You are accepted!

“Therefore, accept each other in the same way that Christ accepted you. He did this to bring glory to God” (Romans 15:7).

Most of us spend our entire lives trying to earn acceptance. We want to earn it from our parents, peers, partners in life, from people we respect, maybe even from people we envy. The drive to be accepted is a deep drive that can influence the kind of clothes you wear, the kind of car you drive, the kind of house you buy, even the career you choose.

Remember as a kid you wanted so badly to be in the in-crowd that someone would say to you, “I dare you to do this,” and they’d suggest something that was either stupid, or that put your personal safety at risk? But, you did it anyway because your desire to be accepted overruled the desire for safety.

We do it because we love the feeling of “I’m OK, I’m accepted; somebody accepts me.” When you’re accepted, it does tremendous things for your self esteem. The truth is Jesus accepts you and that acceptance is not based on your performance. In fact, you may have received Christ and accepted Jesus into your life, but do you realize that you’re able to do that because Jesus accepted you? You don’t have to earn his acceptance; you don’t have to prove yourself to him.

We need to stop thinking, “I’ve got an unpleaseable God up there and I’ve got to be a good boy, or good girl, to be accepted.” God, through Jesus Christ, has already accepted you. That’s good news!

Let the power of being loved and accepted by God remove your guilt and empower you to rest in what God says about you and how He sees you. God says youʼre accepted right now. So start living in that freedom and let the revelation of His love transform your life.

inspired by Rick Warren

The bigger purpose

What if work wasn’t just work? What if work was a vehicle to live and share a bigger purpose? I believe there’s flawed perception in our society that in order to live a life of purpose we have to leave our jobs and go solve world hunger, feed the homeless, move to Africa or start a charity.

 While these are all noble causes and many are called to do these very things, for many of us our bigger purpose can be found in the here and now, in the jobs we have, right under our noses. And when we find and live this purpose it will provide the ultimate fuel for a  meaningful life.

You may not build libraries around the world but you can find the bigger purpose in reading to your children. You may not feed the homeless every day but you can nourish your employees and customers with a smile, kind word and care. And while you may not start your own non-profit organization, you can begin a charity initiative at work. After all, "charity" means "love in action." You can make a difference every day and touch the lives of everyone you meet. 

While these people may not be starving because of a lack of food, you can provide them with a different kind of nourishment that will feed their souls and feed your own in the process. 

I heard of a janitor who worked at NASA and even though he was sweeping floors, he felt his bigger purpose was contributing to put a man on the moon. 

I met a school bus driver who knows his purpose is to help kids stay off drugs. 

There is a kind man in the mortgage business who sees his job as a way to help couples save their marriages by keeping their homes. 

I know a Popeye's Chicken employee named Edith, working at a large airport location, who makes thousands of people smile each day. The list goes on... 

Ordinary people with an extra-ordinary purpose. 

In any job our purpose waits for us to find it and live it. I can't tell you what your purpose should be but I can tell you that every one of us can find a bigger purpose in the job we have. I can tell you that every job, no matter how glorious or boring it may seem, will get mundane if we let it. Purpose keeps it fresh and when we are filled with purpose, we tap into an endless supply of energy. 

Don't wait until you go to Africa to start living with a mission. Don't wait until the weekend to feed people who are hungry. Bring your mission to work and your personal life, start working for a bigger purpose and nourish others in the process. 

... inspired by Brandon Cox

God's promise to meet your needs

Philippians 4: 14-20 In Philippians, we learn probably the greatest promise of all:  that God promises to meet our needs. But God’s promise has one condition attached to it.  God says that we MUST be generous with others.  Paul is saying that unless we obey the matter of giving, God makes no guarantee to meet our needs.

Proverbs 11:25 “A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.”

Luke 6:38 “Give to others and God will give to you.”

Why should we be generous? One reason is that our generous giving encourages others. The Philippians’ church was not a wealthy church.  It was a poverty stricken church; yet the Philippians were big hearted and generous in their giving. Paul said their gifts encouraged him. Both the giver and the givee received a blessing.

Giving is an investment in your future. Jesus said 100 fold will be returned to him who gives up for the gospel. One hundred fold is 10,000%. God is recording anything and everything that you do.  A cup of cold water given in Jesus’ name is written down in your account. Every time you’re generous with your family, church, friends – anytime you give it is recorded and rewarded.

I Timothy 6:18-19 "...Give happily to those in need, and always be ready to share whatever God has given you.”  By doing this, you will be storing up real treasure for yourselves in heaven – it is the only safe investment for eternity.

The Bible says God wants us to work.  He will not reward the lazy or those who are unwilling to work.  He does not promise to meet your needs if you sit around all day and do nothing.

God promises to meet your needs, not your greeds.  He knows what you need and He promises to provide it, as long as you meet His requirements.  God says "I assume responsibility for My children's needs to be met." If you're a child of God and you're meeting the premise, you can count on God’s promise.

What has God promised?  All legitimate needs. That covers a lot of material. Do you have a financial need? If you're a faithful giver, you have every right to ask God to meet your financial needs. If you're not a faithful giver you have no right, because you're not meeting the premise. How about physical needs, health needs, relational needs, emotional needs, any kind of needs? God promises to meet all your needs.

Thought for the day:  "… whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”

 Have a wonderful week.

Conquering Complainers

Complaining is a kill-joy.  It makes you unhappy and everybody else around you unhappy.  The problem is that it is a hard habit to break.  We are naturally negative.  We tend to look at the bad things in life. We are conditioned by society.  Bad news makes the headlines.  We are bombarded continuously with what's wrong with everything.  By our own nature and by our conditioning we tend to develop the habit of complaining.

The Bible says God wants Christians to be different.  Philippians 2:14-15  "Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe."

What does God's word have to say about dealing with this habit of complaining?

FOUR COMMON TYPES OF COMPLAINERS:

1.  THE "WHINER"

These people wake up negative.  They rise and whine.  David whines all through the Psalms. Psalm 73:13 "Have I been wasting my time?  Why take all the trouble to be pure? All I get out of it is trouble and woe."

The tell-tale sign of the whiner is:  "It's not fair.  I don't deserve this.  Everybody else gets all the breaks."

Life is not fair.  God never said it is going to be fair.  It will be fair in Heaven.  He will settle the score in Heaven.  As long as you complain about the fact that life is not fair, it only makes you more miserable.  But it will never change the fact that life is not always fair. Complaining does not work.

2.  THE "MARTYR" 

Favorite phrase:  "No one appreciates me."

Numbers 11:11-15 "Moses said to the Lord, `Why pick on me, to give the burden of a people like this?  I can't carry this nation by myself! If you're going to treat me like this, please kill me right now -- it will be a kindness!  Let me out of this impossible situation!"

These people are pros at having pity parties.  When they are sick or under pressure, they want everybody to know about it.  How do you react when you don't get your way?  Do you mount a complaining campaign?

3.  THE "CYNIC" 

Favorite phrase:  "Nothing will ever change."

Eccl. 1:2-4,9 "Life is useless.  You spend your life working and what do you have to show for it? The world stays just the same ... what has been done before will be done again." Actually, this last phrase probably refers to picking up after children. What's the use?

4.  THE "PERFECTIONIST"

Nothing is ever right for this person.  It is never good enough. Favorite phrase:  "Is that the best you can do?"

Proverbs 27:15 "A nagging wife is like water going drip, drip, drip on a rainy day." Proverbs 21:19  "Better to live out in the desert than with a nagging, complaining wife."

This refers to husbands, too!  Nagging perfectionists.  Nothing is ever right.  Always arguing. Nothing destroys the warmth of a home faster than complaining.  Nothing destroys the harmony of a marriage faster than complaining.  Nagging doesn't work.  It just makes everybody upset.

If your kids are complaining continuously, ask yourself if you are setting the example.

HOW DO YOU CONQUER COMPLAINING?

The Bible says "Do everything without complaining and arguing." How do you do that?

 ADMIT IT IS A PROBLEM

Admit it is a problem for you, not for other people, but for you. Proverbs 28:13 "A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful.  But if he confesses and  forsakes them, he gets another chance."

Complaining isn't just a bad habit; it's a sin.  We need to confess it.  It's a sin; it's serious. Complaining was the sin that kept the Israelites out of the promised land.  God destroyed them in the desert because they grumbled.  Seven times, Scripture says, "they murmured."  The reason the children of Israel never got into the promised land was because they were complainers.  That's how serious God says what we're talking about is.  

ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR OWN LIFE

Many times complaining is just an attempt to blame other people for the problems we've created. 

Proverbs 19:3 "Some people ruin themselves by their own stupid mistakes and then blame the Lord."

Do not complain how the ball bounces if you drop it!  

I hear so many people complaining about being in debt.  Is it possible you were irresponsible about spending and saving?  That you made a purchase you really shouldn't have made?  I hear people saying, "I'm just not appreciated at home."  Maybe you don't appreciate the others at home.  We reap what we sow. Whatever you want in life, you've got to give it out.  That is inviolable rule of God.  If you want friends you've got to be friendly.  If you want appreciation at home you've got to give appreciation.  If you want to be put first in your marriage, you need to put your partner first in your marriage.  We reap what we sow.

Which type of person are you?  accuser, excuser, or chooser.

Accusers are always going around saying "It's your fault." When Adam sinned he took it like a man and blamed his wife, "Eve did it," and then he blamed God, "You gave me that woman."

Excusers say "I'm a product of my environment.  It's not really my fault."

The people that are really successful in life are neither accusers nor excusers.  They are choosers.  They accept responsibility for their own decisions.  When they reap what they sow, they take it and move ahead.

DEVELOP THE ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE

I Thes. 5:18 "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." God says "I want you to be thankful in all circumstances."  It does not say "for all circumstances".  You cannot always be thankful for the circumstances, but you can be thankful in the situation.  I know that God is working all things for good.  He has a pattern and He fits even the bad things in our lives into that pattern for good. God's purpose for my life is greater than my problems, so in everything I can give thanks.  Not for but in.

I develop the attitude of gratitude and I learn to be grateful for what I have.  It's a tremendous antidote for complaining.  Why is it that we often don't value what we have in life until it's gone?

Phil. 4:11 "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances." When Paul wrote this he was in prison at Rome.  The situations do not determine happiness.

When you learn to be happy and joyful in spite of the circumstance, that is maturity.  

LOOK FOR GOD'S HAND IN CIRCUMSTANCES

If you want to get victory over complaining, look for God's hand in your circumstances.

II Cor. 4:17-18  "This small and temporary trouble we suffer will bring us a tremendous and eternal glory, much greater than the trouble.  So we fix our attention, not on the things that are seen, but on the things that are unseen.  What is seen lasts only for a time, but what cannot be seen lasts forever."

Paul is saying there are problems that come into our lives, no doubt.  But the way you look at them determines your attitude. Because God is working these things for good in your life and the good that you're going to get out of them will be much more long lasting that the problem. 

The reason why over and over in the Bible we are told not to complain is this: complaining is, in essence, rebellion against God.  When I complain about my circumstances that are beyond my control I'm really saying "If I were God things would be different.  If I were in charge, the whole human race would be much better."  That's rebellion and that's why it's so serious. God says don't do it.

PRACTICE SPEAKING POSITIVELY

Complaining is a habit.  Habits are only broken by replacement with something else.  Take out the negative complaining and replace it with positive speaking.  Ephesians 4:29 "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."

I hope you have a wonderful new week.