"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time?" - Matthew 24:45 ESV
I read this passage this morning and it hit me kind of hard.
Access to provision is an important thing and only some people have it. It is granted by someone so that distribution happens and is controlled in some way for timely use. Breakfast is served early. Lunch at midday. Dinner feeds the worker who is finally resting from their labor.
"Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed,' and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." - Matthew 24:46-51 ESV
The 'faithful and wise servant' part gets me because I don't see myself as either of these things but anyone who has worked in different places has seen how this works with other resources. Sometimes the person who ends up with the keys is just the one who has been around the longest and they landed on their desk. Their 'wisdom' and 'faithfulness' is just 'knowing the ropes' because they have seen it done hundreds of times. In other places, access is guarded fiercely and those who end up with it are not the people who will use it wisely or mercifully.
Grace... I have access to the cupboard of grace... everyone who understands what Jesus is like and what He has done has access but people need meals made. Jesus is the Master who has gone on a trip.
I can go in and make myself a sandwich and leave everyone else to fend for themselves but what will 'He' say when 'He' returns?
I can lord my access over everyone.
I can tell them to go get their provision. It is free after all. They just need to read the book but it isn't that easy is it? People read the book and don't find the cupboard of grace. It isn't the same as a meal cooked by someone who was trained to cook... who has practiced cooking over many years and observed how others have skillfully used the ingredients.
My Pastor was a man who got up in the morning and made breakfast for everyone. Then he made lunch. We always got a very special Sunday dinner. He wasn't a perfect person but those meals were very very good and nourishing. Grace was the main ingredient in all the meals he made. They, along with other things, healed my wounds and got me on a schedule of getting 'what I could never deserve or earn'.
There are always going to be hungry people. There are also going to be people who just don't appreciate the food they are served. It isn't up to their standard. They are critical and make you just want to hang up the apron.
"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time?" - Matthew 24:45 ESV
Boom.
Why is the person cooking meals? Is it the hungry people or is it a calling? Maybe at some future date the master might say, 'Wow. Everyone said your meals were always made with great care.' or 'Suzy loved your pancake recipe.' but when He returns the main issue will be what we did with the access we were given. Did we cook on a schedule so that people could be fed or were we occupied with ourselves and the power we had acquired?
--
Showing posts with label Stewardship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stewardship. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
Fulfill The Ministry - Colossians - Part 33
"And say to Archippus, 'See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.' " - Colossians 4:17 ESV
Isn't that a great example of the writer's heart? Couldn't we put different names in there?
Don't quit. See things through to the end. You are a steward of a ministry that God has given you. It is a ministry of reconciliation. It is unique to your life and relationship to God. Fulfill it.
Pastors and discerning people have used this phrase in key moments throughout the ages but in this case Paul is talking to Archippus and we know a little about this person from elsewhere in the scriptures. Here is some backstory from the book of Philemon.
"Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved fellow worker and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you. Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you - I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus - I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment. (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart." - Philemon 1:1-12 ESV
Beautiful isn't it?
Onesimus is mentioned in verse 9 of this same chapter in Colossians.
People get into complicated situations, don't they? How do we go forward? 'Fulfill the ministry' is great advice. It takes forgiveness to do that. It takes faith in the one who has given us the ministry.
Why don't we just put our name in there today...
"And say to ________, 'See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.' " - Colossians 4:17 ESV
God. You sit on a throne far away but your words of encouragement have reached our ears. You have given us great gifts. Please strengthen us. Keep our eyes on Jesus. Make us good stewards of Your ministry. Thank You God.
--
Isn't that a great example of the writer's heart? Couldn't we put different names in there?
Don't quit. See things through to the end. You are a steward of a ministry that God has given you. It is a ministry of reconciliation. It is unique to your life and relationship to God. Fulfill it.
Pastors and discerning people have used this phrase in key moments throughout the ages but in this case Paul is talking to Archippus and we know a little about this person from elsewhere in the scriptures. Here is some backstory from the book of Philemon.
"Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved fellow worker and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you. Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you - I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus - I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment. (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart." - Philemon 1:1-12 ESV
Beautiful isn't it?
Onesimus is mentioned in verse 9 of this same chapter in Colossians.
People get into complicated situations, don't they? How do we go forward? 'Fulfill the ministry' is great advice. It takes forgiveness to do that. It takes faith in the one who has given us the ministry.
Why don't we just put our name in there today...
"And say to ________, 'See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.' " - Colossians 4:17 ESV
God. You sit on a throne far away but your words of encouragement have reached our ears. You have given us great gifts. Please strengthen us. Keep our eyes on Jesus. Make us good stewards of Your ministry. Thank You God.
--
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Regarding Iniquity
"If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear." - Psalm 66:18 NKJV
What an interesting passage. 'Regard' is the Hebrew word ra'ah (Strong's H7200). It means to perceive or observe. 'Iniquity' is aven (H205) and it means trouble, vanity or idolatry.
The picture is one of a person who sees something out of place but just leaves it there even though they have the power to remove it. In this case it's not dirty dishes in a sink. The place is the heart which is the center of a person's being.
Here is the verse in context.
"Come and hear, all you who fear God, And I will declare what He has done for my soul. I cried to Him with my mouth, And He was extolled with my tongue. If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear. But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, Who has not turned away my prayer, Nor His mercy from me!" - Psalm 66:16-20 NKJV
This is a person who is aware that God has already done something great for them and lives with thanksgiving in the center of their being. They weed their garden and iniquity is removed as soon as it is seen.
"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." - James 1:5-8 ESV
Do doubts arise? Of course they do. But the person who weeds them out and dwells on the finished work of Christ is asking and receiving. They see their heart as a stewardship.
"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice." - Philippians 4:4 ESV
This person commands their soul like a gardener commands a garden and has power because God's mercy is a good water source.
"In that day, "A pleasant vineyard, sing of it! I, the LORD, am its keeper; every moment I water it. Lest anyone punish it, I keep it night and day;" - Isaiah 27:2-3 ESV
"A garden enclosed Is my sister, my spouse, A spring shut up, A fountain sealed." - Song of Songs 4:12 NKJV
God help us. Help us to quickly weed blame out of our life and live a life of thanksgiving for what you have done. We all deserve Hell but You have given us grace. Make us quick to pull weeds as we see them so they do not multiply.
Thank You God. You answer prayer. We live now in what You have done and we know that your mercy is turned toward us and not away from us. Thank You God.
--
What an interesting passage. 'Regard' is the Hebrew word ra'ah (Strong's H7200). It means to perceive or observe. 'Iniquity' is aven (H205) and it means trouble, vanity or idolatry.
The picture is one of a person who sees something out of place but just leaves it there even though they have the power to remove it. In this case it's not dirty dishes in a sink. The place is the heart which is the center of a person's being.
Here is the verse in context.
"Come and hear, all you who fear God, And I will declare what He has done for my soul. I cried to Him with my mouth, And He was extolled with my tongue. If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear. But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, Who has not turned away my prayer, Nor His mercy from me!" - Psalm 66:16-20 NKJV
This is a person who is aware that God has already done something great for them and lives with thanksgiving in the center of their being. They weed their garden and iniquity is removed as soon as it is seen.
"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." - James 1:5-8 ESV
Do doubts arise? Of course they do. But the person who weeds them out and dwells on the finished work of Christ is asking and receiving. They see their heart as a stewardship.
"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice." - Philippians 4:4 ESV
This person commands their soul like a gardener commands a garden and has power because God's mercy is a good water source.
"In that day, "A pleasant vineyard, sing of it! I, the LORD, am its keeper; every moment I water it. Lest anyone punish it, I keep it night and day;" - Isaiah 27:2-3 ESV
"A garden enclosed Is my sister, my spouse, A spring shut up, A fountain sealed." - Song of Songs 4:12 NKJV
God help us. Help us to quickly weed blame out of our life and live a life of thanksgiving for what you have done. We all deserve Hell but You have given us grace. Make us quick to pull weeds as we see them so they do not multiply.
Thank You God. You answer prayer. We live now in what You have done and we know that your mercy is turned toward us and not away from us. Thank You God.
--
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Property Lines
Justice respects jurisdictions. It respects both sides of a boundary.
Lawlessness ignores boundaries.
Mine. Not mine. It belongs to us. It belongs to them. Who does it belong to?
Who decides? Is it the one who has leverage or brute force on his or her side?
Ultimately it is God's choice. He decides the true boundaries because He is the One who owns everything.
I think that little stretch of land in the middle of the middle east is a perfect example of this principle that goes beyond the boundary of humanistic morality. It resolves the chicken and the egg dilemma with a spiritual trump card. Does the land belong to who came first or occupied longest or does it belong to who God gave it to?
If we respect God's boundaries then we respect God. If we respect God's property then we respect God. Respect then fills the space of the relationship.
God does not have a problem with lust because it feels good. It does feel good. God has a problem with lust because it ignores property lines. The lusting person is a trespasser.
"I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin? What would be my portion from God above and my heritage from the Almighty on high?" - Job 31:1-2 ESV
If our inheritance is land and we will not respect territorial rights then we devalue our own inheritance.
Grace is God's beautiful heart that let's others play on his lawn. It does not make the lawn public land where anything goes. The ownership remains firmly in place. The father gives His Son full access. We have become sons and daughters through the life of this same uniquely begotten Son.
So. Do we own the details of the day today? Do we own ourselves?
"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV
"You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men." - 1 Corinthians 7:23 ESV
Our ownership is the ownership of a steward. Good stewards respect true ownership.
A Biblical world view draws a different map then the world does. It always will because each side sees ownership in a different way.
If we see the real property lines in our job then we can function in them. When we see the real territory in our family then we can live a civilized life in our home. When we honor God's boundaries we will live in true freedom. Man's fences will only keep us bottled up.
We stake claims by faith. We say, 'God owns this land and this is where God has drawn a line. Now I will live in agreement with Him.'
That has such power in every area of our life... if we make those claims by faith God will honor them.
--
Lawlessness ignores boundaries.
Mine. Not mine. It belongs to us. It belongs to them. Who does it belong to?
Who decides? Is it the one who has leverage or brute force on his or her side?
Ultimately it is God's choice. He decides the true boundaries because He is the One who owns everything.
I think that little stretch of land in the middle of the middle east is a perfect example of this principle that goes beyond the boundary of humanistic morality. It resolves the chicken and the egg dilemma with a spiritual trump card. Does the land belong to who came first or occupied longest or does it belong to who God gave it to?
If we respect God's boundaries then we respect God. If we respect God's property then we respect God. Respect then fills the space of the relationship.
God does not have a problem with lust because it feels good. It does feel good. God has a problem with lust because it ignores property lines. The lusting person is a trespasser.
"I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin? What would be my portion from God above and my heritage from the Almighty on high?" - Job 31:1-2 ESV
If our inheritance is land and we will not respect territorial rights then we devalue our own inheritance.
Grace is God's beautiful heart that let's others play on his lawn. It does not make the lawn public land where anything goes. The ownership remains firmly in place. The father gives His Son full access. We have become sons and daughters through the life of this same uniquely begotten Son.
So. Do we own the details of the day today? Do we own ourselves?
"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV
"You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men." - 1 Corinthians 7:23 ESV
Our ownership is the ownership of a steward. Good stewards respect true ownership.
A Biblical world view draws a different map then the world does. It always will because each side sees ownership in a different way.
If we see the real property lines in our job then we can function in them. When we see the real territory in our family then we can live a civilized life in our home. When we honor God's boundaries we will live in true freedom. Man's fences will only keep us bottled up.
We stake claims by faith. We say, 'God owns this land and this is where God has drawn a line. Now I will live in agreement with Him.'
That has such power in every area of our life... if we make those claims by faith God will honor them.
--
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Our Mind As God's Vineyard
It is so vital that we think with grace and have the fruit of grace thinking in our lives.
I'm reading this morning and recoiling at some of the things I'm reading because I see a progression I don't like but it is one I need to understand.
"When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully." - Mark 12:2-4 ESV
"He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.' But those tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard." - Mark 12:6-8 ESV
These passages are conveying a principle and it is a very convicting one. If we do not think in grace we will eventually, either in a passive or active way, be in rebellion to bonafide authority then that rebellion will turn into a competition. In that competition atrocities big and small can be justified.
"And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away. And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk." - Mark 12:12-13 ESV
Jesus' parable did reflect the history of Israel and it did expose the thinking of those religious people but exposing that thinking did not resolve the issue. Competition just doubles down when exposed.
Grace is unlike any other treasure. When you have it in abundance you just want to give it away.
I was thinking about the servant sent by the master as a person in need or a wounded person. It is not a hard stretch. They are just people doing their job to come collect something. If they don't get what they were sent for it complicates their life. They have to go away empty handed and face the authority who sent them and explain the situation.
Is there fruit in my vineyard for hurting people. I want there to be because those 'servants' are going to keep on coming as life goes on and what will I do when I meet them? Will I say, 'Why are they coming to me anyway? Let them go to someone else.' or will I have grace in my life.
Wow.
People need the fruit of grace thinking. They don't even know they are sent by God to get it from us. They are just living their lives doing the best that they can trying to survive.
Our minds are God's vineyard. It is His possession. We are stewards.
Can we see everyone who comes to us as a person sent by God to Get some grace?
Our boss... our child... our wife... our husband... the hurting person... the homeless person (who really should be out working somewhere)... do we bang them on the head or do we give them the fruit that has been growing in our vineyard?
Help us God. Really... We need it. Seed our garden and water it. Give us a bumper crop of grace. Let competition and rebellion born of wounds be a thing of the past in our lives. Grow grace in us. Establish our hearts in it more and more so that gracious words are on our lips that point people to You and what you have done on behalf of all mankind.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." - John 3:16-17 KJV
---
I'm reading this morning and recoiling at some of the things I'm reading because I see a progression I don't like but it is one I need to understand.
"When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully." - Mark 12:2-4 ESV
"He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.' But those tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard." - Mark 12:6-8 ESV
These passages are conveying a principle and it is a very convicting one. If we do not think in grace we will eventually, either in a passive or active way, be in rebellion to bonafide authority then that rebellion will turn into a competition. In that competition atrocities big and small can be justified.
"And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away. And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk." - Mark 12:12-13 ESV
Jesus' parable did reflect the history of Israel and it did expose the thinking of those religious people but exposing that thinking did not resolve the issue. Competition just doubles down when exposed.
Grace is unlike any other treasure. When you have it in abundance you just want to give it away.
I was thinking about the servant sent by the master as a person in need or a wounded person. It is not a hard stretch. They are just people doing their job to come collect something. If they don't get what they were sent for it complicates their life. They have to go away empty handed and face the authority who sent them and explain the situation.
Is there fruit in my vineyard for hurting people. I want there to be because those 'servants' are going to keep on coming as life goes on and what will I do when I meet them? Will I say, 'Why are they coming to me anyway? Let them go to someone else.' or will I have grace in my life.
Wow.
People need the fruit of grace thinking. They don't even know they are sent by God to get it from us. They are just living their lives doing the best that they can trying to survive.
Our minds are God's vineyard. It is His possession. We are stewards.
Can we see everyone who comes to us as a person sent by God to Get some grace?
Our boss... our child... our wife... our husband... the hurting person... the homeless person (who really should be out working somewhere)... do we bang them on the head or do we give them the fruit that has been growing in our vineyard?
Help us God. Really... We need it. Seed our garden and water it. Give us a bumper crop of grace. Let competition and rebellion born of wounds be a thing of the past in our lives. Grow grace in us. Establish our hearts in it more and more so that gracious words are on our lips that point people to You and what you have done on behalf of all mankind.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." - John 3:16-17 KJV
---
Friday, July 18, 2014
A Small Seed
I was thinking today about how we are given a little first and then later that small stewardship becomes greater later.
I few words given at the right time go from something interesting to something broad and vast. They start as a seed and then grow into a tree.
"His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' " - Matthew 25:23 ESV
"I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth." - John 17:14-17 ESV
Hope grows in us. A calling is made known over time. Small investments turn into large futures. I want to be mindful of the small investment of eternal truth.
The Gospel is a lifeline that you can throw out to person in need and it will preserve them. It does not weigh them down. It keeps them afloat.
Words from God keep us from evil. In our life we will have trouble and great joy and the Word sanctifies us right there in the situation. Stewardship of truth gives us a strong core to function from. A stable center which strengthens the rest of our life.
God, I want to notice someone no one notices today. I want a word from you for that person. I want to go where no one goes. I want to speak by faith even if it seems small. I want to see the unseen and be blind to the obvious and mundane. Your words are valuable show me how and where to invest them.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." - John 3:16 KJV
This sentence is a seed and I want to sow it far and wide. Wherever this seed takes root and is established life springs forth from death.
--
I few words given at the right time go from something interesting to something broad and vast. They start as a seed and then grow into a tree.
"His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' " - Matthew 25:23 ESV
"I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth." - John 17:14-17 ESV
Hope grows in us. A calling is made known over time. Small investments turn into large futures. I want to be mindful of the small investment of eternal truth.
The Gospel is a lifeline that you can throw out to person in need and it will preserve them. It does not weigh them down. It keeps them afloat.
Words from God keep us from evil. In our life we will have trouble and great joy and the Word sanctifies us right there in the situation. Stewardship of truth gives us a strong core to function from. A stable center which strengthens the rest of our life.
God, I want to notice someone no one notices today. I want a word from you for that person. I want to go where no one goes. I want to speak by faith even if it seems small. I want to see the unseen and be blind to the obvious and mundane. Your words are valuable show me how and where to invest them.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." - John 3:16 KJV
This sentence is a seed and I want to sow it far and wide. Wherever this seed takes root and is established life springs forth from death.
--
Friday, May 9, 2014
My Course And The Ministry
"But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God." - Acts 20:24 ESV
The course and the ministry. The Dromos (Strong's G1408) and the Diakonia (G1248). A term of service and a sending out to reconcile people to eternal perspective. The measure of a life and the content of the interaction of that life.
The course is 'my' course but it is 'the' ministry. No one runs my course but me. The ministry is a shared ministry to testify to the gospel of the grace of God given to many by Christ Himself. Given before the ascension and passed on by people to people ever since.
My course is something only I can discern others may be used by God as helpers but it is a 'term of office' that has individual accountability and will ultimately be determined by my decisions. We steer our own boats. At times no one is at the helm, we are carried by a storm or or we are being towed along by others but no one has the power or right to steer but us. We will be accountable to God if we lived by passion or if we lived by principle. Turning over our lives to God transforms us from owners, where we usurp authority; to stewards, where we rule over someone else's possession.
As far as ministry goes we are pieces in a big puzzle. At times we don't see our place but grace testifies to us that we have a place. It is a special unique place that no one else can fill and each one has a similarly unique place.
"To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith," - 1 Timothy 1:17-19 ESV
"Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love." - Ephesians 4:15-16 ESV
"Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you." - 2 Timothy 1:13-14 ESV
Only we can disqualify ourselves. God's gifts and calling are never revoked (Romans 11:29). An excess of self examination will lead to disqualification.
There is a course to finish and ministry to participate in. It is not by effort but by illumination that we will navigate the waters... sound words that define a glorious Gospel have been entrusted to us...
Today we can be good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
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The course and the ministry. The Dromos (Strong's G1408) and the Diakonia (G1248). A term of service and a sending out to reconcile people to eternal perspective. The measure of a life and the content of the interaction of that life.
The course is 'my' course but it is 'the' ministry. No one runs my course but me. The ministry is a shared ministry to testify to the gospel of the grace of God given to many by Christ Himself. Given before the ascension and passed on by people to people ever since.
My course is something only I can discern others may be used by God as helpers but it is a 'term of office' that has individual accountability and will ultimately be determined by my decisions. We steer our own boats. At times no one is at the helm, we are carried by a storm or or we are being towed along by others but no one has the power or right to steer but us. We will be accountable to God if we lived by passion or if we lived by principle. Turning over our lives to God transforms us from owners, where we usurp authority; to stewards, where we rule over someone else's possession.
As far as ministry goes we are pieces in a big puzzle. At times we don't see our place but grace testifies to us that we have a place. It is a special unique place that no one else can fill and each one has a similarly unique place.
"To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith," - 1 Timothy 1:17-19 ESV
"Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love." - Ephesians 4:15-16 ESV
"Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you." - 2 Timothy 1:13-14 ESV
Only we can disqualify ourselves. God's gifts and calling are never revoked (Romans 11:29). An excess of self examination will lead to disqualification.
There is a course to finish and ministry to participate in. It is not by effort but by illumination that we will navigate the waters... sound words that define a glorious Gospel have been entrusted to us...
Today we can be good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
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Monday, March 10, 2014
Stewards of The Manifold Grace Of God
"So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future - all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's. This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God. I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?" - 1 Corinthians 3:21-4:7 ESV
This is so good.
We live in a world were the wave of people opinions and views beat against the shores of our thinking but Jesus is a strong tower where we can run and find safety. There is no judgement in Him.
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you." - Jeremiah 29:11-12 ESV
We hid in Him and become stewards of those thoughts. Our mind remains with Him as we go out into the world communicating what He has given us.
"As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." - 1 Peter 4:10 KJV
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This is so good.
We live in a world were the wave of people opinions and views beat against the shores of our thinking but Jesus is a strong tower where we can run and find safety. There is no judgement in Him.
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you." - Jeremiah 29:11-12 ESV
We hid in Him and become stewards of those thoughts. Our mind remains with Him as we go out into the world communicating what He has given us.
"As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." - 1 Peter 4:10 KJV
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Tuesday, February 25, 2014
The Topic Of The Cross
"They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know, for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, 'The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.'
But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him. And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, 'What were you discussing on the way?'
But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.
And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, 'If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.' And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, 'Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.' " - Mark 9:30-37 ESV
If we have no understanding of the cross we will have ambition that has no fellowship with God. After the cross comes in and it is no longer a topic to be avoided with God it is then we become ministers. We can love instead of looking for recognition.
Love becomes a stewardship. Instead of replacing Christ we go as people crucified and raised from the dead. Able ministers to the guilty and the innocent.
When we no longer fear to discuss the cross with God fear of every other topic fades as well. Everything that could ever separate us from fellowship was nailed to that cross. No topic is off limits. We can come just like little children to the one who loves us.
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But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him. And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, 'What were you discussing on the way?'
But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.
And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, 'If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.' And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, 'Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.' " - Mark 9:30-37 ESV
If we have no understanding of the cross we will have ambition that has no fellowship with God. After the cross comes in and it is no longer a topic to be avoided with God it is then we become ministers. We can love instead of looking for recognition.
Love becomes a stewardship. Instead of replacing Christ we go as people crucified and raised from the dead. Able ministers to the guilty and the innocent.
When we no longer fear to discuss the cross with God fear of every other topic fades as well. Everything that could ever separate us from fellowship was nailed to that cross. No topic is off limits. We can come just like little children to the one who loves us.
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