Week 43
Life lived in the conscious awareness of God’s presence is permeated by God’s Spirit. This makes a difference in practically every aspect of living. Things that did not make sense to us begin to make sense. We are able to see meaning and purpose in our own lives. I begin this week with an attempt to make us more aware of our value as a member of God’s team.
Day one: 1 Corinthians 16:13 urges us to stand fast in our faith and be strong. When a coach does an effective job with an athletic team, every member of the team recognizes that they have a part in the team’s success. That includes the team members who never get in a game. Especially young team members need to be encouraged to see that they have a role to play in helping the team. If you see a well-coached high school basketball team, you will see the players on the bench intensely following the action and cheering for their teammates on the court. If players on the bench are bored and distracted they do not feel included. There is a lesson in this for us as members of a church and in a real sense a part of God’s team. You may or may not be participating in some of the public activities of the church but you are important to the success of the team anyway. We can all cheer one another on. I want to be involved, even if it means I am simply clapping my hands for others. It takes real commitment to the team to be able to cheer for the success of others. Who are you cheering for? List some of the people for whom you want to be a source of encouragement. How can you encourage them? When we are conscious of God’s presence in our lives we know that He wants us to be involved, even if all we can do is cheer others on.
Day two: Read Ecclesiastes 3. Note verse 11. He has made every thing beautiful in His time. Waiting for the development of our children requires patience. We are in a hurry for them to be what we dream of their becoming. It seldom happens as quickly as we would like. I planted a cherry tree in my back yard many years ago. I saw it become a sprout and put on a few leaves. There were no cherries on it the first year. It grew a lot the second year but still no cherries. I was impatient and even was tempted to cut it down because it made the yard harder to mow. But I waited. I believe it was the next year that there were some blooms and a few cherries on the tree. The next year it was literally loaded with cherries. I took pride in the tree and showed it to my friends and shared some of the cherries with them. It did not grow over night. Not much does. Children often make signs in Sunday school that say, “Be patient with me. God is not finished with me yet.” I love that message. When we become conscious of God’s work in our lives we will begin to experience more patience with His creation and with the people in our lives. Can you think of examples of times when you had to exercise patience with someone? Can you think of times when others exercised patience with you? Write your thoughts.
Day three: Read the story of the talents in Matthew 25. Note verse 25. The wicked servant was afraid and hid his talent in the ground. The story is about investing money that has been trusted to us but it applies to our gifts. God has given us all gifts that we are to use in His service. No matter what your gift is, it is valuable and you are wise to develop it and use it in the service of God. If you have concern for something that needs to be done, your concern may be an indication that you can do something about that need. Keep asking what God wants you to do. We are never happier or more fulfilled than when we are doing what we believe God wants us to do. I believe I was created to preach the Gospel. I am never happier and more fulfilled than when I am preaching. I believe I was created to write and to help others. Doing those things makes me happy. If you were created to clean floors, then nothing will make you happier than cleaning floors. If you were created to build things, then nothing will make you happier than building things. Where do you find fulfillment in your life? What makes you happy? The more conscious of God we become in our daily lives, the more we will want to please Him. Have you hidden any of your talents? What are some things you could be doing that would give you a sense of fulfillment? Think about it and write your responses.
Day four: Read Colossians 3: 1-15. Note verse 15, “….Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts…” I read recently about a person who had received a package of seeds from a friend. On the outside of the package was written, “Peace seeds.” Inside there were six different colored pods with the following instructions:
To grow a peaceful world, sow these seeds:
White – Forgiveness for someone who has wronged you.
Red – Prayer for someone you dislike.
Green – Hospitality to a stranger.
Yellow – Acceptance of someone who sees things differently.
Blue – Kindness in the face of rudeness.
Pink – Generosity toward someone less fortunate.
As we think of young people who are in harms way on foreign fields of war, pray for them and begin to plant the seeds of peace every where you go. When we are conscious of God’s presence we will be conscious of His peace. “Blessed are the peace makers for they shall be called the children of God. Where can you plant a seed of peace today? If we all plant enough of the seeds of peace maybe future generations will experience more peace than we have. List some of the ways you can plant the seeds listed above.
Day five: Isaiah said that the Lord had called him in righteousness and had promised to hold his hand and keep him safe. (Isaiah 42:6) The presence of God gives us the assurance that we can handle what ever comes in life. We become able to change our perspective of the difficulties that we all face from time to time. In fact, we can even learn to replace the word “problems” with the word “opportunities.” As changes take place we are presented with many “opportunities.” When we permit God to help us take this redemptive view of life we stop thinking of difficulties and begin to think of ways we can grow and improve the situations around us. We will stop asking, “How can this be happening to us?” We begin asking, “How can we find opportunity to grow and make this situation better?” I believe that life is about 90% perspective, how we view things. I want to take a higher point of view with each new day. When we are living in the awareness of God’s presence, we can see a world that is filled with opportunity. He has called us in righteousness and has promised to hold us by His hand. He will enable us to create beauty from the difficulties of life. Read again Romans 8: 28. Have you seen God create good from difficulties in your life? Write your thoughts.
Day six: Read Ephesians 6:18. We are to always be praying. That certainly doesn’t mean that we are to always sit down or kneel down with our eyes closed. We need some time to pray like that but we are to pray as we go. You can pray as you drive, as you exercise, as you play, as you work. When we develop a rhythm in praying as we go, it will become as natural for us as breathing. When we develop this habit we will never again complain that we don’t have enough time to pray. We will be constantly praying, either silently in our thoughts or aloud when we are alone. It is natural to want to talk with God if we love Him. Can you imagine not having time to talk to the people you love in your life? If we can’t talk to them, we write to them. It is natural. Prayer is not just a mystical activity. It is daily talking with God and listening for His messages to us. What are some of the times and places that you find for prayer?
Day seven: Isaiah 45:3 says that God will give us treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places. There are expressions of God all around us. They are often like the blooms in the top of a tree. We have to look up in order to see them. By looking up, I mean keep looking to God to help you see the treasures around you. Today, worship God by focusing on the treasures all around you. We often miss the treasures in the people and things around us. Pray that God will help you to recognize the wonder and joy in the everyday people and events. Worship God for the wonder of His treasures.