God Is Always At Work!

God is always at work!


Philippians 1:6 NKJV
being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;


Jesus began a GOOD work in you when you accepted Him. Please know IT is still going on. You might now see it... but His word says that He WILL complete it. One thing (there are many) God is good at is keeping His Word. He is not fickle like we humans are. We get sidetracked, give up, etc.. But God is not like us. He is committed to you.


A picture that came to mind this morning.. thinking about this verse is that of an artist chiseling marble. Sometimes he knocks off large pieces of marble that he does not want. Other times, he is meticulously making small cuts in the subject.... and then in an instant.. a large piece of marble comes tumbling down. Or perhaps the fine chiseling is to fine tune your gifts. But please know.. God is at work... He doesn't sleeep, slumber, or go on vacation. He's in there working.. because He loves you!


A song that I love that encourages me so much along this thought is "It Ain't Over" by Maurette Brown Clark. Give it a listen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQer9GkTMSw

Needed: Time Alone

Matthew 14:23 NKJV And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. If the Son of God needy frequent alone times with the Father, how much more do we? Now, don't let the phrase "to pray" throw you. I know when I read that... I think... ho hum.. time to twiddle my thumbs.. but on the other hand.... I love spending time with God.. during that time I pray, I listen. Sometimes I will sit at my piano and just play. sometimes I will just sit there and think about how good God is or some other cool concept about God. but.. back to point... If Jesus, being fully man and fully God needed quiet time away from everything and everyone.... how much more do we need that as mere mortal men? We need to give ourselves permission to take this time and get away. Whatever that means to us. Sometimes for me it is just getting in my car and driving (sometimes to Minneapolis and back, lol) ... I know that Jesus' disciples and the crowds did not agree with Jesus just "taking off". He had things He HAD to do. There were too many people that had needs to be met. Let me break some shocking news to you.... if the world could do without the Son of God for a few hours...... it can do without you for a bit as well. Sometimes our schedules, stresses, our emotions get the best of us and we become overwhelmed. We need that alone time with the Father. To hear His voice, to let Him calm that storm that is raging in us. To sense His love again. To have Him refocus His plan for our lives. Better yet... don't wait for everything to come apart at the seams...... frequently have little get aways with the Father... and also develop the practice of His presence. (see book by Brother Lawrence) http://www.amazon.com/Practicing-Gods-Presence-Brother-Lawrence/dp/157683655X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1316767707&sr=1-2 Let me say this to the ladies..... You work so hard and you do it all... and we men appreciate that... but give yourselves a break! Let things go for a half a day and get away. Take a hike! (in a good way) Find a chuch that might be open and spend some quiet time there. (Monday night Burn sessions at Freedom House, 39 South Mulberry St. (behind Sack and Save) in Chillicothe is a good place and time for that.) The Burn is also for us brothers as well... But find a way to get some alone time with the Father. Now, I could go on and on... but I am going to spend some alone time with the Father... Peace! ;-)

Who is the Head of the Church?

 The church has somehow migrated to this mindset that Pastors are the Head of the church... they aren't! Christ is the head! Pastors are a just a tool to help the members grow and point to Christ!

What does discipleship look like?

I am being more and more convinced that discipleship with new believers is not teaching doctrine.. but teaching new believers how to have a relationship with Jesus Christ.. How to hear his voice.. how to worship Him.. how to rely on Him.. all else will fall into place.

Are Your Buttons Being Pushed?

Do you have issues that keep on coming up. If they keep on coming up.. that is because God wants to deal with them.. and heal them. Don't ignore them! Let Him heal you!

I mean, you don't have to deal with it.. but don't you get tired of people pushing your buttons?

Don't you get tired of letting other people's actions determine how you feel and what kind of day you will have. It doesn't have to be that way

 The quickest way to healing in this area is to keep our eyes on the Father. Let our source of joy and accomplishment be pleasing Him. Everyone else can and will be fickle at times. I know because I have my times of fickleness. But.... we have a ficklelessness Father!

Don't let the only time you hear "well done good and faithful servant" be at the end of your life. Listen for those words everyday! Listen for the affirmation of the Father throughout the day! I am sure that the Father pronouncing over Jesus "this is my Son in whom I am well pleased" was not just a once in a lifetime occurence. I am sure that it happened on a daily basis.\\

God should always be the source of our joy and fulfillment. He does use others to flow through though. Today it might be our spouse, our children. Tomorrow it might be the homeless man that we give a little money to or the coworker that helps us with a project. He likes to change it up like that so we do not look to people as our source... but Him

If the Jesus needed to frequently get away alone and spend time with the Father, how much more do we need to do that. I don't think that we need to always sequester ourselves for long periods of time.. but we dinfintely need to develop an attitude of keeping in touch with the heart of the Father. The more we keep touch with the heart of the Father, the more fulfilled we will be and much more usable vessel to be poured out for others.

There is a book I read about a year ago that helped me develop this mindset.. It is called "Practicing the Presence of God" by Brother Lawrence. If you get it.. try to get the modern day translation as it was writen in the 1600s. Here is an Amazon link.. and it is available for Kindle. http://www.amazon.com/Prac​ticing-Gods-Presence-Broth​er-Lawrence/dp/157683655X/​ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=131​3153774&sr=8-2

Finding that "One Thing"

Jesus had finally set aside some much needed downtime for himself and his disciples.  He was in the area to get ready to celebrate that Passover.  He had just healed the lame man at the Pool of Bethsaida. 

What strikes me about this verse is that I wonder at what point did Jesus realize that a "great company" had come to him?  I mean, how do you go from just spending some much needed downtime with you and a few friends to... having a multitude of some 5,000 men... PLUS WOMEN AND CHILDREN. 

I think Jesus knew how to keep his focus.  I am sure that it did not go from a group of 13 to a keep of approximately 10,000 in a matter of minutes. 

My view of this story is this:  Jesus was spending time with his disciples... teaching, discussing scripture, praising God for the miracles that were taking place, maybe some Euchre, etc... but He was immersed in this downtime with his disciples.  I am sure that people started trickling on to the scene and you know people..  I am sure they did not have Jesus and his disciples roped off or some Holy Ghost hitmen so that these people could not get to Jesus.  I am sure his cuz said, "Hey Jesus, it's me, Mahershalalhashbaz, just wanted to say.. that was some miracle you did on that dude back by the pool!"

You know this kind of thing was happening.. But Jesus stayed focused on what was at hand.  He stayed focused on what the Father would have him focused on.  Until.....

.... it was time to focus on the multitude! 

In this day and age.. EVERYTHING.  vies for our attention.  The economy, this disaster, that catastrophy, etc.  We are so bombarded by news.. good, bad, it is constantly coming at us.  It can be overwhelming.  then you add the things we have to do just to keep our own lives running.  Kids, sports, finances, car maintenance, housekeeping, etc.. it is never ending. No wonder we are so frazzeled. 

But Jesus knew how to keep it together.  He said in John chapter 5:30  I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
Jesus knew how to stay focused and not get overwhelmed... even when a crowd of 10,000 shows up at your picnic!

One of my favorite stories of in the gospels is in Luke 10:38-42.  We all know this story.  It is about Mary and Martha.  Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus while Martha was running around getting ready for a party... because you know when Jesus showed up at your house... so would about 10,000 other people.. including the press... and the house was a wreck! 

Martha was upset with Mary because she had to do everything and Mary was just sitting there listening to Jesus.  Jesus rebuked her and said.. "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. ⁴² But one thing is needed,........" 

Earlier in that passage it said that Martha was "distracted"  I am sure she was running around trying to cook and clean.. She would walk by where Jesus was... and try to catch a few words that Jesus was saying.. while she "accidently" tripped over Mary... and gave a sigh of being overwhelmed.  Come on... you know how we do! 

Jesus said that only one thing is needed!  I don't think that Jesus was saying.. "One thing" meant sitting around all day and listening to him teach.  I think Jesus was saying, the one thing that is important is to listen to the voice of the Father.. find out what He is saying, or what He is doing.. and do it.  It might be sitting at the feet of Jesus.  It might be cleaning your house.  It might be going to the neighbors house with some cookies.  It might be going to Kenya to work in a health clinic. 

We need to find that "One Thing" and do it.  Tomorrow, it might be a different "One Thing"

the thing is that Jesus stayed focused on that "One Thing".  First, he was spending much  needed down time with his disciples... but.. a crowd was gathering... no problem.. Jesus kept doing that "One thing" (ie spending time with his disciples). Then all of a sudden he noticed that there was a "great company" around him.  And at some point that "one thing" shifted from being with his disciples to teaching and feeding the multitudes. 

We don't need to get stressed out by the things we need to do in this life.  We just need to find out and do that "one thing"

Are We Making People Thirsty?

Matthew 5:13 says that we are the salt of the earth.

Have you ever been around people and while you hung around them or listened to them speak, or sing, etc... It caused you to be more thirsty for Jesus.

That is what we are suposed to the people around us.  The presence of our Savior should be so evident in our lives that it should make them notice an attribute of His and make them thirsty for Him.

Are we displaying enough of the fruit of the spirit that would make others want to eat what we are eating.

The fruit of the spirit can be found in Galations 5:22-23  But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control...

When I walk through a grocery store and they are offering those little samples, I '   ...        .           '            "    ".