Sister, Sister

1 Corinthians 13:3 says, "And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing." 

With all our talk about "neighbors" over the last months, I'm afraid this verse blindsided me this week. God's been stretching me as I've tried to apply the things Pastor has been teaching us, and I THOUGHT I was doing a pretty good job of getting out of my comfort zone. That is, until I realized that I was failing miserable IN my comfort zone...

If you have a sister, you may be able to identify with the random attacks of missing her dearly. I have two sisters, both of whom live H.U.N.D.R.E.D.S. of miles away, so my attacks come rather regularly. One such attack came this week as I was driving home from work. I couldn't stop thinking about my baby sister, who is four weeks away from having her first child! I thought about the times I used to get so irritated with her. She knew better than to get in my personal space...haha! Poor girl!  ;)  But there was not a day that I wouldn't defend her to the core and stick up for the sister I loved with my whole heart! There is NOTHING my sisters could ever do or not do to lose my love. 

1 Corinthians 13:4-11(NASB) is often quoted as our definition of true love:

 ⁴Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,

 ⁵does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,

 ⁶does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;

 ⁷bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

 ⁸Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.

 ⁹For we know in part and we prophesy in part;

 ¹⁰but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.

 ¹¹When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. 

When applying these verses to my relationship with my sisters, I feel like I'm doing well, especially now that I'm an adult and have done "away with childish things (vs. 11)." It's easy for me to rejoice with my sisters, and I don't feel envious of them. I'm proud of them, and I'm thankful for what God has given them! I can't even remember the times they wronged me, well, except for that one time... ;)

As I was thinking about my sister on that drive home, it hit me like a ton of bricks that my relationships with my "sisters in Christ" should be exactly the same! I should love my sisters (and brothers too) as I love my own flesh and blood. Sure, there are things that will irritate. But if I'm going to reflect mature love in Christ, then my love for my sisters (okay, AND brothers) should be that of patience and kindness, free of envy, selfless, and humble.

So sisters, as we continue to give to the poor, let us not forget our family. After all, it is by our LOVE for our sisters and brothers that our "neighbors" will know that we are joint heirs with Jesus (John 13:35).

Precious and Plentiful

I find myself once again thinking about time. On Sunday morning, when Robert Meyer sang "Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me," he talked about the "treacherous shoals" of the song. Robert said that danger for ships comes when the water is not deep enough or is not free of obstructions. These obstructions, he said, don't have to be rocks or sandbars. They can even be schools of fish. It reminded me of the Bible study that I attend on Wednesday evenings. We are using Jennifer Rothschild's book about faith, and this past week we discussed obstacles in the path of life. One of those obstacles is priorities---specifically, wrong priorities that crowd out the really important things of life.

This is not to say that it's only bad or "wrong" things that get in the way of our serving God; often good things crowd out the best things. I know that God has given each of us different abilities and callings, but I sure don't want to miss my work for God because I was busy doing something else.

I have a little book that I picked up from the free bin at McKay's. It's about life in a monastery. While the monks have many strange views, they do offer some wisdom. This book suggests that "time, while precious, isn't scarce." We have sufficient time to do whatever it is that God wants us to do. Finding a way to let everything else go is the challenge.

Perhaps the best way to get perspective is to be quiet before God. When I begin my day with prayer and meditation on God's word, I have found that the rest of the day makes more sense. The psalmist heard God saying to him, "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). When the people of Israel were frantic about their safely on the shores of the Red Sea, Moses stood before them and counseled, "Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD" (Exodus 14:13). Being still is the first step to having a productive day.

My prayer to God today is this: Help me live today in such a way that I will come to the end of the day without regrets. Annie Dillard, one of my favorite authors, takes the idea a step further. She observes, "How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives." Time is both precious and plentiful. May we use it wisely.

--Sherry Poff

OVERFLOWING

Yesterday morning, our speaker commented that his "...cup was full..." My cup, too, was filling quickly as we sang "Blessed be Your name..." and "...Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above." My cup was reaching the brim as Mr. Rhodes shared the ministry in Louisiana, and just when I thought my cup couldn't hold any more, I walked into our lobby where people's conversation was not about where they'd be eating lunch, but rather where they'd be serving the Lord in the weeks to come.

Then, to top it all off, Sunday evening was filled with testimony after testimony of what God is doing in our community and around the world through the people of Grace Baptist Church. I'm gonna have to get a bigger cup!

My prayer this week is that the ladies of Grace Baptist Church will, as our dear Pastor has been challenging us, be intentional and be prepared for the things we do not intend. May the words of Paul to the Corinthians empower you to obey the Lord this week.

2 Corinthians 9:6-15

6  Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 
7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 
8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 
9 As it is written:
   “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor;
   their righteousness endures forever.”
10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 
11 You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 
13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. 
14 And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. 
15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

Add to our cups by leaving comments here or on our facebook page about what God is doing in and around you!

With Exceeding Joy

If you follow this blog regularly and read all the comments, then today's entry will not be entirely new to you. I want to follow up on what Rebecca was saying last week because it's been a theme in my life recently, and I'm guessing several of you can relate.

Rebecca's remarks about the quilt and finding beauty in apparent randomness reminded me of the times that Pastor Euler has talked about our lives being like tapestries. From the back--which is what we see most days--it looks all messy and disorganized, with thread hanging off and lines going every which way. If we walk around to the front of a tapestry, however, we see a beautiful design. We realize that it's just two sides of the same thing. Occasionally, God allows us to see the big picture of life, and we realize that his plan for us is really a lovely thing, with order and design.

His order shows up in all kinds of places. Today I was opening the blinds in my dining room when a spot of yellow caught my eye. My crocuses are blooming! Down in the corner of the yard next to some rocks Larry hauled down there in a wheelbarrow years ago three little blossoms shone like a bit of sunshine.

After we ate dinner, Larry and I took a walk, and I stopped to admire the crocuses up close. I saw buds of three more that will be blooming within the week. Brushing away dried grass and old leaves, I spotted the green tips of hyacinths poking through the ground. Some of the daffodil leaves are already three or four inches tall. I love knowing that all the beauty of spring is there--down underground where we can't see it yet. Little by little, it will rise up and show itself in pink, yellow, and purple splendor.

There are days when I worry and fret about what the future holds. Sometimes the sorrow of every day seems too much. Other days, God's goodness and mercy are abundantly evident. In the midst of it all, I know He has a plan. I Peter 4:12 & 13 remind us of a future hope: "Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy."

Like patterns in a quilt, threads in a tapestry, and bits of green and yellow bursting through the cold, brown earth, our lives are evidence of a designer, a planner, who is creating in us and through us a life of beauty and glory. Be glad.