Recession: News reporters have an analysis of it, politicians claim to have answers for it, Americans have a fear of it. What is God’s view of it?
We are starting a new series on May 17th called: Rece$$ion.
Recession Series from David Cook on Vimeo.
You are invited to join us. If you would like more information click here.
I just spent some time with some of our missionaries. Matt and Misty Hedspeth were in town from Panama where they work with orphans (their website is heartscrychildren.org.
We want everyone to be fed, loved, and clothed in the name of Jesus. They are striving to bring his love to the orphaned children in Panama, but there is still much work to be done.
James 1:27 27 Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us.
Perhaps some of you have seen the Electrolux commercials where Kelly Ripa does it all and at the end encourages you that you can be even more amazing. It seems like there is no limit to how much a mom can do especially if she owns one of these appliances. The problem is that many of the moms I know do have a limit. In fact many of them seem to be living at their limit. They feel out of time, out of energy, perhaps out of money, and out of answers. They are at their limit. The great news is you can learn things at your limit you can’t learn anywhere else. The question is what is God teaching us when we are at our limits?
This week at Southbridge we talked about a woman from 2 Kings 4:1-7 who was at her limit emotionally (she lost her husband), she was probably at her limit physically (she had two boys), and she was certainly at her limit financially (a creditor was going to take her two boys as his slave).
We all have a limit. We are limited by time, by our physical bodies, by our financial resources, by our abilities. However, many of us try and function as if we are not limited so we over schedule, over work, over spend, over eat etc. We need to realize we are limited and that there is One who is unlimited in every way. God is unlimited in His resources (He can create out of nothing and owns a cattle on a thousand hills. He even owns us as we have been bought at a price). He is unlimited in His attributes. He is unlimited in His power, in His knowledge, in His presence, in His love, in His grace, in His mercy, in His forgiveness. So if we are limited (the first thing we should learn when we are at our limit) doesn’t it make sense that we would turn to the one who is unlimited (the next thing we should learn at our limit)?
The thing that really gripped me when I was working on this message this week was that God who is unlimited and has more than we need, wants all that we have. God asks us to give what we have to Him and He gives what we need to us. He truly is an amazing God worthy of all our hearts, all our souls, all our minds, and all our strength.
I have nothing against Electrolux. I am sure it is probably a great product, but moms if you want to be even more amazing see what God can do with you when you turn to Him and your life is in His hands. He has this tendency to take what we have and do beyond what we could imagine with it.
Do you ever wake up in the morning and ask yourself why do I do what I do? I think it is easy to just get busy doing things. Especially if you have a routine. Routines are fine until we get to the place where we forget why we have that routine. What are we trying to accomplish? What goal are we striving for? With the kids is it just get them cleaned, clothed, and fed to survive another day or is it more? Do we realize how the decisions we make today will impact their future? What about at work? Is the end goal just to get through the day and earn a paycheck or is there more to it than that? Is it about making a difference in the lives of those you come into contact with so that eternity will be different as a result of what you said or did? Some people think it is easier when you are “in ministry” to keep that focus. Maybe it is. However, it is still easy to forget why I do what I do. Today I will spend time working on a message for tomorrow. It is possible to work on a message or to work on something that will be offered to God and beg Him to use it to make a difference for eternity. Why do you do what you do?