O God, You are the beginning and the end of all things. We ask you for the protection and faithfulness you have promised us. When we are thoughtless and careless, firm up Your purpose in us. Where we are forgetful of our commitment s, enliven our memory to our promises. When we are loveless, recall to us Your loving ways among us. When we marvel not at the beauty around us, fill us with wonder at Your creation. Direct and guide all that we say and do that we begin and end all things in loving faithfulness. Amen.
A Prayer for Faithfulness
O God, You are the beginning and the end of all things. We ask you for the protection and faithfulness you have promised us. When we are thoughtless and careless, firm up Your purpose in us. Where we are forgetful of our commitment s, enliven our memory to our promises. When we are loveless, recall to us Your loving ways among us. When we marvel not at the beauty around us, fill us with wonder at Your creation. Direct and guide all that we say and do that we begin and end all things in loving faithfulness. Amen.
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How do I cultivate faithfulness?
2 Kings 12:15; Daniel 6:4 Cultivate faithfulness by being honest and trustworthy. Deuteronomy 28:9 Cultivate faithfulness by obeying God’s Word. 1 Timothy 3:12 Cultivate faithfulness by keeping your promises and commitments. Why should I be faithful? Society tells me I should be able to do what I want. Proverbs 3:3-4 Faithfulness brings a good reputation and trust from others. Ruth 4:11 God chooses to accomplish great deeds through faithful people. Hebrews 3:14 Faithfulness brings eternal rewards. Is God faithful? Psalm 89:5; Deuteronomy 7:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:3 God is completely faithful. His faithfulness is so great it makes the angels sing! 2 Timothy 2:13 When others are unfaithful to us, we remain faithful. Otherwise, we become as faithless as they are. Promise from God: Philippians 1:6 And I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again. The God who began a good work within us continues it throughout our lifetime and will finish it when we meet him face to face. God’s work for us began when Christ died on the cross in our place. His work within us began when we first believed. Now the Holy Spirit lives in us, enabling us to be more like Christ every day. Paul is describing the process of Christian growth and maturity that began when we accepted Jesus and continues until Christ returns. Goodness
How should we “be good”? Job 1:1 Job followed a plan for pursuing goodness that is simple in design yet so difficult in practice. When we avoid evil and honor God, we can’t help but “be good.” 1 Samuel 24:9-10 Returning good for evil is real victory. 1 Timothy 5:10 Kind deeds are marks of goodness, which bring the respect of others. Psalm 119:40 The Word of God is a clear statement of what God wants us to do and knows is best for us. To live according to God’s Word is to live according to his will, and that is living a good life. How then shall I show my appreciation to God for his goodness? 1 Chronicles 16:34; Psalm 7:17 Promise from God: Matthew 12:35 A good person produces good words from a good heart, and an evil person produces evil words from an evil heart. MyGoodness-13 (Photo credit: Radio Free SoDo)
Goodness Within the last posting, I pointed out that we needed a word that could summarize many of the factors, qualities, etc.; that impact our Quality of Life. I feel that “Goodness” does that. Well let’s see what the dictionary says about this word: the state or quality of being good, specifically virtue, excellence, kindness, generosity, benevolence, gentleness, (good – acceptable, healthy, strong, unspoiled, uncontaminated, dependable,reliable, adequate, ample, sufficient, satisfying, morally sound, pious, kind, benevolent, generous, sympathetic, well-behaved, useful, serviceable, suitable to a purpose, effective, efficient, competent, producing favorable results, beneficial, skilled, agreeable , enjoyable, happy, honorable, fair, something contributing to health. I think you can see this includes all that would make the quality of your life greatly improved. When you were young (in the physical world) you were wished a good life by all the adults around you. It continued through school and into the real word. You, also wanted good for yourself, and others. It definitely impacted your life. But you may have noticed that at least half of the definition related to the spiritual world. Here is some additional areas: being productive in both worlds, difficult to ignite, easy to stifle, self giving, liberating and nurturing, uplifting, holy (good relationship with God) and finally abundant life. I think you can see that “goodness” is a powerful word and covers all we need to work on in this blog. Let us just make a very brief start on fully understanding this word and how to use it to improve our quality of life. Some people see good all around them, while others see nothing but evil. What is the difference? Our souls become filters through which we perceive goodness or evil. The pure (those who have God in control of their lives) learn to see goodness and purity even in the evil world. But non-God controlled people, find evil in everything because their evil minds and spirits color even the good they see and hear. Whatever you choose to fill your mind with will affect the way you think and act. Turn your thoughts to sharing love with God, and you will discover more and more goodness, even in this evil world. A mind filled with goodness has little room for what is evil. God works in “all things” – not just isolated incidents – for the good of His plans to share love. This does not mean that all that happens to us is good. Evil is prevalent in this world, but God is able to turn every circumstances around for our long-range good. Note that God is not working to make us happy, but to fulfill his purpose. Note also that this good is not for everybody. It is good only for those who love God and their lives are under His control. Only those have a new perspective, a new mind-set on life. They trust in God , not life’[s treasures they look for their security in God’s love, not on earth, they learn to access, not resent, pain and persecution because God is with them. Well as you can see, there is a lot to learn. Well God has sent us an example for us to look at to see how we should live this life, We shall look at him in the next post. Related articles
A Prayer for Goodness
O God, You are the beginning and the end of all things. We praise You for the protection and goodness You have promised us for this day. When we are thoughtless and careless, firm up Your goodness in us. When we are forgetful of our commitments, enliven our memory to our own promises. When we are loveless, recall to us Your loving ways among us through the Holy Spirit. When we marvel not at the goodness around us, fill us with wonder at Your creation. Direct and guide all that we say and do that we begin and end all things in Your name. Through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord. Amen. For a Goodness Perspective in Life
We have trouble, heavenly Father, in maintaining a goodness perspective of life. Help us always remember that we are to love You more than anyone or anything else. Our world is an impersonal one of “society appropriate” and “best possessions.” Our lives go by , and we spend time and energy by chasing that which has no lasting value. Help us, Holy Spirit, so that we do not destroy what is most important of all – our relationship with our lover God. Enable us to bring love within the chaos around us and to see that love in all you do for me, along with the joy, peace, patience, and goodness you provide us and all of our loved ones that share that love relationship with you; along with all the other great gifts you give us. Kindness
In the last posting I had noted that the next step is to work on “Kindness.” Well then, let us take a look at how the dictionary defined “kindness.” Kindness is the state, quality, or habit of being kind (Kind is: being sympathetic, friendly, gentle, tender-hearted, generous, etc.). Being kindly means being gracious, benevolent, agreeable, pleasant, having a gracious manner. By these definitions, I think you can see the power in that word to improve the quality of life for yourself and the people around you. I believe that; based on that definition, you can remember people in your life who were that way. They probably had an impact on your life and others around them. Imagine how you could have an impact on the people around you. And don’t you think that this would bring a smile to your lover – God’s face. This state of kindness will bring others to your family with your lover – God and join you for an eternal love fest. And that came about because you worked on being kind. Besides, Kindness, being a positive thing, it also means avoiding the negative things that would reflect negatively on your relationship with your lover – God. A few of these are as follows: Avoiding Lying, Stealing, Greed, Adultery, Cheating, Wild Living, Drunkenness, Arrogance, Dissension, selfish ambition, Anger, Jealousy, Discord, Hatred, Lust, etc. That is no small list to avoid. But you know what, If you have been working at the areas covered in the previous postings. These mentioned in this posting should be almost gone, because they would have hurt your relationship with your lover. Imagine the hurt on His face if you haven’t got rid of these areas. And that is why He has and will give you the power to deal with these areas. Not only do these areas hurt your relationship with your lover – God, but they also affect your relationship with others around you: impacting your quality of life. So over future postings we shall touch on these again. All the good qualities we have learned in the past postings will have helped you conquer them. But if you are still having major problems with these areas, go back and specifically work on “turning control of your life to God.” The next area we will discuss is the area of gentleness. I look forward to sharing with you this area. Peace – Comfort
“Read what Jesus did during the last Sabbath of his life…. Looks like Jesus was quiet that day. “Wait a minute. That’s it?” That’s it. “You mean with one week left to live. Jesus observed the Sabbath?” As far as we can tell. You mean with all those apostles to train and people to teach, he took a day to rest and worship?” Apparently so. “You’re telling me that Jesus thought worship was more important than work?” That’s exactly what I’m telling you. For such is the purpose of the Sabbath. And such was the practice of Jesus. “On the Sabbath day he went to the synagogue, as he always did, and stood up to read.” Should we do any less? If Jesus found time in the midst of a racing agenda to stop the rush and sit in the silence, do you think we could, too? Ahh, I know what you’re thinking. I can see it in your face. There you are. Looking at me from my monitor with dubious eyes and furrowed brows. “But, Max, Sunday is the only day I have to get caught up at the office.” Or, “Good Idea, Max, but have you heard our preacher? He provides the rest all right – I fall asleep! But the worship? Or, “That’s easy for you to say, Max. You’re a preacher. If you were a housewife like me and had four kids like mine … “It’s not easy to slow down. It’s almost as if activity is a sign of maturity. After all, isn’t there a beatitude which reads, “Blessed are the busy?” No, there isn’t. But there is a verse which summarizes many lives; “Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro: He bustles about, but only in vain; he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it.” Does that sound like your life? Are you so seldom in one place that your friends regard you as a phantom? Are you so constantly on the move that your family is beginning to question your existence? Do you take pride in your frenzy at the expense of your faith? Are [these] words yours"? “I don’t remember how to stop.” If so, you are headed for a crash. Slow down. If God commanded it, you need it. If Jesus modeled it, you need it. Go still provides the manna. Trust him. Take a day to say no to work and yes to worship. (From And the Angels Were Silent by Max Lucado) To Guide our Love
By the power of Your shared love, heavenly Father, open the eyes of people everywhere that they may recognize You in spite of the challenges they confront in their weaknesses. Give them hope despite failure and comfort in Your love. Lead us all deeper into Your message of shared love and joy in the scriptures that we may learn Your will and rejoice in Your promises. By Your Holy Spirit add power to the witness of Your leaders here on earth and all who have turned to sharing love with you, knowing that Your Son’s suffering, death, and resurrection are the way to joy and peace. We know that through your loving Fatherly relationship, our prayer for Your gracious provision to sharing love with you will reign in all human hearts. Amen. Although any topic is good for a Sharing theme, I've chosen the Christian Fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, etc.). I've found theses to be a good starting point. For me, who believes that there is a God (creator of us and the universe) and He placed us in this universe so we can be taught to "Love Him with our WHOLE heart, mind, soul, and strength; the Fruit was a good starting point.
When completed, I intend to go on to the Be-attitudes and other topics. I will be sharing some of the sharings with you in future postings. |