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Forbearing One Another

19 Apr

“I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:1-3

Probably the most common question I hear from a Christian is, “How do I know what God is calling me to do?”  It’s a tough question.  It’s something that isn’t always obvious to you, and yet could be to other people around you. Sometimes there are folks who push us to serve God in a capacity never meant for us, just to fill a need.  Sometimes we move around doing different things in the body, and all of the sudden we realize that we are in a position that we are very good at and there is a great need for.  Sometimes we are doing exactly what God has called us to do, but we haven’t realized it yet.  How often do we spend so much time trying to figure out what our call is that we miss all of the opportunities at hand to help us prepare for that call?

I belonged to a wonderful church in Chino Valley, AZ that made the decision to feed the community at Thanksgiving.  Everyone was invited, at no cost to them, no preaching, just food and a little gift bag.  It was an amazing time for the entire church as they came together to make this event happen.  For months food was collected, assignments made, food handler cards obtained, and teams organized.  It wasn’t a large church, but it had a big heart with a big vision.

During those months of preparation everyone in that small church had to pull together to make such an extravagant event come together to bring the blessing to the community.  Every person had to recognize those called to authority and submit to those people’s callings, as they found where they fit in best for this particular event.  There were those who donated or collected food.  Those who cleaned, prepared, sorted, and cooked the food.  There were those who made the dining area beautiful and inviting.  There were those who greeted the guests, helped people park, ushered folks to the food tables and made people comfortable.  There were those who stepped in, at any place along the way, into any position that needed extra help; they saw a need and they filled it.  There were those who interceded in prayer for weeks prior to the event and all the way through until the rooms were clean and the doors locked.  Then there were those who kept records and notes and started the planning procedure for the following year’s event.  It was, and continues to be, a life changing event.

Our scripture reference is a perfect formula for the preparing and executing of an event like the one described above, or any type of event where a large (or small) group of people need to come together to bring a wonderful program to others, whether churched or unchurched.  Perhaps you will give me the grace to paraphrase the scripture to explain what I mean.

“I ask that you would work together on any event to which you have been requested, not lifting yourself up to a position for which you feel you deserve, but graciously accepting any position that those in authority feel you are best fitted to perform. Work together with humility, gentleness, patience; encouraging one another through prayer and word, and honoring each other’s duties and assignments with Christian love.  Keep in mind the final goal, working hard for the souls that will be touched and drawn to salvation, as you remember the Spirit that guides each and every saint through the bond of peace.”

I wonder how many times we get so caught up in wanting to know what God has specifically called us to do, that we completely miss the fact that He has called us to be bondservants, working diligently together, to further the Gospel and honor the lost and hurting (1 Peter 3:8, 1 Cor 1:10).  Hebrews 12:1 tells us to set aside every weight (anything that might hold us back) and run, with patience, the race (or event) that has been set before us.  Can we set aside the need to have a title, or a specific call, to fulfill the needs of spreading the Gospel?  Let us all be known as servants in His Kingdom.

**A Journey Through Ephesians – Chapter 4, Part 1

Written by Linda J. Humes

4-19-2017

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Gifts, Callings and Ministries:

Here is a list of Gifts, Callings and Ministries from Scripture, along with their references.  I hope you find this interesting and useful.

Romans 12:6-8 – Prophecy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Giving, Leadership, Mercy.

1 Corinthians 12:28 – Apostle, Prophet, Teacher, Miracles, Kinds of healings, Helps, Administration, Tongues.

1 Corinthians 12:8-10 – Word of wisdom, Word of knowledge, Faith, Gifts of healings, Miracles, Prophecy, Discerning between spirits, Tongues, Interpretation of tongues.

Ephesians 4:11 – 5 Fold Ministry – Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, Teacher.

1 Peter 4:11 – Whoever speaks, Whoever renders service.

Other Gifts Mentioned – Celibacy (1 Corinthians 7:7), Hospitality (1 Peter 4:9-10), Intercession (Romans 8:26-27), Marriage (1 Corinthians 7:7), Effective Witnessing (Acts 1:8), Craftsmanship (Exodus 35:30-33), Interpretation of Dreams (Joseph & Daniel), Composing Spiritual Music, Poetry and Prose, Charity.

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The Effects of Our Consequences

30 Jan

Dominoes

“And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.  Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” 1 Corinthians 12:26-27 (KJV)

Behavior – Consequence – Effect

We make choices every day; good choices, bad choices, inconsequential choices – just choices, or so we think.  “I’ll do what I want, it’s my life.”  I’ll do what I want, it’s my body.” It is your life, it is your body, but it is not a separate and disconnected entity.

Drugs, alcohol, sex, violence, thrill seeking, the momentary pleasures that grasp a life and start a domino chain of destruction that spider webs into the lives of countless people you never even consider.  Then there’s suicide, the final decision a person makes that they feel will end the pain in their life, and in that moment of final silence, it devastates tens, hundreds, maybe even thousands of people.

Choices.  Addictions.  What happens to the person caught in the addiction trap?  At first it may be fun, pleasurable, then consuming, overwhelming, controlling, and then . . . . . our choices lead to consequences.

People begin to avoid you, your work product begins to fail, if you ever get up and go into work.  Your family, as much as they love you, begins to avoid you.  Spouses leave, keeping you from being with your children.  Your friends, who have always been there for you, refuse to talk to you.  Those who completely trusted you are no longer there.  The respect you had earned disappeared.  Still you spiral down and down and it’s everyone else’s fault, so you say.

If you are fortunate enough to be stopped by law enforcement and given the chance to get clean of those addiction, given another chance at life, given another chance of proving you can be that original amazing person, it will take years.  Years incarcerated, years working twice as hard as others to earn back the trust, the respect, the joy of reuniting with friends and family.

As you fight to regain back what you once had, do you see the effects of your consequences on others?  Do you recognize the emotional battle your family and friends fought as they watched you fail, struggle, grow, fail, struggle, grow?  Do you see their tears and the guilt they feel, wondering if there was something that they could have done to have kept it all from happening?  Do you see the money and time and emotion spent every month to be sure that you have a way to stay in touch and have a few treats.  Do you recognize the nights they spend in prayer and tears, hoping and believing that when this part of your journey has completed that you will find your restoration and not be tempted to give up the struggle to fight back to wholeness and fall back into the temptation of an old lifestyle.

I suspect that you may recognize the consequences of your behaviors, but have you taken the time to understand the wide spread effects of your consequences on so very many others?  Family.  Friends. The kid next door.  Co-workers.  Police Officers.  EMTS.  Nurses.  Prison Guards.  The person who found you near death, or worse, dead.  The person you hurt in a violent rage.  The person you killed in a car accident you don’t even remember having.  The person you stole a precious family heirloom from, to sell for that next “fix.”  The person you pulled into you addiction whose life is following your same path now.

Please hear my heart, in love.  Lord please let my words change the path of someone, many someones, who do not recognize what the consequences of their actions could be, and what the effects of those circumstances will be.  Turn them back.

Behavior  –  Consequence  –  Effect

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Heritage of Hope

1 Sep

sprout in dry desert

“in whom also we were made a heritage, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of His will; to the end that we should be unto the praise of His glory, we who had before hoped in Christ:”  Ephesians 1:11-12 (ASV)

Recently I was invited to a new friend’s home for lunch after church.  God has richly blessed this couple and their home was amazing.  Everywhere I looked was just . . . “Wow!”  When I returned home that evening I was flooded with memories of my childhood home.  For days I couldn’t shake it.  Depression set in.  It was a heritage that I could not shake, even though my life is so much different now.

Growing up in the 50’s in a small desert town is a whole world away from the way things are today.  No running water, outhouses (I’m still not very fond of those things), no cooling, only the kitchen stove for heating, bare cement floors, and the backseat out of an old Chevy for a sofa.  Bed was blankets on old steel springs, no mattress.  I remember, many mornings, getting up to my mom melting down icicles on the stove so we could have water.  There was a wind driven fan in the wall that helped bring air into the home during the summer.  We would lay on the cool cement floor under that fan to take naps; mom stuffed a wooden spoon between the blades to make it stop at night.  Meals were jackrabbit, catfish and pinto beans, unless a neighbor brought us a chicken.  My worldly heritage.

I remember telling God that I would never return to an area like that.  In recent years I have walked into homes with similar conditions and physically shook. I told God that I couldn’t be there, I couldn’t think there, I couldn’t breathe there.  His voice came gently, “how can you minister to them if you don’t see where they are from, if you don’t find common ground.”  It was my call to show them the heritage that God held for them, far beyond the physical conditions where they currently existed.

God’s Heritage, created for us before the foundations of the earth, is eternal life (John 3:15).  A life free from pain and illness.  A life free from tears, sorrow, worry and doubt (Revelation 21:4).  A heritage of being an heir with His son, Jesus Christ (Romans 8:17).  A heritage of a mansion, built specifically for us, at the hands of Jesus himself (John 14:2).

When we hear the call on our lives we become partakers with Jesus, reaching out to a lonely broken world (Ephesians 3:6).  We become workers of the gospel, sharing with all the promise of the heritage they have waiting for them, if they would only believe.  We testify and share the very gifts that God has given to us, as He has willed for us to do; as well as those who will follow after.  And in that labor we find fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11), praising and worshipping our God for the gift of His manifested glory in our lives (John 1:14), filled with grace and truth.

Lord, let us remember that we are your hands and feet to this world of hurting and wounded people.  Help us to walk past the difficult memories of our worldly heritage and share a story of hope with those whose lives rest in similar circumstances, giving them hope of a new and wonderful inheritance with You.  Let our testimony of rising above our circumstances be the key to their faith in a new life in You.  Please give us the strength.

**A Journey through Ephesians – Chapter 1, Part 7

Written by Linda J. Humes

8-31-14

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