Preparation

I was thinking while preparing for a large event at our house about the effort serving takes.  When you are hosting guests and family you usually want to do it well.  To do it well it takes extra effort and commitment which you do out of love for those you are serving.  This led me to think about how much God and Jesus Christ must love us.  In John 14:2 Jesus says, "In my Father's house are many rooms.  If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?"  It goes on to say He will be back to show us the way to His house.  The effort we take to be hospitable to our friends and family is nothing to what Jesus Christ has done for us in preparation for our joining HIm.  He willingly gave His life to make us pure, clean, acceptable guests at His Father's house as well as preparing the rooms and banquets for us when we arrive.  He asks only that we believe and profess that He is real and that we need His preparation and want to be pure and accepted by His Father in heaven.  What kind of reception will it be when the Creator of the Universe invites us to His house?  Imagine!

Time Flies

I've been thinking about time for many reasons lately and am reminded that our life is but a mist here on Earth.  James say in 4:14 "Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.  What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for little while and them vanishes."  The longer you live the more you understand that statement.  If that is the case then it is important that we use the time we have wisely.  As a Christian it is good to consider how would God have you use your time.  As an act of worship for all He has done in saving us from our sins by sending His son Jesus Christ to take our punishment that we may be pure and spotless before God on judgement day we want to honor God and use our life to make his name known.

Therefore, I want to have you think about this idea.  In more than one bible study I was introduced to the idea of making a life purpose statement.  The following is one from "Calm My Anxious Heart" by Linda Dillow.  In this book she refers to Phyllis Stanley who wandered from God and on returning wrote her goal for change in living life based on Philippians 3:10  "For my determined purpose is that I may know Him - that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly." (AMP)  From that she wrote her statement to read like this:

     I want to live my life very purposely, regularly reviewing and praying over my purpose in life, loving God intensely, cherishing and inspiring my husband,  praying for and keeping connected spiritually with my children, loving women and seeking to lay spiritual foundations in their lives.
     I want to live faithfully, believing God for what I cannot see.  I want to believe that God can do in my children's lives what I cannot do.
     I want to live creatively, creating beauty and warmth in my home, around my table, and in my Bible study.  Creativity adds sparkle to a focused, purposeful life.
     I want to live paradoxically.  I want to go against my selfish nature, against our culture, giving a little bit more than I feel like giving, going the second mile, being like Jesus.


That is well stated.  I took some time and wrote my own statement which is different than hers yet the same in focused attention.  The key is to make some quiet time to pray about what God wants from you and who and what He has put in your life now and what you want to be remembered about your life.  It is not as overwhelming as it may sound and you do not have to be an eloquent writer.  You just have to care about how you want to live your life for God and put down some goals.  Print it out and display it for those times when life is pulling you many different ways.  It can calm your spirit, direct your efforts, and put the steam back in the mist of your life.  Praise be to God now and forever! Amen