are tools to assist, the true way to grow a relationship is having God with us and allowing Him to work through us. If we ignore the example that Jesus gave in his relationships, we are not going to get very far. So, in your relationships you have, whether they are spouses, kids, friends, extended family or the annoying co-worker, look to God to guide you in your relationship building and know that He has set the perfect example.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Fantastic Friday #979 - Darkness

Darkness

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. Genesis 1:14-15

Do you ever think about why we have darkness at night and what its main purpose is for us? I think often when I am driving at night, or walking in the early morning of the darkness about when God created the light and the dark, was there more than one purpose. The answer you would think would be pretty clear, but in today's world where society operates 24 hours a day, it is hard to think that it was just a way to make the earth work. Look at this scripture and how it talks about a way to mark sacred times. I believe his reminder of the days passing to reach those sacred times gives us something to acknowledge and hope for, and he didn't make our bodies to operate 24 hours per day. He created a period where we could rest and recover after long days and it is modeled after what He did on the seventh day of creation. The darkness closes a day of light and wonder, and each morning when the light comes back, a new day has been created for us to thrive and hope for the future we have with Him. Get rest and focus on looking forward to those sacred times.

Have a great weekend.

Matt