Making Room For Others
Many years ago, when I was in Sunday School, I was taught the secret to having joy – Jesus first, Others second, and Yourself last. We know we should put Jesus first, but how often do we put the needs of others ahead of self-interest?lov
DIG THOSE OLD WELLS
Whether we are a church leader, or someone who has only recently found Jesus as their Saviour, we are all in the ministry of digging and re-opening old wells, wherever they exist, and seeing the living water flow again:
Give God 1st Place
We were given a rather fun game at Christmas. The players each have a selection of smooth shiny playing pieces that are strongly magnetic. The object of the game is to take turns placing your piece in a circle of string in a way that doesn't make them attract the other magnets in the circle. The more magnets that are in the circle, the closer they are to each other until suddenly the magnetic force causes a whole group of them to suddenly connect together, and the player has to take them all.
Break Down The Walls Of All My Religion
God doesn't look on the outward appearance – He looks on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). He saw the people in the Church of Laodicea as being "wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked" (Rev 3:17). God saw the reality, that Jesus had been shown the door. Jesus begins His analysis of the Laodiceans' spiritual life by saying that "He is about to spit them out of His mouth" (Rev 3:16).
UPSIZING
On muddy roads, the first vehicle that passes creates a track (or rut), and subsequent vehicles will follow along the same track. And because of repeated travel along the same route, the ruts become deeper and deeper and at some point in time, vehicles will get stuck in the rut. Only another vehicle equipped with a tow line will be able to extricate the vehicle stuck in the mud.
From Pain to Prosperity
Jabez' mother had a painful labour when she gave birth to Jabez, so she named him 'Jabez', which means 'pain', or 'one who brings sorrow'. What a name to be given! His name forever reminds him that he's a pain to people!
Kingdom Enlargement
Let's be challenged to enlarge our vision of God. Have we made God too small in our own eyes?
Break Up Your Fallow Ground
We don’t have to be farmers to recognise that we reap what we sow. Hosea calls a people who had turned away from sowing a right relationship with God, which would produce an abundant harvest of kindness. Instead, they had allowed the soil of their hearts to become hard and evil.
De-cluttering
Do you love the idea of having a de-cluttered home? Where everything has its place, and you know where everything is? That’s hard to achieve in reality, as we all accumulate ‘stuff’, but it’s a good thing to aim for. In a severely cluttered-up house, some rooms actually become unusable, and life for the owner becomes limited and frustrating.
LOSING YOUR SONG
A couple of years ago, I was fascinated by a BBC News report about an endangered species of bird called the Regent Honeyeater which is found only in South Eastern Australia. It has a very sparse distribution over a vast area, and the male birds are now forgetting their own song, and mimicking the songs of other bird species around them.
TAKE HEART
We cannot lose heart if our hearts are fixed looking to Jesus in our circumstances for His grace, peace, presence, enabling, etc., because we will be living life from a totally different perspective.
Happy, Help, Hope
We all need help in our lives. The great thing for us is that God is ‘a very present help in trouble’ Psalm 46v1. God ‘made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them’, and He can help us. He is more than willing to help us.
Where Is My Citizenship?
Throughout the Bible and church history, spiritual awakenings are often, if not always, preceded by God's people uniting together in corporate, intensive and Kingdom-centred prayer.
Power Shift
It might seem at times like we are up against immovable forces.
For example you might have a friend who is an atheist.
They dismiss the claims of Jesus, and seem confident and secure in their position. Don't lose heart, over time things can change, chinks may appear in their armour, a wavering may begin.
All For Jesus!
God does not restrict or ration our access to His throne of grace; He longs for us to come to Him, and He welcomes us warmly on each and every occasion.
GOOGLE-TRANSLATE
Some years ago, a team of people from New Life and another church in Derby went on a mission trip to Kosovo.
A few of the older people at the church there could speak pretty good English, but most of the younger members of the church and guests invited from the local community could manage only a few words in English. How could we effectively communicate with everyone? The good news was that one teenage girl could speak very good English, so much so, the other teenagers in the Kosovan youth group had given her the nickname “Google-Translate”.
WHAT DEFINES OUR OUTLOOK ON LIFE ?
For the Christian, the truths of the Bible should define our thinking and our attitudes, not our imaginations which may be based on negative memories from earlier in life. Will we let our background/ history/perceived failings and shortcomings hold us back from effective ministry for the Lord, or will we step out, believing “I am who God says I am?”
MUSEUM OF MAKING
Many non-Christians see churches as “museums” – things relating to the past, with little or no relevance to society today. Thinking of museums, I wonder whether you have ever visited the Museum of Making in the old Silk Mill adjacent to the River Derwent? It’s certainly worth a visit.
When I first heard of this new attraction in Derby, I found the name a little strange – a “museum” speaks of a showcase of old exhibits, whilst “making” speaks of something that is currently ongoing. Of course, this is exactly what those behind the museum were seeking to achieve. As their website states, the museum is “a contemporary space telling Derby’s 300-year history of making to inspire new creativity.”
FROM SIX to SEVEN
It is interesting to note that the number Six in Hebrew means man, flesh, whilst number Seven means completion, satisfaction. How do we assist in moving our non-Christian friends from “Six” to “Seven” = married to Jesus?
MOSES: FAMILY TENSIONS
Moses was the younger brother of both Miriam and Aaron, but God had chosen Moses to be the great leader who led Israel out of Egypt to the Promised Land. God had not forgotten Miriam and Aaron.