Adventurous Living - The Meadow Springs Community Church Podcast

Listening should be an exercise in loving your neighbor as yourself. When you really listen to someone, you sacrifice your desire to speak into the situation in favor of a closed mouth and open heart.

As we grieve this profound loss, may the peace of our LORD that is so far above our human understanding be with you in the days and weeks to come.

Just like a diet of nutritious food allows our physical bodies to function properly, feeding our heart and mind with the vital nutrients of God's Word keeps our thought life healthy and in check. 

Hard things happen in this life - things that fill us with fear, cause us to worry and be anxious. If we give everything over to the LORD in prayer - every day and every night, a sacrifice to be placed on the altar - we can let all of it fall through our own grip and into God's hands, trusting that He can & will handle them.

Imagine the biggest 'ask' ever... so big that it's literally God-sized. Our own power will fail us every time. Instead, lay all the 'asks' on the altar - withhold nothing from Him - because He will be right there in ways beyond what we could ask or image.

We all know fear. Living with no fear is almost impossible in this day and age. But, do not let fear break you or undo you because God sees you and knows you. 

For the man or woman who claims faith in Jesus Christ, living in fear is, at its root, doubting the goodness of God. "Do not fear, for your Heavenly Father knows when even a little bird fall to the ground, and you are worth far more than any birds." Do battle with fear - do not let it destroy, discourage or defeat your faith.

Convincing a a group of people with a message that, on merit alone, is surely not true. What kind of a witness is that?

The 'who' and the 'how' of preaching the gospel is very broad and for sure is not relegated to a Sunday morning platform. Preaching happens at summer bbqs and coffee shops, via phone calls and an encouraging note. Preaching happens when we, the messengers, share the message we've been given with somebody else.

Sometimes it feels like a well-loved stuffed animal from our youth could cure whatever ails. But are we being shortsighted? Have we looked past the deeper need in favor of a stubbed toe?

There is power and significance in eating together and being part of inviting outsiders to the joy of life in relationship to God and his people. An important lesson of evangelism is this - we do not have any right to share our faith with someone with whom we would not share a meal. 

So many good things happen when we listen to one another. When we listen to someone - hear a part of their story, their interests, hobbies or something about their family - we understand that person better. If we really want to love our neighbors... listening is an act of love. 

We begin with prayer... prayer for people with whom we live, work and play. Why? For hope, for mercy and the opportunity to join God, as a partner, in turning the lives and hearts of those we know and love toward Jesus. 

Sometimes we are not quite sure how we can bless others... how to be salt and light to people... and encourage them toward a relationship with Jesus. Well, take heart, because when God blesses, He empowers something or someone to be and do what it is He has designed for it to be or to do. We get to take part in blessing others because we have been blessed.

The old adage says  'walking the walk' is more important than 'talking the talk' . We need to, as followers of Jesus, flip that around because the most difficult, yet effective and profound, thing we will ever do for Jesus Christ is say something , or 'talking the talk',  about Him and what He has done in us and for us.

Shame. Because we feel unworthy. Fear. Because we live in a fallen world. Death. Because we know it comes for us all. Jesus' death and resurrection set in motion the plan God had all along. He promised, "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." We will be raised with him, our new bodies perfect and eternal, to be with him forever. In fact, there ain't no grave gon...

He knows. Good, bad, worse... He knows it all and He is there. During this Holy Week, sit in the eclipse of the light that was Jesus' death. He knows. Let each of our present moments stay with that day. He knows. 

"Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Yet not what I will, but what You will."  Jesus was troubled - no, greatly distressed -  by what He knew to be His immediate future. Yet, He prayed to and found comfort in the arms of His Father. How comfortable are you in His arms? 

A follower of Christ will always wrestle with God's ways because they are not our own. It's normal to wrestle when His ways aren't even close to what we want or think we need. But when things like that happen, will I reject God because I cannot accept His plan for me and for the world?

What the disciples thought was wasteful, Jesus viewed as an extravagant display of her devotion to Him. He said people everywhere would hear of it and remember that woman. More importantly, Jesus Himself would remember her and her outpouring of generous, extravagant love.

Thinking about the return of Jesus, do you ask, "When? Next year... next month... tomorrow?" We should watch for Jesus all day, every day, because we are given that many opportunities to be loyal and faithful to Him or to deny Him. 

They misunderstood him; they resisted his teaching and his words were twisted to support 'sides'. During this season of Lent, take the time to understand more about Jesus, more about his word and his heart than ever before.  

If 'blessing' is God's power being given to fulfill what something is designed for, then the critical question should be what is God's intention? The answer goes all the way back to the garden. To be blessed is to live in the presence of and in relationship with God Himself, the source of all blessing.

God's big plan... saving the whole world and blessing the people on the earth. Abraham and Sarah were blessed because they chose the journey even though they were going without knowing.

May we see Jesus clearly so that we gladly set aside our own struggles and desire for importance to serve others and to serve the God of the universe. After all, there is no better or more prominent a place than to be a child and friend of God.