Laying the Groundwork

Have you ever decided to do something only to get wise advice shortly thereafter to reverse your decision? Did you follow the wise advice? Or did you follow through with your decision, ignoring the wise advice? Were there regrets later? Did the wise advice prove to be correct?

We sometimes make sudden decisions. They may not be entirely rash, but they are spur of the moment and well-intended. Yet, they may not be as wise as we might think they are initially. We may receive some wise advice not long afterward and we may need to reverse our decision.

King David had that exact situation when he decided to build a temple for God. David was in his new home, looking at the grandeur he lived in, and realized he was living better than the ark of God which was being housed in a tent. He made a quick decision to build a grand temple. Nathan, the prophet who advised David, told him to do what he wanted to do.

Yet, that very night God spoke to Nathan. He told him to go tell David that he would not build a temple for God. David was a battle tested and had blood on his hands. David had been blessed by God to defeat the enemies of Israel and David’s personal enemies. But God had decided the one who would build his temple would be a man without blood on his hands. David’s consolation was that he could begin gathering the materials for the temple.

God may use us in a similar way. We may not be the one who accomplishes the grand task. We may the one who does the groundwork so the grand task can be accomplished. Our pride may take a hit. We may be disappointed. We must remember the groundwork is just as important as the grand task. Without the groundwork being done, the temple could not be built. So, do not be disappointed if you are laying groundwork for someone else to build on later.

I pray we all seek to do God’s work. I pray we are contented to do the groundwork. I pray each one of us are willing to change our decisions to be aligned with God’s infinite wisdom. Do God’s work. Be willing to change your decision. Be willing to lay the groundwork. Seek God’s wisdom.

2 Samuel 7:4-5 But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in?

Active Member

Are you a member of various organizations? Do you attend meetings regularly? Do you feel like you are part of something much larger than yourself? Are you committed to being an active participant in one or more of those organizations? Is one of them a church?

There are numerous organizations we can be a member of—veterans, professional, and social. Some organizations require us to pay dues, be of a certain status, and participate regularly. We commit time, energy, and money to those organizations. Why? We believe in them.

If we say we believe in God and Jesus Christ, shouldn’t we make the same commitment to a local church? After all, those other organizations cannot have any effect on our eternal life. Why don’t we commit more to the local church? We have been told a lie. We have been told we don’t need the church, that we can believe in God while not being an active member of a church.

Paul tells the church in Ephesus that they are being built into a spiritual dwelling place for God. Each person is joined together in Christ with other believers to create a holy temple. We become part of something much larger than ourselves, something that effects our eternal life. Being an active member of a local church is far more important to our well-being—spiritual and emotional—than any other organization we can be a member of.

As we grow in our knowledge of God and faith in Jesus Christ, we become stronger members of the local church. The more we become like Jesus, the more we desire to bring others to Him. As our eyes are opened to who He is, our view of life and its importance changes. We begin to see every life, every person as a creation of God and love them as Christ loves them. It all begins with a commitment to Christ and continues with a commitment to a local church.

I pray we all seek to know more about God. I pray we see to be more like Jesus Christ. I pray each one of us will be an active member in a local church, grow in our faith, and lead others to Jesus. Seek knowledge. Seek understanding. Be like Jesus. Be an active member of a church. Bring others to Christ.

Ephesians 2:21-22 In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.

Common Belief

Have you ever thought about all the laws, rules, and directives we are supposed to follow? How many do you need to follow in your job? How many are you to obey when driving? Do you know them and follow them all? Do you feel overwhelmed or oppressed at times?

There are traffic laws, criminal laws, corporate laws, and medical laws. There are rules for our conduct, sporting events, corporate directives, and even rules in our churches. Not only are there the overwhelming number of written laws and rules, but there are unwritten ones.

God had given the Israelites laws, commandments, and ordinances to follow. They struggled to follow them and periodically stopped following them altogether. God knew something different had to be put in place to bring people back to him. So, he sent his Son to be abolish them and institute a new way forward.

Because of Jesus, we no longer are required to follow the plethora of laws, commandments, and ordinances God had given the Israelites. But eliminating them was not the only reason Jesus came down from heaven to walk the earth. The other reason was to eliminate the divide between the Jews and Gentiles. He came to reconcile and join the two groups into one.

Those who have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior are one body, one humanity. Yet, we often divide ourselves by instituting church rules, directives, and guidance—we call them doctrine. Not only does doctrine often separate us, but we have different viewpoints on the interpretation of Scripture. Far too often we focus more on our differences than on the one thing that unites us—our belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. It is encouraging to see a movement of more denominations working together based on our common belief, setting aside our differences in doctrine.

I pray we all choose to focus less on our differences and more on our common belief. I pray we know Jesus desires us to be united in Him. I pray each one of us will pursue working together regardless of denominational affiliation. God sent his Son to unite us. Jesus desires us to be one body. Set aside differences. Come together in our common belief.

Ephesians 2:15-16 He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it.

Math Problem

Are you good at math? Can you walk through the multiplication tables (or times tables for us older folks)? Have you experienced multiplying, rather than simply doing the math on a piece of paper? Have you witnessed God multiplying your efforts to enlarge the results?

We typically think of math as a finance or business practice. We may include it in some of our work around our homes. Yet, we do not often think of math, outside of the business part, within our churches. Perhaps we should ask God to multiply our outreach efforts.

When we look at the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand, we are amazed at the miracle of feeding them with five loaves of bread and a couple fish. We may even dig into the fact that Mark records the five thousand as men and tack on an estimate for women and children, perhaps estimating the total number to be fifteen or twenty thousand.

But what if we look at it differently? What if we look at the possibility that God can do the same with our outreach efforts, multiplying them to reach more people for his kingdom? Imagine our efforts being multiplied by two, five, ten, or twenty. Think about how many people we could reach for God’s kingdom. Think about how many more people we could bring to Jesus and into our churches.

How do we do that? First, we need to pray that God leads us in our outreach efforts. Second, we need to follow his lead. Third, we need to pray over those efforts before we begin. Fourth, we need to trust that God will deliver on his promises. This is the model Jesus followed to feed the five thousand. He knew the Father’s will. He knew the people needed to be fed. He prayed over the food. He relied on the Father to bless His effort. Then the miracle happened.

I pray we all seek to follow God’s will in our outreach efforts. I pray we follow God’s lead in our efforts. I pray each one of us will pray before we act, and trust God will keep his promises. Seek God’s will. Follow God’s will. Pray before you act. Trust God’s promises. Know that God will provide.

Mark 6:41-44 Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. And all ate and were filled; and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.

Seek God Always

What is your reaction when you are faced with a situation in which you see no good solution? Are you ready to cut your losses and seek to escape? Do you look for someone else to take over responsibility or be the one to blame? How can you take a different viewpoint?

Being in difficult situations, especially ones that seem to have no good outcome is hard. Often, we just want to give up or run as far away as we can. Sticking it out and seeing it through is not something we look forward to. Yet, those situations are great for learning from.

Do not think you are the only one who wants to pawn it off on someone else. Jesus’ disciples did the same. When Jesus had been teaching most of the day to a crowd of thousands, his disciples told Him to send them away so they could find food for themselves. It was a logical thing to do from a human perspective. But it wasn’t Jesus’ way of doing things.

We can find ourselves being much like Jesus’ disciples in this story. We find ourselves in a situation that is near impossible, or we see it as impossible with our human view and look for an avenue of escape. We may turn our backs on those in need because we do not see a way to provide for them. We may push people away because their need makes us uncomfortable.

Perhaps the better way of serving in those situations is go to God in prayer, ask for him to guide us through it, and trust him to do so. We quickly forget that God is all-powerful, everywhere at once, knows everything, and will do the right thing according to his will. His will is to care for us and us love him. His will includes providing for us in a time of need, which may include using others. His desire is that we trust him to carry out his will.

I pray we all love and trust God to carry out his will. I pray we seek to live within God’s will. I pray each one of us will see beyond the impossibilities to see the possible with God. Seek God always. Love God. Trust God. Seek God’s will. Live in God’s will. Know God is all-powerful. Know God is omnipresent. Know God is omniscient. Know God is omnipotent.

Mark 6:35-36 When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.”

Rest a While

How often do you rest? Do you take time to not just get enough rest to continue one more day, but a renewing rest that energizes you for weeks? Have you ever taken a sabbatical? Do you plan to take a sabbatical? Are your vacations restful or hectic?

We know getting the proper rest is important. We may be good at getting seven or eight hours sleep each night. We may even set aside time during the day to rest. Perhaps we read a devotional and pray first thing in the morning. Perhaps we do that in the evening.

In a culture that is constantly on the go, getting rest can be a challenge. We think we must be on the go all the time, just like we think everyone else is. Yet, everyone else may not be as on the go as we think. Sure, they go places and do things. We all do. And we talk about it. But think for just a moment. All those people who talk about going all the time are likely the same people that talk about constantly being tired.

We need rest. We need time away from the hustle and bustle. We need a sabbatical, even if only a few days. We need to completely decompress and renew our energy level. Jesus knew this, too. That is why He told His disciples to go to a deserted place with Him. He knew they needed a break from the crowds. He knew they needed a deeper rest than merely sleeping that night.

We can learn a lesson from Jesus’ actions. He directed His disciples to get away from all the activity and get a deeper level of rest. We can get away from the activity, too. We can achieve a deeper level of rest. When we do, we will find that our body and mind is reenergized, providing us more focus for the tasks we must complete.

I pray we all seek a deeper rest. I pray we take time to get away from the hustle and bustle. I pray each one of us will find a quiet place to be rejuvenated and reenergized. Seek a deeper rest. Get away from the hustle and bustle. Be rejuvenated. Be reenergized. Be renewed.

Mark 6:30-31 The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.

Celebrating God Together

Who do you celebrate God with? Do you celebrate him only when in a church building? Do you celebrate him only with people who are like minded? Are you willing to celebrate God with people who are different from you? Why or why not?

Celebrating God is something we should do continually. We know that. But do we do that? Celebrating God with our brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the world is something we should do. We should celebrate our differences. After all, they are God given.

We see David and the house of Israel celebrating God as the ark of the covenant was brought into Jerusalem. There were differences among them. We can reasonably assume some were strong in their faith while others were barely holding on to it. We also know there were different tribes within Israel. Each of them likely had their own viewpoint, just as different denominations do.

Yet, there was at least one who was not happy—Michal. She was the daughter of Saul and wife of David. She despised him for dancing and shouting and singing before the Lord. Are we like that? Do we despise people who worship God differently than we do?

We can be like Michal, hating those who are different. Or we can rejoice and celebrate our God given differences and dance (whether physically or spiritually) before God. May we choose to celebrate God and one another. May we not despise others for celebrating God differently.

I pray we all celebrate God. I pray we celebrate his differing gifts to us. I pray each one of us will rejoice in God’s diverse blessings and honor differing styles of worshiping him. Celebrate God. Be joyful in his presence. Celebrate his gifts. Celebrate his diversity. Honor God at all times.

2 Samuel 6:14-15 David danced before the LORD with all his might; David was girded with a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.

Godly Leaders

Do you expect your leaders to take care of you? Do you believe they should put the sheep before they, the shepherd, partake? Do you depend on God to provide for your everyday needs? If you are a leader, do you put the needs of those you lead ahead of your own needs?

Being a leader is more than bossing people around. In fact, true leaders rarely need to boss anyone around. They lead by example. They show those they are leading they care for them. In return, those they are leading do all they can to support their leader.

David was not only the King of Israel, but he was also a true leader. Though he may have decided the ark of the covenant should be returned to Jerusalem and lead the way, he did not forget the people of Israel in the midst of it. Rather than beating his chest and pontificating how great he was, he sacrificed to God and fed the Israelites. After the people had seen his love and care for them, they went home contented.

Oh, that we would have more leaders like David. Sure, he made his mistakes. But his love for God’s people was evident, and they loved him back. He could have told them he wanted them to walk across fiery coals and they would have done it. Instead, he took care of them. He led them to greatness. He asked God for guidance and followed God’s guidance as it was given.

If we become leaders, what kind of leaders will we be? Will we be dictators who lead out of fear? Or, will we be leaders who put our people before ourselves and lead out of love? Only one of those choices is a Godly choice. The other comes from Satan. We can choose to follow God or choose to follow Satan, even as leaders. May each of us make the Godly choice.

I pray we all recognize a Godly leader. I pray we see more Godly leaders in the world. I pray each one of us will choose to follow God, especially if we become a leader. Choose to follow God’s guidance. Choose to be a Godly leader. Pray for more Godly leaders.

2 Samuel 6:18-19 When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the offerings of well-being, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts, and distributed food among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, to each a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins. Then all the people went back to their homes.

See God’s Creation

We know that God created the heavens and the earth. But how often do we think about it? Have you ever taken time to view the stars at night? Have you seen majestic mountains in the distance and driven for several miles just to get to the base of them? Have you flown in an airplane and looked down at the earth passing below you?

God’s creation is amazing. If we take a few moments and really notice it all, we are in awe of it. The mighty oak starts as a small acorn. The mighty Mississippi River starts at Itasca Lake, MN and flows north for several miles before turning east, then south becoming larger along the way due to several tributaries.

We see everyday reminders of God’s magnificent creation. There are the multi-colored flowers around our homes or along the highway. There are the bees who pollinate the flowers. We see tiny bugs and large cattle. We encounter many people who all look and act different, yet we are 99.9% the same in our DNA.

The evidence of God’s existence and his creation is all around us. How can we be so blind that we do not see it?! Might I suggest we are so busy we miss it. We focus on our immediate situation, having tunnel vision, rather than seeing the bigger creation. We strive to put things under our control, rather than admitting that God is in control.

If we want to fully worship God, to be in awe of him, we must open our eyes and see his creation. To fully appreciate what God has done for us, we need to see what he has done all around us. Will we open our eyes? Will we be in awe of God? Will we fully worship him?

I pray we all open our eyes to God’s creation. I pray we see his majesty in what we see every day. I pray each one of us desires to fully worship God with awe and wonder at his creation. Open your eyes. See God’s creation. Be in awe of God. Seek to fully worship him.

Psalm 24:1-2

The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, 

the world, and those who live in it; 

for he has founded it on the seas,

and established it on the rivers.

Live In God’s Promises

How well do you accept truth? Will you believe truth when you hear it? Do you know the good news? Have you heard the promises of God? Have you been sealed with the Holy Spirit? Do you know you have an inheritance? Do you know how you should react to all of this?

Truth can be hard to hear. We can fool ourselves into believing something other than the truth. The truth of God’s promises is good news. His promise of the Holy Spirit has God walking with us every day. His promise of salvation is a promise only he can make.

We have been redeemed through God’s promises. He sent his Son to be the perfect sacrifice, once for all. He promised our redemption through that sacrifice. He promised the gift of the Holy Spirit. He promised an inheritance when we accept Christ as Lord and Savior. God has delivered on his promises.

How are we to react to God’s fulfilment of his promises? We are to praise him. We are to give him the glory. We can do that in many forms. One way is by attending worship services. Another way is to give him the credit when we achieve something. Yet another way is to praise him for the beauty he has created in this world. In other words, we can praise him and give him the glory every day.

The apostle Paul says a lot with few words. He speaks truth succinctly. We need to unpack those truths and apply them in our lives. By applying them in our lives, we can live a more joyful life, rejoicing in God’s wonderful promises. We can live into those promises, holding onto them, even when things do not go as we would like.

I pray we all know God’s promises. I pray we live in the promises of God. I pray each one of us praise God in worship, in our achievements, and for the beauty he has created. Know God’s promises. Live in his promises. Apply his promises to your life. Hold onto his promises. Praise God for his promises.

Ephesians 1:13-14 In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.