The Lively Blog of Thoughts

Can we reach a point in time where our Faith is the solution or fallback in dealing with the daily struggles and challenges we face?Part 1

What will you do with the pearl that you find in your heart?

Pearl of Great Price 

By this time it ought to be clear that Jesus Christ is the merchant, the price paid was His life, and the church (the individual Christian in a very narrow sense) is the pearl. The church is one pearl, one body, composed of those He has sought out through the ages to be a habitation for God by His Spirit and who will be His bride at His return. This beautiful and meaningful little parable shows some of the extent of His labor of love for us.

How do you plan your life?  Do you plan with a pen or a pencil?  What’s the difference?  Think about the following picture I found but don’t know the author or who designed it but it makes a very interesting point.   
None of us live a perfect life and many of us wish we could change things in our life. 

You may not agree with what I am about to say. I want to address the current trend of what appears to be Christians seeking churches that appeal to them from an entertainment perspective rather than finding a church to plug into to use your talents in worshipping with other Christians. 

There seems to be a common trend for younger Christians and young adults and that, in many instances, they are searching for in a place of worship to find and searching for worship aspects that are entertaining. 

Why do we go to a place of worship? For what reasons do we get ourselves ready and head off to a place of worship?  What are we exactly looking for when we seek a place to worship? Are we looking for a place that we can become involved and participate in worshiping our God with the God-given talents we have with other Christians or are we looking for place to be entertained and sitting in our “theater-like seats?”  And exactly what makes us like one church versus another?

Let’s start from the beginning. Let’s start with how parents worship with their children from an early age to their late teens.  But I also want to address how parents with teenagers spend time with their children along with other parents and their children not only at worship time been in other times of good Christian fellowship as well.  I submit that these are critical times where critical thinking and observations are made by tender hearts that have a long-lasting impact in how our children view time spent with other Christians both in worship and outside of worship.

But there is another critical component. It is the corporate worship service as well. If we don’t start, at an appropriate early age, including our young men in “worship related activities and responsibilities,” how can we expect that when they are 18, 25, or even older to automatically be looking for a place to get involved and serving others and God versus looking for a church that appeals to “them?”

We all have God-given talents that are to be put to use. [put parable of talents]. 

Matthew 25:14-30 NIV

[14] “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. [15] To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. [16] The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. [17] So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. [18] But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. [19] “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. [20] The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’ [21] “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ [22] “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’ [23] “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ [24] “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. [25] So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ [26] “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? [27] Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. [28] “ ‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. [29] For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. [30] And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Don’t serve father and mother but me.  

Timothy was young but serving. 

King David was young when chosen.  

Worship thy God with all thy heart, mind, and soul?

Is our church service structured to be entertaining or engaging for serving?

Walk in the spirit as he is in the spirit. 

Acts 2:38 ……Acts 2:42-47 NIV

[42] They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. [43] Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. [44] All the believers were together and had everything in common. [45] They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. [46] Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, [47] praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

How did you let the days, weeks, and months go by and all of a sudden you realize that God is not as significant in your life as it once was? You begin each day with a “oh how am I going to get through this day” instead of welcoming in the day with trying to be the presence of God from the get-go. 

You rush around through the activities of the day and your daily routines and forget to have any quiet time with God.  Then, you realize, sometimes, at the end of your day, that you haven’t prayed to God at all or even thought about walking in any presence with God. 

Is your day is filled with doubt, stress, and even motionless routines rather than hope and faith in that God is walking with you and helping you through the daily struggles we face? When good things do happen, you don’t remember to thank God through prayer for being there and seeing you through those challenges. 

Do you ever ask yourself where is the joy in my heart that was once there?  (Proverbs 4:23). How about the joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). How has all of the worry and stress taken over my life?  When there is no joy, your strength is weak. 

Let’s think about it a little differently. I think we often get it wrong as Christians. Just because we don’t always “feel” joyful doesn’t mean that we can’t be joyful. Is it because joy is ultimately not a feeling? However, some of us tend to live by emotions. It’s a choice, it’s a perspective, and it’s a command in the Bible.

Consider 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  This verse doesn’t say “I suggest” or “maybe you should consider it.” It says “be.” Also, the scripture uses “always” and “in all circumstances.” So, we aren’t just happy when things go well.  We don’t suddenly stop praising and thanking God because we are having a bad day. Always means always. This is when we have to ask ourselves  “What part of ‘be joyful always’ do we not understand?”

You might consider Proverbs 3:5-7, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”  Also,Hebrews 13:15, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name.”  Colossians 2:6-7, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”

Maybe, the spark to rekindle the fire starts from within with an attitude that I will look for the good things that are happening around me and not focus so much on the negative things. Isn’t there some joy that you can find in your life today?

We live in times where there really is an app for that. Consider that we can, with the touch of a button with our finger, order food, have groceries delivered to our home, purchase clothes, purchase airline tickets, etc. all from the comforts of where we are at. We have a term for dining and it’s called fast food. I would call the times that we are living in as fast “I want it now-just give me the app.”

What about our faith and our dedication to our Lord in these times? Is there an app for that?  We have seen drive-through churches, drive-through funerals, and many other attempts to put the “fast I want it now” syndrome on some of the more serious things in life.

When it comes to our faith and our diligence to stay close to the truth, there isn’t a newfound, new age thinking, that puts a spin of using an app to follow through in our walk with our Lord. Just as the apostle Paul says in Philippians 2:12-16, “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.

Paul talks about “working on your salvation and holding firm to the word.”  This concept of working and holding require actions not pushing buttons. Just as the men of faith over the past 2000 years worked diligently in their faith, we must do the same today and there isn’t an app for that. 

What does it mean to be spiritual or to be spiritually minded?  Are we claiming to be something special or to be better than others if we claim to be spiritual?  So, what does it mean?  How is my life different from “when I was not spiritual?”

Look at Romans 8:12-14: “Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”  

What does it mean to put to death the misdeeds of the body?  This infers that being changed and to live spiritual is a “life-changing” event. We are to be led by the spirit. 

In 2 Peter 1:20-21: “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”  These men were spiritual through God and the understanding they had by walking and living by Gid’s will. 

Paul in Ephesians 3:16 states, “through his spirit to strengthening me through his words to move.” 

On bended knee I come, With a humble heart I come. Bowing down before Your holy throne. Lifting holy hands to You, As I pledge my love anew. I worship You in spirit, I worship You in truth. Make my life a holy praise unto You. On bended knee We come, With a humble heart We come. Bowing down before Your holy throne. Lifting holy hands to You, As We pledge our love anew. We worship You in spirit, We worship You in truth. Make our lives a holy praise unto You. Make our lives a holy praise unto You.

My God is so big, so strong and so mighty. There’s nothing my God cannot doMy God is so big, so strong and so mighty. There’s nothing my God cannot do. 

He made the trees. He made the seas. He made the elephants too. My God is so big, so strong and so mighty. There’s nothing my God cannot do. 

My God is so great, so strong and so mighty. There’s nothing my God cannot do. My God is so great, so strong and so mighty. There’s nothing my God cannot do. 

The mountains are his. The rivers are his. The skies are his handy works too.   My God is so great, so strong and so mighty. There’s nothing my God cannot do. 

I’m sure that all of us have been in situations where we either did something or said something in haste. Consequently, after some time has elapsed, we wish we would’ve thought more about that situation before we reacted.

It is normal human behavior to take a stance or make a statement when pushed in the corner or before we have time to really think about what we want to do or say. In fact, sometimes our reaction to a less than thoughtful response is to just say “that’s the way I am!”  This is usually because we really don’t care what others think about us or because we don’t want to change and be sensitive to others.  But really, shouldn’t we be sensitive at times?  What if what say really hurts the ones we love?

In today’s social and digital world, it’s so easy to just push that button sending a text or email or some other post that hits the entire world instantaneously. In fact, too many of us have a social or digital footprint that we wish we could erase. Haven’t you made remarks or statements similar to these footprints that you wish that you could erase as well?   This is the world that we live in today.

“Think twice before you speak, because your words and influence will plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of another.” – Napolean Hill. 

The apostle Paul addressed how we should think which gives us guidance in what might come out of our mouth or from our digital fingerprints in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”