Something Great is Around the Corner

Today's blog post is contributed by David Trotta:

 

Have you ever gone through a period of spiritual dryness where God feels distant and heaven is silent?  A time where you don’t feel His tangible presence like you have felt so many times, but instead, it’s difficult to worship, pray, and read the bible?

 

I have felt that way many times before, but looking back, I also recall times of great refreshing, hunger, and revelation that immediately followed that period of dryness.

 

The wilderness can be a time of great growth if we don’t give up.  Our Lord Jesus (Matthew 4:1) and some of the greatest heroes of the bible went through a wilderness period just before being launched into their ministry or being used by the Lord to perform a great work.  Moses was in the wilderness when God called him to lead His people out of Egypt (Exodus 3:1-2).

 

The wilderness can be a great tool the Lord uses to shape us and prepare us for the work that He has planned for us.

 

If you’re feeling that way today, hang in there, even if it’s by your fingernails. Keep your eyes on the Lord, even if all you can muster is an occasional glance.  A time of refreshing is around the corner.

And if the enemy whispers to you in the wilderness and tries to get you to take your eyes off the Lord and put your trust elsewhere, do what our Lord did and say “It is written…”

 

And, most importantly while in the wilderness, hold fast to God’s promise that “He will never leave your, nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5).  He calls our heart His home with a promise to never leave, ever! 

So, hang in there. 

Something great is around the corner.

 

A Lot of Questions to Ask

“After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:

“Do not be afraid, Abram.

I am your shield, your very great reward.”

Genesis 15:1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s blog post builds on yesterday’s.

 

Head love asks a lot of questions.

Questions like:

What’s in it for me?

What do I have to give up?

What is the easiest path to victory?

How can I avoid any discomfort and pain?

Heart love also asks a lot of questions.

Questions like:

How can I be a blessing to others?

What use of my time will allow me the greatest opportunity to minister to others?

How can I be a more effective witness and servant for Christ?

Do you see the difference?

One is very inward focused while the other is Christ centered.

Heart love cannot truly be experienced or shared apart from a relationship with the Holy Spirit.

Head love offers many options – many ways of making it easier on oneself.

Heart love leaves us with but one option – obedience.

Don’t misunderstand though.

Heart love has great rewards.

None greater than Jesus Christ Himself.

Head love offers nothing remotely close to that!

 

 

Head or Heart?

“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”

II Corinthians 5:14-15

 

 

Do you love God with your head or with your heart?

Maybe a fairer question to ask is: Can you love God with your head only?

I think an honest answer to that question would have to be No!

Was the love of the Father that Jesus modeled for us head love or heart love?

The religious folks of Jesus’ day (and religious folks today) would have to admit the love Jesus demonstrated made no sense to them.

It simply was not logical – to their way of thinking.

He forgave the woman caught in the act of adultery.

The law said she should be stoned.

He told others to pray for and love their enemies.

Now that made little or no sense to them.

God’s love embraced us “…while we were yet sinners.”

God’s love is sometimes incredibly illogical to the human mind.

Maybe that’s why scripture tells us that our thoughts and His thoughts are not the same.

Our own human reasoning and logic just cannot fathom that kind of love.

But the wonderful news – the renewed heart can receive His love!

The renewed heart can even share His love.

The heart filled with His love has told some pretty incredible stories.

I think of those who have forgiven an incredibly hard offense.

Our head says “I could never do that!”

His love in our heart makes the impossible possible.

Think of the power resident in a church that can love Him with their heart and love others the same way.

Suddenly, things we ‘thought’ we couldn’t do we do.

Because His love compels us…

 

GET OUT

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,

and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and,

lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

Matthew 28:19-20

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Go!

That is the first word of the Great Commission spoken by Jesus to His disciples.

I have checked numerous translations and they all contain that same word: “Go!”

Somehow, we’ve mixed it up over the years and we’ve said: “Come!”

“Come into our buildings, come to our programs.”

We have turned the command around.

No longer are we ‘sent ones’ we have become ‘sit around ones’.

Ouch.

That hurt, I know.

But they are not beating a path to our door.

Jesus never said they would.

He told us to…Go into all the world.  

He never once told the world that they should visit our church.

Maybe this can help us – instead of thinking of the word “go” as a word think of it instead as an acronym –

 G.O.

standing for the words:

Get Out!

Get out of your comfortable sanctuaries and multi-million dollar buildings into all the world.

Get out of the comfortable places to the places where people are hurting, lonely and desperately seeking answers.

Read the Gospels.

Jesus got out.

Never once did he hold a conference, workshop or invite people over.

His invitation was to a person and not a place.

“Come unto me…”

When you get out – you can do the same:

You can invite them to a person and not merely to a place!

“Four Months to get a Hug”

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’

But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

that you may be children of your Father in heaven.

He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good,

and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?

Are not even the tax collectors doing that?

And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others?

Do not even pagans do that?

 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Matthew 5:43-48

 

Odd title for a blog post, isn’t it?

Today, as the church gathered, we were told of the progress of one of the newer ministries begun here at His Place at the direction of the LORD.

It was noted that after four months of serving a group of people one of those ministering had received their first ‘hug’ from someone who had been blessed by that ministry.

A small step but a step nonetheless as they seek to build relationships, minister to needs and share the Gospel.

We were challenged, perhaps not with these particular words, but with the same sentiment:

What would you do if it were four years before a hug was received?

Would you continue to serve faithfully?

Would you continue, in love, to pray for them?

Radical love answers “Yes!” to those questions.

That person to whom God has revealed His grace cannot help but share the news of that wonderful grace with others.

They realize that God extended His grace to them while they were ‘enemies’ of God.

If we minister only to those who already love God how is His Kingdom advanced?

Let God stretch you this week.

Ask Him to lead you to someone you would not normally reach out to.

Maybe you’ll not have a chance to say a lot but speak His love through your actions.

You’ll be amazed how powerfully that love can speak!

 

 

You Are Indispensible

Today's blog post was contributed by David Trotta:



Have you ever seen those funny TV clips where the character put together a machine of some sort only to find a few spare parts lying on the table after the assembly was finished?  The character usually shrugs off the extra parts only to have the equipment malfunction and cause a mini-disaster.

We usually chuckle when we see a skit like that, but in real life, if you assemble something without using all the parts, that piece of equipment will almost always malfunction and not be able to do what it was designed to do.

Case in point is an automobile engine.  The average automobile engine has thousands of parts, some big, some very small.  But, regardless of the size, each part has a specific and important purpose.

As a former automotive mechanic, I went through great pains to keep track of every nut, bolt, washer, gasket, and o-ring that came out of an engine to make sure it went back in during reassembly.  If even the smallest of parts was missed, the engine would not perform at peak level, or in some cases, cease working all together.  Every part was indispensible.

The body of Christ is the same way.  It is made up of many different parts called “you” and “me” that function collectively to present a tangible Jesus to the world around us.  1 Corinthians 12:27 says “Now you [collectively] are Christ’s body and [individually] you are members of it, each part severally and distinct [each with his own place and function].”

You and I have a distinct purpose in the body of Christ that only we can fill. And when we are not doing our part, the whole body of Christ suffers.  Just like that part sitting alone on the table can’t fill its designed purpose, we also can’t fill our purpose when standing on the sidelines of life.

You may think the part you have to play is small and insignificant, but it’s not.  Each part, big or small, is equal in importance.  You are an indispensible part of the body of Christ and your local church and necessary to the advancement of the Kingdom of God on the earth.

By This…

Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father.

 Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers,

and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.”

I Timothy 5:1-2

 

 

The Bible gives us instruction in how we are to treat one another and

 surprise, surprise, it once again uses the picture of a family.

We are to respect the older men and woman in our fellowship in the same way we respect our own mothers and fathers.

Likewise the younger are to be treated like brothers and sisters.

As we were reminded this past Sunday the church is a family of believers.

We are not a business or a social club.

Perhaps this advice seems so foreign to some because even in our families we no longer respect and honor one another.

The elderly are not esteemed; they are mocked for their slow driving or forgetfulness.

Our peers aren’t treated as brothers or sisters but as competitors we are always trying to outdo.

If we are not careful these same attitudes can creep into the church.

Certainly this is not confined to one’s age but also their ‘station’ in life.

We fawn over the well-heeled and have disdain for those lower on the social ladder than ourselves.

This must not be.

We must be a model to the world.

We must show His love to one another in such a way that those outside the family cannot wait to become a part of it.

Jesus said it best (He always seems to doesn’t He?)

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."