1 Corinthians 15:58 ESV

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

What a GREAT verse!  In the Lord, our labor is not in vain.  Boy, did I need to hear that or what.  What a POWERFUL encouragement, especially when we feel our work is small and has little positive effect!  It is great to know that "in him," our labor is never in vain.

But, there is kind of a caveat to this.  We need to be steadfast, immovable and constantly abounding in His work.  

Now a lot of us will balk at the, "in the work of the Lord."  We will think that this verse applies only to those "professionals" who serve in some fulltime ministry.  As a great friend of mine would say, "That is a lie right out of the pit of hell!"  We have to get away from this incredibly narrow view of what is His work. 

A Christian mother and wife is engaged in His work as she cares for her family.  She does not have to ever leave the home to be in fulltime service.  Everything she does is, "in the Lord," and hence, it is His work.  As children obey and respect their parents they are engaged in His work.  As husbands and fathers labor to provide subsistence  for their families, they are engaged in His work.

Anything we do, "in the Lord," is His work and is NEVER in vain!

But we do have to be steadfast (keep on keeping on), immovable (bloom where you are planted) and abounding (what your hand finds to do, do)!

We also need to examine ourselves and our labor to be confident that we are doing it. "In Him."  Sure, you'll find a lot of messy mixed motives as you examine this but you look for the light not the shadows.  Whatever you find in the mix, if love for Christ is there, you are good to go.  You're gonna find a lot of your own stuff mixed in there.  Do not let it stop you or hinder you in any way.  He is in the business of refining us and all we do do. Don't sweat it, do it and do it for Him.

Now, notice I don't say do it perfectly.  You're not gonna.  Not gonna happen. You're gonna move forward in fits and starts, ups and downs, homeruns and foul balls.  But you gotta be doing it for Him to be refining it.  Sure, perfection is a great and worthy goal.  We aim at it, constantly secure in the knowledge that wherever we fall short, He covers the shortfall.

A great lesson concerning our labor is found here; 

1 Corinthians 3:6-7, 9 ESV

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. [7] So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. [9] For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.

Oh, dear ones, if we would only carve that on our consciences!  We always tend to take on that which is not ours to fulfill!  None of our labors in Him can ever be in vain when the conclusion of the effort is in His hands!

WE ARE ALL God's fellow workers, right where He has us doing what He has given us to do.  Whatever a believer does should be considered fulltime service.  That includes both our labor and our leisure.   We are His fulltime, therefore what we do should be His fulltime!

Dear ones, stay steadfast.  Be immovable.  Abound in what He has given you to do.  AND relax and rejoice in the fact that He is the period on all the senteces our lives write.  NOTHING you do in Him is EVER in vain!

Getting a Grip 01 In Him

Getting a Grip 01 In Him

Psalm 44:6 ESV
For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me.


As I read this verse this morning I was struck by how often I do trust in my bow and/or my sword.  It's a really bad habit for me and is a constant issue in my prayers.  I think I can - and that I can without His help.

It's like I want to show Him how I can do things without Him.  A lot of it is the old "Look at me Daddy," needs we grow up with.  I want Him to be proud of me and to see me do (on my own) amazing things.  I don't think it is as much rebellion as it is immaturity, an echo of a childhood of never being good enough.

Do you know what I mean?

I titled this Getting a Grip becasue this is something (among others) we all need to get a grip on.  We need to have Him bring us to the place where we can accept and be comfortable with our every present NEED for Him.

It's is not a matter of inability - we all have abilities - but rather it is a matter of recognizing and accepting that serving Him is a cooperative effort.  We bring what He has gifted us with and He makes it accomplish what He wants the way He wants.  It is about using our talents to bring the glory to HIm.  Perhaps we could say it's a, "Look at God folks," thing.

I am too full of myself too often.  I want God (or at least I act like I do) to sit and watch me do for Him and have Him applaud.  But I am learning that although He does value all I do for Him, if I do it on my own it may be good and nice but it will always be, in some way, deffective and deficient.

 John 15:5 ESV
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

We make much of being branches but too often we act as though we were vines.  It is only in being attached to the vine that allows the brach to be fruitful.  What a branch produces apart form the mine is simply kindling for the fire.  That's a tough thing to realize and accept but it is true.

We want to glorify God in all we do but we can't do that until we are willing to accept that He glorifies Himself in and through us.  He needs no help - but graciously allow us to be a part of His workings.  We need the humility, the awareness and the willingness to be second fiddle.  It's hard work and takes consistant watching and prayer.  But in those moments when we are indeed being branches we have a sense of it.  As we work we see the fruit and revell in it - it's His fruit but He used us in producing it.

John 15:5 ESV
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

I read this verse and the last part always strikes me.  I find myself rewriting it - for  my own benefit - to make the point to myself.  Here's my version:

"Apart from me, anything you do, is nothing."

That's an "ouch" but isn't it true.  Isn't everything - anything we do apart from Him simple self-loving attempts to get noticed?  Are not our attempts to show God we can do it on our own subtle attempts to show Him we don't really think we need Him (ouch).

I recommed you commit to memory two verses.  Of course one if John 15:5 and the second is:

Philippians 4:13 ESV
I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Use these as book-ends for your prayers and planning. Stay between these two hedges - on the right path.

Do nothing - Do all things.

Which would you prefer?

Uses of Affliction 03 031414

Uses of Afflcition 03

2.  Excitation to duty, weaning one from this world, and prompting him to look after the happiness of the other world.

There is one wonderful scipture that encourages us in this:

1 John 2:15-17 NASB
Do not love the world nor the things in the world If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. [16] For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. [17] The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

We recently experienced some bad weather here and many people lost power.  Nothing big but a good reminder of how attached we become to the comforts of this world and to the minimization of our looking to the comforts of the next.  Afflictions, whatever their nature, are one way God not only gets our attention but moves us to action be it service, simplicity or paying more attention to the promises of the next world.

We need to be moved to duty.  It's too easy to become complacent and lazy even in our duties.  We get into a very comfortable rut and we just run along it day in and day out until we have become numb to what we ought to be about.  Even in our duties we can become comfortable to our hurt.

Prayer can become perfuntory, Bible Study can become bland and worship can become worthless in the comfortable ease of the day to day.  But God won't have that.  He will and does bring afflictions that reveal the weakness and wantonness of our service.  When God seems to withdraw we tend to draw closer.

This is a sad commentary on many of us - many many of us - so many of us that it seems to be the norm.  And so God will bring a crook to our lot so we will see our error and repent.

Affilctions also wean us from the world.  I made the comment while our power was on and our internet was off that there didn't seem much point to having power if we didn;t have the net.  This is an example of how comfortable we can get with all the geegaws and gadgets we have and how we begin to rely upon them for way too much.

The loss or thereatened loss of material blessings can really demonstrate for us our dependence upon them to a neglect of depending upon God.  And NO cheating - don;t try to tell me you depend upon God for your web connection - that's a stretch.

How many "things" do you really depend upon that get in the way of your dependence upon God.  What would hurt the worst to lose?  What can you not see yourself giving up?  If you have "bad hair" days - days that are just ruined over the trivial material things then you may look for an affliction to wean you away from it.

Can you see how use 1 ties into use 2?  Afflictions lead us to examine our faith and that examination has much to do with our attachment to this world and the "things" of it.  Not only that but the "things" of this world have much to do with, "the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life."  Which in turn has much to do with how much our hearts are set on the next world as opposed to being stuck on this one.

James writes:

James 1:2 NASB
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,

And if we a serious about our faith we will wlecome these trials as God's gracious providence.  Even with only uses 1 and 2 we can see how afflictions are, what I call, "left-handed blessings."  They don't look like blessings, they don't feel like blessings, and they do not even small like blessings - but if they drive or move us to seriously examines, our service, our attachment to this world and our longing for the next they are indeed blessings.

"We" Prayers

I was praying this morning about some folks I'm involved with and was asking God to help me as I served them.  I was using a lot of "I(s)" and "me(s) which bothered me but I persisted in prayer.

Then I was praying for one paricular person and I said, "May we be a blessing......."

It may be a silly point - it may be trivial but that "we" got to me.  I think what got to me was how much I prayed that God would enable me to do this of that - or be this or that and I forgot that it has to be a "we."

It's not "I" who does anything.  It's He and I, emphasis on the He.  It was a shocker for me to realize how even in prayer my self-ish-ness, my self-focus comes into play.  I realized that I was asking Him to help "me" istead of asking Him to allow me to help Him,  serve Him.

I realized that in my corrupt and wandring heart I was using Him like somekind of a supply post where I went and got what i needed (or thought I needed) and then went on my merry way doing my thing - even though I did it for Him.

I came away from that time with a new perspective on my prayer and my service.  I don't want to serve Him but rather serve with HIm.  Maybe that's just a distinction He needed to make for me but it has been a good one.

Think about it - how often you pray "I" instead of "we."  How often you go to Him for provision and then wander off kind of without Him.  The Spirit is not in us for no purpose - so it's always gotta be a "we."