1 Corinthians 9

1 Corinthians 9:24-27  Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.  ²⁵ Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.  ²⁶ So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.  ²⁷ But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

Over the last week I have been watching the Olympic trials on television.  All of these athletes have worked so hard to get to the trials, but the trials are the end goal.  The end goal is making it to London in a few weeks to compete in the 2012 Olympics.  For many, this dream has pushed them to train every day for many years.  These athletes have sacrificed going to birthday parties and other social events in order to train.  They have given up family get togethers in order to train.  They are particular about getting enough sleep and eating the right things.  They drink plenty of water to stay hydrated.  They have had to stay focused – keeping their eye on the prize…making it to the Olympics.

I’m sure it’s tempting to look around and see how other athletes in their field are doing – who is winning meets, who is switching coaches, who is having a bad week, and even who has hurt themselves.  But you don’t win races by beating others…you win races by doing your best – by performing at the top of your game.

Ancient Olympics were held until 394 A.D.  These were the competitions Paul would have been familiar with.  In these days, runners did not run in an oval around a track.  They ran back and forth between two poles.  Concentration was essential during these races.  They had to make sure to go all the way to the pole or they would be disqualified.  They had to keep their eye on the pole because if they lost sight of the pole and strayed from their path, they could run out of their way and lose time.  They couldn’t worry about what everyone else was doing; they had to focus on their plan and their goal.

In life, it’s easy to become distracted and get off course.  It’s easy to let non-essential “busyness” take our precious time.  When we start looking at what everyone else is doing and what they are accomplishing, it’s easy to become discouraged and apathetic.  We need times of recovery and then we need to get back out there – get back in the race.  We need to rededicate ourselves to the cause and make sure we are all in for Christ…that nothing is in between us and Him!  We need to be Cohorts in Craziness!!! J

You’re doing an awesome job!   Keep it up!  “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)

I’m praying for you!

Pastor Amy

Luke 18

Luke 18:1-8  And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.  ² He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man.  ³ And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, 'Give me justice against my adversary.'  ⁴ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, 'Though I neither fear God nor respect man,  ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.'"  ⁶ And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge says.  ⁷ And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?  ⁸ I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

Most of us have at least one; one thing that we have been praying for, sometimes off and on, over the years.  For some, they pray for a better job with better pay.  For others, it may be for a family member to find salvation.  Some pray for a better lifestyle for themselves, others pray that their children would know a better way of life than they did.  Some lift up prayers to find a spouse…and then to have children – these also fall into this category.  Most of us have at least one.

When someone asks me to join them in prayer for one of these kinds of things, the first question I ask is, “have you really been praying for this?”  It’s interesting to me how often people stop and think and then admit that no, they really haven’t been praying…but they’ve really been wanting.  If they have been praying, I ask about consistency.  Oftentimes we pray about something for a couple days and then forget about it for a while.  I love today’s passage.  It promises us that God will answer those who consistently seek.  If God is not answering, are you consistently seeking?

If the answer is yes, then I dive a little deeper into the motivation of the prayer.  Are you praying for better transportation or a brand new convertible?  Are you praying for a job to support your family or are you hoping to “one up” the neighbors with new and improved upgrades?  We need to make sure that our motives are in line with what God would have for us.  Showing up the neighbors with a new pool in our backyard is not really what He is in to.  Now don’t get me wrong – God loves to bless His children and often loves to “wow” us, but when we insist on something specific like a little child, God will often treat us like a little child and tell us no.  Sometimes He says no because He knows what is best.  Or maybe His answer is not yet.  Maybe He is preparing something for us better than we can imagine right around the corner.

We need to develop the discipline of prayer – consistently seeking Him.  Seek Him with all your needs, feel free to offer suggestions, but be open to His will and His timing…He is way more creative than we ever could be.  If we insist on our way, we may miss out on a surprise blessing He has for us!

I’m praying for you!

Pastor Amy

Colossians 3

Colossians 3:18-25  Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.  ¹⁹ Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.  ²⁰ Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.  ²¹ Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.  ²² Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.  ²³ Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,  ²⁴ knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.  ²⁵ For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.

I am a big perfectionist…there I admit it!  I enjoy doing things “the way they should be done.”  Certain things should be done a certain way.  No cutting corners.  I struggle to understand doing something “the wrong way.”  Over the years I have learned that sometimes what you have done is “good enough” and we need to move on.  If we remember the story of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42), I don’t think Jesus was saying they didn’t need anything to eat.  I think He was telling Martha that lunch meat sandwiches would have been ok, a four course meal was not necessary… she could have made some quick sandwiches and then joined in with the disciples.

Our passage today gets a lot of bad press.  The title for this pericope in my Bible is “Rules for Christian Households.”  We don’t like rules.  We don’t like being told what to do.  But – the main point of this passage comes in with verse 23, “whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.”  The translation literally means, “whatever you do, do it with all your heart.”  I love that!  If you can’t be proud of what you are doing, maybe you need to reevaluate.  If you can’t say you tried your best, maybe you need to reevaluate. 

We should do everything as if we are doing it for God.  We are His representatives and others will notice if our standard is any different than that of the world.  Our standard should be God’s standard…even if we’re just making sandwiches!

I’m praying for you!

Pastor Amy

2 Timothy 3

I love lists.  I love making lists and checking things off my list as I go.  I love the sense of accomplishment as I’m able to cross items off my list.  Whenever I do rounds at the hospital, I make a list of all the units and cross them off after they have been visited.  I make a list whenever I’m going out of town to make sure nothing gets left behind.  When I was in school I loved teachers who made a list of all the assignments I had to complete so I could see the progress through the semester.  I love lists – and oh does the Bible have a bunch of them.

The Bible has lists of family names – who begot whom; there are lists of nations and people groups; there are lists of gifts we can have; and there are lists of things we should do and things we should not do.  Our passage today gives us a list describing what the world is going to look like in the last days.  When you read through this list it doesn’t sound very different from the world we live in today.  The list includes people being lovers of self, being proud and arrogant, being ungrateful and heartless, and being lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.  Paul counters this list with that of following him and his example – having faith, patience, love, and steadfastness. 

I encourage you to read through the lists.  How have you been living lately?  Does the first list describe you better than the second?  Seek God that He would guide you in your reflection.

I’m praying for you!

Pastor Amy

Judges 6

Judges 6:11  Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites.

I was having a conversation with a friend the other day at the gym.  Most people at the gym don’t know that I’m a pastor – they just know that I teach group fitness so they don’t usually ask.  But the other day I made reference to our church having Vacation Bible School and my friend and I started to talk about church and I was found out.  You see when people find out that I’m a pastor one of two things usually happens.  Either I start getting the “life story” of how they grew up in the church and somehow they have gotten away from it over the years or they look at me strangely, end the conversation quickly, and make a dash to the closest exit.

Well my friend went with the “life story” route.  She shared how she grew up in the church, got away from it, but then once she had kids, her family started attending regularly.  And now – she finally gets it.  She understands salvation and gave her life to Christ.  Well – to tell the truth, I did a mental “wait a minute.”  This person is nice enough, but has a gruff exterior.  She rarely has a smile and complaints are quicker out of her mouth than compliments.  In my mind it didn’t add up.

It reminded me of one of my favorite people in the Bible, Gideon.  I love Gideon!  I love how he is timid, how he complains at the angel, and how God eventually turns him into a Mighty Man of Valor.  But Gideon started out afraid.  He had heard the stories of God and His greatness.  How God had brought his ancestors through so much.  But Gideon was, “beating out wheat in the winepress.”  A winepress was usually at a low point on your property.  It was well hidden so no one could see when you were pressing grapes and making wine.  Wine was expensive and you didn’t want your neighbors to know what was going on.  On the other hand, beating out wheat was the process of separating the wheat from the chaff.  Usually this was done at a high place.  You would toss the wheat and chaff up in the air and the chaff would blow away in the wind and the wheat would settle back down.  But this was typically done in the open so the chaff would have a chance to blow away.

Gideon was afraid – he wanted to hide what he was doing from the Midianites.  Kind of like my friend.  She seems to be hiding her faith from the world.  I’m not sure why yet – if it’s fear or uncertainty, but her light is definitely not shining for the world to see.

Eventually Gideon gets over his fear (or at least he does what God asks of him while being afraid).  We need to get over our fears and do what God is asking us to do (or maybe just do it with a little fear!)  Our light needs to shine.  We need to look different than the world does.  People should be able to spot us and realize there is something different.  Different in how we approach the day, different in how we treat other people, different in how we live our lives.  We need to be beating out wheat from the highest hill for everyone to see!!

As you go through your day – make sure to let your light shine!

I’m praying for you!

Pastor Amy

1 Timothy 6

1 Timothy 6:6-10  Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment,  ⁷ for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.  ⁸ But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.  ⁹ But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.  ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

For the past several years I have been diligently working towards financial freedom.  Next month I will pay off the third of four credit cards and by the end of the year I will have paid off two of my three student loans (leaving me with one credit card and one student loan).  As I am planning to go back to school to earn my Doctorate in Ministry, I am budgeting to be able to pay as I go.  I am not looking to go into any more debt.

When I was in my 20’s, I got into crazy debt – some was by necessity (student loans for seminary and credit cards to cover what student loans didn’t pay).  But some of my debt was from being impatient.  If I wanted something, I just pulled out a credit card and bought it.  Sometimes it was a plane ticket to come home for the holidays, other times I was buying tickets to a musical.  Either way, I was purchasing things I didn’t really have the money for…but I thought I needed.  I bought into the lie that I could have whatever I wanted now and pay for it later…well I have been paying for it – for many years I’ve been paying for it.

Financial responsibility is something I was never taught.  Sure – I took economics in high school, but no one ever sat down with me and talked about responsible spending and how much it really costs to purchase on a credit card or to take out a loan.  This is why I’m a huge advocate for financial ministries like Crown and Financial Peace begin taught to high schoolers and college students.  Getting this understanding early would have saved me a lot of heartache.

Scripture is pretty clear that we need to become content with what we have.  If we have food and clothing, we’re good to go.  We don’t have to own the latest fashion or eat at the best restaurants; we just need to have enough clothing to protect our bodies and enough food to keep us alive.  Scripture gets misquoted and people say that money is the root of all evil.  This is not true.  God understands that we need money – to buy clothes and food and keep a roof over our heads.  But Paul states that the love of money is the root of all evil.  It is when money becomes more important than anything else that we enter the danger zone.  If we love money and do anything to pursue it, God loses His place as number one in our lives.  Our desire to help others falls by the wayside.  Providing for our families is no longer the purpose of work.  The love of money can spiral out of control.  We need to check ourselves before this happens.

What does your relationship with money look like?  Is it healthy – just working to pay the bills and provide for your family?  Or is it unhealthy – earning as much as you can and spending more than you bring in?  We need to learn to be content where we are.

I’m praying for you!

Pastor Amy

Ephesians 2

Ephesians 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

So many times I speak with people who feel down and out.  They have no hope.  They feel like they have no reason to live.  They feel like they have no purpose.  I love this passage because it is full of encouragement.  First and foremost, we are God’s workmanship.  He created us just the way He wanted us.  God doesn’t make mistakes.  We have the strengths and characteristics He desires us to have.  He gave us just what we need to accomplish the tasks He has for us to do because He created us for good works.

God already knows what our purpose is – and what our purpose will be.  Most of us have multiple purposes throughout life.  Many of us have multiple purposes right now!; one purpose at work, one at home, one at church, etc.  As we get older, our purpose may change, but that is no surprise to God because He has prepared our work and our purpose before He even created us.

Some people may struggle with this saying, “but I don’t know my purpose.”  God loves us so much.  He desires to be in relationship with us.  He wants us to seek Him and He will be found.  If we ask, He will answer.  If you don’t know what your tasks should be, what your purpose is, ask God.  In His time, He’ll let you know.  If you already know – then get out there and do it!  We are to be walking in our purpose!

I’m praying for you!

Pastor Amy