Tag: comfort

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Unraveled at the Feet of Jesus

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Trying to find a biblical family in the scripture to model your family after is next to impossible. Dysfunction doesn’t even begin to describe it. From the beginning it was filled with disobedience, betrayal and murder. So it should not come as a surprise that our own families are so messed up today, and yet when it happens we’re shocked. And when you couple the fact that those stories of dysfunction were within God’s chosen leaders of the day, who weren’t perfect, but their relationship with the Lord was to be desired; what does that say about us? Few of us have a relationship with the Lord that’s as tightly knit. So we unravel… and our family isn’t what we envisioned, and neither are we.

I can write from the heart of dysfunction. If God were still adding text to the Bible (and He’s not by the way), but if He were, there could likely be the book of Shari. Perhaps many sermons would be preached from my text with a title like “The Diva of Dysfunction.” There likely would not be the intrigue as many books of the Bible entail, but there would be comedy and chaos, heartache and hindrances to the will of God, fractured moments and failed missions. Several trips to the wood shed for certain. But… in the midst of it all you’d find Mercy. And me at His feet… unraveled.

From Heaven I have a feeling my life looks like a tangled mess of God’s intentions. Maybe yours does too. We have to remember that regardless of what we do, God does see the other side.

  • Poor decisions can take us down a wrong path. And though the distance is rougher and longer, God can still bring us to His intended spot.
  • Broken relations were not His plan, but the healing that He provides can make you stronger and more appreciative of the unbroken.
  • Finances may not be your forte, (it’s not mine) but by giving back to Him what we were entrusted with, perhaps that seed will take root and grow in ways we can’t even imagine. Or He may just give us contentment… and that’s okay too.
  • Sometimes family is the tie that binds, and sometimes it’s the tie that gags, but it’s the foundation of the gospel. We are the family of God. And if He can put up with our shenanigans do we not owe our family the same. A man who sought God’s wisdom ask his counselor “When can I stop caring.” The counselor’s reply was “When God does.”

If I wrote an exhaustive list of dysfunctions you wouldn’t take the time to read my blog. So let’s put it like this. You fill in the blank. “Dear God, ________________ is unraveling in my life. And I need you to knit it back together.”

Scripture says in Colossians 2:2 ~ That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;

We don’t know the end of our story. But we can be comforted in the knowledge that we are loved and that God’s plan is still on track. That tangled mess that we see, will one day be a viewed as a beautiful tapestry …or perhaps a cable knit sweater.

I hope today finds your life at peace, and wrapped up in the love of God

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Unity of Community

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welcome home candle

I have lived in small communities for all but two years of my fifty years of life. And with little complaint… other than occasional inconvenience, lack of privacy and choices with regards to shopping. But overall the blessings of living in a small West Virginia community outweighs the city any day of the week for this girl. But one thing I’ve noticed as I’ve been blessed with an opportunity to travel to other places in the United States and across the sea is the church community is the same regardless of location, and where ever I’ve gone I’ve been home!

The word “community” is derived from the  communité which is derived from the Latin communitas (com, “with/together” + munus, “gift”).

The church community is ever on the decline in America because of lack of priority in families and a failure on the church to live in a manner that differs from the world, but it’s still the best thing going!  It’s a gift indeed to walk into a congregation of people that you’ve never met before and within five minutes feel like you’ve been there a life time.

Philippians 2:1-5 ~ If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

Paul wrote to the Philippian Church with a few small, cost free requests. Get along. Help each other out. Have mercy. Perhaps that’s a part of the reason the church is on the decline we’ve stopped taking the time to live out Paul’s instructions.

To follow Paul’s example you must first be “in Christ”, having accepted His salvation and having the Holy Spirit dwell inside of you. That is how those people that I had never met before felt like old friends. Because the Spirit of Christ within us bore witness to one another. It’s an exciting thing! It was to Christian friends that Paul speaks to and I in turn am sharing his message in hopes of seeing at work in our churches today the unity of the community of believers. There were three things Paul mentioned that was necessary for unity.

  • Consolation – relief or support. A feeling of hope! The gospel of Christ is a full service gospel. The same words that convict the soul of a need for salvation, soothes the soul with a feeling of hope. But it is of little effect without legs to walk beside someone or arms to hug them tight in a time of trouble. That’s why the church was established so we could help one another through the hard times of life.
  • Comfort – security or relaxation. A feeling of home! When I walk into the sanctuary of Victory Baptist Church there is a joy that leaps within me. It’s my Father’s house, and as His child I feel as much at home there as I do in my living room at the house. That’s how it should be for every believer that walks through the door, whether or not it is their home church. There should be a feeling of belonging.
  • Mercy – forgiveness or compassion. A feeling of humanity! We’ve all been in need of forgiveness; and essential for a feeling of unity in the believers is mercy. As someone once said “The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.” Everyone who walks in the door should feel the acceptance of the Lord to come “just as I am.

Philippians 4:1-5 is a church that understands the J.O.Y. of the Lord.  ~ Jesus first, others second, and yourself last.

When you walk into your church on Sunday morning, I hope you walk in looking for that soul who needs to link with yours for consolation, comfort and mercy and a feeling that they’ve just arrived home.