02.15
Check out today’s passage in the Message version if you have a chance. I enjoyed the change of pace that the paraphrase brought to these verses.
I carry a rock in my pocket most days. It’s a reminder for me. That rock is a symbol for my faith, a reminder of one of the most pivotal moments in our beliefs. It is a reminder of the stone that was rolled from the Jesus’ grave. It’s also a reminder of my future…someday my grave will be unable to contain what God will do to me. There will be a day that this limited, fallen, imperfect body of mine will become all that God meant for it to be, and I will echo with all creation:
“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”
Paul calls us to action based on the promise of resurrection in verse 58 today, “Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” That adds just a little more meaning to my rock today. The same God that has the power to raise me from the dead is at work when I seek to honor him with my actions today.
I think I need a bigger rock.
What life did God bring through your reading today?
“Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” – Yikes…this verse makes me feel just a bit guitly – all the times, I have not lived up to this…all I can do is keep on trying though.
“Stand Firm” jumped out at me. I often let the frustrations of life blow me over, but Paul reminds me to stand firm in Christ. I’m always encouraged when I visit Belarus because I watch these brothers & sisters stand firm against obstacles more daunting than ours. I’m also encouraged because I watch our ministry multiply oversees, as well as at home. God is amazing and that gives me a great reason to stand firm on Him.
“Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” – I often think at work, “What good is coming of what I did today?” Well, many times, not much. Maybe a project got back on the right track, or maybe the company will make it’s clients happier and do a little better for it’s shareholders. But this verse reminds me that when we do something for God, this work is not done in vain. God calls some to an official ministry capacity, but many of us serve the Lord in the mundane parts of our everyday lives. We can know that every minute we spend showing His love, sacrificing our time, and serving others is worthwhile. And we should give ourselves fully to what he leads us to do in the time he allows because it reaps eternal rewards.
That is some really good stuff Kevin! Thanks for sharing your heart.
I heard that Julie is going on the South African Mission Trip. That’s very exciting!
“For the trumpet will sound” jumped out for me. For many, this event will herald the beginning of a new phase of life with the Lord. But for many others, this will be the beginning of the Tribulation. There is a tremendous struggle in these final days. It seems to me that the enemy is working overtime. Between now and the sounding of the last trumpet, I earnestly pray that God will move in power through HIs Church to touch, to love, to give, to heal, to listen, to share the Hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a world that is running out of time. I’ve wasted so much of my life. I’m ready to start living the freedom of serving in God’s army and stop being an army of one, a slave to self.