​August 22, 2018
Glad to be a Believer!
1 Timothy 4:10
This is why we work hard and continue to struggle, for our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people and particularly of all believers.

Working hard mixed with struggling? Struggling mixed with hope? How do these ingredients of life live side by side? Struggling with no hope leads to giving up. Struggling with hope actually strengthens faith.

Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. 21 He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. 22 And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous. 23 And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded 24 for our benefit, too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in him, the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. (Romans 4:20-24)

When Rob was teaching on Sunday, he said, “God’s promises exceeds our lifetime.” For the person who believes all God promises, our struggles are mixed with hope. People who do not know God and do not cling to his promises only have struggles mixed with despair. Their hope is only in other people or in what they can do for themselves; both are disappointing a finite.

Only the hope we have as Believers is the kind of hope not dependent upon our circumstances, for we are “fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises.”

And THIS is what God promises about our struggles...
For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! (2 Corinthians 4:17)

Makes you glad to be a Believer, doesn’t it!
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Dear God,
Thank you that my struggles are not going to last long because you promise that they won’t! Thank you that your promises are trustworthy and true and exceed my lifetime. Thank you for you Son who has made the way for me to be right with you. You are so good to me, and I thank you for the hope in my heart!

August 21, 2018
An Eternal PB&J
1 Corinthians 10:31
So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

The glory of God is eternal. Therefore, everything done for the purpose of pleasing him, giving him credit he is due, and making him big is eternal too. We do not know how every little thing we do fits into The Big Picture, so what we do, we do for the one who does know how all things work and fit together.

Whatever activity we do big, small, amazing or seemingly insignificant can all be ways to glorify God eternally. My husband always says that even every peanut butter and jelly sandwich we make is eternal when do it to please God. “May the kid I’m making this sandwich for be nourished by it, thankful to God for the provision, and may he know the person who made this sandwich loves him because God loves me.” That’s an eternal pb&j.

If I do anything right today, I will thank God for helping me. If I mess something up today, I will ask God to help me. If I am worried and anxious today, I will remember how God has never failed to help me and be with me. These practices inserted into any and every feeling, activity, and moment in life is how I make “whatever” I do be done “for the glory of God.”
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Dear God,
Thank you that what happens today matters and makes a difference. Thank you for the chores and task I need to do today and errands I need to run as all are opportunities for me to look to you in doing them. Thank you that we are not created beings with pointless lives, but you make every day and every moment count when we include you in them. I love you, and thank you and desire everything I do be like I’m doing it for you. And I pray in Jesus’ name, amen.