Daily Thoughts

In the P of GP we read that on the seventh day of creation, after God had finished all His work and pronounced it very good, He rested from all His labors and blessed and sanctified the seventh day as the Sabbath Day.  Moses 3:1-3 "Thus the heaven and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.  And on the seventh day I, God, ended my work, and all things which I had made; and I rested on the seventh day from all my work, and all things which I had made were finished, and I, God, saw that they were good; And I, God, blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it I had rested from all my work which I, God, had created and made."

In the New Testament we read that many of the chief rulers believed in Jesus, but they would not confess Him for fear of being put out of the synagogues.  In other words, they loved the praise of men more than they loved the praise of God. Are we willing to stand up for what is right, even in the face of the opposition of the world?  Which do we care more about--what other people think of us or what God thinks of us?  John 12:42-43 "Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God"

Some verses with a thought booklet tell us that we each have our own grace-given gifts that the Lord has blessed us with, and we can use these gifts and talents to bless others.  Some of us can prophesy, others are good at ministering, others are better at teaching or exhorting. We can each serve in different ways. Maybe we can't play the organ for church services, but we can take a casserole to someone who just came home from the hospital, type up the church bulletin,  or help out with the children in the nursary. Each can contribute to the whole with their own special skills, and each is needed. Just before Christmas I had the privilege of attending a performance of a hand bell choir at the local library. They were amazing to watch.  The bell ringers stood behind a table containing their music and the various sizes of bells--some were tiny and others were as big as stockpots. Each bell ringer was assigned to ring specific bells at specific times and they all came together to make beautiful music.  This is the way it is with our church assignments.  We all have specific tasks to complete and when we all work together, we create a beautiful harmony!  Romans 12:3-8 "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.  For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:  So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.  Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;  Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;  Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness."