You are valuable!
Western religious mentality has formed in the mind of believers, the idea that the people involved in "full time public ministry" are graced with super spiritual antennas that receive the will of God for the less spiritual common folk called the "laity", and these super spiritual people is the pipeline God uses to let the not so spiritual people know what He wants them to know. HOGWASH!
I believe it is the quiet deeds of faith, the steadfast heart, the humble service of being simply a believer over the years of a lifetime that is really pleasing to God, Jesus was humble and meek and we are to learn from Him. Most people serve Him, in the unobserved moment by moment willingness to bear the burdens of life in a fallen world, never receiving accolades from the public arena. Yet, God, who sees in secret, will indeed see their deeds of loving faithfulness. At the reward giving ceremony, there are going to be great disappointments when some of the public figures works are burned as wood, hay and stubble, or even worse, they hear, depart from me I never knew you and the unknown faithful believer is rewarded for the faithful life they lived.
Church is not the grander of these celebrity figures and their ivory palaces of worship or the showmanship they put off for the masses or the TV cameras. Church is lived daily by the folk living their daily lives as normal people demonstrating the power of God that is resident in the love of God as the minister to the needs of people. Church is living life and life is not lived in event-driven-meetings!
God sees you. He loves you and measures each tiny faithful decision in His hands as an act glorifying Him in your short time on this earth. These little acts of love and faith make up the whole sacrifice of our life that becomes an offering to Him that is a sweet smelling savor.
Your life is made up of thousands of little moments, seemingly insignificant to the public eye. Caring for one more baby. Listening to the heart’s cry of one more teenager. Comforting the elderly. Encouraging and loving people who are hurting. Living through one more season of faith when your life has felt overwhelming. Smiling and befriending a passer-by. You are the one that are doing great things for God more than the public figures who think they are God's gift to the world and that God has chosen them to win the world by you supporting them.
You have often felt overwhelmed in this journey of life. Feelings of isolation and loneliness have been aching companions at different times...feeling that you don’t fit with many people especially the "super spiritual public figures" who keep preaching problem free life and that God promises you the same if you would but give to "their ministry". They leave the impression that they are riding on top of the storms while you feel lost in the storms of life.
Other times, the burdens of your children and trying to keep them afloat while feeling that the weight of their lives was drowning you...illnesses, personalities and disorders, meeting their needs, answering their spiritual demands, bearing with them through very difficult seasons (sleepless nights of babyhood; all the trials and joys of elementary, teenage storms, and young adult decisions and pressures). Sometimes, it just feels like it never ends.
God is with you as you as you go through the storms, to keep trusting Him, to keep believing Him, that He is good, even when you don’t feel His presence. Being faithful to God and maintaining your trust in Him, that is the character that God will reward. Believing in the midst of the darkness and choosing to worship and to love Him and praise Him, by our wills and not our feelings may be the biggest treasure in heaven that we will give to Him–faithfulness when no one is watching; faith in Him when it seems He has disappeared. Faithfulness to serve one more person in need. Making one more meal and washing one more set of dishes to a family who seems to be always depending on you for everything.
Integrity in these seemingly insignificant moments will become the measure of integrity over a life-time, and will build a picture of faithfulness for all to see when they go through their own hard times. Kept going. Keep loving. Keep believing. That is the character of the Church, it is not what happens in buildings or the showmanship on the public airwaves. You are more an expression of the Church of Christ than the public charades and acting ability of the self proclaimed"super spiritual".
As you recognize the many heavy burden's that loved ones and friends are sharing, Be there for them, pray for them and it will be true worship unto God...much more than what takes place in building meetings!
Moment by moment, day by day, take hold of your hearts’ attitude that will give you hope, strength, courage and faith to live His reality every day as His Church. Know that He is a good Father who cherishes and encourages His beloved children, He will one day say, “Well done, my beloved child enter thou into the joy of the Lord".
It is not about just accomplishing grand feats of sacrifice one time or accomplishing something great in the world’s eyes, that will bring ultimate glory To God.
But it is the faithful, serving and pouring His compassion and love into the people we meet in our daily lives, where hearts will be changed and characters will be formed, to bring His righteousness to bear in our sphere of the world. No deed of faith or love is too small to be noticed by God. It adds up to a life well-lived and is pleasing to our loving Father.
I believe it is the quiet deeds of faith, the steadfast heart, the humble service of being simply a believer over the years of a lifetime that is really pleasing to God, Jesus was humble and meek and we are to learn from Him. Most people serve Him, in the unobserved moment by moment willingness to bear the burdens of life in a fallen world, never receiving accolades from the public arena. Yet, God, who sees in secret, will indeed see their deeds of loving faithfulness. At the reward giving ceremony, there are going to be great disappointments when some of the public figures works are burned as wood, hay and stubble, or even worse, they hear, depart from me I never knew you and the unknown faithful believer is rewarded for the faithful life they lived.
Church is not the grander of these celebrity figures and their ivory palaces of worship or the showmanship they put off for the masses or the TV cameras. Church is lived daily by the folk living their daily lives as normal people demonstrating the power of God that is resident in the love of God as the minister to the needs of people. Church is living life and life is not lived in event-driven-meetings!
God sees you. He loves you and measures each tiny faithful decision in His hands as an act glorifying Him in your short time on this earth. These little acts of love and faith make up the whole sacrifice of our life that becomes an offering to Him that is a sweet smelling savor.
Your life is made up of thousands of little moments, seemingly insignificant to the public eye. Caring for one more baby. Listening to the heart’s cry of one more teenager. Comforting the elderly. Encouraging and loving people who are hurting. Living through one more season of faith when your life has felt overwhelming. Smiling and befriending a passer-by. You are the one that are doing great things for God more than the public figures who think they are God's gift to the world and that God has chosen them to win the world by you supporting them.
You have often felt overwhelmed in this journey of life. Feelings of isolation and loneliness have been aching companions at different times...feeling that you don’t fit with many people especially the "super spiritual public figures" who keep preaching problem free life and that God promises you the same if you would but give to "their ministry". They leave the impression that they are riding on top of the storms while you feel lost in the storms of life.
Other times, the burdens of your children and trying to keep them afloat while feeling that the weight of their lives was drowning you...illnesses, personalities and disorders, meeting their needs, answering their spiritual demands, bearing with them through very difficult seasons (sleepless nights of babyhood; all the trials and joys of elementary, teenage storms, and young adult decisions and pressures). Sometimes, it just feels like it never ends.
God is with you as you as you go through the storms, to keep trusting Him, to keep believing Him, that He is good, even when you don’t feel His presence. Being faithful to God and maintaining your trust in Him, that is the character that God will reward. Believing in the midst of the darkness and choosing to worship and to love Him and praise Him, by our wills and not our feelings may be the biggest treasure in heaven that we will give to Him–faithfulness when no one is watching; faith in Him when it seems He has disappeared. Faithfulness to serve one more person in need. Making one more meal and washing one more set of dishes to a family who seems to be always depending on you for everything.
Integrity in these seemingly insignificant moments will become the measure of integrity over a life-time, and will build a picture of faithfulness for all to see when they go through their own hard times. Kept going. Keep loving. Keep believing. That is the character of the Church, it is not what happens in buildings or the showmanship on the public airwaves. You are more an expression of the Church of Christ than the public charades and acting ability of the self proclaimed"super spiritual".
As you recognize the many heavy burden's that loved ones and friends are sharing, Be there for them, pray for them and it will be true worship unto God...much more than what takes place in building meetings!
Moment by moment, day by day, take hold of your hearts’ attitude that will give you hope, strength, courage and faith to live His reality every day as His Church. Know that He is a good Father who cherishes and encourages His beloved children, He will one day say, “Well done, my beloved child enter thou into the joy of the Lord".
It is not about just accomplishing grand feats of sacrifice one time or accomplishing something great in the world’s eyes, that will bring ultimate glory To God.
But it is the faithful, serving and pouring His compassion and love into the people we meet in our daily lives, where hearts will be changed and characters will be formed, to bring His righteousness to bear in our sphere of the world. No deed of faith or love is too small to be noticed by God. It adds up to a life well-lived and is pleasing to our loving Father.
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