Many of us struggle in our work place and as times get tougher the stress of being in a "bad job" increases. The following was sent to me by a very dear friend when I was in one of those "bad jobs." It brought me great comfort and has to this day. I am so grateful that God blessed me with such a dear friend. I pray that this message gives you some hope, some peace, some inspiration to get through the work day. I wish I knew the author of this message and I apologize for not being able to give that person the credit. Suffice to say "TO GOD BE THE GLORY," Amen!
Where you work is no accident or coincidence. I know from the emails that I get, many people go to work each day in absolutely wicked places. I am amazed at the level of evil so many face each day from customers, co-workers, and bosses. Many who openly profess Christ as their Savior endure persecution at work for their faith.
For those of you who go to work each day in a hostile work environment, where people come against you, many simply because you are a Christian, I want you to know that it is NO ACCIDENT OR COINCIDENCE you work where you do. God has put you there for a reason, to be HIS light in the darkness.
As I have stated so many times, the child of God is expected to live UP to the standards of God, not down to the standards of this world. This world says to do as little as possible to get by. On your job, do what you have to do, nothing more. God says that you are to do your very best, work with all of your heart to please the Lord, not man.
Even though you may work for your boss, you are actually working for THE BOSS! God doesn't expect you to do what you can't do, only your very best at what you can do. Those who know the Lord should always be the best workers, since we understand we are working for the Lord, not man.
Never forget, we have the largest percentage of two full generations that has never been to church. YOU ARE THE ONLY BIBLE MANY OF THOSE YOU ARE IN CONTACT WITH EACH DAY AT YOUR JOB WILL EVER READ! Our greatest testimony to those God has put in our life is not what we say, but how we live our life each day! I guarantee you, people notice!
Let me tell you what the big picture strategy of Liveprayer is. It is a very simple plan. Use the Internet, secular TV and radio, and advertising, to let people know when they are hurting, looking for answers, there is a place they can come. You see, I understand that EVERYONE deals with the same issues in life like finances, health, death, relationships, careers, and addictions.
I simply want to be there, visible and accessible so that when they face these issues, they know there is a place to come to find strength and hope. That is why God has you working where you are. To be that bright light, so when those you come in contact with each day are hurting, looking for strength and hope, they know they can come to you.
That is when you can share with them the fact that Jesus is their only real hope. In the midst of their struggles, He is the ONLY answer. It is at those times when God can use you as an instrument to help those who are hurting find strength in Christ and peace that only God can give.
THAT IS WHY YOU ARE WORKING WHERE YOU ARE!
I love you and care about you so much. I realize that many of you face incredible challenges each day on your job. I will be praying today that God will encourage you and help you to see that you are not at that job just for a paycheck, but He has placed you there to be a witness for Him to those you come in contact with each day.
Take time before you go to work to pray for God to help you to do your very best in your job that day, working as unto the Lord, not man as a testimony to those you work with. Also, pray that God will let your light shine bright so that those who may be hurting, will come to you with their problems and give you the opportunity to pray for them and share with them the hope and love of Jesus.
I pray that you will never look at your job as just a way to earn a paycheck again, but look at it for what it really is, A MINISTRY. All of God's children are called to serve Him. Realize that you serve Him every day when you go to work, since it is no accident or coincidence where you work. GOD PUT YOU THERE!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
COMMITMENT
I heard the word "commit" three times in the last three days used in three different contexts. When things come in threes it usually means there is a message in there somewhere! I try to heed the call of the Holy Spirit when He says "I feel a blog coming on" and get out the laptop!!!
Webster defines commitment as: (a) : an agreement or pledge to do something in the future; (b) : the state or an instance of being obligated or emotionally impelled.
The word is used everyday with or without conscience meaning. How often do we say or hear someone else say "I'll call you." How many times in one day do we say we are going to do something. What about a New Year's Resolution? Isn't that a commitment? It is often said of boyfriends that "he has a fear of commitment."
So why do we have a fear of commitment? Is it fear of failure? In the words of Leo Buscaglia, "So what?" [The only failure is for the lack of trying; and failure never killed anyone!!] Is it a lack of trust? Because someone betrayed you once you don't have faith in another? Or is it a matter of integrity? You know you won't be able to keep your promise.
And what happens when someone makes a commitment to us? Don't we trust that person will follow through? Don't we have faith in that person's integrity?
As I was reading a friend's blog today entitled "The Heart is Led by the Tongue", she talked about how "we have a way of really only doing what we want to do or what we feel like doing" instead of "doing what we ought to do regardless of our emotions," or "not doing anything our heart isn't into" and that "the tongue has a way of leading the heart." (http://tipitee.blogspot.com/). The Bible more aptly says it "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart..." (Matthew 15:18). Her blog goes right along with my thoughts on commitment!
Commitment, trust and faith go hand in hand. The Bible tells us to "commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him, and He shall bring it to pass." (Psalm 37:5). When Christians accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and personal Savior, they commit their lives to Him. That commitment must be from the heart or it is just an empty promise.
How many times have we left our burdens at the Cross only to pick them up again? How many times have we felt God telling us to doing something but don't do it because we are blinded by an obstacle? By doing this, aren't we saying we don't have faith in God, we don't trust God, we don't believe He will keep His commitment to us? Yet He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. His Word never returns void.
Do you have the heart for God? Do you have the heart of God? Are your commitments based on the same standard as God's commitment to us?
Webster defines commitment as: (a) : an agreement or pledge to do something in the future; (b) : the state or an instance of being obligated or emotionally impelled.
The word is used everyday with or without conscience meaning. How often do we say or hear someone else say "I'll call you." How many times in one day do we say we are going to do something. What about a New Year's Resolution? Isn't that a commitment? It is often said of boyfriends that "he has a fear of commitment."
So why do we have a fear of commitment? Is it fear of failure? In the words of Leo Buscaglia, "So what?" [The only failure is for the lack of trying; and failure never killed anyone!!] Is it a lack of trust? Because someone betrayed you once you don't have faith in another? Or is it a matter of integrity? You know you won't be able to keep your promise.
And what happens when someone makes a commitment to us? Don't we trust that person will follow through? Don't we have faith in that person's integrity?
As I was reading a friend's blog today entitled "The Heart is Led by the Tongue", she talked about how "we have a way of really only doing what we want to do or what we feel like doing" instead of "doing what we ought to do regardless of our emotions," or "not doing anything our heart isn't into" and that "the tongue has a way of leading the heart." (http://tipitee.blogspot.com/). The Bible more aptly says it "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart..." (Matthew 15:18). Her blog goes right along with my thoughts on commitment!
Commitment, trust and faith go hand in hand. The Bible tells us to "commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him, and He shall bring it to pass." (Psalm 37:5). When Christians accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and personal Savior, they commit their lives to Him. That commitment must be from the heart or it is just an empty promise.
How many times have we left our burdens at the Cross only to pick them up again? How many times have we felt God telling us to doing something but don't do it because we are blinded by an obstacle? By doing this, aren't we saying we don't have faith in God, we don't trust God, we don't believe He will keep His commitment to us? Yet He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. His Word never returns void.
Do you have the heart for God? Do you have the heart of God? Are your commitments based on the same standard as God's commitment to us?
Friday, June 4, 2010
Can you hear me now???
Remember when you met your neighbor at the fence and talked? And at the end of the conversation both parties went their way smiling and waving and saying "have a nice day"?
Modern technology provides the telephone, voice mail, email, instant messaging, text messaging, etc which has caused relationships to go astray! You cannot interpret the intent of the speaker by a facial expression or an inflection in their tone of voice!
Yesterday I had an unfortunate incident using written words rather than face to face. So much can be lost in the interpretation (and not in a good way) when you are not speaking directly to someone. The "conversation" went like this: "I feel like..." but the listener heard (or rather, read) "You are a ...."! Wait! How can that be!?!? I suppose if that person was really paying attention, my feelings would have been acknowledged first and, if not certain of what I was saying, asked me for clarification. I had to wonder if the response and end result would have been the same in a face to face conversation!
I got to thinking about the fine art of listening. Are we so busy that we don't take the time to listen? Or are we so focused on ourselves that we don't listen? Or do we just not care enough to listen?
When I worked in retail I did an experiment at the check out to see if people really listen. As the customer was leaving I would say something similar in sounding like "have a nice day" and the response was always "thanks, you too"! Hmmm. Did they really hear me say "did you see last night's play"???...or, "your face looks like clay" ???
The Bible tells us "...let man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God." (James 1:19)
Perhaps if we just cared enough~ to slow down long enough ~to listen well enough, there would be less misunderstandings!
Modern technology provides the telephone, voice mail, email, instant messaging, text messaging, etc which has caused relationships to go astray! You cannot interpret the intent of the speaker by a facial expression or an inflection in their tone of voice!
Yesterday I had an unfortunate incident using written words rather than face to face. So much can be lost in the interpretation (and not in a good way) when you are not speaking directly to someone. The "conversation" went like this: "I feel like..." but the listener heard (or rather, read) "You are a ...."! Wait! How can that be!?!? I suppose if that person was really paying attention, my feelings would have been acknowledged first and, if not certain of what I was saying, asked me for clarification. I had to wonder if the response and end result would have been the same in a face to face conversation!
I got to thinking about the fine art of listening. Are we so busy that we don't take the time to listen? Or are we so focused on ourselves that we don't listen? Or do we just not care enough to listen?
When I worked in retail I did an experiment at the check out to see if people really listen. As the customer was leaving I would say something similar in sounding like "have a nice day" and the response was always "thanks, you too"! Hmmm. Did they really hear me say "did you see last night's play"???...or, "your face looks like clay" ???
The Bible tells us "...let man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God." (James 1:19)
Perhaps if we just cared enough~ to slow down long enough ~to listen well enough, there would be less misunderstandings!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
What is a friend...
I am saddened by the sudden death of a dear man and someone I considered my friend. At the same time, I am disappointed at the loss of a potentially good friendship with another person. As I thought about these two people I began to wonder what constitutes a friendship. How do you define "friend" and how does a friendship define you?
There is a little joke in our house when my husband says of someone "Oh, he's a friend of mine" and I ask "why haven't I met him? did he send you a birthday card? Christmas card? and when is he coming to dinner?" To which he replies "well, he lives in Greece and he's not actually a friend, just someone I correspond with"....
The word "friend" has become an attachment to describe anyone we have contact with even if we have never met them or haven't seen them in many years. We have e-mail friends, Facebook friends, blogger friends, friends of the family, friends from school, friends from church, old friends, new friends, best friends, fair weather friends, forever friends.
But what is a friend? Often someone will forward an email that tries to define what a friend is or isn't. "Someone who will laugh with you, cry with you, and always be there for you." Or this one: "A friend will bail you out of jail but a real friend will be in the jail cell with you saying "wasn't that a blast ?!?!!?" The authoritative Webster's dictionary broadly defines the word as:
1 a : one attached to another by affection or esteem b : acquaintance
2 a : one that is not hostile b : one that is of the same nation, party, or group
3 : one that favors or promotes something (as a charity)
4 : a favored companion
Reading this list there is hardly anything personal involved! Which probably indicates that how you define "friend" IS, in fact, personal and based on your own standards.
So I look to the Bible as the standard of all standards. And as usual, the "bunny trail" begins....
My first stop was Proverbs 18:24 which says "....But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." This got me thinking about my relationship with my own brothers. I have two older brothers who are like night and day. One is kind and caring, the other is arrogant and self-centered. One has hated me since the day I was born, and one was and still is "my big brother."
As I continued my hop along the Bible bunny trail searching references to "friend" and "friendship" I had to stop and ponder at 2 Chronicles 20:7 and Isaiah 41:8 where God calls Abraham His friend forever.
Wow! Imagine how awesome that is! To be a friend of God!!! So let's compare God's standard of friendship to that of our own friends. Can you imagine having a friend that is forever? that will always keep a promise? that will never let you down? that will be the same yesterday, today and tomorrow? that will never hurt you? that will never lie to you? that will never leave you or forsake you? Can you imagine being a friend with those same standards?
And then I looked at Proverbs 17:17.... "A friend loves at all times..." and to John 15:13 ..."Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends."
I wondered how many of my "friends" would die for me! How many of my "friends" would I die for? Perhaps with this in mind, we should choose our friends more carefully, be less flippant about the word "friend" or, more importantly, treat our friends with the same standards God uses to choose who He calls His forever friend!
There is a little joke in our house when my husband says of someone "Oh, he's a friend of mine" and I ask "why haven't I met him? did he send you a birthday card? Christmas card? and when is he coming to dinner?" To which he replies "well, he lives in Greece and he's not actually a friend, just someone I correspond with"....
The word "friend" has become an attachment to describe anyone we have contact with even if we have never met them or haven't seen them in many years. We have e-mail friends, Facebook friends, blogger friends, friends of the family, friends from school, friends from church, old friends, new friends, best friends, fair weather friends, forever friends.
But what is a friend? Often someone will forward an email that tries to define what a friend is or isn't. "Someone who will laugh with you, cry with you, and always be there for you." Or this one: "A friend will bail you out of jail but a real friend will be in the jail cell with you saying "wasn't that a blast ?!?!!?" The authoritative Webster's dictionary broadly defines the word as:
1 a : one attached to another by affection or esteem b : acquaintance
2 a : one that is not hostile b : one that is of the same nation, party, or group
3 : one that favors or promotes something (as a charity)
4 : a favored companion
Reading this list there is hardly anything personal involved! Which probably indicates that how you define "friend" IS, in fact, personal and based on your own standards.
So I look to the Bible as the standard of all standards. And as usual, the "bunny trail" begins....
My first stop was Proverbs 18:24 which says "....But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." This got me thinking about my relationship with my own brothers. I have two older brothers who are like night and day. One is kind and caring, the other is arrogant and self-centered. One has hated me since the day I was born, and one was and still is "my big brother."
As I continued my hop along the Bible bunny trail searching references to "friend" and "friendship" I had to stop and ponder at 2 Chronicles 20:7 and Isaiah 41:8 where God calls Abraham His friend forever.
Wow! Imagine how awesome that is! To be a friend of God!!! So let's compare God's standard of friendship to that of our own friends. Can you imagine having a friend that is forever? that will always keep a promise? that will never let you down? that will be the same yesterday, today and tomorrow? that will never hurt you? that will never lie to you? that will never leave you or forsake you? Can you imagine being a friend with those same standards?
And then I looked at Proverbs 17:17.... "A friend loves at all times..." and to John 15:13 ..."Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends."
I wondered how many of my "friends" would die for me! How many of my "friends" would I die for? Perhaps with this in mind, we should choose our friends more carefully, be less flippant about the word "friend" or, more importantly, treat our friends with the same standards God uses to choose who He calls His forever friend!
Saturday, February 20, 2010
It's the weather....
Since my last blog pondering the appearance of a flock of robins in my yard, my local newspaper reported that there are "millions" of robins in the county due to the extreme cold up North and the abundance of Brazilian pepper berries in Florida. While seeking the warmth of the Florida sunshine and the intoxicating effects of the pepper berries is understandable and logical, my skepticism told me that this is not the first time it has been cold up North nor a first appearance of pepper berries in Florida, therefore, there must be some other explanation!! Still seeking affirmation from the Lord, it became all too clear that life is not about me! Life just happens (even for robins), Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall!!! His message is simple...see all that He has created, for His great pleasure and ours!!!
"I will praise You O Lord with my whole heart; I will tell of all of Your marvelous works." Psalm 9:1
"I will praise You O Lord with my whole heart; I will tell of all of Your marvelous works." Psalm 9:1
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Flock of Robins
This morning I was awakened by a flock of robins singing and dancing on my porch roof, then in the big oak tree, then on the ground, then off to the field. They carried on for quite some time insuring I was fully awake and that they were totally noticed! As a New Englander, my first thought was "Ahhh..Spring"!! But as the caffeine took hold I realized I was in Florida and everyone knows that is where birds spend their winters (hence the term "snowbirds")!!
So was it luck? or happenstance? or a deeper meaning for this "awakening to the vision of Spring?" Which brings to mind The Book of Ecclesiastes 3:1 "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven..." For the last couple of years I have been in a Winter Season of life's problems. Health, finances, job loss, broken relationships, spiritual struggles... Not knowing God's plan or the "reason for the season", but trusting that He has one, I wonder if this was God's way of telling me that 2010 is my Spring Season???
So was it luck? or happenstance? or a deeper meaning for this "awakening to the vision of Spring?" Which brings to mind The Book of Ecclesiastes 3:1 "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven..." For the last couple of years I have been in a Winter Season of life's problems. Health, finances, job loss, broken relationships, spiritual struggles... Not knowing God's plan or the "reason for the season", but trusting that He has one, I wonder if this was God's way of telling me that 2010 is my Spring Season???
Friday, January 15, 2010
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