Good Morning All, Thursday 3-13-14 I recently had a friend put a bunch of money on a debit card. Only to find out the card was not working, his card was declined. Indeed he had placed a bunch of value upon the card, but he failed to activate the card. Great lesson, value is can only be lost if the card is activated. I am grateful that I am learning this lesson. Our value too can be protected through activation; or not. This change I note as a result of getting older, and perhaps wiser. I use to be getting ready to go out for the night at 10 pm, now I am headed for bed. I am becoming more of a morning person, and fizzle out toward the end of the day. Getting into gear now is not as easy as it use to be. I use to think I could do anything. Now I wonder if there is anything I can really do at all? What is going on? What is my value? To preserve value, it is important to understand when it is time to engage (activate) and when it is time to withdraw (Deactivate). Because it is critical in life and faith to distinguish where our value is needed, and where it should be preserved. It is also OK to understand there is time to step away to stop others from hurting us. Many people are familiar with the first part of this passage, but have no idea about verse 6. Matthew 7:4-6 (NIV) reads:4 How can you say to your brother, Let me take the speck out of your eye, when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brothers eye.6 Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces. There are some battles that are best left to God and the power of the Holy Spirit. And certainly, there are battles we simply need to recognize we did not create; and may not be able to resolve. Learning to step away and pray is a great skill. We must be cautious in trying to assist others that are incapable of changing. It is important to recognize people that bring pain into the world in the name of truth or a need to be right all the time. There is little we can do to help others that never see their own problems and hurtful ways. We can however be cautious in what we share with them, and how we engage them. We can preserve our value by recognizing it and learning to deactivate. Step away and pray! We are asked to share the love and grace of God with everyone. But we are also asked to be careful in the process. Hurt people, hurt people. We do not need to let others hurt us. Gods love is unconditional. And at times, it is only that love that can soften the hardest of hearts. At times our job must be to learn to step away and pray. God loves us so much there are many ways that grace reaches us. Prayerful self reflections bring us peace and understanding of who we are. Learning to step away from others and commend them to God can bring peace as well. We are not giving up, rather giving over to God those people, places and things that cause pain and need more help than we have to offer. What a wonderful reminder from a debit card and scripture. I am amazed the way life and faith connect everyday. I am grateful for growing and changing over time, even though I have to go to bed earlier. I am grateful for the love of God expressed through so many people here at Zion; and a chance to serve God together. Prayer Lord God, thank you for allowing us the ability to step away from situations and activate prayer while preserving our own value. Thank you for the gift of love and grace that is given for all. That you for the priceless pearls of wisdom you share with us over time. Amen. Have a good weekend! Pr. Rob Announcements 1. God Sighting Booklets are here. We have about 70 left to share, so come get your devotional now. 2. Our Journey Continues - Worship services Sunday at 8 and 10:30 am; Sunday 7:00 PM and Wednesday 7:00 PM are all separate worship services. That is three chances to worship every week during Lent, so come join us! 3. Do NOT FORGET to bring a small item in to church that will be used for liturgical art! We are collecting them at baptismal font! 4. My YouTube page has almost 100 sermons available to view. Click on the following link to review the choices: youtube/channel/UCJXYNhSJCqKVtCuKQzUS_hQ
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 14:01:59 +0000
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