Serving for God's Glory - I Peter 4:10

Congratulations, Ruth

I'm sure you would like to join us in congratulating Ruth on the birth of baby Mae Suan - you can see a gorgeous picture of Mae Suan here.

Serving for God's Glory

"As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another,

as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." -I Peter 4:10

I first have to once again marvel at the way that God works...I was amazed to read Stacy's comments on Romans 12:1 and how she related our need and call to serve others in the name of Christ. This has been my thought since challenging our design team with our theme "Serving for God's Glory", which was long before Stacy's post. :-)

In Peter's first epistle, he writes to encourage persecuted and discouraged Christians, exhorting them to stand fast in their faith. Thoughout the book he continually reminds them of the joys and glories of their eternal inheritance and instructs them about Christian behavior in the midst of suffering.

In verses 7-11, Peter turns to exhortation on how we are to treat others and reminds his readers to be "serious and watchful in their prayers" and to have "fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins." In verse 10 he pens our challenge verse, noted above and Matthew Henry, in his Bible commentary, draws these points from the text.

• Whatever gifts we have received, we ought to look upon them as received for the use of one to another. We must not assume them to ourselves, nor hide them in a napkin, but do service with them "one to another" in the best manner we are able.
• The talents we are entrusted with are our Lord's good, and must be employed as he directs.
• He who has received plenty and ability from God ought to minister plentifully ,and according to his ability.
• The nature of a Christian's work, which is high work and hard work, the goodness and kindness of the Master, and the excellency of the reward, all require that our endeavours should be serious and vigorous, and that whatever we are called to do for the honour of God and the good of others we should do with all our might.
• In all the duties and services of life we should aim at the glory of God as our chief end.

As I considered this verse and how I can apply it to my life, I realized that I have too frequently failed to minister to the needs of others around me. I tend to be far too self-absorbed with my own life and struggles and don't stop to look for others in need. It's too easy for my focus to be only on my circumstances and not enough on Christ, the church, and my neighbor.

There are so many who are in desperate need, either of practical help, a word of encouragement, a listening ear, or genuine love and friendship and we (at least I) have a tendency to pass them by. May God be pleased, and may we be willing, to use us to minister to those around us... not so we can pat ourselves on the back or enjoy the good feelings that come from helping someone but so that God can be glorified as we faithfully use the special gifts He has given to us.

We'd love to see your artwork, created based on this week's theme. Just leave us a comment with a link back to your blog or gallery and we'll come visit!

I also wanted to mention that the SALT team will be participating in the A Faith Perspective blog hop on November 14, 2009. The theme of the hop is "Thankful for Friends of Faith." Please stop by on the 14th for a list of participants and to see some lovely artwork created by the team!


Kim

Pauline



Lythan

Hazel


Tanis

romans 12:1

romans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.


God demands sacrifice of His followers--but not bloody, physical sacrifice. Rather, he wants us to sacrifice our own selves to Him by committing to do His will in our lives. The worship God wants from us is to serve others in His name.

Followers of Christ continually undergo a process of transformation, by which the Holy Spirit shapes us more and more into the sort of person who is acceptable for service to God.

An offering or gift given to God to remove the guilt of sin. Throughout the Old Testament, God's people brought sacrifices to God.

Are you ready to die to your selfish ways to be worthy of God and what he has planned for you, you feeling lost.This past while has been an eye opener for me, the verses have been speaking to my heart.I have an urge that i have not had for awhile to help people and I am ready to offer myself as a living sacrifice to God. I have been sitting back i will admit. I have been angry with things. I thought i was right with God, when i was thinking of what to write today this is what came to me this is what has been on my mind since starting the journal of our journey. We as a family have been going through this process and i think some major changes are coming for us. I also think our team is going through growth, and not just in babies!!:) I have been taking verses and meditating , and memorizing . Praying ,listening to God and hoping for things to change. I believe all things happen for a reason, i believe God was slowing me down when i had this break happen. To take a breath to realize where i should be and what i should be doing. This blog has been inspiration to me. It has opened my thoughts and brought forth issues i needed to deal with. I hope and pray in does for you as well.............i am encouraging you to take romans 12:1 and meditate on it this week

Confidence in God

Congratulations, Julie

Before I get on to the topic of this challenge, I'm sure you would like to join us in congratulating Julie on the birth of baby Owen Bryce, her fifth child - you can see Owen's gorgeous picture here. And another of our team, Ruth, is in the late stages of pregnancy, so our Salt families are extending!

Confidence in God

It is my (Hazel's) turn to choose the topic for today's challenge. I've been thinking that over the last few years there have been many changes in the way we live, in society in general, some for our better and some not so. Perhaps too, like us, you've had changes in your personal circumstances - deteriorating health, financial problems, family stresses and strains, some of which we ourselves contribute towards, but some that we have very little say in or control over. It would be all too easy to get sucked into the feeling that we can't trust anything or anyone as being permanent. Thankfully, we have a constant God who is there whatever the circumstances, whatever our feelings - we can trust Him completely and utterly.

As Pauline said in her reflection on the changing seasons last week: It can often be difficult to understand why things happen, but as Christians we can be confident that God is involved in the world.

Many scriptures come to mind that affirm our confidence in God, for instance: Numbers 23:19, Joshua 1:9, Jeremiah 32:27, Philippians 4:13, Psalm 16, 1 John 5:14-15, but one particular verse that was passed on to me recently is of great reassurance:

'The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever leans on, trusts in and puts his confidence in the Lord is safe and set on high.' Proverbs 29:25.

It is our hope and prayer that you, with us, will deepen your trust in God, acknowledging that it is through Christ that we can be forgiven and put into a right relationship with God if we ask Him to take control of our lives and allow Him to lead and guide us.

I hope that you enjoy seeing the crafting response of the team - please visit their individual blogs to read what they have to say. It would be lovely if you felt able to join in with a creative response to this challenge - please leave us a comment with a link to your creation so that we can come and have a look.

Thank you to those who follow us, leave us comments and join in our challenges - we hope and pray that you are blessed by our little corner of the internet - combining our two passions of faith in Christ and crafting.

Hazel

Stacy


Kim


Lythan

Pauline

The Changing Seasons

"There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to rebuild. time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time to lose. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak up. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace."

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

I've been reflecting on the seasons recently for several reasons. The main reason being that in Scotland we've been very suddenly confronted by the changing seasons - leaves are plummeting in great numbers from the trees, the wind has been much stronger and the temperature has dropped so I have finally set the central heating timer! We've also been celebrating Harvest Thanksgiving in church and thinking about world issues of food distribution as well as local issues. Living in rural Scotland in a farming community we still have a sense of the traditional harvest - we have the combines in the fields, livestock are being moved around and every Monday we see the farm vehicles transporting animals to market.

The passage from Ecclesiastes is one I often turn to when there are very visible signs of the changing seasons. I love the symbolism in it and the way in which it paints a picture of how God sees everything that is happening in the world. While people may question God's involvement in what we see on the news, we can be confident that God is involved in world affairs and that he cares about his creation. It can often be difficult to understand why things happen but as Christians we can be confident that God is involved in the world and is calling us to follow Jesus' example to be salt and light in the world (Matthew 5:13-16).

I hope that as the seasons change around the world that you will trust in God and know that He has given us all gifts to use for His purpose. We cannot see the whole picture in the way God can but we can be confident of His love for us.

Pauline

x

Growth

'Growth'...

an essential part in living! Where would we be without growth?
Growth and development come hand in hand, and usually developing means learning.
Just as babies and children learn, so also as Christians we need to feed on God's word and GROW!
we should crave spiritual milk 'Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation 1Peter 2:2'

In case you think this is a repeat, or some sort of coincidence- well it's not! I hadn't even seen Mona's post that she had put up about Growth. God obviously put it on our hearts, and must be something that someone out there needs to hear!

So I pray it will be a blessing!

As you meditate on this word may God challenge you through our work at SALT.
Please do share with us how you have interpreted this week's theme.

Thanks. Yours in Christ, Esther.

Esther Lythan
Kim


Mona




Tanis

Hazel


Pauline

Stacy