Take Time to Express Gratitude

 I thank my God every time I remember you.   Philippians 1:3  NIV

    How easy it is to take our family, friends  and others for granted!   It often takes a serious reminder for us to remember how thankful we are for the people that God has put into our lives.

   This week’s action step is clear and simple.  Take some time to list 7-10 people for whom you are thankful and then take time to thank God for why you are thankful for each one of them.  For some extra encouragement, pick one or two people on your  list and send them an encouragement card, letter or email this week to let them know how much you are thankful for them and why you are thankful for them.  

Power and Gentleness

A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he has brought justice through to victory. 21 In his name the nations will put their hope.”             Matthew 12:20-21  NIV

   Part of what drew people to Christ was his combination of power and gentleness.  Many people with power take advantage of people, but Christ did not manipulate people or seek to control them in any way.  Christ used his power to serve.  He also maintained self-control with the religious leaders who were constantly seeking to trip him up. This gentleness and self-control was possible because Christ was confident in the Father and his good work.  This gave Christ the power to be gentle with hurting people and maintain self-control with difficult people.

   This week, set aside some time to consider the people and situations in your life.  Is there someone in your neighborhood or workplace who could use some gentleness?  Is there a difficult person who is making it necessary for you to have more self-control?  Is there a difficult situation that is tempting you act outside of God’s ways?  As people or situations come to mind, pray for them and ask the Holy Spirit to produce his fruit of gentleness and self-control in you.  Also, ask the Spirit if there is any specific action step you need to take with these people or in these situations.   Trust his guidance and his work in your life.

The Power of Daily Faithfulness

Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.    Luke 9:23  NIV

Give us today our daily bread.   Mathew 6:11 NIV

   Nothing makes a bigger contribution to our growth in Kingdom living than intentionally choosing to walk with Christ DAILY.  A multitude of forces combine to distract us from this choice.  If circumstances are going well, we may not feel the necessity to follow Christ closely.  Yet this doesn’t automatically mean that bad circumstances will make us choose to follow Christ closely.  Jesus said “the worries of the world” can also be a distraction.

  

   This is why Jesus instructed us to pray for daily bread to seek God’s Kingdom and will in our lives.  When we make this simple request we remind ourselves that we need God’s help to follow Christ faithfully and we are making a request that the Father is happy to fulfill. 

   It’s a great practice to start each day by praying the Lord’s prayer, but you may not feel like you are awake enough to do it sincerely when you first get up.  So start with something even shorter than the 53 words of the Lord’s Prayer.  As you crawl out of bed each day this week, and possibly many more weeks, say this simple one sentence prayer.

    “Father, please give me the daily bread I need today to follow Christ faithfully.”

As you pray it, have confidence that God will give you everything you need to follow Christ and experience his kingdom life flowing through you.

Planting Seeds of the Kingdom of God

With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may  make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring  to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed  prompted by faith.    2 Thessalonians 1:11  NIV

   When we receive Christ, he gives us the gift of the Spirit.  The Spirit begins to transform our lives with the goodness of the kingdom of God and gives us a desire to plants seeds of that kingdom goodness.  We begin to discover that the good life is the good life. 

    This doesn’t mean that doing good in this world becomes a smooth ride.  Jesus said (Matthew 13:18-23) that when we hear the message of the kingdom it will grow and bear fruit in our lives, but also that the deceitfulness of wealth and the worries of this world can choke out the life of this message.  This means that if we don’t take initiative to  plant kingdom goodness in the world, kingdom fruit will not continue to grow in and through us.

    This week, set aside some quiet time to ask: “What good is God prompting me to plant in this world?”  God wants to reproduce his goodness in you and through you, so you can be confident that he will use you to be a planter of goodness.  Once you have answered this question, ask God to give you wisdom about what specific seed of goodness you can plant this week.  It might be an act of kindness toward your neighbor.  It might be prayer for your coworkers.  It might be serving the poor or getting more information about a ministry that interests you in your community.  Plant a seed as soon as you can so you are not distracted and then get ready to plant more seed as God leads you.

Encouragement and Challenge for Fathers

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.  Ephesians 5:25  NIV

   Father’s Day is great time to be reminded of the important truth that one of the best things a father can do for his children is to love their mother.  Even if you are a divorced father, one of the best things you can do for your kids is to treat their mother with kindness and respect.

   The Apostle Paul calls husbands to love their wives “just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.”  Giving yourself up for your wife is not just for big moments, it’s for the million little parts of life – daily decisions about schedules and plans and raising the kids.  When husbands don’t give up themselves for their wives, it’s a form of giving up on their marriage.  That may seem like the easy and acceptable thing to do today, but giving up on our marriage hurts many lives. 

   It is possible to raise active and healthy children and have a healthy marriage.   It’s possible if parents put God first , their spouse second and then the kids.  If we keep God first by daily walking with him and praying in all circumstances, he will give us the daily bread we need to keep our marriage strong and to raise healthy kids.  Here are three ideas to put this week’s SPA into practice.

• If you are married, identify one way that you can show your spouse this week how valuable they are to you.

• If you are married with children, identify one way that you can show your kids this week how valuable your spouse is to you. Is a date night overdue?

• If you are single, pray for some of your married friends to have strength and wisdom to maintain strong and vibrant marriages.

- This SPA co-created with my Community Alliance Church friend, Moriah D'Amico

Giving the Gift of Time and Space to Grow

Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?      Romans 2:4  NIV

    

    Forbearance requires slowing down to think.  It requires stepping into the shoes of another person to understand the challenges they are facing and to get a  glimpse of the pain that they feel.  We often want others to change or grow faster than they are changing or growing, without taking the time to understand the loss that change will bring to their lives or the obstacles that keep them from moving forward.

   The best way to open our hearts to let the Spirit grow forbearance in our lives is by reflecting on the forbearance that God has with us.  When you learn truth from Scripture, are you always instantly excited to change your life?  When God allows a difficult change to come into your life, do you always quickly embrace it?  The answer to both questions is clearly no.

    So whose shoes do you need to step into this week?  Are you expecting coworkers to adapt to your new idea as quickly as you?  Are you expecting your children to make better decisions than you did at their age?  Are you expecting your spouse to adjust to news that they just heard but that you known for weeks?

   This week, set aside some time to reflect, with God’s help, on a person with whom you have not been very forbearing.  What can you do to give them time and space to adjust and grow?  Are you praying for them or are you expecting them to change and grow without God’s help?  Ask God to help you discover one step that you can take this week to be more forbearing with this person.  Once you discover the step, ask the Holy Spirit to give you strength and wisdom to take it.

Being a Bridge Builder instead of a Wall Builder

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”   

 - Jesus in Matthew 5:9  NIV

    We have received righteousness as a gift from God through Christ and this righteousness has given us peace with God.  Peace with God makes it possible for us to enjoy personal peace as we confidently trust in the power, love and wisdom of our Heavenly Father.  We can have peace in all circumstances because we know that God is always working for our good.

    If we want to enjoy the blessing of peace to the fullest, we will share this blessing with others.  Because we know that God is working for our good and because we know God has our back, we can be peacemakers in this world full of conflict.  We don’t have to fight to get our own way.  We don’t have to worry whether or not we are being treated fairly.

    This week, start each day by asking God to show you where you can sow seeds of peace.  Here are some ideas, but be sure to ask God for ideas specific to your life.

•  Pray for an existing conflict in the world. 

•  Do something kind for a difficult person in your workplace.

•  Seek to connect with a friend who has been distanced from you.

Remember, God’s people are bridge builders, not wall builders.