Tag Archives: work

Which are you?

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Have you ever heard God’s voice? His actual, audible voice? I have not but it would be awesome if ever I had the chance!

I have, however, heard God speaking to me. The other day, a short bible story came to mind. After having thought about it for a while, I realize that the Holy Spirit dropped this story into my mind. 

I needed to learn something.

Luke 10:38-42 describe a scene that I am all too familiar with in my life. Here it is:

“38As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”41“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42but few things are needed—or indeed only one.f Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Italics mine.

There are two main characters in this story (three if you count Jesus). 

Martha and Mary.

Martha worked while Mary worshipped.

Martha stood while Mary sat.

Martha lamented while Mary listened.

Martha prepared while Mary pondered.

mary-martha-4

I have been Martha the last couple of weeks. I want to be Mary. 

Which are you?

A Dream and a Destiny

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Dreams. Sometimes we dream silly dreams. Others can be scary or bizarre. But then there are times when the dreams are confusing.

On my part, I don’t dream too much. Daydream? Yes. But I don’t feel like I am a “dreamer”.

To be honest, dreams confound me. They are often close to reality but certainly not real.

But for today, I am not talking about my dreams but the dreams of a cocky teenager from the book of Genesis. 

The whole story can be found in Genesis 37-50. 

coat

 

Joseph had some dreams. And as a 17 year old, he was not mature enough for the dreams to be fulfilled. His eleven brothers hated Joseph. He was the favorite. His dad gave him the best coat. Joseph was spoiled. 

So his brothers took action. And if it was not for Reuben, Joseph would have been killed. Instead, being stripped of the robe, he was thrown into a pit, sold to merchants, and transported to Egypt.

All of these things might have confused Joseph. He had dreams after all! Had not the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob given those dreams?!?! So why was he now ripped from his family and in captivity in a foreign nation?

But he works hard. Promotion. He is now making a life for himself. Then the temptations. Potipher’s wife. It has been said that opportunity knocks but temptation leans on the doorbell. This woman had it bad for Joseph. 

But our cocky little dreamer has been growing up. He stayed true! Way to go Joseph!

And now back to prison. More hard work. More promotion. Dreams. And it was the dreams of the baker, cupbearer and even Pharaoh that eventually got Joseph out of prison.

Second in command of all of Egypt. Dude! These last few years have been rough, to say the least, but Joseph is finally in place. In place for what?

For the dreams to come true and be fulfilled.

joseph-of-egypt

Time does not permit me to go into the whole story. Please read it for yourself. It truly is one of the most amazing stories in the Bible.

I will conclude with a few thoughts about Joseph, the dreams, and God’s destiny.

 

  • If God gives you a dream, recognize the origin of it and then release it. There often needs to be a transformation of the dreamer after the transmission of the dream.
  • If life is not going the way you think it should or there are obstacles to your dream; you can do two things; run or remain. Don’t try to escape the problem but ask to be empowered in the problem. God’s grace is greater than the grief of life.
  • Dreams still not fulfilled? Keep waiting and keep working.
  • Only after God has done his work can we say what Joseph said, “But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” Gen. 50:19-20

 

 

 

Exiled! part 3

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“For I know the plans I have for you…”

plans

 

That has got to be one of the most encouraging and hope-filled statements in the Bible.

If you are reading this post before part 1 and part 2, please click to go back and read those.

It will make more sense. =-)

 

The Israelites are finally getting the words they have been longing to hear. God told them to settle down and work. This verse is tells us the ‘why’ behind the ‘what’.

What were they supposed to do? Look at the verbs in verses 5-7: BUILD, SETTLE, PLANT, EAT, MARRY, REPRODUCE, INCREASE, SEEK, PRAY

That is the work God called them to do. And now He explains why.

He has a plan.

He knows that plan.

The plan is to prosper, bring hope and a future.

 

Jeremiah was not the only author to write about the plan of God. Here are a few highlights;

  • Genesis 50:19-20 reveals Joseph understanding that God had a plan.
  • Exodus 1-5 explain how Moses was part of God plans to free the Hebrews.
  • If we skip to the new Testament, there are too many examples of Jesus talking about ‘the plan’. He kept saying how it was not His time yet. There were words of a plan in those statements.
  • Paul, writing to the church in Galatia, eludes to the plan of God. Here is verses 4 and 5 of ch. 4, “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.”
  • Turn to the back of the book. Revelation 22:20 tells us, “Yes, I am coming soon.”

God always has had a plan. That plan is never gone. Whatever our situation is at any given time, we can know and trust that God’s plan is still there. The really cool thing is that He wrote it down for us so we don’t have to doubt it.

I think the exiles were grateful that the letter they received had the what (meaning the work they needed to do) but it also contained the why (God’s plans for them).

 

the point 2

The point is to go to work and understand that God has a plan for your life.

Trust in Him and work hard.

Exiled! part 2

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The Israelites. Yes, those ancient people who always seemed to be going in circles. One day they are serving God with all of their heart. The next day, we might find them building an altar to a foreign god. They are hot and then they are cold. Repentant and rebellious almost in the same breath.

Does that not describe us as well? Sorry to say it but I think it does.

It is one of these hard-heart moments that we find the Israelites being exiled. Sent away to Babylon. Even carried by God! See my last post, Exiled! part 1 to get an idea about being carried by God especially if you are facing great tribulations.

They have now been transplanted to another country. The landscape is different. The smells are confusing. The language is unintelligible. The people are uncaring. Even the air is stuffy. They don’t want to be there.

I get it. There are times when I don’t want to be where I am either. Bad job? Sinful habits? Rough marriage? Rebelling kids? Depressed? In a word, exiled.

And all you want to do is escape!

Although I do not consider myself a history buff, I do have a working knowledge of the timeline and main events of World War II. I especially like to read/watch things about prisoners. My particular favorite are stories about Colditz. Colditz was a Nazi prison. But not just any prison, it was a castle. Here are a few random pictures from the web;

colditz 2colditz 3colditz 4

That last one has props and other things used in various escape attempts.

It fascinates me every time I think about the extent to which these men went to escape! They created german uniforms. They dug tunnels. They bribed guards. They made ropes from bed sheets. They even built an airplane!!!

colditz glider

Although it never flew, the Colditz glider was certainly the most extravagant attempt to escape.

I wonder if any of the Israelites ever went to such lengths to escape Babylon?

Maybe I am speculating here so before I say anything else, let’s see what the Bible says. We can pick it up in verse 5 of Jeremiah 29.

5“Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 7Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” 

They were supposed to be there and settle themselves. God wanted them to stay, not flee. Build, not destroy. Plant, not uproot. Increase, not decrease. Pray, not grumble.

I don’t know exactly how these words were received but I am sure it was not with great joy and celebration! It can be super difficult to trust God in these situations. We want to get out. But God says wait on me. We want to run free but God says stay here.

Waiting on God usually means working.

BUT God is faithful. He knows the end game here. More on that next week.

So for now, take a deep breath and get to work. Plant, build, settle. Put effort into your current situation instead of holding out for the future. Get to work!

Waiting does not mean sitting on your butt doing nothing. You only do that if you are at the bus stop.

 

 

 

32850 pounds.

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Have you ever laid landscaping block? I have. The picture here is not my house but it is very similiar to the project that my wife and I completed earlier this year.

wall_landscape_6

Because my brain works in odd ways, I thought it would be fun to total up the number of pounds that I lifted during this project. We purchased the blocks, capstones, and bags of sand from a local store. Here is a breakdown of the blocks and their respective weights:

1. 90 Large block, 70 lbs 

2. 30 Small block, 17 lbs 

3. 55 Capstone for large block, 56 lbs 

4. 20 Capstone for small block, 13 lbs 

5. 16 Bags of Sand, 50 lbs

 

But I didn’t move each block once. I figured that I had to lift each of these items 3 times. Once from the store to my van, another time from the van to the yard, and the final time, from the yard into its position.

So I did the math.

90  x 70 x 3 + 30 x 17 x 3 + 55 x 56 x 3 + 20 x 13 x 3 + 16 x 50 x 3 = 32850 lbs

When I hit total, I was astonished! That is a ton of work…wait, no! It is over 16 tons of work! How cool is that!

So what? Why is that worth writing about?

Let me tell you. I can never lift that much weight by myself. Ever. In fact, no one person could. It is simply too heavy. However, I can lift one block at a time.

 

I CAN DO ANYTHING, if I move one block at a time.

 

My prayer for today is this, “Dear God, help me to move one block today so that your will can be accomplished in me and through me, amen.”