Tag: God

Working For or With?

Many people work For God, but very few work With God. I believe the reason there are so many fractions in the church today, is because people, even ministers, are working For God & not With Him. He has called everyone one of us to work With Him and until we get that mindset, there will be division. If I cannot work with another Christian, no matter their doctrinal differences, then I have missed the mark! There will be no Unity in the Faith, Until we learn to work With God!

Matthew 12:28-30 But if I am casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you. For who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man like Satan and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger-someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house. “Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working WITH me is actually working against me.

Heretics and false prophets may claim to work For God, but they are definitely Not working With God.

Philippians 2:1-2 Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly WITH each other, LOVING one another, and working together WITH ONE MIND and purpose.

It all comes down to LOVE, the LOVE of God, which far surpasses any human love!

John 14:12-14 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!

We sell God short by working for Him, out of good hearts, and by not working With Him. It shouldn’t matter who does the work, as Paul says, but Whether God’s work, not Our work, is done…

1 Corinthians 15:10-11 But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me— and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was NOT I, but God who was working THROUGH me by his grace. So it makes no difference whether I preach or they preach, for we all preach the same message you have already believed.

2 Corinthians 10:13-17 We will not boast about things done outside our area of authority. We will boast only about what has happened within the boundaries of the work God has GIVEN us, which includes our working with you. We are not reaching beyond these boundaries when we claim authority over you, as if we had never visited you. For we were the first to travel all the way to Corinth with the Good News of Christ. Nor do we boast and claim credit for the work someone else has done. Instead, we hope that your faith will grow so that the boundaries of our work among you will be extended. Then we will be able to go and preach the Good News in other places far beyond you, where no one else is working. Then there will be no question of our boasting about work done in someone else’s territory. As the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”

Hebrews 12:14-17 Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many. Make sure that no one is immoral or godless like Esau, who traded his birthright as the firstborn son for a single meal. You know that afterward, when he wanted his father’s blessing, he was rejected. It was too late for repentance, even though he begged with bitter tears.

We can Only attain this holy life, by working With God. When we try to do it on our own, we are sacrificing our own birthright.

James 3:13-18 If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.

When we are working With God, he lavishes on us His Wisdom. There are so many things we cannot do without God, so why do we even try? I exhort you to call on God to work through you, so you may work With God and not just For Him. I pray that you are able to put aside anything you may be doing, even out of a caring heart, if it is not what God would have for you to do. Start each day by asking God how you could work with Him to bring about His plan for your life, and in essence, His plan for all.

Prayer: Father, I pray you will quicken me to your Spirit, so that I may work With you and in doing so, bring your Love and your hope to others. Help me know your will, and give me the courage even to walk on water, because I can only do this, by believing in you. Help me to face any calamity and any obstacle by knowing that you are working through me by your Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

(My emphases in capitalization of Scripture.)

I leave you with this thought… when we are working With God, and come to maturity, we will have peace. We will be able to work alongside others, each doing the work that God intends for us to do, because we will all work together with God, accomplishing His will.

Ephesians 4:16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

The Three Unopened Gifts

After Christmas there were still three gifts left under our tree that hadn’t been disturbed. After our family left, all of the other gifts had been opened and the bright shiny wrappings had been thrown away, or put in storage, but these three gifts didn’t have any nametags on them, and they were left untouched. Oddly, nobody even asked about these gifts. They didn’t question who they were intended for. I suppose they thought they were gifts that my husband, Jonathan and I had bought for each other, and would open later, privately. But Jonathan and I didn’t need them; we already had them. We knew who they were for and what they represented, so they sat there under the tree, as a reminder.

3 gifts

You see, I put these gifts under the tree because I wanted them there as a reminder of what Christmas is truly about. It isn’t about presents, at least in a material sense, but it is about gifts, gifts that can only be given from a pure heart. If you were to open these boxes, you wouldn’t find anything inside… they’re empty. But they each represent a deeper meaning. They represent what Christ came to the earth to share with us, something that cannot be bought with money or credit.

The red box represents Love, it was the love of God to redeem man, that sent us a Savior (red = the blood of Jesus) in the form of Jesus Christ. This love is unlike anything or any love that man can offer. “No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.” 1 John 4:12-16 NLT “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love.” Romans 8:38 NLT

The silver box represents Peace. This does not mean we won’t have problems as we live out our lives, but we can know that God is for us and will be there for us to help us. Jesus told us that he gave us the gift of peace the world cannot give. “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” John 14:27 NLT

The last gift, with the wild bow, is the gift of JOY! No matter what we face in this life, no matter what we are going through, we can have joy! This doesn’t mean we have to En-joy whatever it is, but we can still ‘Have’ Joy! That joy comes from the Holy Spirit within us. “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace…” Galatians 5:22-23 NLT The Joy of the Lord is our Strength to get us through every day of our life.

These three gifts are available to everyone! That is why there aren’t any nametags. I offer these gifts to you today. They are free for the taking. All you have to do to receive them is to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. It’s that simple. Just tell him that you are willing to put your life in His hands and trust him to make your life new.

You can pray this prayer: Father, I know I have sinned, but I want to put that life behind me. Please forgive me for my sins. I accept Christ as my Savior and I believe he died for my sins. Help me to do your will for my life. Help me to experience your love, peace, and joy. Thank you. Amen. 

What’s Inside That Package?

My husband and I don’t watch much TV but the few shows we watch are, Jeopardy, Master Chef, and occasionally The Voice. What I like about The Voice, (a show where people try to win a singing competition) is that when people audition for the first time, none of the judges see the contestants. They are basing their perceptions of whether to choose that person solely on their vocal abilities. It has nothing to do with the way they look, what size they are, the way they act, the way they style their hair, how much makeup they wear, or what clothes they wear. It comes down to vocal talent. I like that concept and I know that even as open-minded as I think I am, I have found myself being surprised by people who try out at times. Once I was in the kitchen cooking, weeks after they had eliminated contestants and they were down to about six candidates and I heard one of them singing. Because I couldn’t see them, I didn’t recognize which one it was and I had my favorites. I was listening and trying to decide who was singing, but I couldn’t determine which one of ‘my favorites’ it was. I was enjoying this pure voice, but I couldn’t put a face to it. I had to walk into the living room and see who it was. I was shocked because I heard from this person, without seeing them, something I had never heard before, a quality I had never heard before. She was at the bottom of my top three and that night, she moved to my number one! (Incidentally, she went on to win the competition.) I thought right then. Wow! I had a preconceived notion about her. I was judging her based on her age and not her talent. I was letting my mind play tricks on me and not listening to what this gal has to offer! It wasn’t her looks, it wasn’t the way she dressed, it was her age! It made me wonder how many times have I done that with other people based on other things? Maybe it was something else about them that I let get in the way and I didn’t “listen” to what they had to offer. Maybe they had something amazing to share with me and some preconceived notion of mine blocked a tremendous blessing! I was saddened at myself and my reaction.

wm pkg

Later I reflected on Jesus and how he was rejected in his home town. He was also rejected because he was a Jew. We can think of all kinds of things to reject people for. Sometimes we don’t receive from people because they are talented or because they aren’t talented. We can make up all kinds of excuses not to listen. There are many people who will listen to a person because they have so many degrees, like a doctorate or a master’s but I’ve met people with many degrees who don’t have a lick of common sense. Then there are people who have very little education but have all the wisdom in the world. While we do need to be careful who we receive from, we need to be equally careful who we reject. We may be rejecting the greatest treasure on earth.

I’m sure you’ve heard of people who have tossed out what they thought was garbage only to be found by another who found something of great value? When I had my first job at the age of nineteen, I rented a small two bedroom house off the college campus where I worked in Tulsa. The woman who owned the house, had left it, thirty years before, belongings and all, when her husband died because she couldn’t bear to stay with all the memories. It was quite a mess to clean up, but the structure was sound and the furnishings were very nice. It was like stepping into a time capsule of someone’s life. Imagine all the dust and grime that collected over those years! The vacuum’s electric cord had disintegrated into the carpet. When I went to move it, the cord just crumbled! She said to do whatever we wanted with everything in the house. There was a rather dull wall-hanging, in a plain off-white etched wooden frame, that I tossed into the open trash can. My mother came by as I was cleaning and saw it and asked if she could have it. Naturally, I said yes, wondering why she would want it. A couple of weeks later, I was in my mother’s house and there was a beautiful art piece hanging on her wall. I asked where she found that amazing ocean scene. She said, “Don’t you recognize it? It was in your trash can!” She had cleaned it and antiqued the frame to bring out the gold tones of the sun glistening on the water. It was a seascape of ocean waves crashing on the shore, spraying radiant droplets of water up, with reflections of a golden sunrise, but the dirt I saw had obscured the scene and the bland frame had muted the colors. Her skillful refurbishing had brought out what the original artist had seen and depicted. She asked if I wanted it back and I told her “No Mom, you deserve to have it, because you saw what I could not see, you brought it to life.” Over the years, every time I saw that painting, I admired it and reminded myself to look beneath the dirt and grime and see the potential, because I might be missing something of great beauty.

But isn’t that how life is? There is potential everywhere we look. There is potential in everyone, there is great beauty in everyone. God sees it, but sometimes we fail to see it. God sings over each of us, but we don’t all have the ears to hear his song. And God can use each one of us and speak through each of us. If he can speak through donkeys, he can speak through people. We just have to quit shutting our ears to the people around us and rejecting the packages. You never know when you might be missing a beautiful song or tossing out a beautiful art piece. Will you start receiving the packages God sends to you, no matter how they’re wrapped?

See these verses:

Luke 4:14-30 (Jesus rejection in Nazareth)

Numbers 22:28 (donkey speaking)

Zephaniah 3:17 (Lord sings over us!)

Prayer: Father I pray that today you will help us each to receive the messages you send to us, no matter how they are wrapped. Help us to look beyond the package to the message. Help us all to realize that you are the message and it is you we are seeking. Help us to look for content and not be judgemental. Help us to see with your vision to the heart. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.