Passionate Living

"If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles"- Matthew 5:41 (NIV).

Sarah Palin said, "Today, push yourself! Exhaust yourself. There is great joy in finding out what you're made of! God blesses your effort, especially if you go the extra mile." We hear we are to give our personal best, but it comes at a price. We have to draw upon self-discipline, perseverance, endurance, and inner strength. No one can help us with this. We have a power source from the Holy Spirit within us, but He is not going to make us keep going. He will empower us, but only if we move forward. That extra mile does not come easy, but a day finished well is a victory and a personal testimony to the faithfulness and strength of the Holy Spirit working within us. Margaret Thatcher said, "Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It's not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it's when you've had everything to do and you've done it." You even find yourself listing off what you've accomplished through your suffering that day. Listen to what the tireless Apostle Paul had to say: "We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, Who has been given to us" (Romans 5:3-4). Find out what you're made of; let your day be a day of passionate living. God will bless you for going the extra mile. 

Pay Offs

"God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them"- Hebrews 6:10 (NIV).

When we became Christ-followers, we became servants. In a world that values accomplishments, people seek validation and praise for the work they do. We want plaques and ribbons, bonuses and titles, with the awards being presented in front of colleagues and friends. We want our family to be there, too, so everyone knows that hard work pays off. In truth, this world does not reward most servant deeds. Consider the following: If you need to be praised for a job well done, who needs to feel appreciated or you won't continue the work, then becoming a servant will be much harder for you. Servants are overlooked, pushed to the back, and unrecognized. If this world is not rewarding your service, rest assured that God is faithful and will reward you one day for a job well done. Hard work does pay off, in the end, for a servant. Continue the work God has given you.  

A Brick House

"Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food"- Genesis 1:29 (NIV).

God has cared about our health since creation took place. Part of His creation was intended to feed us; to keep us full, but also, the plants and trees were to keep us healthy. Hippocrates, known as the Father of Medicine, said, "Leave your drugs in the chemist's pot if you can cure the patient with food." He also said, "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food." God wanted us healthy, because He knew our bodies would one day become temples of the Holy Spirit. "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, Who is in you, Whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). God has given us what we need, but we ultimately have to chose between a healthy lifestyle and an unhealthy lifestyle. If God gave each of us a nice brick house, soundly structured, with running water, and power, we would take care of it like our lives depended on it. He has...and it does. Gifts from God are not taken lightly; therefore. our bodies, houses of the Holy Spirit, should be taken care of: physically, emotionally, and spiritually. That includes what we place in our bodies. Every bite we place in our mouth is either an opportunity, or a missed opportunity, for a healthy body; a healthy temple. We will be held accountable for any neglect and/or misuse one day. I say this with love: Let us take care of ourselves. Know Who you belong to and the gift that God has given you.

Give Ear and Come

"Give ear and come to Me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, My faithful love promised to David"- Isaiah 55:3 (NIV).

Another broken heart, another betrayal, another left feeling hopeless. Humans are bad about breaking their promises, or covenants, between couples, friends, families, and colleagues. There is one covenant that sinful man has not been able to break. God made a covenant with David: "Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before Me; your throne will be established forever" (2 Samuel 7:16). The promise was fulfilled through Jesus and, upon His return, He will establish His kingdom here on earth...forever. David's disobedient sons, generation after generation, would fail God over and over, bringing the nation to ruin, but God is faithful to His covenant...forever. Believers knew God would raise up a righteous, obedient Son to rule the kingdom. ""The days are coming," declares the Lord, "when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land"" (Jeremiah 23:5). God's covenant cannot, and could not, be broken by sinful man, nor can it be broken today with all the sin we see in our world. Jesus is coming back. It's part of God's covenant and He has kept and will keep, His covenant. He is faithful. He only asks that we "listen, that [we] may live." God's covenant is with His children, with you and me, and all who "give ear and come to [Him]."

Left Overs

"[B]eing confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus"- Philippians 1:6 (NIV). 

Each year our church chooses a committee to recruit people to fill in all the open slots for numerous committees at our church, such as: Acts 1:8, Budget and Finance, Community Awareness, Children's Ministry, Music, etc. The chosen people, once they agree to serve, are presented to the whole congregation for a vote of approval, which was this past Sunday. I was rolling off my current three-year commitment, ready to serve on another committee, but never received a call to serve on one. Maybe, I was wrong and my three-year stint wasn't over. I searched the listed names under each team, but my name never appeared. Like the childhood way of choosing team members for a game, I was a leftover, not chosen. Don't worry, because I'm not, I know God has something for me to do; He always does. Today's Scripture reassures Christians that God always chooses us for His team. The positions may change, but it's always for God's glory and for our completion in transforming us into the image of Christ. David was relegated to watch sheep, until God called him to fight a giant and anointed as king (1 Samuel 17). Amos tended Sycamore fig trees, until God called him to be a prophet (Amos 7:14). Many times, God uses those not chosen, the leftovers, to be His chosen in His kingdom work. If you are sitting on the sidelines, be confident, God is at work in you...until the day of Christ Jesus.