The Steps of Ministry

         

     The Lord’s Grace to Paul

¹² I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. ¹³ Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. ¹⁴ The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵ Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. ¹⁶ But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. ¹⁷ Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

The Charge to Timothy Renewed

¹⁸ Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you,so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, ¹⁹ holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith. ²⁰ Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.

                                        -1 Timothy 1:12-20

       These verses are want the preacher went over at my parents' church this morning and I thought they had a lot of good points in them to remember. The verses tells us how to be serving the Lord and what will happen if we do and if we don't. The preacher really pushed serving and encouraging with these verses this morning. Here is what I put in my notes from the sermon and what I got from it. It is verse by verse type of thing. 

        

       -Verse 12-God enabled us so we need to be thankful. God puts us in a ministry by the passions that He gives us. We should be faithful in serving God with that passion.

       -Verse 13-God saved Paul from his sins and Paul gives God all the glory for the ministry/work he does because he knew it was given to him by God. Paul share his testimony/story in this verse and chapter.

       -Verse 14-This verse gives the meaning of Grace with three words, "poured out abundantly".

       -Verse 15-This verse should be the focus of everything. It should be the way we live on lives. We are sinners and Jesus died for us to be saved by Him.

       - Verse 16-It tells us that we need to have patience with "sinners" like God had patience with us and Paul. That means even the worst sinners and I will admit that is hard for me because I think about what the parents are doing with the children and why we have them at my job and I ask "why?" The answer is: "we are all sinners of the flesh." Christians need to be helping instead of asking why.

        - Verse 17-We need to and can Honor God by spending Time with Him.

        -Verse 18-This verse reminders us that we have the confidence from the Lord to fight with Him and in His Battles. The Lord will always be beside us in everything if He has given it to us to do.

        -Verse 19-This verse tells us to have a clear conscience and to do that and keep doing that is by having Faith in Christ.

         These verses say it clear and simple what we should be doing and how we should be doing it. You could even call them the main steps of ministry. They also show how God gave Grace to Paul and how and why He gives Grace to us.

        Lesson from Today: Life is a ministry to the people around us no matter what our job is whether it is a stay at home mom or a business person. LIFE IS A MINISTRY! We just need to find out a way to use it has a ministry whether encouraging friends, having patience with co-workers, having confidence enough to speak up when we should, or spending time with God.

        

2 Cor. 6:10 Challenge

       

2 Cor. 6:10 Challenge

March 1, 2013 at 9:45am

"With My help you can find precious pleasures I have scattered alongside your path."-Sarah Young

"Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything."-2 Cor. 6:10

The Bible verse I just put up there is a good mission one for overseas and everyday life here right where we are right now. I made a list of what that verse means to me right now. Here it is:

We maybe be:
-sorrowful
-poor
-have nothing.

But in God we are:
-always rejoicing
-rich
-possessing everything.

As I think of this verse now in my life, I think I might not have the time I want with friends or to do anything extra like that and might be strange hours but I do have everything in the world. I have my passion/mission as my job. Yeah, it does get sorrowful at times but yet I'm always rejoicing because that gives me more children to love on. It also shows me if children can have very little but yet possess everything and always be happy, then what is wrong with us adults today. Where did the simple life go? Yeah, things got more confusing and busy, but that is the world's way of taking us away from God. I challenge whoever reads this to slow down and just spend time with God and see what HE can teach you. 

Needs vs. Wants

          What do I really need? What do I want? God has been pushing those two questions on my heart lately and I think where I am in life right now is a good spot to firugre out the answers to those questions with my job and just different situations like friends, hobbies, even God, in a good way, and other things. We all need to ask ourselves those questions every once in awhile to rethink what our lives are really about. I have had two main situations that have been going on to help me see more clearly the difference between those two things. God has given me one situation and I'm not really a big believer or I don't like to admit I know when the Devil is trying to get me away from God but I strongly believe He is trying now or has been lately. There has been tugging at my heart on both ways and it is so clear which way I should go. I didn't know how good of desirment I had until this past week.
            First I will tell you the situation I think the Devil is putting me in. It has stopped for now I think and hopefully for good but these past 2 weeks were hard. I might this random guy at church two weeks ago on a Saturday night and I thought nothing of it because I have seen him around church before but he just came up to me that night. We talked for a bit about the church and what we liked about it and he asked me some questions about me. The normal questions you would ask when you first actually talk with someone. Before I knew it I gave him my number because he asked if he could have it just in case he had any questions about the church. I gave it to him and that was dumb on my part. The reason it was dumb is because he texted me and called me the next day. I don't pick up the phone because I don't like talking on the phone. We went ahead and texted though. His texting was strange though at first because he started to complient me and give me wisdom which sounded like it was from forture cookies and they made me feel good. Then a week later he said that he would like for me to preach at his home town.
            This situation was what I WANTED but it was too easy and too good to be true in a lot of ways so I stopped talking to him.  I got me thinking though where I am now and what I am learning now is great. I love it and I love the people around as friends because they tell me the truth and gives me the chance to fix it but still love me for me. They don't try and cover it up and they don't make judgements before they really know me.
            Second, I will tell you about the situation I need and I know God is in this one for sure. I had a disagreement with some friends a few months back but they pointed out some really good things that I needed to focus on on myself that I needed to change so I could be a better person. When it first happened, I would push it down and say no but as the months have gone on, I'm seeing how they are really helping me without knowing it. I started a Women's Bible Study in Jan. about the book "Boundaries" and that book is so GREAT and the study is too! Through that book, I see a lot of things that I need to fix about myself before I can go on into other friendships or relationships. God is teaching me a lot about me and people in general through this study. Through the situation that I'm having with these friends I'm learning a lot about what I did and how I messed up and what I need to do to change that and build more friends and closer friends. I really appicate the friends I have now more then anything but I don't show it and I need to.
               God knew I needed this friends to do what they did. It is being used for His Glory and it is changing me in ways I could never think possible. It is breaking me out of my stubbornness that I guess got bad over the years and is turning me closer to God and relying on Him more. God knew I NEEDED this hard situation to learn things that He had for me to learn because I would not pay attention any other way and sometimes He does it in ways we don't like. I'm not this princess or has smart as people think I am. I am a sinner and I need God's help in everything I do. I've made tons of mistakes and dumb things whether said them, did them, or thought them.
                God is renewing and turning my life around through this Bible study and it is one I'll take over and over because there is so much to grasp. It is like I need to quit my job and just focus on my and this study for a few months or even a year. It's that deep because I feel like I'm that messed up. Little things we do to people can have the biggest impact but yet at times we might not know that it is being mean to them or destorying them in some way. We might not know that we are holding them back from something they could be doing but not. We might not know that we are luring them in when really we are espically as women. Sounds bad but at the same time it could be true.
                
              Thought for Today: "You might know what you WANT but God knows what you NEED and He will get you through it."

Snow Day Memories with my Children

          It was March 4th and yes, there was snow on the ground. Hard to believe right? No, not here in AR. The weather changes all the time. I was at work all day working a double because of us being short-staffed. The children spent the day playing in the snow because that was all we could do.  We took bowls of it inside in the morning and played with it that way. We had our picture taken with a snowman that some of the older kids built. We went out a played in it on our playground until it was time to eat.
            I guess when the snow is in bowls or something you can eat it from it means you eat it espically when you give the children a spoon to play with in it. They didn't quite get the idea of building little things with it but that had fun anyways. There were sprinkles in the snow and they would try and find then and then eat them. They also got to watch it melt in the bowls and on the tables. Some of them even said that they couldn't build anything with it because it kept melting in their hands.
             After naptime, we went out and played in the snow on our playground. The children made snow angels, through snowballs at me, and we tried to build a snowman but I couldn't help because I forgot my gloves so my hands were getting cold fast. I will tell you though that was a prefect moment and it reminded me why I love my job. I got to thinking a little bit when I was getting snowballs thrown at me, "how many of these children actually get to play in the snow like this and enjoy it?" "How many of them really got to feel snow before this?" Now, most of mine did because they knew about snow angels, wanted to build a snowman and knew how to start one, and really knew how to throw snowballs but it really makes you wonder sometimes. It was just so pretty outside itself. The sun was shining and really you could do without a coat on. On of my children did. It made my day, I almost cried out there but that could be because I worked all day too. Who knows? Just a neat and wonderful moment in time. One of the joys of my job and I needed it since I had worked all day. I needed that reminder. Sometimes we all do because we get so caught up in doing everyday things that we really forget the reason we are where we are.
              Before we went to our playground to play, we went a took pictures with a huge snowman, when I say huge I mean 7 feet huge, that the bigger kids took two hours to build. It was spiecal too for me just seeing my children standing beside a huge snowman. Thought going through my head: This might be the first picture for them with a snowman. We have a newborn at my job and we took him out there to get a picture with the snowman and it was so cute it looked fake. Here is this huge snowman, 7 feet tall, and this tiny little newborn laying down on a pillow beside it. Also, one of my children has a family of 6 slibings including him and they are took a picture around the snowman. Of course, I have 6 siblings too so while their picture was getting taken that brought back memories for me too. Family memories. Who knows that might be their last or only picture of the whole family together.
                 The point of this entery is: "Remember to take every moment in because every moment is a Blessing from God, whether at home or work."
            
          

Freedom=Love

         " Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
DOESN'T FORCE ITSELF ON OTHERS,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end."

       "But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love."

-1 Cor. 13:4-7,13

        I have always loved this verses and look back on them every so often. These were the verses I wanted for my wedding until one of my sisters took them for hers. :) I really love how The Message verison puts it and I didn't notice it until a friend put it on her status on Facebook. Then I got to thinking about them again in this wording and what I'm learning now, it makes total sense. 

          I'm learning about having Boundaries with Spouse or how to have those when I get and if I ever get married because of a Bible study I'm going through so what I'm about to say has no experience whatsoever. It just makes sense to me right now. My title: Freedom=Love is true in marriage or that is what the book "Boundaries" say. You need to give your spouse room for them to have their own boundaries in the marriage. Yeah, two are suppose to become one but you don't throw everything away when you get married. Not againist any guys out there but I would go crazy if I did that. 

           I read in these verses where it says, "Doesn't force itself on others" and in ways I felt like I've done that off and on but I didn't know until know. If you really care and love someone you don't want to force anything on them espically love. They need to have the freedom to love you the way they do. Isn't that the reason you first fell for them? You don't want to force someone to change, do you? 

            Jesus didn't force us to love Him. He did what was right and we can come to Him if we want. He leaves the the choice of free will but yet He stills loves us and we know that. We should do that. We should do what is right towards our friends and not want anything back. We shouldn't do something because we want something back. We should do it because we want to do it and love them enough to do it. 

            Then the phases "Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly" mean a lot. Trust STEADILY in God that means never to doubt in the trust with him. He is our foundation for Love and everything else. He is there all the time. Then "Love extravagantly" when you put those two words together nothing can stop that love. I love the word "extravagantly" because it means forever and ever without end. Love forever and ever without there being an end. God does that to us. Why can't we do that for others? 
            Remember all of this is coming from a single person on this earth so don't take it for real but maybe just think about it some because she has God in her life and that is all that matters. She will say that "Actions out of love does speak louder then words" from the experiences and situations she has been in.

            

      Challenge for Today: "God doesn't force His Love on us but yet He loves us forever and ever with the actions and words He does for and says to us." Can we do that to other people?

Boundaries with Self-Part 2

         Here is part 2 for making boundaries for self from the book "Boundaries". There is a check list in the book that asks 6 questions for a person to be able to noticed that they need boundaries within their self and ways to establish them. The 6 questions are: "What are the symptoms?, what are the roots?, what is the boundary conflict?, Who needs to take ownership?, what do you need to do?, and How do I begin?" The book really gives steps with two of the steps and those steps are: "what are the roots? and How to I begin?"
            We will start with the question: What are the roots?. Here are 7 possible roots for self-boundary conflicts:
             1. Lack of training-"Some people never learned to accept limits or to pay the consequences of their actions, or to delay gratification when they were growing up."
             2.  Rewarded destructiveness-"May learn that out of control things can bring you closer."
             3. Distorted needs-A person can take something that was made for the good and use it for the bad.
             4. Fear of relationships-"People want to really be loved but their out of control behavior keeps others away."
             5. Unmet emotional hungers-Want someone to love them.
             6. Being under the law-Some people were not able to make decisions for themselves growing up so when they try to make some of their own decisions they feel guilty and then they can tend to rebel in a bad way or just not want to be around people or in situations where they have to make a choice.
              7. Covering emotional hurts-People can hide their pain with things such as eating too much or spending too much or not talking at all to other people. They do this so they will be distract from the real pain of being unloved or any other bad feelings.
              Here are 5 ways that you can begin setting boundaries on yourself:
              1. Address your real needs.-What do you need? What is your real problem? I need help with my real problem. Committing you have a problem.
              2. Allow yourself to fail.-It won't be easy right from the start when you set boundaries. You have to let yourself fail but yet get back up again and do it again. It will make you stronger that way. "The recurrence of destructive patterns is evidence that God's sanctifying, maturing, and preparing us for eternity. We need to continue to practice to learn things."
               3. Listen to empathic feedback from others.-Surround yourself with friends that will tell you the truth when you ask about yourself and then listen to them and see if you can change in a good way. "Sometimes you may not truely understand the extent of the damage your lack of boundaries causes in the lives of those you care about. Other believers can provide perspective and support."
                4. Welcome consequences as a teacher.-"Just as a loving father's heart breaks when he sees his children in pain, God wants to spare us pain. But when His words and the feedback of his other children don't reach us, consequences are the only way to keep us out of further damage."
                5. Surround yourself with people who are loving and supportive.-Need others who are supportive but won't rescue you. Maintain close contact with your support group.
                 The quotes with these marks (" ") around them are straight out of the book by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend.
            
    

Boundaries with Self-Part 1

        It is the start of a new month and therefore, I am going to try and have a theme this month at least one day per week and then I will write whatever I want on the other days. That theme will be about the book: "Boundaries" by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend and what I am learning from it. I have been in a Women's Bible Study with it and we are getting to the parts where it talks about setting boundaries in certain areas in your life. This week it was about setting boundaries with yourself which I needed really bad and is probably is the reason I act the way I do now. I will admit.
        Then there are 7 boundaries that we need to think about in life. The 7 are family, self, spouse, children, friends, work, and God. Two weeks ago, we went over having boundaries with our family, which was good and I could see some areas that I need to work on but this past week we went over boundaries with self like I already said and boy, do I need help with that one?! It should interesting for me I could learn what not to do and what I need to do on all of them now and in the future. There might be a lot of parts from me in this blog. Like there might be 2 or 3 parts on just self because I don't want to make a entery too long where people get bored reading it.
         There are 7 ways that our soul can be out of control and you might be able to guess some, if not all, of them. They are eating, money, time, task completion, the tongue, sexuality, and alcohol and substance abuse. I will admit that I might tend to get a little personal here so please don't judge me. We all have our own mistakes and mess up. One thing I'm learning through all of this is that I'M MESSED UP SO I NEED JESUS! I'M SORRY. You can take it or leave it. I would say my worse two ways are time and task completion. I will admit sometimes my tongue can get in the way too.
           There are four reasons that time can be a problem that we need to fix. If we don't have boundaries on time this is what can happen or does happen. When people have no boundaries on time, they can be:
           1. omnipotence (have bigger views of what they can get done on certain amount of time).
           2. Overresponsibility for the feelings of others (think how the other person feels when leaving a party or somewhere too early.
           3. Lack of realistic anxiety (They live so much in the present that they forget to plan ahead for things like parking the car or dressing right for an outing).
           4. Rationalization (They make the distress and inconvenience on others small like they won't care if I'm late because they are my friends).
            Here is a verse that we want to say and how we want to feel with our time well spent after the day is over and it is Proverbs 13:19.
            There are 6 reason that task completion can be a problem for many people. The book calls them "poor finishers" and they are pretty much self-understanding. They are:
            1. Resistance to structure-Can be a putdown if limited to a way of doing things.
            2. Fear of success-They don't want to lose their friends because of what "big people" they have become due to their success.
            3. Lack of follow-through-They like the idea of starting a task but not finishing it. They would rather put the finishing on other people.
            4. Distractibility-They are not able to focus on a project til it is done.
            5. Inability to delay gratification-They can't work through the pain of the project to experience the happy ending of getting it done and doing it well. They want to go right to the pleasure.
            6. Inability to say "no" to other pressures. -That one is self-explained. Unable to say "no" to other people.
            Here are a couple of verses having to do with task completion that the book gave- 2 Tim. 4:7-8 (we want to be able to say that about one task not ten million tasks), and John 19:30 (3 simple words that would be so nice to say after being done with one big task).
            Hope it's not too long for you to read and think about. If it is I will try to shorten the next one but you have to admit it is so good stuff to think about. I recommend the book to anyone and everyone. No matter the age or stage of life you are in.