Summer's Challenge

Okay, so I am finding that keeping to a daily devotional discipline during my summer schedule is more difficult than I imagined. Not having internet connections in all of the places I expected to have it hasn't helped. I also find that I am staying up later at night and sleeping later in the morning. That doesn't leave me much time to myself at my house (when I'm there.). And the fact that since I have done so poorly in keeping up, I have probably lost most of my daily readers. A big sorry to all of you who were depending on this from day to day. I made promises that I haven't kept even when the internet has been available.

Please forgive me and don't give up on me completely just yet!

---Today's Thought from 1 Corinthians 12-14--

I can't help but think that as I read through Paul's letter to the Corinthian Church that he must be writing it to us today, too. Although we might not have to worry about food sacrificed to idols, we do find ourselves in the same mess of broken relationships, broken marriages, and church conflicts that have nothing to do with God's purposes and everything to do with our selfishness.

If there is anything that I continue to repent of it is my selfishness. I am constantly checking myself to see if what I am doing is God's way or my own. I have been known to be a bit selfish in the past. And there are times that I wonder if that's my motivation?

I know I've written some about this before but it continues to be an issue in the life of the church, when our own desires get in the way of what's best for the Church, or for the community, or for Christ! Many years ago I read Rick Warren's book, the Purpose Driven Church. It's the book that I asked the leaders of our church to read when I first came. Maybe it's time for all of us to read it again. It is the book that came before the Purpose Driven Life and in it Rick discusses the idea of becoming driven by God's purposes rather than driven by our preferences. In other words, setting aside our selfishness in order to take on servanthood.

That's exactly what Paul is describing when he tells the church about the Spiritual Gifts. Each one works it's role for God's greater purpose. Not one piece is better or more important than the other. In fact, it's when they work side by side, each doing their function well, that the whole thing works best. And I find it interesting that when it all is working well, the whole body goes someplace, but not every part knows where it is going or where it ends up! (The stomach can't see, nor can the nose or the feet.)

What does that mean to us today? "You are Christ's body - that's who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your "part" mean anything." (1 Corinthinans 12:27, The Message) So, "go after a life of love as if your life depended on it - because it does. Give yourselves to the gifts God gives you." (1 Cor. 14:1, Msg)

God doesn't want us to put our wants ahead of someone elses. God would rather us put God's desires first. And God's desires might not always look like ours. I know they don't always look like mine.

If we set aside our selfishness, what we'll find is a renewed sense of servanthood, of compassion for our brothers and sisters in Christ, of desire to help those who are unlike us to become what we are...

...Children of Christ!

Peace ><>
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