I noticed a store advertisement to join their team of employees. Since then, I've noticed the same kind of sign elsewhere. The signs are similar: "join the TEAM and enjoy a friendly workplace environment with great benefits."
Jesus invited people to join His TEAM. While Jesus had many followers who would come and go, Jesus chose a select group of disciples to become TEAM JESUS. Jesus invested in them and then gave them marching orders to continue to expand the TEAM. Though we live 2,000 years later, we are a part of that extension and also have the privilege of passing the good news on to others, inviting them to join the TEAM too.
What does it take to be a member in good standing on TEAM JESUS?
I'm not talking about being religious, the world has enough of that. I'm not talking about being a great church member either, although this aspect of your life will be affected too. I am talking about what it looks like when a person truly follows after Jesus.
Matthew 16.24 "Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.' " While people may interpret and apply this differently, there is no getting around the idea of self-denial, nor of the daily dying to self implied by "taking up his cross." The cross, though glorified now and adorned as jewelry, was a symbol of a violent death. If we are dying and denying ourselves, then what is it that we are coming alive to? The answer is God through faith in Jesus.
As we go through life, we no longer ask what we want, but what Jesus wants. No longer are we concerned with what others say, for the only thing that truly matters is what Jesus says. We will move from being concerned with what others are thinking and want to know what Jesus is thinking. No longer will we be people pleasers, but God pleasers. No longer will we live by what we see, rather by that which is unseen. To follow Jesus means we are set free from our sinful world and all that concerns the world. To be on TEAM JESUS means to be an extension of His life in ours, so that the life of Jesus may touch the world with His love, grace and peace.
We have 2 teams. TEAM SELF and TEAM JESUS. Which team are you on?
Blessings,
Pastor Pete
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Friday, July 1, 2011
A tool in God's hand
It happened again this past Thursday morning just as I was ready to leave for the day. I rubbed my eye which caused my contact to fold up and disappear somewhere in the deep recesses of my eye. It's happened before, so I was not too worried. But it was an irritation to my eye and my driving ability. About an hour later I felt something odd in my eye and out the contact fell into my hand. Within a minute I had the contact cleaned and reinserted back to where it was designed to be.
Contact lenses are a wonderful tool that enable us to see without having to wear glasses. They are wonderful only when they are in the right place and at the right time. Although they are a great tool, they do not help my eyesight at all when folded up and hiding somewhere in the back of my eyeball. Nor are they useful in their package. Contacts are a tool only when they are inserted correctly and doing what they are supposed to do.
People are like tools in God's hands. The Bible says that "we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2.10 NIV
How many times has God intended to do something good through us, yet we remain in the wrong spot, intent on some purpose other than that which God so designed us for. We miss out on the good God planned to do through us because we are out of place and focused on "ourselves" instead of seeking to bless others in Jesus' name.
God made us for a purpose. We are His creation. God gave us our personalities, our gifts and natural abilities. Are we living up to God's purpose? Perhaps all it would take is a rearrangement of location. My contact only had to move a short distance and it was where it was supposed to be.
Perhaps you desire to serve the Lord and it is a struggle, like trying to force a square block into a round hole. Maybe it's time to find the correct shaped hole for which you were designed to fit. We may be in the right place but with the wrong attitude, much like a piece of dirt on a contact lens. This too is irritating. Perhaps we need an attitude adjustment or ask the Lord to forgive us and cleanse us so that we can once again be useful for our Master.
A friend of mine was hired to teach 6th grade. At the last minute before the school began, he was switched to Kindergarten. That was where the need was, but he didn't fit. He struggled with it for several months before he quit. He was not wired to be a Kindergarten teacher. Later he was hired at a different school and for a job he was "wired" to do. What a huge difference he has made in the lives of 6th-8th graders.
God has a plan and purpose for you, so that no matter where you are or where you go, you may glorify your heavenly Father. Jesus said in Matthew 5.16, "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
Are you fulfilling God's purpose for you? If not, what would it take for you to step into His purpose? May you find great joy as you serve the Lord. May each of us be instruments in His hands that He may be glorified.
Blessings,
Pastor Pete
Contact lenses are a wonderful tool that enable us to see without having to wear glasses. They are wonderful only when they are in the right place and at the right time. Although they are a great tool, they do not help my eyesight at all when folded up and hiding somewhere in the back of my eyeball. Nor are they useful in their package. Contacts are a tool only when they are inserted correctly and doing what they are supposed to do.
People are like tools in God's hands. The Bible says that "we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2.10 NIV
How many times has God intended to do something good through us, yet we remain in the wrong spot, intent on some purpose other than that which God so designed us for. We miss out on the good God planned to do through us because we are out of place and focused on "ourselves" instead of seeking to bless others in Jesus' name.
God made us for a purpose. We are His creation. God gave us our personalities, our gifts and natural abilities. Are we living up to God's purpose? Perhaps all it would take is a rearrangement of location. My contact only had to move a short distance and it was where it was supposed to be.
Perhaps you desire to serve the Lord and it is a struggle, like trying to force a square block into a round hole. Maybe it's time to find the correct shaped hole for which you were designed to fit. We may be in the right place but with the wrong attitude, much like a piece of dirt on a contact lens. This too is irritating. Perhaps we need an attitude adjustment or ask the Lord to forgive us and cleanse us so that we can once again be useful for our Master.
A friend of mine was hired to teach 6th grade. At the last minute before the school began, he was switched to Kindergarten. That was where the need was, but he didn't fit. He struggled with it for several months before he quit. He was not wired to be a Kindergarten teacher. Later he was hired at a different school and for a job he was "wired" to do. What a huge difference he has made in the lives of 6th-8th graders.
God has a plan and purpose for you, so that no matter where you are or where you go, you may glorify your heavenly Father. Jesus said in Matthew 5.16, "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
Are you fulfilling God's purpose for you? If not, what would it take for you to step into His purpose? May you find great joy as you serve the Lord. May each of us be instruments in His hands that He may be glorified.
Blessings,
Pastor Pete
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