Organizing the Inside 365 Days
Empowering Christian Women To Get Organized and Discover God's Plan for Their LivesArchive for church
Organizing the Inside – Day 333 Happy to Be a Gatekeeper
1How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 2I long, yes, I faint with longing to enter the courts of the Lord. With my whole being, body and soul, I will shout joyfully to the living God. 3Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow builds her nest and raises her young at a place near your altar, O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, my King and my God! 4What joy for those who can live in your house, always singing your praises. Selah
Psalm 84:1-4 (NIV)
We can meet with God anywhere. He is always there when we need Him. The psalmist was speaking of the temple where God’s Spirit dwelled. Today our bodies are considered a type of temple, because God’s Spirit dwells within each of us (Christians). The church (building) is also a type of temple, referred to as the house of God. We go there to meet with Him and be closer to the people of God. This is part of God’s plan for community. Going to church allows us to corporately worship Him and together along with other believers we honor Him with our gifts and service. An important part of Christian living; this adds to the Christian experience and should not be neglected. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:25 (NLT)
We need a place that is separate from the world. A place where the things of God are prominently placed, cueing us to worship. Not a place where traditions, and rituals or idols are the focus, but a place that aids our worship of God and supports our need to fellowship with each other. This is the local church. Many enjoy community among comrades in this fight of faith via the internet, but keep in mind there is no substitution for meeting together with other believers. Neither turning on the television nor logging on the internet can take the place of entering His gates, although there are many great messages there. The world is a busy place, full of distractions and bright shiny objects that tend to call us away from what is most important. We are bombarded with information and unjust causes that tug, again and again for our support. Remember to step away from it all and allow God to give you perspective… His perspective.
10Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. 11For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. 12O Lord Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you. Psalm 84:10-12 (NIV)
Organizing the Inside – Day 323 Avoiding Tiny Pockets of Disobedience
3In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
6Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” Genesis 4:3-7 (NLT)
Obedience is the best way I know to simplify your life. Every time I miss God and decide to take the way of Cain I feel disappointed in myself. You see, Cain decided to offer God the offering he wanted, instead of the one God wanted. This morning during my quiet time, God told me to take bottled water to church. Hun? Bottled water, well that didn’t sound right. He told me to make it extra cold, fill up my cooler with lots of water and ice. I was visiting a church today for the first time and I felt really funny about walking in there with my purse, bible and a big cooler. Yep, I sure did, I told God, “I don’t think so.” (in my head) Of course I played it off as if it was some fleeting idea of mine. By pretending it wasn’t God speaking to me made it easier to leave out the door, get in the car and drive down the street with only one warm bottle of water.
Upon entering the church I wasn’t a bit bothered by what some seemed to feel was uncomfortable temperatures. About 10 minutes into the service I started to think my cute green summer sweater was more like an electric blanket that someone had turned up to “HIGH.” The silk shell I wore underneath was starting to stick to me everywhere as sweat beads ran down my arms. A young man walked down the aisle clutching what appeared to be the only bottle of water among all the overheated church goers. I was immediately reminded of the water that I left behind in my kitchen at home; the water I was supposed to bring for all the people who were as hot and as parched as I was. It became clear to me that I wasn’t the only one who would have to suffer through the entire service because of my foolish disobedience.
This just happened to be a small and simple act of obedience. Bring water to church, as much water as my big cooler could hold. How many times will someone else have to suffer because of one person’s unwillingness to let go of what others might think or the fear of mistaking God’s voice for just an idea. When one of us makes the choice to disobey God, in many cases the rest of us have to suffer.
Today I’m drawing a line in the sand, never to return to my tiny pockets of disobedience. No fear, or worry or foolish assumptions will keep my heart from saying yes, and doing so promptly. I know God’s voice. It’s so much easier to trust and obey Him. The devil will do his best to talk you and me out of doing exactly as the Master wants. I want to encourage you while I encourage myself to hearken to God’s voice. When God says move we not only move, but we move in the exact direction He tells us to go.
Organizing the Inside – Day 68 Are You Wearing Any Shoes?
There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.
~ Proverbs 16: 25
Have you ever met anyone who says I’ve been a Christian all my life?
Or perhaps you’ve heard before, ” I’m a good person.” Each Sunday churches are full of good people who believe that by going to church each week they are fulfilling an acceptable standard of righteousness that qualifies them to inherit the kingdom of God. They proclaim their good standing with the community and sincerely believe they are ready to face what awaits them on the other side of eternity. They wear their works as badges of high honor, “I help people.”
“I go to Church!”
Sue told the woman as the woman attempted to share the gospel with her. Sue was unwilling to listen since she’d grown up in the “church” and was quite familiar with, how to wave her handkerchief just so, as the pastor raised his voice, shouting, “Can I get an amen?” Sue doesn’t realize her path will lead to death. As Christian women we meet people everyday who have a form of godliness but deny the power. What are we to do? Sometimes these are the hardest people to witness to because they have made up their own minds that they are good people, they never hurt anyone so that in itself gives them the right to spend eternal life with the King. Nothing could be further from the truth. In John 14:6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
What do you do when you meet someone who has a form?
Are you ready with your shoes on? How do you go about sharing the good news of peace with them? Let’s start a discussion, this will help so many? Post your comment below, I’d love to hear from you.
Organizing the Inside 365 Days 