Oh my...
Well, it was a really good morning.
I'd like a do-over just because I haven't laughed like that for awhile and I want to again.
I hope Pastor Rob doesn't get into any trouble...
Theme for month of August is -"Bigger Than My Location"
Story:
Once upon a time, a lady went to the mission board and said that she wanted to go to India and open an orphanage. They discouraged her. "How much money do you have?" they queried.
"Three cents..." she replied. "You can't go on the mission field with just three cents!"
"You didn't let me finish," she said. "I have three cents and God.
Who was she? Mother Teresa.
During the high point of her career, she would get letters from many people in high society who wanted to come and help her. She would write back to them and say,"Find your own Calcutta."
PR-"I work and live in Jerusalem-Farmville. People see the good, the bad, the ugly in Farmville. They know me."
Our 'Location' is our life situation.
We often say to ourselves, "If I had more time, more money...if I didn't have so many issues.
I will serve God tomorrow when things settle down."
The purposes of God for our lives seem out of reach. We think...someday..someday I will step into the calling that I am passionate about.
God's purposes for me are bigger than my life situation.
(I also believe that it is in my life situation where God wants to fulfill His purposes for me.)
PR asked the question, "Who in the Bible had every opportunity to become bitter but instead, he remained faithful to God?"
(I am so embarrassed about this but I started yelling out,"Joseph! Joseph!", like an eager schoolgirl. Steve L. looked slowly over at me and gave me his look and acted like he was scribbling in a notebook. He was mocking me. He let me know that I was acting like a teacher's pet and I turned several shades of red as I realized how loud and obnoxious I had been. I didn't worry about whether I embarrassed Phil because he always tells me that I can't embarrass him. Oh, well. I can't think about it any more. And I was right, by the way. It was Joseph. )
Joseph was about 17 years old when we get a glimpse into his dysfunctional family.
Jacob gave Joseph a beautiful coat. He didn't give his other eleven sons a coat like that.
How brilliant was that?
And Joseph had two dreams which he shared with his family.
Both dreams were easy to interpret."Someday, everyone in this family would pay homage to me and bow down to me. " That went over real well.
Jacob sent Joseph to check on his brothers and when they saw 'The Dreamer' coming, they decided to kill him. Rueben talked them into putting him into a pit. He was planning to rescue him later. When Rueben went for a little walk and a caravan came by, the boys decided to sell Joe and make some profit off of him.
Joseph was sold to Potiphar who was a captain of the guard in Pharoah's army.
The Lord was with Joseph and everything Joseph was involved with prospered.
Potiphar only had to be concerned with the food that he himself ate.
Now, Potiphar's wife had a thing for Joseph. PR thinks her name is Victoria because she had a secret. Maybe I shouldn't write that, but that is what he said.
This is where things got really interesting in the service but I think I will just protect PR here since he wasn't really watching out for himself.
Joseph did not give in to Victoria and a woman scorned can behave very badly.
She accused him of coming on to her big time.
He was put in prison and the Lord was with him there.
God showed him kindness and granted him favor and Joseph was given responsibility for everything having to do with prison life. (And perhaps he was glad to get a little break from Victoria.)
Application:
Our attitude affects our altitude. Our perceptions regarding the situation we are in have more power in our lives that the actual situation we are in.
Joseph could have been bitter. Even though he was an overseer, he was still a slave. When he did things well, he wasn't given his freedom. He was given more responsibility. Potiphar prospered because of Joseph.
Some people are never happy. So many people wonder why God has allowed them to remain in Potiphar's house or in prison. Maybe it's because we haven't learned our lesson yet. We keep asking, "Why me? Poor me." Instead we should ask God what He wants us to learn in prison and in Potiphar's house. (Perhaps we need to be willing to help 'Potiphar' and our 'Prison Guard' to prosper before we can move on.)
The favor of God is not without thorns.
Joseph had some thorns-
His dysfunctional family, his brothers and what they did to him, Potiphar's wife, prison, the cup-bearer who forgot him...
~~~~~
Thorns don't have to be ugly.
They can be appealing to us.
Thorns are those things that keep us from fulfilling God's purposes in our lives.
Our response to our thorns, our tough life situation and difficulties, preaches way louder than our words.
People notice our obedience and disobedience.
People notice the favor of God.
People notice our attitude particularly in a time of difficulty.
And the Master sees.
St. Francis of Assissi said, "Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary, use words."
We can carry an undercurrent of joy even if we are not always happy.
With everything we do in life, we are a license printer for those coming up behind us.
If I can do this, you can too.( positively or negatively)
People respect genuineness.
We think the things in our lives have to be in a perfect place before we can do something for God.
But we don't have to be perfect. We need to be genuine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I like Joseph.
I think his secret life-giving thought was this:
'God is in control of my life.'
When he had come through some things
he was able to see that what man had meant
for evil, God had meant for good,
but until he had that perspective,
He simply believed that His life was God's
responsibility
and God was in control
and God was good.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Unhealthy Optimism
Whenever I read Revelation, I get stuck on the concept of luke-warmness.
Revelation 3:15,16 -Jesus says," I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth..."
Not a pretty picture.
I am an optimistic person.
I see life with my glass half full.
If someone expresses concern to me about another's behavior,
I tend to believe the best about them both.
I am thankful that someone is concerned and as for the person in question,
I will think and say, 'Just look how far they've come.'
I wonder if that kind of optimism is detrimental when it comes to luke-warmness.
Those of us who see our cup of life as half full instead of half empty
may look at the lukewarmness in our lives or another
and think,
"Well, at least I am half hot. At least I am somewhat warm.
I'm not like that cold fish over there."
And we see the half hotness as good.
But,
Jesus wants it to be all or nothing.
No halfway temperature for Him.
Jesus can't do a whole lot with the self-satisfied lukewarm optimist.
They see themselves as rich and as having need of nothing.
Jesus would rather we'd be poor and empty and cold
than to perceive ourselves as rich and half-full and half-warm.
He can do something with the poor.
'Blessed are the poor in spirit...theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.'
He can do something with the empty.
'He who drinks of me shall never thirst again.'
He can do something with the cold and naked.
'Buy from me white garments, that you may be clothed.'
Those who think they are fine
won't bother coming to Him.
Unhealthy optimism looks like this:
Rev. 3:17-"Because you say,'I am rich, have become wealthy, have need of nothing'
-and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked-"...
Healthy Poverty looks like this:
Rev. 3:18-"I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see."
Don't be disheartened.
He goes on to say, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent."
He wants us to be rich and clothed and covered. He wants us to see.
He wants to do this His way.
How do we allow Him to do this work in our lives?
Rev. 3:20 says it all.
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears My voice and opens the door,
I will come into him and dine with him,
and He with Me."
Hear.
Open.
Dine.
What a fellowship..
What a joy divine...
Revelation 3:15,16 -Jesus says," I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth..."
Not a pretty picture.
I am an optimistic person.
I see life with my glass half full.
If someone expresses concern to me about another's behavior,
I tend to believe the best about them both.
I am thankful that someone is concerned and as for the person in question,
I will think and say, 'Just look how far they've come.'
I wonder if that kind of optimism is detrimental when it comes to luke-warmness.
Those of us who see our cup of life as half full instead of half empty
may look at the lukewarmness in our lives or another
and think,
"Well, at least I am half hot. At least I am somewhat warm.
I'm not like that cold fish over there."
And we see the half hotness as good.
But,
Jesus wants it to be all or nothing.
No halfway temperature for Him.
Jesus can't do a whole lot with the self-satisfied lukewarm optimist.
They see themselves as rich and as having need of nothing.
Jesus would rather we'd be poor and empty and cold
than to perceive ourselves as rich and half-full and half-warm.
He can do something with the poor.
'Blessed are the poor in spirit...theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.'
He can do something with the empty.
'He who drinks of me shall never thirst again.'
He can do something with the cold and naked.
'Buy from me white garments, that you may be clothed.'
Those who think they are fine
won't bother coming to Him.
Unhealthy optimism looks like this:
Rev. 3:17-"Because you say,'I am rich, have become wealthy, have need of nothing'
-and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked-"...
Healthy Poverty looks like this:
Rev. 3:18-"I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see."
Don't be disheartened.
He goes on to say, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent."
He wants us to be rich and clothed and covered. He wants us to see.
He wants to do this His way.
How do we allow Him to do this work in our lives?
Rev. 3:20 says it all.
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears My voice and opens the door,
I will come into him and dine with him,
and He with Me."
Hear.
Open.
Dine.
What a fellowship..
What a joy divine...
Kissng Up
I've been thinking about the whole concept of "Kissing Up."
I never thought about it much until we moved here.
We were the new kids on the block and were judged by people's perception of our actions, not by who we were. Which, of course, is normal. It takes time and patience to let people know who you are. Once they know you, then they can judge your actions by who you are rather than judging who you are by your actions. It's a fine line, I know, but it has to do with having grace for a culture different than one's own and putting assumptions aside. But that's another story.
When I would do something nice for someone, especially for those in leadership positions, some people gave me the sense that they thought that I was 'kissing up' in order to earn favor or position. This bothered me so much that I backed off from giving for awhile.
But now, I am back to giving if I want to give, instead of allowing others opinions of me to dictate who I am. I am a giving person. I was raised in a giving family. To not give when I want to give squelches the gift of life in me.
I also try to not feel pressure to give if I don't want to give or shouldn't give.
There are all kinds of ways to give.
Giving of time, acts of service, a meal, a phone call, prayer, etc. are all ways we can give without it costing us alot of money.
God says several things about giving.
"It is more blessed to give than to receive."
"When you give, don't let you right hand know what your left hand is doing."
"Give out of a cheerful heart and not out of coercion."
Those are three things I can think of off-hand.
The other day, someone stayed with me for several hours,
even though the main person they were interested in had already left.
We had a great time together and I realized again how much I really like this person
and how easy she is to love.
Someone said to one of my children, 'Oh, she's trying to earn brownie points with your mom.'
They were joking, of course, but it got me thinking about this again.
I would never think that my new friend was trying to earn brownie points with me.
I think she likes being with Susan and I because she likes us,
not because she is trying to get us to like her.
She already knows we do.
I think that if we ever do think that someone is kissing up to us
because we are 'so great' that we are worth kissing up to,
that we should just hug the kisser uppers and kiss them back.
We should reassure them of our love and acceptance and be thankful that they want to kiss us.
The balance to that, of course, is if we are vulnerable to flattery, and open our lives up and share its treasure just because we've been flattered.
We have to be wise.
But we have to be humble, too.
The Bible says we should give one another a 'holy kiss.'
A 'holy kiss' and what it might mean in the present church culture,
would most likely throw the concept of 'kissing up'
right out of the stained-glass windows.
A 'holy kiss' represents integrity and a promise
that I would never kiss you and then go stab you in the back.
I would never be a Judas to you.
A 'holy kiss' represents love
and to love means to protect and provide.
I will provide you with enough security that you never need to 'kiss-up' to me.
I will protect you from thoughts and words that think and speak less than the very best for you.
I will give you a holy kiss and I will never deliberately betray your trust.
Amen and Amen.
I never thought about it much until we moved here.
We were the new kids on the block and were judged by people's perception of our actions, not by who we were. Which, of course, is normal. It takes time and patience to let people know who you are. Once they know you, then they can judge your actions by who you are rather than judging who you are by your actions. It's a fine line, I know, but it has to do with having grace for a culture different than one's own and putting assumptions aside. But that's another story.
When I would do something nice for someone, especially for those in leadership positions, some people gave me the sense that they thought that I was 'kissing up' in order to earn favor or position. This bothered me so much that I backed off from giving for awhile.
But now, I am back to giving if I want to give, instead of allowing others opinions of me to dictate who I am. I am a giving person. I was raised in a giving family. To not give when I want to give squelches the gift of life in me.
I also try to not feel pressure to give if I don't want to give or shouldn't give.
There are all kinds of ways to give.
Giving of time, acts of service, a meal, a phone call, prayer, etc. are all ways we can give without it costing us alot of money.
God says several things about giving.
"It is more blessed to give than to receive."
"When you give, don't let you right hand know what your left hand is doing."
"Give out of a cheerful heart and not out of coercion."
Those are three things I can think of off-hand.
The other day, someone stayed with me for several hours,
even though the main person they were interested in had already left.
We had a great time together and I realized again how much I really like this person
and how easy she is to love.
Someone said to one of my children, 'Oh, she's trying to earn brownie points with your mom.'
They were joking, of course, but it got me thinking about this again.
I would never think that my new friend was trying to earn brownie points with me.
I think she likes being with Susan and I because she likes us,
not because she is trying to get us to like her.
She already knows we do.
I think that if we ever do think that someone is kissing up to us
because we are 'so great' that we are worth kissing up to,
that we should just hug the kisser uppers and kiss them back.
We should reassure them of our love and acceptance and be thankful that they want to kiss us.
The balance to that, of course, is if we are vulnerable to flattery, and open our lives up and share its treasure just because we've been flattered.
We have to be wise.
But we have to be humble, too.
The Bible says we should give one another a 'holy kiss.'
A 'holy kiss' and what it might mean in the present church culture,
would most likely throw the concept of 'kissing up'
right out of the stained-glass windows.
A 'holy kiss' represents integrity and a promise
that I would never kiss you and then go stab you in the back.
I would never be a Judas to you.
A 'holy kiss' represents love
and to love means to protect and provide.
I will provide you with enough security that you never need to 'kiss-up' to me.
I will protect you from thoughts and words that think and speak less than the very best for you.
I will give you a holy kiss and I will never deliberately betray your trust.
Amen and Amen.
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