Priorities

Tags

decisions, evaluating, guidance, new beginnings, obligations, priorities, stress relief

Priorities

 

At the beginning of each year I tend to think more about priorities than at any other time. Starting off “right” just seems like the proper thing to do. But, as the year wears on and obligations come up my priorities tend to become a little fuzzy. I am apt to forget my true calling and focus on lesser things that have somehow invaded my life. I know that priorities are a great guideline for me, but I sometimes leave them behind when making a seemingly insignificant decision. So, I’ve decided to re-evaluate my thinking, put the fences back up and allow the priorities that God has given me to guide my steps daily.

So, what should our priorities look like?

Our first priority should always be to seek the Lord. I don’t just feel that God should be first. I think He should be everything. Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.” Jesus was very direct. God is first. He is not co-priority. He is it. Exodus 20:3 says, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” Nothing else is more important than God…ever. Deuteronomy 6:5 says that we are to love the Lord with ALL of our heart, soul, mind and strength. So, every other priority always centers on our love for God and His work in our lives. We are always, in every area, to be about our Father’s business which is to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). Priority one is obvious, but easier said than done. We can only make Him front and center when we are in full surrender to The Holy Spirit.

Other priorities are sometimes not as clear-cut. I personally believe that after God the next priority should be marriage (if you are married). Matthew 4b-6 says, “He who created them from the beginning created them male and female, and said, ‘For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh.’ Consequently they are no longer two, but one flesh….”  That’s some pretty tight quarters. One flesh means my husband and I are constantly communicating with each other. Just as our brain, heart, respiratory system, et cetera is in constant communication with each other to function as a whole, so must we be in constant communication to function as a whole. We are working as one because we are one. Ephesians 5 goes on to tell us that wives are under the authority of the husband and the husband is to love his wife as his own flesh. That’s a clear case for marriage being a major priority.

The third priority for me personally is my children. Many Scriptures talk about the teaching and training of our children. Deuteronomy 6 is a great example. But, the one that really struck home for me this week was out of I Timothy. In chapter 3 verse 5, it says, “(but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?)” Now, this is talking about the qualifications for overseers and deacons, but it is a great checkpoint for me as well, especially as a pastor’s wife. If the needs of my family members are not being met (spiritual, emotional and physical) why would I think that another’s needs are more important? God has given me these children for a few, very short years. What could be more important than their well-being? To drive the point even further, I Timothy 5:8 says, “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever.” OUCH!

For me, the fourth priority is the Body of Christ, especially my local church body. Hebrews 10: 24-25 says, “…let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another;…” I Thessalonians 5:11 says, “Therefore encourage one another, and build up one another…” Galatians 5:13 says through love to serve one another. Church is important to our Lord. After all, He established it and is coming back for His Bride, His Church. So, it needs to be high on my list of priorities.

Work is next for me. I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea. Priorities are guidelines for us. But, why are they important? Why am I choosing to place these seemingly severe restrictions on myself?

The answer for me is simple…stress relief. When I remember my priorities, my decisions are often already made for me. Does volunteering at the food bank interfere with my husband? Guess what? No more food bank. Would teaching a Sunday School class interfere with work? No problem, my priority is church. Are my kids sick and need me to stay home from my obligations at church? The decision is already made. I make the call to get a replacement and serve the Lord at home that day.

So many worries are alleviated because we have sought the Lord in advance and he has shown us the priorities that He wants placed in our lives. We should not set the priorities that we want. They must be His priorities over our lives. I Kings 22:5 says, “Moreover, Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please inquire first for the word of the LORD.” This needs to be us. Before we set any standard in our life, we must inquire of the Lord. Then, Matthew 6:33 is true in us and not just a verse that sounds good.

At times, during a particularly unique season, we may have to adjust our priorities. For example, when a child has to have surgery or, a loved one is terminally ill. During those times, seek the Lord’s answer and communicate with those who need to know that during this season, this is what the Lord is requiring. Most of the time though, the issues rage when an ordinary occurrence pops up and we are focused on the wrong thing. James 4:1-2 says that quarrels are caused with our lusts, our passions fighting among us. When I want to be at work, but my children need me at an event, that’s where the “rubber meets the road”. But, if we are truly depending on the Lord in us and He has clearly told us what our priorities are to be, the decision has already been made. The decision is hard unless we have been with God and know that our priorities are the guidelines He has given, not our feelings.

I really encourage you to get with God this weekend and seek His face for your priorities. There are many specifics that were not addressed like extended family, neighbors, community involvement, et cetera. That’s why I encourage you to get alone with God and listen UNTIL you hear His voice. Ask Him to be specific so that you can rest fully in Him knowing that many decisions have already been made. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. May we quit heaping on loads that are not ours to carry.

Our Ministry of Reconciliation

Tags

ministry, reaching out, reconciliation, stretched out, surrender ambassadors

Our Ministry of Reconciliation

 

“Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled with God,” II Corinthians 5:17-20.

As I was reading through this passage earlier this week, I began to see our ministry of reconciliation in a different light. The Word tells us that we are to plead on Christ’s behalf for others to be reconciled to God. But first, what is reconciliation? When I am reconciled to someone, I am reunited with them. I am accepting of them and now we are compatible. Since I have now accepted God and am in right relationship with Him, I am urging others to do the same. I am called to be the bridge between others and God. My ministry is to be one of reconciling the lost with the saving love of Christ. I am standing in the gap. I have my left arm reached out to the lost and my right arm hanging on to my Savior. I am not letting go of either one. That’s the ministry that we are called to. We are to reconcile one side with the other.

Can you truly picture this ministry of reconciliation? As our arms are stretched out on either side of us, what do we look like? Really picture it. Do you see it yet? One arm stretched to the lost. The other arm stretched to our Savior. Head bowed in complete surrender. Do you see it? Do you see yourself stretched out on a cross? I had to ask myself if this is how we die daily. Is this what the apostle Paul was referring to in I Corinthians 15:31? As we take up our cross each day is it less of a load and more of a lifestyle? Is it simply living stretched out for others?

The Word says in II Corinthians 5:20 that we are to beg people to be reconciled to God. We are to plead with them on behalf of God Himself! He has passed this ministry of reconciliation from Christ to us. As I am hanging on to God, I am in turn reaching out to others and pulling them as hard as I can toward Christ. Through His strength in me, I am narrowing the gap between them and God. This is the ministry that I have clearly been given. I am bringing people into communion with God through His Son, Jesus. Luke 14: 23 says, “…Go out into the highways and along the hedges and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.”

Imagine that you have a trailer stacked with amazing items that you just found at a yard sale or, an auction. A bungee cord is on one side of your trailer and it has got to reach to the other side or, all that precious cargo will be lost. You must get that bungee cord over the top and latched to the other side or you will lose it all as you take off down the road. Let me ask you, how hard are you working to get that bungee cord to fit? How hard are you pulling? How hard are you praying? How hard are you pleading with the Lord to help you connect this bungee cord to the other side? Why? Because you know that if you can just get the cord to connect to the other side, all will be well. You will have reconciled the difficult load with the solution.

 This is our ministry. We are reaching, pulling, praying to connect people and their load of sin to the solution, our Savior. We are not going to leave them on the side of the road. We are not going to give up. The task is too important. The cargo is too precious. We must help them make the connection.

I confess that at times I have felt myself slip my grasp from my Savior and try to bring people to Him on my own, in my own strength. He still has me, but I have let go and tried to do this ministry without Him. Let me just save you some trouble…it can’t be done. Both sides have to be connected. There is NO WAY we can be ministers of reconciliation without His strength, His wisdom, the drawing power of His Holy Spirit. He is the true Minister of Reconciliation and we are His representatives. It is His work and we are His servants.

I also confess that at times I have only held on to my Savior and not given a thought to reaching out to others. Again, both sides have to be connected. I am called to live a stretched-out life, not a reclusive self-involved life. To fulfill God’s charge to me, I must be a minister of reconciliation.

To die daily is not fun to our flesh, but we only have true peace when our selves are bowed low to the Spirit of Christ working in us and through us. According to verse twenty of our passage, we are not even the ones actually pleading with people, it is “as though God were entreating through us.” How easy is that? We are not even the ones making the decisions. It’s all Him. We are bowed low, stretched out and dead to self so that He can minister through us in this ministry of reconciliation. Praise His Name! We are not worried about offending or, the timing of a conversation. We are trusting that all is in His hands and in His time. He will simply let us know. How refreshing; no worries, just surrender.

It is up to you and me whether we lay hold of the ministry that Christ has entrusted to us. It’s a personal choice whether we live a stretched out life, whether we accept our ministry of reconciliation. As we make that daily decision though, let’s think about the neighbor, the family, maybe even the child that will never be touched without our hand doing the reaching. We are called to reconcile. We are called to serve. We are called to love. “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us…” (II Corinthians 5:20). We are ambassadors. We are called to snatch people out of the fire as Jude 23 says.

Let’s make the right choice today and tomorrow and the next day. Let’s surrender to Him and accept the call to live stretched out lives, lives that are clinging to our true Source with one hand and reaching out pleading to the lost with the other. Let’s do this thing. Let’s be ministers of reconciliation.

He Sees

Tags

burdens, encouragment, exhaustion, weary, well doing, work

He Sees

 

Hey, you! Yes, you, the worn out, weary and bleary-eyed Christ follower. God sees you. God sees your hard work, the late nights at Vacation Bible School, the time you study to teach Sunday School, the callouses on your knees from praying. God sees you and He is proud of you.

Doing the Father’s business is hard work but, He will sustain you. He is protecting you from things you cannot withstand and filtering through His beautiful hands only those things that will work for your good. He is in the yoke with you. He is bearing your burdens. He is enabling you for the task you are struggling through right now. He sees you. You are not invisible to Him and you never will be. He sings over you in your sleep and during your waking hours He is the still small voice saying, “I’m here. We can do this.” He is the Voice saying, “You can do all things through Me who gives you strength”, (Philippians 4:13). “Do not grow weary in well doing. It’s worth it,” (Galatians 6:9). “My yoke is easy and My burden is light,” (Matthew 11:30). Breathe in His presence. He is right beside you right now.

You don’t just need a vacation. You need to remember that God is The Living Water giving you the refreshment you need daily. He is your Source. He is your Strength. He is your fulfillment. He is your hope. He is your joy.

Allow Him to show you the fruit of your labor. Allow Him to let you see the students you are teaching through His eyes. No growth? He begs to differ. Do you not remember how that little one lights up when he knows who died on the cross? Do you not see how that young adult now craves the Word? Do not grow weary in well doing. You will see the fruit as He sees it. Do not give up!

O, weary one, rest in His arms today. Take a deep breath and know that He loves you. He sees you and He delights in you. Yes, you.