💎 Unity is the soul of fellowship. Destroy it and you rip the heart out of Christs Body. (pg 161)

💎 Nothing is more valuable than His church. He paid the highest price for it…if you are a part of God’s family, it is your responsibility to protect the unity where you fellowship. (pg. 162)

💎  But for unitys sake we must never let differences divide us. (pg. 162)

💎 Conflict is a sign that the focus has shifted to less important issues, things the Bible calls “disputable matters.” (pg. 162)

💎 When we focus on personalities, preferences, interpretations, styles or methods, division always happens. (pg. 162)

💎 Yet we must passionately love the church on spite of its imperfections (pg. 163)

💎 Longing for the ideal while criticizing the real is evidence of immaturity. (pg. 163)

💎 Settling for the real without striving for the ideal is complacency. (pg. 163)

💎 Other believers will disappoint you and let you down, but that’s no excuse to stop fellowshipping with them. They are your family., even when they don’t act like it, and you can’t just walk out on them. (pg. 163)

💎 Because we’re sinners, we hurt each other, sometimes intentionally and sometimes unintentionally. But instead of leaving the church, we need to stay and work it out if at all possible. (pg. 163)

💎 Reconciliation, not running away, is the road to stronger character and deeper fellowship (pg. 163)

💎 Divorcing your church at the first sign of disappointment or disillusionment is a mark of immaturity. God has things He wants to teach you, and others too. (pg. 163)

💎 Every church has its own set of weaknesses and problems. (pg. 163)

💎 If a church must be perfect to satisfy you, that same perfection will exclude you from membership, because you’re not perfect! (pg. 164)

💎 [Church] is a place only for those who admit they are sinners, need grace and want to grow (pg. 164)

💎 It is always easier to stand in the sidelines and take shots at those who are serving than it is to get involved and make a contribution. (pg. 164)

💎 When you criticize what another believer is doing in faith and from sincere conviction, you are interfering with God’s business. (pg. 164)

💎 [In judging another believer] I lose fellowship with God, I expose my own pride and insecurity, I set myself up to be judged by God, and I harm the fellowship of the church. (pg. 165)

💎 Listening to gossip is like accepting stolen property, and it makes you just as guilty of the crime. (pg. 165)

💎 People who gossip to you will also gossip about you. They cannot be trusted. If you listen to gossip, God says you are a troublemaker (pg. 165). 

💎 The fastest was to end a church or small group conflict is to lovingly confront those who are gossiping and insist they stop it. (pg. 165)

💎 Private confrontation is always the first step, and you should take it as soon as possible. (pg. 166)

💎 Pastors and elders need our prayers, encouragement, appreciation and love (pg. 167)

💎 Overwhelm them (Pastors/Elders) with appreciation and love (pg. 167)

💎 when God has a bunch of baby believers he wants to deliver, he looks for the warmest incubator church He can find. (pg. 167)

💎 When people find a church where members genuinely love and care for each other, you would have to lock the doors to keep them away. (pg. 168)

What Drives Your Life?

Today’s reading is filled with so many nuggets.  

I will share a few now and then more during the day.

📍 Humans need drive to survive. We choose what that drive is, but anything outside of God will not last.  There are positive and negative conditions that cause us to move.  Rick Warren highlights 5 negative drives:

1. Guilt
2. Resentment and Anger
3. Fear
4. Materialism
5. Approval

📍 As I read todays devotional, I considered what area I struggled in.  Before understanding “who I am”, I was driven by “approval”.  I needed and wanted to be accepted.  I would do things to be accepted by my peers. I was never driven by peer pressure, but I was driven by the desire to be accepted.   I didn’t realize how unhealthy the behavior was until I allowed God to work on me and expose to me the areas in my life where I made – people’s opinion a god, an idol. 

📍 An idol? Yes, seeking the approval of others is a form of worship.  I didn’t understand that I was replacing the approval of God with the approval of man.  Understanding this was life changing for me and I continuously do checks and balances of my life to make sure I do not fall back into that stronghold.

📍 These negative drives are plans of the enemy to steal, kill and destroy our God-given purpose.  I pray that we will not be overwhelmed by guilt, resentment, anger, fear, materialism, approval and the likes. 

📍 I think it’s important for us to know the negative drives so that we can recognize what the enemy is doing.  When we know it, we can reject it.  When we are aware of his tactics, we can fight it.  

📍 We have to do periodical inventories of our mind so that we can filter out all the things that does not give glory to God.  

…more to come.

Part 2

 I really like that Rick Warren discusses the benefits of living a purpose driven life. 

1. Knowing purpose gives meaning to life
2. Knowing purpose simplifies life
3. Knowing purpose focuses life
4. Knowing purpose motivates life
5. Knowing purpose prepares you for eternity.

📍 We find meaning in life when we find God. Gaining all the possessions in life are meaningless if we do not have God. God makes our life meaningful.

📍 We struggle less when we know who we are and to whom we belong.  Our life is simplified, and we aim after the things God has purposed us to aim for. 

📍 We are focused and motivated when we walk in purpose.  Purpose, in Christ, is the reason for our being.  We aren’t here to simply play and have fun.  We have purpose! A God given purpose! 

📍 Preparing for eternity really moved me (pg. 37).  I am reminded that eternity is my destination; therefore, everything I do should have eternity in mind.  Earthly wealth is a shortsighted goal, I’m going after the eternal prize. I will be intentional about building an eternal legacy.

📍 We always assume that death is the greatest tragedy in life, but as we can see on page 34 “the greatest tragedy is not death, but life without purpose.”

📍 Reminder:

I have to always remind myself that:

My past is my past.  I am only hurting myself with bitterness if I continue to cling on to my past.  Nothing can change my past but I can work on my present and future.  

📍 I think we all have to remind ourselves of this because the enemy will play with our pasts.  Even after we get over our past, the enemy will still try to bring it up and make us feel unworthy.  Reminding ourselves that we are NOT OUR PAST will help us to win the battle of our minds. 

 …my questions are coming. 

Day 4 – Made to last forever!

Happy Saturday Blessed Vessels,

Reflection:

📍 It’s all about eternity!  The life we live now is just preparation for the one to come. We are rehearsing for the grand finale! I love this perspective and it is one that I hold dear to my heart.  I never want to be so consumed with this side of the world that I lose sight of the other side of my world – my eternal experience.  

📍 The concept of life as practice before the actual event should be the thought of every believer. We cannot live this life as one who will remain in the world forever! No, we have a home – our eternal home. 

🙏🏽 Prayer – Lord keep my body, mind and soul in the reality of eternity.  Don’t let me be consumed with the here and now but align my heart with the “there and there”.  The “then” is after all flesh as passed away and the “there” is my eternal home. 

📍 “Death is not your termination, but your transition into eternity, so there are eternal consequences to everything you do on earth.”   I don’t want to watch others enter the kingdom and they turn back and say “I told you so”.  I want to be among those who will inhabit the kingdom.  Therefore, I must prepare.  I must live with as a guest in this world who is only on a mission.  After my mission is complete, I will be transitioned to my eternal home.

 📍 We are vessels of God and we always declare that we are His children, we cannot hold such a major title on earth (the child of God) and lose the privileges when we get to the entrance gate of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Question:

1. Are those who have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior still at risk of hell?
2. Is salvation permanent or can it be reversed because of sin? 

Why is it that when we hear or read about the end of the physical body, there is fear that rises up in our heart?  

I believe that many are afraid because of the uncertainty.  As humans, we have some sort of control over our present and we can imagine what each day will bring – as we compare it to the last.  However, because the dead cannot speak, we cannot ask them what its like on the other side.  It is a mystery that will only be revealed after death.  I believe that as we fall deeper in love with God, we will be excited about what is to come.  We won’t be afraid of what is to come because we will know what lies on the other side of death.

I also believe that people are afraid because they have been conditioned that way.  Sermons that highlight hell but fail to do the same about heaven can cause people to be afraid of death.  I used to serve God out of fear of going to hell.  I now serve God from the place of love and not fear.  God wants us to fear Him (the type of fear that makes you honor and tremble at His greatness) but not to be frightened to the point that we want nothing to do with Him. 

Since we are made to last forever, what is the one thing we should stop doing and the one thing we should start doing?

Stop living as if the world is our destination.

Start living for our true destination, eternity.

How do you overcome the fear of death?  Start living for God.  As we truly embrace God, we will be less afraid of death.