Tag: baptized

Do Your Best…Always

Colossians

verse-of-the-day (4)

Saturday, July 1

Colossians 3:23-24 states, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.  It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”  It starts out by saying “whatever you do”, which means we are talking about everything that you do.  We are talking about your homework, your job, mowing the lawn, taking a vacation, praying, and brushing your teeth.  We are talking about how you spend your time every day all day long.  You need to do everything with all of your heart.

That seems a bit extreme.  Everything?  Really?  When you are baptized, you are saying that you are no longer going to live your life for yourself, but rather for God and Jesus.  Therefore, your whole life, everything you do, should be for your heavenly masters.  You will want to do your best, work with all your heart, because you are doing it for Christ, not for human masters.

If you find yourself not giving your best effort, you need to ask yourself a question.  Should I even be doing what I am doing?  If your grades are slipping in school because you just aren’t trying very hard, you should ask yourself if you should even be attending school.  If you come to the conclusion that school is important because of all of the learning and that it will help you be much more successful in life, then you should start doing your best because you are doing it for Christ.  If it is worth doing for Christ, you need to do it well.

Most people fail at this from time to time with their jobs.  You may not enjoy the work you do and are just doing it for the money.  You may not like your boss and find it easy to slack off at times.  However, if you have determined that you should keep your job, even if it is just for the money, you need to work at it with all of your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.

If you are baptized, you have given your WHOLE life to Christ.  If something is worth doing for Christ, you need to do it with all of your heart.

-Rick McClain

(Photo Credit: https://biblia.com/bible/esv/Colossians%203.23-24)

JOY!

Acts 13-16

acts 16 joy

Friday, June 9

I love listening to missionary stories.  I love hearing how bold men and women have carried the good news of God’s love and plan of salvation to others, sometimes meeting with great success, eager ears, and saved lives, while other times being faced with disappointment, ridicule, shunning or great danger.  The book of Acts delivers all this and more as the great missionary Paul along with Silas, Barnabas, John Mark and others worked tirelessly to teach, preach, baptize and encourage churches and individuals through many towns and countries – growing the Kingdom of God.

One word that caught my attention in these chapters was JOY.  Acts 13:52 records, “And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”  Sounds great, doesn’t it!!   Things must have been going very well for our faithful missionaries to be experiencing such JOY.  But, wait, what were the verses just previous . . . “But the Jews incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city.  They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region.  So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.” (13:50-51).  Trials, persecutions, and hardships, being expelled, cast out – these can easily bring up lots of human emotions.  Anger, rage, depression, hopelessness, fatigue, giving up.  But instead it says the disciples were filled with JOY – and with the Holy Spirit.  That is the joy that I want to have.   A deep joy that comes not from everything going as planned, but from knowing you are doing the Father’s Will – even when it is hard, even when it hurts.  A joy that comes hand in hand with His Holy Spirit.

 

JOY is used again in Acts 16:34 – this time at a truly JOYOUS occasion.  “The jailer…was filled with JOY because he had come to believe in God – he and his whole family.”  Can you imagine the scene – middle of the night, jailer hears singing from the cell as Paul and Silas praise God and pray.  Then – EARTHQUAKE!!!!  Prison doors thrown open and the jailer prepares to kill himself, since he would be executed if any of his prisoners ever escaped, and what prisoners wouldn’t escape if the prison doors were thrown open.  But then a shout is heard, “Don’t harm yourself!  We are all here!”” (16:28).  The astounded jailer needs to know more about these men and the Jesus they profess.  Paul and Silas gladly teach – and baptize – the changed jailer and his family.  The jailer takes them into his home and gives the missionaries a meal.  And there is JOY.  The baptism of a new believer is certainly one of the most joyful events.  But, what events were necessary to proceed this baptism?  In this particular case, the jailer would not have heard the gospel message if it weren’t for several catastrophes and trials: an earthquake, a mob attacking Peter & Silas (because they had healed a slave girl) which led to them being stripped and severely beaten and thrown in jail.  And, even then, if Peter and Silas had reacted differently to these crisis situations (perhaps with anger and selfishness rather than with praise and joy), the jailer would most likely have committed suicide instead of asking how to be saved.

I don’t know what you are going through today.  But, how can you face it with praise and joy and the Holy Spirit?  It just might lead to the saving of a life – maybe your own, and maybe somebody else’s.

 

-Marcia Railton

 

 

Devoted

Acts 1-2

Devoted

Sunday, June 4

What are your three favorite things that your church currently does well?  Looking at the early church, what were their strengths and weaknesses?  We can learn from the early churches in many ways, such as learning from what they did well?

The people’s actions from the early church:

  1. Those who accepted the message were baptized. Does this still apply today?  Well we see many churches and different denominations baptizing their members, but some of them sprinkle, some use full immersion while others have different methods.  The Church of God of course, still practices the original immersion practice of baptism.
  2. The people devoted themselves to the teaching and fellowship of the apostles. Are we as devoted as the people in the early church?  How do you define “devoted?”  Is it 100% of your effort 24/7?
  3. They were consistent in breaking bread and prayer. What are the standards we adhere to in this generation when it comes to prayer?  Do we allocate time each day to prayer or do we get too busy with life to take the time?
  4. The early church sold their possessions and goods and gave them to anyone in need. How eager are the people of this generation to help others?  Do we sell our belongings and use the money to help those less fortunate?  Do we offer our talents that God has gifted us?
  5. They met together every day in the temple courts. Do the people of today’s church meet every day?  Sometimes we have a hard time just getting to church one day a week.
  6. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts. Do we break bread together in our homes anymore?

 

Peter warned and pleaded with them to save themselves from this corrupt generation.  Does that warning still apply today?  Are we living in a corrupt world?  Do we mimic the early church or do we fall into the antics of this corrupt generation?  How devoted are we to the church? How can we become more devoted?  If we are a righteous church, and a people that follow Him, then God will add to our numbers daily as in the New Testament.

-Jason Railton