Exodus 18: Controlling our time management “If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their place in peace.”
Avoid the frenzy of trying to meet every body’s need, right now. Delegate, prioritize.
Psalm 107: Controlling our gratitude: “Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He satisfies the longing soul, And fills the hungry soul with goodness.”
Give thanks in all things – He is always good; always satisfies; always fills – in every circumstance, in His time, in His way.
John 6: Controlling our appetite: “Man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.” “For the Bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
Focus not on what you crave, for He always provides for our daily bread. Rather, focus first on feeding on the Words of Him who came down from Heaven.
Acts 16: Controlling where and to whom we minister: We’re not told just how the Holy Spirit restrained Paul and his companions not to go east to preach in Asia nor north to Bithynia, but it is clear how He directed them west into Macedonia, Europe: “A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, Come over to Macedonia and help us. Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia”.
Always be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit in the ways and words given you as you minister to others.
Wow, where has the week gotten to? I'm back, anyway, and this week we will be looking at another source of anxiety and how to deal with it using the Bible as our guide. We'll be looking at the idea that sometimes too much is too much, and how God used Jethro to help Moses figure that out.
Hmmm. It is not always easy to delegate the work we feel God has given us to others. I think this is for a variety of reasons: we are too proud to ask, we think others may not do it the way we would, or even because we don't want to bother other people and add more to their plates (I generally fall into this last category most of the time. I feel guilty just thinking about asking for help). It really can be a test of faith to ask others to partake in what God has called us to. However, just like Moses needed to be open to accepting help from others for his own good, we do too. If God didn't want us to accept help from others he wouldn't have given us all different strengths and gifts. There is something very freeing about asking someone who may find a task easier to take over when we struggle at that kind of thing. We could do the difficult task but it would take more time, more effort, and more energy. Asking for help gives us more time to focus on the things we are gifted at. That's not to say we will always be given help, sometimes we need to step out of our box and try new things, but we can't expect to do everything on our own. We shouldn't be doing it on our own. We are just a small part of the body and it takes the whole living organism of the church to accomplish all that God has for us to do. After all, I think Moses was more effective and blessed by the work God gave him because he had help. Can you imagine how tired and burned out he would have been if he hadn't accepted the fact that he needed help?
Chantel, how about bringing some of these insights into our Helping Hand Sabbath School class this coming Sabbath as we study 1 Corinthians 12, about the gifts of the Spirit, as they are worked out in the Body of Christ?
"Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things." (Psalm 107:8-9)
Human beings are all about filling their plates, but not always with what is good. We run from appointment to appointment, from activity to activity, with full plates that leave no room for time with God. We consume all sorts of things, like houses and cars and clothes and food, but we are never full, even though our plate is heaped to overflowing. The Psalmist reminds us here that those things will never satisfy and indeed are not even good for us. We are called instead to give thanks to God, who alone knows what we need and gives us only good things, thus truly satisfying our hunger and our thirst. Let God lead you to the good things He has for you today, that you might be filled and satisfied.
"Then Jesus declared, 'I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.'" (John 6:35)
Here we continue in that same vein with a reminder from Jesus Himself that the key to escaping spiritual dissatisfaction (which expresses itself through material dissatisfaction) is to accept His offer to receive the Bread of Life. You and I cannot possibly fill a spiritual hole with material things, but that does not stop us from trying. Jesus challenged His listeners and us to recognize that truth and turn to Him in order to be satisfied. And, having received what God has for us, we will find that the material things we chase after to satisfy our spiritual itch will no longer seem so important.
"Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to." (Acts 16:6-8)
Believe it or not, sometimes God says "no" even to spiritual things. Paul and his companions wanted to head off to Bithynia in order to share the good news with the lost. You would think that God would give a resounding "yes" to those plans. The problem, of course, was that those plans were not necessarily God's plans, and so He told Paul "no." Paul for his part was obedient and waited to hear from the Lord. It wasn't long at all before he heard from God, either, who was calling him to head to Macedonia. Pau's willingness to wait on the Lord, to remove from his plate that which crowded out God's true will, resulted in great strides being made for the Kingdom. We too should be sure that our plate is not so full that the Lord's will for us is crowded out. What is on your plate that does not belong there?
"Moses’ father-in-law replied, 'What you are doing is not good.'" (Exodus 18:17)
Jethro was not suggesting that Moses wasn't doing good things. It was a good thing to judge between the disputes of the people. What he meant, of course, is that what Moses was doing was not good for Moses or for God's people. It would wear them both out, Moses with work and the people with waiting. And so Jethro taught Moses an important lesson about controlling his plate, and helped address the anxiety that Moses and God's people must have been feeling as their issues were addressed each day.
Good Sabbath? Yes, a good Sabbath indeed! It's raining here in Berlin so it's the perfect day to put down your lawn trimmer and head to church. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it, and glad for a God who helps us overcome our anxiety. Find out how by stopping by today. See you there!
Exodus 18: Controlling our time management
ReplyDelete“If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their place in peace.”
Avoid the frenzy of trying to meet every body’s need, right now. Delegate, prioritize.
Psalm 107: Controlling our gratitude:
“Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He satisfies the longing soul, And fills the hungry soul with goodness.”
Give thanks in all things – He is always good; always satisfies; always fills – in every circumstance, in His time, in His way.
John 6: Controlling our appetite:
“Man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.” “For the Bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
Focus not on what you crave, for He always provides for our daily bread. Rather, focus first on feeding on the Words of Him who came down from Heaven.
Acts 16: Controlling where and to whom we minister:
We’re not told just how the Holy Spirit restrained Paul and his companions not to go east to preach in Asia nor north to Bithynia, but it is clear how He directed them west into Macedonia, Europe: “A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, Come over to Macedonia and help us. Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia”.
Always be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit in the ways and words given you as you minister to others.
Wow, where has the week gotten to? I'm back, anyway, and this week we will be looking at another source of anxiety and how to deal with it using the Bible as our guide. We'll be looking at the idea that sometimes too much is too much, and how God used Jethro to help Moses figure that out.
ReplyDeleteHmmm. It is not always easy to delegate the work we feel God has given us to others. I think this is for a variety of reasons: we are too proud to ask, we think others may not do it the way we would, or even because we don't want to bother other people and add more to their plates (I generally fall into this last category most of the time. I feel guilty just thinking about asking for help). It really can be a test of faith to ask others to partake in what God has called us to. However, just like Moses needed to be open to accepting help from others for his own good, we do too. If God didn't want us to accept help from others he wouldn't have given us all different strengths and gifts. There is something very freeing about asking someone who may find a task easier to take over when we struggle at that kind of thing. We could do the difficult task but it would take more time, more effort, and more energy. Asking for help gives us more time to focus on the things we are gifted at. That's not to say we will always be given help, sometimes we need to step out of our box and try new things, but we can't expect to do everything on our own. We shouldn't be doing it on our own. We are just a small part of the body and it takes the whole living organism of the church to accomplish all that God has for us to do. After all, I think Moses was more effective and blessed by the work God gave him because he had help. Can you imagine how tired and burned out he would have been if he hadn't accepted the fact that he needed help?
ReplyDeleteChantel, how about bringing some of these insights into our Helping Hand Sabbath School class this coming Sabbath as we study
Delete1 Corinthians 12, about the gifts of the Spirit, as they are worked out in the Body of Christ?
Oh, I see what you did there, Dr. Vic. She is a member of my class, after all ;)
DeletePoor Chantel. Now we are loading up her plate with an extremely difficult decision -- choosing between better and best.
Delete"Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
ReplyDeleteand his wonderful deeds for mankind,
for he satisfies the thirsty
and fills the hungry with good things."
(Psalm 107:8-9)
Human beings are all about filling their plates, but not always with what is good. We run from appointment to appointment, from activity to activity, with full plates that leave no room for time with God. We consume all sorts of things, like houses and cars and clothes and food, but we are never full, even though our plate is heaped to overflowing. The Psalmist reminds us here that those things will never satisfy and indeed are not even good for us. We are called instead to give thanks to God, who alone knows what we need and gives us only good things, thus truly satisfying our hunger and our thirst. Let God lead you to the good things He has for you today, that you might be filled and satisfied.
"Then Jesus declared, 'I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.'" (John 6:35)
ReplyDeleteHere we continue in that same vein with a reminder from Jesus Himself that the key to escaping spiritual dissatisfaction (which expresses itself through material dissatisfaction) is to accept His offer to receive the Bread of Life. You and I cannot possibly fill a spiritual hole with material things, but that does not stop us from trying. Jesus challenged His listeners and us to recognize that truth and turn to Him in order to be satisfied. And, having received what God has for us, we will find that the material things we chase after to satisfy our spiritual itch will no longer seem so important.
"Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to." (Acts 16:6-8)
ReplyDeleteBelieve it or not, sometimes God says "no" even to spiritual things. Paul and his companions wanted to head off to Bithynia in order to share the good news with the lost. You would think that God would give a resounding "yes" to those plans. The problem, of course, was that those plans were not necessarily God's plans, and so He told Paul "no." Paul for his part was obedient and waited to hear from the Lord. It wasn't long at all before he heard from God, either, who was calling him to head to Macedonia. Pau's willingness to wait on the Lord, to remove from his plate that which crowded out God's true will, resulted in great strides being made for the Kingdom. We too should be sure that our plate is not so full that the Lord's will for us is crowded out. What is on your plate that does not belong there?
"Moses’ father-in-law replied, 'What you are doing is not good.'" (Exodus 18:17)
ReplyDeleteJethro was not suggesting that Moses wasn't doing good things. It was a good thing to judge between the disputes of the people. What he meant, of course, is that what Moses was doing was not good for Moses or for God's people. It would wear them both out, Moses with work and the people with waiting. And so Jethro taught Moses an important lesson about controlling his plate, and helped address the anxiety that Moses and God's people must have been feeling as their issues were addressed each day.
Good Sabbath? Yes, a good Sabbath indeed! It's raining here in Berlin so it's the perfect day to put down your lawn trimmer and head to church. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it, and glad for a God who helps us overcome our anxiety. Find out how by stopping by today. See you there!
ReplyDelete