11-12-2014

How to Glorify God in the Ordinary

Sometimes I feel like life is so ordinary, too ordinary. What exactly is ordinary? I’m not really sure, but if I knew I’d say this is what it feels like. I don’t feel like I am doing anything spectacular. I don’t feel like I am called to do long term missions or live in a foreign country but that doesn’t mean I can’t glorify God in my day to day life.

I can glorify Him as I am working around the house. I can choose to not complain but to instead glorify Him that I have a house to clean or that I am able to clean my house without it hurting me.

Ephesians 4:29- “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”

I can glorify God everyday while at work. I can get really angry at difficult customers or I can treat them with love and respect, just like I want them to treat me.

Colossians 3:23- “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters”

My everyday ordinary is God ordained. He knows my past, present and future. As long as I am working at living according to His will, reading His word and trying to follow Him to the best of my ability I am glorifying God in the ordinary, in my everyday life. More of Colossians 3 says,

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (12-17)

This is how we should live everyday to all we meet. Life may seem boring, it may seem mundane and while you may not realize it you aren’t alone in wondering if you can glorify God in it all. If maybe your life should be more exciting. But if you look at the big picture, at His Kingdom it is all made up of little moments. Some moments look somewhat ordinary but many look extraordinary. We can’t see the entire picture but we have faith that it all goes together for good. It is all working together for His purpose. By living and loving we are working towards that. And when I think about my everyday life, my ordinary when it comes down to it, it is really extraordinary. Just the fact that I wake up breathing, the morning sun shining through the clouds, the amazing sunsets I see off my front porch. It is all extraordinary. So when I get down thinking, my life is so ordinary I try to just focus on the eternal perspective of it all and it looks a whole lot different.

Filed Under: Me, Scripture Tagged With: God, me, scripture, thoughts

09-10-2014

I am Fearfully and Wonderfully made- Psalm 139:13

I think sometimes God wants you to really understand something and He keeps putting the truth in front of you until you realize it. He was definitely doing this this past week to me. I kid you not, the same theme has shown up in every single devotional I have read. Another one this morning where I just said, “man… God has made it extremely apparent to me that this is something He wants me to study more of and focus on.” and “You have got to be kidding me!” Nope He isn’t. He loves me and He knows exactly what I need when I need it.

God loves me simply because I am me! Let me stop and think about that for a minute. God loves me just because of who I am. Say it again s.l.o.w.l.y. He created me to be just who I am, He knows just who I am (including my issues and my problems) and He still loves me for me. Our worth for God is not based upon what we do but upon who we are in Him. Ephesians 2:10 says, “ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” We are His handiwork. Imagine a beautifully made quilt that has taken hours upon hours of work. That is nothing compared to what God has made all of us to be. He knows every little thing about us. He made us that way. So if you see a flaw God sees something He perfected just about you.

This weeks past Sunday school lesson that I prepared was on Psalm 139:14- “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” God didn’t make any mistakes with us. He made us to be beautiful and perfect in His image. We look just the way we are supposed to look. We are just where we are supposed to be. We may look at our lives and just see places where we could have done something different or should have made a different choice and maybe that is the case. But it may not be. God works in our lives in ways we have no idea about until we look back on choices we made further down the line. He may be working in your life with choices you made five years ago that you aren’t going to understand the reasons for until five years from now. And that is okay. God carefully made each and every piece of you from your hair and eye color to your temperament. He made you good at some things and maybe there are others you have to work at- but that is okay. He made you just the way He made you. There is no one else like you and there never will be anyone else like you. You fill a void in God’s plan of the universe that He created before time began. No one else can fill that but YOU.

1 Corinthians 12:4-6 “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.”

We are all doing God’s work by living in the world and being a light to others. You may be a missionary, a business owner, a salesperson, a mom but you are no less important to God than anyone else. We are all alive because of Jesus.

Filed Under: Faith Tagged With: faith, God, perfect, you

06-27-2014

Some Faith Inspiration When You Need It

God is Using You

[Source]

All of these are linked to the place where they are found. I thank everyone who posted these as they inspire me and I pray they inspire you. Sometimes life can feel heavy, like hope is lost, like you don’t know how to continue on or what you need to do. Maybe you are at a crossroads, maybe you have to do things that seem hard… well don’t give up hope and don’t give up the faith. Lean on Deuteronomy 31: 8- “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” And He means it. No matter what you do, you can ALWAYS come back to the Lord.

Filed Under: Faith Tagged With: faith, God, hope

05-29-2014

Thankful Thursdays: Because God Loves Us

I used to do Thankful Thursdays and sadly, have gotten away from it. For the month of May I have been teaching a lesson in the Preschool Sunday School where we have been focusing on being thankful and I feel as if it is something that is important for us to focus on at any age. So often we get busy with our daily lives that we can forget to take a few moments and thank God for all that He has given us and all that He does for us. Even in our prayer time. I notice sometimes when I am praying that I spend more time asking than thanking. Does that sound familiar?

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

This is one of my absolute favorite verses but it is also one I constantly struggle with. I sometimes fail at it (horribly, oh so horribly) but it reminds me how I am supposed to act and what I am supposed to do. I know it can be hard sometimes. How can I be joyful when X, Y, Z happened? How can I give thanks when just this week…. Fill in the blank. It is hard, trust me I know it is hard but we are to be thankful and joyful because of what Jesus did for us, when we did absolutely nothing to deserve it. When you look at just the current situation that may be causing you to be less joyful than you know you should be, it can be way too easy to develop a bad attitude. But when you take a step back and look at every single moment leading up to the current times of trouble? It is a little easier to be thankful and joyful when you realize ALL that God has blessed you with and how He has been at work in your life.

No matter what you are going through, there are things to be thankful for. Do bad things happen? Yes. But I would not know what a Blessing was if 1. God had not chosen to bless me with it and 2. If He had not chosen to give me hardships as well. Would we know what a sunny day was if we never experienced a rainy day? By prayerfully and consciously being thankful every day I truly believe that we will begin to notice that we are a lot happier. And over time prayerfully thanking God will come much more naturally.

How can we be thankful in all circumstances? I think this is one of the most difficult parts of this verse. How can we find something to be thankful for when we listen to the news? How can we find things to be thankful for when someone is sick? How can we be thankful for something when someone is really hurting? We are thankful because we have Jesus. The fact alone that Jesus died for my sins so I can have eternal life is a reason to be thankful no matter what is going on. Is it easy? Nope! But we know that God works for the good in ALL things for those who love Him (Romans 8:28). It doesn’t say some things, it says ALL things. So we can have hope that no matter what we are going through, we can be thankful because as long as we remain in Christ, God is working for good in it.

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So, each Thursday I am going to make a conscious effort to post some things I am thankful for.

I am thankful for Willow, the kitten. I thought getting a kitten would help Pancake be less lonely but currently Pancake doesn’t like dealing with her, haha. Willow likes getting in Pancake’s bed and Pancake immediately jumps out. They will be friends one day!

I am thankful for fresh flowers. I absolutely love the beauty of having fresh flowers in the house. They make me happy just looking at them.

Colossians 3:15-17- ‘And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.’

Filed Under: Faith, Printables Tagged With: faith, God, scripture, thankful