Acceptance

Romans 15:7

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

If we are caught up with what we cannot accept about our fellow believers, a wedge is driven deep into our praise and we do not focus entirely on Him.  This results in weakening our walk with Christ and our faith in Him.

Jesus accepted that we were imperfect - flawed – that He had to die for us so that we could share His heavenly home.   Because of that we do not have to die for one another.  All we have to do is love each other and accept that God made us all different for a reason so that we can praise our wonderful creator in as many forms as possible. 

Today let us praise the Lord one with another!!

Blessings

Romans 15:5 and 6

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

A spirit of unity in any group takes endurance and encouragement, but as Christians we must cling to our oneness in Jesus Christ as we follow Him.  This unity makes us stronger and more effective as followers, as we spread God’s word, and as we do His work in our earthly home.  For us to be able to praise Him with one heart and one mouth is for Christ to know that we love Him and that we love our brothers and sisters in Christ.  That nothing is going to distract us from our goal.  Our unified praise says, “Hey Lord, we get this!  We can do this together!  We can put aside our earthly differences so that we can do your work and ultimatley praise your holy name together!” 

 Today let us praise Him together and REJOICE in His holy name as brothers and sisters in Christ.

September 28, 2008

Being authentic people keeps us from wondering if we told different things to different people; did we tell people what they want to hear regardless of what we really thought? 

The biggest problem with telling people what they want to hear, when we believe different, is that we damage our relationship with God.  And another problem with telling people what they want to hear is that sooner or later people will get together and find us out.  Then, not only will our relationship with God be damaged, but our relationship with other people will suffer as well.

Be credible people.  Speak truth at all times…even when it hurts.

Peace

Jim

September 27, 2008

Some beautiful things I saw yesterday…

Sunrise !

On the way to check out a baptism site for next week.

Then I started thinking, its easy to see beautiful things outside of town…so…I parked up town and walked around the downtown block.  All the pictures below were taken from the downtown sidewalk.

 

Have a good day…

Jim

September 26, 2008

I’m going out to watch the sunrise this morning.  Notice things that are beautiful today.  Beautiful things are all around us, and they can change moods and put smiles in our hearts.

Peace

Jim

September 25, 2008

Choir last night was one of those times when I could picture our prayers going up to God like the smoke of sacrifice in the Old Testament…a sweet pleasing aroma to God.  Deb did a good job focusing our attention away from ourselves and toward intercession on the behalf of other people.

We don’t need to be together when we pray, but it sure feels powerful to be in a room full of praying souls lifting our heartfelt concerns and our joys before the Father.

Spend some time in prayer today.  Think about friends and acquaintances who are going through tough times, intercede on their behalf asking God to bless them.  Spend some time praying about your church and its ministries, is there more we can do?

We may not be able to get together with other people to pray but we can pray as we go about our daily business.

Peace

Jim

September 24, 2008

Being authentic is not just important for our witness among people, it also has to do with our personal relationship with God.

Christians must be authentic people.  Author Paul Moots says:

“Unless we keep the need for authenticity primary among our daily concerns, we run the risk of losing track of who we are and what we are about as Christians.”

Being authentic then, is important to our spiritual life and it is important to our witness.  Attentiveness to God helps us keep focus on “who we are.”

Being authentic is moral support to us personally, and it is moral support to people around us.

Peace

Jim

September 23, 2008

Authenticity and authority are very similar attributes.  Authenticity is always being who we really are.  There was a poster I saw back in the 70’s that said:

“Be what you is, cause if you ain’t what you is, then you is what you aint’.”

Authenticity is “what you is,” and God has repeatedly used “what you is” to move and shake the world. 

Authenticity reveals authority.  Nobody follows a fake once they recognize a fake, and it does not take long to recognize a fake.  But people follow true authority, and true authority does not come simply by position, true authority comes through being “what you is” over time.

Peace

Jim

September 22, 2008

Hopefully this week is back to whatever normal is.  The fair is over and life can settle back down a bit.

Yesterday was a good day at church, we talked about living so that our lives would back up our words.  I couldn’t help but think about our upcoming revival, and the need we all have of reviving our spiritual life.

Since evangelism is telling people the good news of and about Jesus, it seems appropriate to begin by looking at our life to see if we live like we believe what we say.

I talked to a lady from a former church last night and was reminded how a life lived gives authority to the words we speak.  This lady endured the untimely death of a pre-teen granddaughter, and her own bout with cancer.  When I talked to her last night there was this spark of excitement and enthusiasm punctuated with laughter, in her voice.  She makes me want to listen to what she has to say.

Find the joy in spiritual matters, and then live that joy to the fullest…others will want to know what makes us tick…then we can tell them about Jesus…and people will listen.

Peace

Jim

September 21, 2008

I said yesterday that somebody was always watching us even when we’re alone, and that person is Jesus.  But most of the time other people are watching us too.  There are those who watch us Christians to see if we do what we say. 

But the reason that we are to live Christian lives is not out of fear of getting caught when we do wrong things, rather, its for the influence we might have on others.  We want other people to look at us and ask why… Why do you smile?  How do you endure?  Where is your hope?  Why do you love?  What keeps you honest when nobody would know?  We want people to look at us and ask why.  And then we can tell them about Jesus.

The Apostle Peter said in 1 Peter 3:15:

“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”

Live so people will ask why…then tell them about Jesus.

Peace

Jim