Set Your Sights On Things Above
We so quickly get our eyes off God. Let's get back into
perspective.
perspective.
3/12/2017
Take That MountainTake that Mountain: From Victory to City Light Once upon a time, a young church was planted in a pretty little city. This church grew from just a few members to a nice little congregation, one able to help people. She became known as a friendly church, one who smiled and opened her arms wide for any visitors. Like any other church, she wasn’t perfect, but she loved, and she tried to follow God. She wanted to be the kind of church that would show her city the love of God, and help people learn about Jesus, the Savior of the world. God eventually moved the little church to a lovely little building where she’d have room to grow and learn and prosper. It had an auditorium with red carpet, light brown pews, and a big stage up front with a baptistry behind it. There was a small balcony in the back and one entire wall of stained glass window panes that filled the room with color each morning. There were classrooms and spaces for nurseries, allowing the church to teach her children about God, and have a safe fun place for babies to be cared for during the services. A nice fellowship hall, with a kitchen and another fireside room all served for after-meeting fellowships, wedding receptions, Bible studies, music practices, book store space, and Awana programs. Teen activities and counselling times, and discipleship all took place here, as well as extra things like couple’s nights and Harvest festivals. The church grew there and learned how to do more than care for herself. She learned how to show the city God’s love. This was a place where people could come and have their questions answered, where lives could be enriched, where outreach was planned and where real help could be provided. This was a place of Victory. Then one day the pretty city told the growing church that she’d have to give up her building. The whole building would be torn down to make room for more city. The city wasn’t being mean, but it was a city – not a church. It didn’t understand the good things she was doing there, and it wanted the land for something else, and so the church was going to have to leave. Victory was scared, not at all sure what she was going to do or where she was going to go. What would happen to her? Who would help the people she’d leave behind? Where would her people meet? How would they find her if she moved? She prayed though, hoping that God would change the mind of the city planners, but it was not to be. The city was not going to change things, and so Victory would have to move. She looked and looked for a place where she could meet as a church, but in this city, it was hard to find a place where a church would be allowed to stay and grow roots. Eventually though, a warehouse was located in another spot in the city where they’d be allowed to meet – but it was going to take money. The warehouse was a building, but it wasn’t ready for people to meet inside. There were no rooms in the warehouse, and no chairs. No classrooms or baptistry or kitchen or fellowship hall like she’d had before. Despite all this, young Victory was overjoyed! God had given her a new place to stay. A place of her own, where she could really settle in someday and grow and be a beacon for the people in her city. This was a victory, too. She didn’t need a wall of colorful glass to light her way. She could be a light to the city. Still, the new place needed to have a lot of work done, and that always means one thing – lots of money to be paid. Victory wasn’t ever a rich church, and now she needed more money than she’d ever needed for anything ever before. This would have to be a victory from God. In the meantime, she found a temporary place where she could meet – a garden where she could feel safe for a little while before stepping out and doing some big, big things for God. In the garden she was able to do some things she’d never done before. She learned how to use more people to do everything. Being in the garden meant everyone had to work together to set up the spaces they needed each week. Moving to a new place meant everyone had to watch out for each other. It meant no one wanted anyone else to be left behind, so she had to shine brightly. It was in the garden that she grew to understand God’s victories in her life, and started calling herself a light for the city – City Light. From the garden she had to step into one more temporary building – a school. This was where she learned even more valuable lessons. Such as doing big things for God often means taking unexpected detours. And doing big things for God doesn’t always look glamorous from the outside. It usually isn’t very glamorous at all. She was taking a step toward that final goal though – the new building – the one that still needed lots of work, and that still meant lots of money. Over two years, while she hovered in the garden and in the school, she worked hard and earned money to get lots of work done on the new building. The people prayed, and God showed them victories, and God let them be a light while they waited still. And she rejoiced. To be used by God is all she ever really wanted. A building doesn’t have to have a fancy kitchen or pretty chandeliers or a fireside room in order to be used by God. Now the victorious church with a new name stands in its last place. Nowhere else in the pretty city wants a church her size to meet there, even temporarily. The only place left to her is the new building – the one that still needs lots of work, and thus lots of money. But she’s seen God work victories already. She’s already given more than she’d ever thought possible, and grown in ways she’d never imagined. She’s already seen God save lives, and seen miracles in people the rest of the world had given up on. She’s already seen God take them from a place of comfort, to a place of safety, to a place of anticipation for the next step. And she knows this light in the city isn’t ready to be put out yet. She knows God has a place for her. This will be a place where a young man can walk in after trying locked doors all over the city, and find an unlocked door with a person inside who can answer his questions. This will be a place where a young lady who’s lived an unbelievably difficult life can come and find comfort and rest and love. This will be a place where an older couple can come and help younger people learn to live for God, while getting their own needs met and learning how to handle their own challenges. This will be a place where the talents God gave you will be the talents you use to serve God. This will be a place where the Bible is taught and young children are raised to love God and love their fellow man. This will be a place where people can be challenged with the needs of a community around them, and equipped with the resources they need to meet those needs. This will be a place where a community can come with their questions, and find answers from the only One who actually has those answers. This will be a place where "Take that Mountain" is the battle cry for seeing spiritual victories in each other's lives. Whenever she does get into the new building, now she knows that her victories have been turned into a light that will shine upon the city, guiding people to the only True Light – Jesus Christ. Please pray with us that God would give us the money to complete the work on the new building so we can begin to use it for His glory. James 5:16 (KJV) Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. If, out of the kindness of your heart, you'd like to help this young church fix her building to the point where it's an acceptable safe meeting place, please visit this site: CITYLIGHT
1/23/2014
Good or BadWhy do bad things happen to good people?Everybody asks it, but I mean why do REALLY bad things happen to those we consider REALLY good people? I don't mean fakes. I don't mean people who were pretending to be one thing when all along they were really something else. I mean down-to-earth, real servants of God, who were living the dream, so to speak. Not the American dream, the one that says you have a house, a yard, a dog and 2.5 kids. No, the ones living the 'ministry' dream...the ones who are on the 'inside', actively serving God every day, able to help those around them, and being given responsibility and service in their local church. The ones we all look up to. The ones we're pointed to as good examples. Why do bad things happen to them? First I ask, why do we question it? Why do we assume that because they're in ministry they won't have anything bad happen to them? I mean criminally bad. I mean, why do we assume they're immune to a doctor giving them bad medication and it causing them to have an irreversible disease. Or a neighbor getting angry at them over something ridiculous and calling government agency after agency until they find something they don't like. Or a trusted friend betrays. Or they're in a car accident and lose a husband, a daughter, a son, a wife. We know sometimes bad things happen to good people. But you know, bad things also also happen to REALLY good people. I think too often we see something bad happen, something downright inexplicable, and we wonder what was 'really going on' in that house. We start to think, well, they weren't who we really thought they were. They 'obviously' had some skeletons in their closet. Maybe God's trying to get their attention. Maybe they were burned out. Guess who we just became? Job's friends. Job's friends weren't really all that friend-like. They assumed, they judged, they condemned, they were self-righteous. Our pastors, ministers, Sunday school teachers - they aren't immune to disease, to sin, to someone else's bad choices having consequences for them. They aren't immune to any of that. Don't judge them hastily when something happens. You don't know what brought it on. You don't know the truth behind any of it. Judge when it's your responsibility to judge, but don't step over that boundary from discretion into condemnation when it isn't your place. And always and forever, PRAY for them. Ministers aren't immune, they are actually more prone to the devil's attacks. Things will be thrown at them that you cannot imagine unless you're in the ministry in some way. Pray for a hedge of protection. Pray for peace and boldness. And when something bad happens in their life, pray for them still. Pray they'll be brought through it. Pray for God's further protection. Pray for God to be given the glory. Pray for God's will to be done.
9/17/2013
100 Years and Counting
8/23/2013
Being Under God's FeetAwww! Isn't she cute? Yes, true, she's adorable. This is Dixie, the Schnauzer/Poodle mix, or Schnoodle. She's also known as 'Ditzy' because she's a little...ditzy... sometimes. We're talking walk-into-walls, forget-where-you're-going, sometimes-caught-staring-into-space type of adorableness. And this is Buddy. He is also known as 'The Best Male Dog Ever' in our house, the wonderful Beagle/Jack Russell mix - Jackabee - that has found his forever home here. We once thought that if these two had puppies, the result would be called Schnackaboodles, but that's a different story. By the way, they aren't being bred, it was a funny story because of the puppy names, that's all...so put your torches and pitchforks down. *grin*
8/6/2013
I'm nine and I'm fine!So, this last weekend the boys in the family all went to a Men and Boy's Campout with our church. The boys in our family consist of my husband Rich, and our two sons, James and John. James is 15 years old, John is 9 years old - and a bundle of nearly unstoppable energy.
Well my husband was having to keep a close eye on John for those three days in the mountains. After all, there's bears in them there hills - seriously, real bears. Not the fluffy teddy bear kind, the big-clawed, don't-feed-the-bears kind. Mostly everyone stayed together, but at some point John was rarin' to take off, and my husband turned to him and said, "Where are you going, son?" John turned to his father, and said, "It's ok, Dad. I'm nine years old now. I'll be fine." It was funny, really, how my husband is so much bigger than him, and knows the dangers waiting in the woods far better than our son does, and can keep my son safe. Yet in John's nine year old brain, he was grown up and fully capable of taking care of himself. As I thought about this, I realized something. Don't we do that with God? We look at God and say, "It's ok, Father. I've been saved (however long). I've got this. I'm fine. I can take care of myself now." You know, in the Christian life we're supposed to mature, yes. But we never will get to the point where we're as grown up as God is. Sure, John is more mature than he was as a one year old, but he isn't grown fully, and he can't meet the challenges we know he'll face if he goes off on his own. God knows that about me too. I can't go off on my own, expecting to be able to meet and conquer the challenges I'll face, without having God's help. While someday, Lord willing, John will grow to be a 40 year old man, and be as mature as my husband is now. But as a Christian, I will never accomplish the feat of being as 'mature' as God - none of us will. We never grow to the point where we don't need God's help any longer. Today, let's let God be in charge. |
AuthorI'm Sherry Chamblee, aspiring author of Christian fiction, mom of six, wife to a cool dude, and caregiver to his granny. Besides that, I am just little old me - it's just a phrase, I'm not really old, honest. Check out my new release!
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