Results 1 - 2 of 2
|
|
|||||
Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | need help undestanding Eph. 3:10 | Eph 3:10 | JamesO | 137514 | ||
That is so true and so timely! Just this morning in my men’s bible study we were talking about service and you know, it seems that too often our service has a hook in it. We seem to serve with an understanding that in so doing we are blessed, and truly we are, but this should not be the motive. And I pose the question, why do we do what we do? It all comes back to God. Or it should. I mean, I believe we all may be guilty of it to a certain degree. How often to we proclaim: “Come to the Lord and be blessed!” or “Come to God for ‘your eternal reward’”! Come to God and get, get, get we say. In reality it should be all about Him and not what we can get. The Lord has done a lot in answering my inquiry. In looking for answers to this one verse, He caused me to look at the mystery: the summation of all things under Christ Jesus in heaven and in earth. And as I studied He showed me from Hebrews Chapter one that angels are indeed ministering servants for us. And that in 1 Peter they desire to look into these things. God is all knowing, they are not. And they sat in awe as they began to see His plans unfold and the redemption of mankind and as they realized that before the foundation of the earth He was the Lamb worthy to be slain. God is an awesome God Who transcends time, and all His creation. His plans are immense and it is so awesome that He takes time to let us get little glimpses into them. Thank you for your response and I pray that, and I believe that, as I seek Him with sincere heart to know Him, He is molding my theology in Truth. |
||||||
2 | need help undestanding Eph. 3:10 | Eph 3:10 | xmikx | 137533 | ||
JamesO, That was a wonderful post to read. I too struggled with trying to figure out my ministry at church. I knew I needed to be more involved, but was not sure in what area of my church. My wife and I of course started praying about what our ministry should be. After a few weeks of diligent prayer, the Youth pastor of our church approached my wife and said, "I see that you and Mike are interested in working with the youth." Now, this was very shocking to both of us as neither one of us had ever even hinted at working with the students (7th through 12th grade). As if this was not enough of a sign from God, we continued to pray about it for another couple of days. One morning, I called my wife to tell her what I 'heard' (not literally) as an answer to my ministry prayer. It was as if God said, "why do you think I had him (youth pastor) come to you?" I told this to my wife and she had the same exact feeling. So, we both joined in the student ministry. Neither one of us started serving with the expectation of: oh goody, now what do I get for doing this work for God. It was more about, ok, what more can I learn so that I will be able to contribute more than prayer for the students. Now this is not to say that prayer is not important, because prayer is a very vital part of our Christian faith as it says in Romans 12:12; Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. But, I needed to have some personal growth so that I could share more than personal testimony with these students. I have been rewarded greatly since I began serving in this ministry. I have developed great friendships with the students and have been able to share my "story" with them and how it is difficult, even as an adult, to live in this world. I tell them that it is essential to develop habits now at their age so that when they get to my age (32, but only 6 as a Christian) these habits will be part of their daily routine. But to answer your question of, why do we do what we do? Your answer is so correct!!! It should all be about God and that's it. I have been struggling with this concept for a while now. I can tell that God is ready to use me for something 'huge' right now. But, I am still thinking about what I will have to give up to gain more from Him. Example: I might have to give up TV time, Xbox time, sports magazine reading time, lying around doing nothing time. I really struggle with this. I know it is much more important to look at what I will gain. and that is favor with God!!!! I know this line of thinking is better for me and the correct thing to do, but it is still hard for me to grasp when using my abilities. So please, I ask the readers of this post to please pray for me that I might be able to completely submit to the will of the Father and what He has in mind for me. I am currently going through some marital problems as well. My wife and I are currently seperated. I had not been truthful with her about my problem with pornography in the past. Each and every time she would ask, I chose to lie to her. I went to church camp this past summer with my church. While here, God convicted me. I went down and prayed and asked for His forgiveness and repented of this sin. It was such a wonderful feeling to finally be free of this sin that had me tied up in chains for so long. I called my wife that very night to share my joy about being free from this sin. She immediately went on the attack about how she knew I was hiding something from her. There is so much more junk that happened next, but the important things are: she moved out into an apartment, our 2 year old daughter lives one week with her and the next week with me, she stopped going to church, stop talking to our friends from church and started hanging out with only "her" friends. I have continued going to church and serving in the student ministry. I shared the whole story with our pastor. He shared enough so that the staff could also pray for my wife and I. I have seen my prayer life grow considerably during this time and that might have been one of the things God wanted from me. I have seen God answer some of my prayers. My wife finally allowed herself to hear from God. She did not want to hear anything about honoring our vows and honoring our marriage because I was not thinking about our vows or our marriage when I was lying to her about the porn. But, God has changed her heart. My wife has agreed to come home. Praise God!!!! God is in the restoration business! He has restored what the world would have considered dead. All of this is further proof that all we have to do, is let go of our problems and let God be God!!! He is so much more capable than we are. So, once again, please pray for me that I will fully submit to God's will in my life. I am still wanting my treasures here on earth instead of storing my treasures in heaven as it says in Matthew 6:19-20. Mike |
||||||