1 Corinthians 4
Stewards of the Mysteries of God
1 Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court.[a] In fact, I do not even judge myself. 4 For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God.
We are stewards of God. What is a steward? A steward is someone that takes care of something. What is required of a steward? To be found faithful. We must be found faithful in what God has entrusted to us, whatever that is. This really isn't what hit me from this verse though, check out the next few verses. It doesn't really bother him when others judge him and he really doesn't even judge himself. He allows God to judge him.
Judging is such a hard word these days. You shouldn't judge others by their looks. You shouldn't judge or you to will be judge. But what does Paul say? He doesn't even judge himself. Oh how guilty I am of this. I look at my life and what do I do? I compare it to others. Then what happens? I don't give as much to the church as he does. I don't volunteer as much as she does. I know I don't have an impact like they do. I start to judge myself. The only real way we can judge is by comparing ourselves to others and unless you're Mother Teresa, you're always going to find somebody doing it better than you do. But here's the thing. God does not judge us by comparing us to others. Why?
1 Corinthians 12:4-6
There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.
God knows that we are not created the same. We are all made up differently. This means that some are going to be better givers, some servers and some teachers. The important thing is that I find what God has called me to do and to do it faithfully. God does not require more of myself than that, so why should I?
The problem is is that I've felt better about this lately. Why? Because God had called us to Fishers to do something big! I now feel like I'm really doing something for God. Whew! I'm doing more than that person. I mean, we're giving up a great job and security to give it all up for God. I'm really serving God now. What about the person that God has called to serve right here. What about the person God has called to clean toilets, watch kids, visit an elderly neighbor. You see, I'm still comparing myself. I have prayed that God will keep me humble through this experience. You see, it's not about me, it's all about him. He could do His work in Fishers through anybody, but he chose me. He's allowing me to help in this. What a blessing! So, I'm trying to keep my eyes on Jesus and stop comparing and judging myself by looking at others and what they are or are not doing. God doesn't measure me that way. I am entrusted with what he has decided to entrust me with. No more, no less. I will be a steward over what He has given me and I will do it faithfully! That's all God requires of me and that's all I can require of myself.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Blessings....
are mine and 10,000 besides
"Great is Thy faithfulness!" "Great is Thy faithfulness!"
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
"Great is Thy faithfulness," Lord, unto me!
Source: http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/19#ixzz1NCajr0fW
So, this was not how I was going to start my blog. I typed in Blessings and just the words to this hymnal poured out.
This morning was Doug's morning to put the kids on the bus. I got woken up by him at 6:35 saying he would need my help because there was water all over the kitchen floor. I'm pretty sure the "Morning by morning new mercies I see" line from this hymn did not immediately pop into his head :) The water line to the ice maker somehow got a hole in it and was leaking. Not only is this not easy to repair since we dry walled in the shut off to this, but the water is sitting under our laminate flooring, causing it to warp. This is the floor you see when you first walk in the house, so very frustrating when we're trying to get it ready to sell. So, Doug had to take a vacation day to fix it. The good thing is, is that this should be only about an hour job. So, we decided to go ahead and start on the upstairs bathroom since he has the whole day off. At this time, the entire bathroom has been gutted and Doug is off to Menards to buy everything we need to finish it. This is the last big project in our renovation. So, what a blessing that he's getting started on it! It may not have been exactly when we planned, but it feels so good to have the last big thing underway!
I haven't had an etsy sell in three days. This is very frustrating to me because we rely on my etsy funds for all the little extras around here. But, as I was singing this song in my head "All I have needed, thy hand hath provided-great is thy faithfulness! really hit me. God has provided and is providing for everything we need. So we need to budget a little better, no big deal :) It's not like we're giving up anything big. Now, I only have three dresses to complete and I have all of my online orders done. I even have those thress dresses about 1/2 way done, so it should just take me a half hour or so to be completely caught up. Then I can focus on several local orders I need to get done, including about 10 dresses for a wedding. I can also work on things for my photo shoot that's in about a month and work on things for local shows. So, I'm going to get caught up on a lot of stuff. What a blessing!
So, when trouble comes, I'm going to try to find the blessings in it. Now, I may not do it well all the time, but I'm going to try.
Check out the words to the entire hymn. What's the saying? Oldy but a goody...
Great Is Thy Faithfulness Lyrics
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.
Refrain
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.
Refrain
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!
Refrain
"Great is Thy faithfulness!" "Great is Thy faithfulness!"
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
"Great is Thy faithfulness," Lord, unto me!
Source: http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/19#ixzz1NCajr0fW
So, this was not how I was going to start my blog. I typed in Blessings and just the words to this hymnal poured out.
This morning was Doug's morning to put the kids on the bus. I got woken up by him at 6:35 saying he would need my help because there was water all over the kitchen floor. I'm pretty sure the "Morning by morning new mercies I see" line from this hymn did not immediately pop into his head :) The water line to the ice maker somehow got a hole in it and was leaking. Not only is this not easy to repair since we dry walled in the shut off to this, but the water is sitting under our laminate flooring, causing it to warp. This is the floor you see when you first walk in the house, so very frustrating when we're trying to get it ready to sell. So, Doug had to take a vacation day to fix it. The good thing is, is that this should be only about an hour job. So, we decided to go ahead and start on the upstairs bathroom since he has the whole day off. At this time, the entire bathroom has been gutted and Doug is off to Menards to buy everything we need to finish it. This is the last big project in our renovation. So, what a blessing that he's getting started on it! It may not have been exactly when we planned, but it feels so good to have the last big thing underway!
I haven't had an etsy sell in three days. This is very frustrating to me because we rely on my etsy funds for all the little extras around here. But, as I was singing this song in my head "All I have needed, thy hand hath provided-great is thy faithfulness! really hit me. God has provided and is providing for everything we need. So we need to budget a little better, no big deal :) It's not like we're giving up anything big. Now, I only have three dresses to complete and I have all of my online orders done. I even have those thress dresses about 1/2 way done, so it should just take me a half hour or so to be completely caught up. Then I can focus on several local orders I need to get done, including about 10 dresses for a wedding. I can also work on things for my photo shoot that's in about a month and work on things for local shows. So, I'm going to get caught up on a lot of stuff. What a blessing!
So, when trouble comes, I'm going to try to find the blessings in it. Now, I may not do it well all the time, but I'm going to try.
Check out the words to the entire hymn. What's the saying? Oldy but a goody...
Great Is Thy Faithfulness Lyrics
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.
Refrain
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.
Refrain
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!
Refrain
Monday, May 16, 2011
Almost Finished!
I just had to take a moment and share just how close we are to finishing our basement! I'm just so excited! We started renovating our basement over a year ago. We started with the family room side. We, and I use the term we very loosely since Doug has done probably 95% of the work with a little help from his dad and a little less help from me :) Anyway, we ripped down a rock wall that was just hideous. Upon ripping it down we discovered that a whole cinder block in the basement wall, under the window was missing. Yeah! That explained a lot of our water problems in the basement! So, we made that window bigger and put in all new windows, including an egress one in what was to become the master bedroom. We then ripped down all the ugly paneling and installed drywall. We then installed beautiful laminate flooring, I actually helped a lot with this! We installed a closet and cabinetry for Jazzy girl. We also framed in our fireplace. The family room got finished and we started on the master suite. The layout was just so ridiculous! So we framed in a separate laundry room, and master suite, including a walk in closet, full bath with separate jacuzzi tub and shower and a bedroom. When I'm actually typing it out, it's amazing all we've gotten done! Now, we are on the home stretch. When Doug gets home from work tonight we're going to get a couple of doors and he will hopefully get those installed tonight. I'm going to paint all the new trim that he hung. Then we have a couple of transitions to install from carpet to tile, a towel rack to install, caulk around the tub and two pieces of trim that have to be ripped an hung up. THAT'S IT! Wow! I can hardly believe it. I really thought the end was never in sight and now here it is!
Next, on to the upstairs bathroom....
Next, on to the upstairs bathroom....
Monday, May 9, 2011
In The Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth Rise Up and Walk!
I read this passage a little over a week ago. I can't remember what was going on that day, but I didn't have time to really spend time in it. It keeps coming back to me, so I decided to reread it and take time to pray and journal over it.
Acts 3:1-10 (New King James Version)
A Lame Man Healed
1 Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 2 And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; 3 who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. 4 And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” 5 So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. 6 Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” 7 And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. 8 So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God. 10 Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
This man, lame from birth, sat begging for money every day. Every day! I guess you could say this was his job. When Peter and John walk by and tell him "look at us" he looks at them EXPECTING to receive something from them. What do you think he's expecting? Money! That's all he ever gets. The same thing...over and over. Why? Because that's all he asks for. Then along come Peter and John, in the name of JESUS and changes his life!
I think this applies to our lives so well. We just keep asking for the same things from God, over and over. Lord, bless us, bless our kids, bless our church. I know that's what my prayers are like. We have God in this box. Well, guess what? There's no box that can hold God! Our God is bigger than we can even imagine! Then why are we not praying bold prayers of faith! The thing is, God WANTS to do infinitely more than we could ever imagine in our lives.
You know what, I bet that lame beggar, thought about the possibility of walking everyday. He would see little kids run buy, watch men and women stroll by, and just long to be one of them. Long to feel what it would be like to stand upright on his own two feet and walk wherever he wanted. Yet there he laid, day after day.
How long are we going to just lay here. Sitting in our same circumstances. Keeping God in our box. I'm ready to start praying audacious prayers of faith. But you know what? They have to be the right prayers. I can pray audaciously that I win a million dollars; but, does that fall along with what God wants from me? What if I prayed that God would be God of my finances. Not that we could have nice cars or a bigger house, but so that we could change the world for the Kingdom of God! What if I stopped praying for a "good" job for Doug when we move. What if I started praying that God would provide Doug with the perfect job that would allow him to reach others for Christ. To put him right where God needed him to be. What if I stopped worrying if my house will be big enough when we move and start praying that God would put me right by the neighbors I need to be by to reach them for Him.
What if I really changed the way I pray? What if I let God out of his box and allowed Him to work through me to further His kingdom? What if?
Acts 3:1-10 (New King James Version)
A Lame Man Healed
1 Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 2 And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; 3 who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. 4 And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” 5 So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. 6 Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” 7 And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. 8 So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God. 10 Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
This man, lame from birth, sat begging for money every day. Every day! I guess you could say this was his job. When Peter and John walk by and tell him "look at us" he looks at them EXPECTING to receive something from them. What do you think he's expecting? Money! That's all he ever gets. The same thing...over and over. Why? Because that's all he asks for. Then along come Peter and John, in the name of JESUS and changes his life!
I think this applies to our lives so well. We just keep asking for the same things from God, over and over. Lord, bless us, bless our kids, bless our church. I know that's what my prayers are like. We have God in this box. Well, guess what? There's no box that can hold God! Our God is bigger than we can even imagine! Then why are we not praying bold prayers of faith! The thing is, God WANTS to do infinitely more than we could ever imagine in our lives.
You know what, I bet that lame beggar, thought about the possibility of walking everyday. He would see little kids run buy, watch men and women stroll by, and just long to be one of them. Long to feel what it would be like to stand upright on his own two feet and walk wherever he wanted. Yet there he laid, day after day.
How long are we going to just lay here. Sitting in our same circumstances. Keeping God in our box. I'm ready to start praying audacious prayers of faith. But you know what? They have to be the right prayers. I can pray audaciously that I win a million dollars; but, does that fall along with what God wants from me? What if I prayed that God would be God of my finances. Not that we could have nice cars or a bigger house, but so that we could change the world for the Kingdom of God! What if I stopped praying for a "good" job for Doug when we move. What if I started praying that God would provide Doug with the perfect job that would allow him to reach others for Christ. To put him right where God needed him to be. What if I stopped worrying if my house will be big enough when we move and start praying that God would put me right by the neighbors I need to be by to reach them for Him.
What if I really changed the way I pray? What if I let God out of his box and allowed Him to work through me to further His kingdom? What if?
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Best Mother's Day Ever!
Well, today is officially the best Mother's Day ever! Yesterday I got groceries and Brandt went with me. I told him we needed to decide where we were eating lunch today for Mother's Day. He said we should go on a picnic, "we never do that." So, we bought everything for a picnic. We got up and went to church this morning -side note- amazing service! After the service, we came home, packed up the van and headed out. We went to a park in East Peoria. There was hardly anyone there! We laid our blanket out and ate our sandwiches and chips together as a family. Then, Austin took Jazzy to play on the playground and Doug and Brandt played football and baseball. I just laid on the blanket and listened to the giggling and laughing of my family. I dozed a little and read from my kindle. After we were done at the park, we stopped at Dairy Queen and bought ice cream - side note - $21 for ice cream! Holy Cow!
We came home and cleaned up Nesta's pen to get it ready for Ziggy. We then trimmed the bushes that haven't been trimmed in forever! Then Doug and I sat on the swing and just watched the kids play. After that we went for our 2 mile walk. Doug pushed Jazz in the stroller and the boys rode their bikes. Now we're just hanging out, watching tv and relaxing.
What a simple suggestion from Brandt. Go for a picnic. Doug and I have decided that this is something we want to do at least once a month, if not more! We had such a great day today and so did our kids! We want to enjoy these moments with them as much as possible and for as long as possible!
Monday, May 2, 2011
Just for Today
Today, in reading for my bible study, there was a challenge. Read the following paragraph every day for seven days. In case you haven't noticed, I use this as my journaling with what God is sharing with me. So, here it is. I will be reading this every day and trying to implement it into my life. Won't you join me!
Just for today I will live this way...just for today, I am making the choice to not settle, Lord. Just for today, I will not let the subtle influences of pride and thinking I know what is best for me overshadow my desire for more of You in my life. Today, I will believe with absolute certainty. Today, I will obey You with complete surrender. Today, I will see You with complete abandon. For doing this is fulfilling the purpose for which I was created...not to bring myself glory by some great accomplishment, but to bring You glory by making You my greatest heart's desire. O God, let me make that choice today. Even if it is just for a day - how I long for it to be more - but even if it is just for today, may it be completely so. For one day completely with You is truly, truly better than a thousand elsewhere. In Jesus'name, Amen.
Just for today I will live this way...just for today, I am making the choice to not settle, Lord. Just for today, I will not let the subtle influences of pride and thinking I know what is best for me overshadow my desire for more of You in my life. Today, I will believe with absolute certainty. Today, I will obey You with complete surrender. Today, I will see You with complete abandon. For doing this is fulfilling the purpose for which I was created...not to bring myself glory by some great accomplishment, but to bring You glory by making You my greatest heart's desire. O God, let me make that choice today. Even if it is just for a day - how I long for it to be more - but even if it is just for today, may it be completely so. For one day completely with You is truly, truly better than a thousand elsewhere. In Jesus'name, Amen.
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