Paul Good

Whadda mean by "Love Thing"??????

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 00:00:00 -0500

It's about realizing the nature of the relationship that Christ has brought us into with
God. It’s a Love Thing! And ideally all our motivations to serve Him and to live righteously shouldn’t be out of fear of not pleasing him, or trying to look good before Him (and others), but rather as a response of love for all he has done for us. That’s what he’s looking for ultimately from us. The apostle Paul says “the love of Christ controls us” -2cor5:14. The reason “why” we do things is even more important than the “what” we do.As we mature in Christ we must start being concerned with motives, not just how it looks to others. Intent is dealing with the spirit and the heart which is God's area of concern and His dwellin place.We need to be careful to always promote and process the gospel with Love as the resulting disposition. 1Tim.1:5 says"the goal of our instruction is Love out of a pure heart" God went to great lengths to capture our heart in sending his son Jesus so that we might respond with the best and deepest part of our being! ..."we were made to fall in love with our maker/so now with all my heart I choose my creator/so let all of the things I do always be for you, a Love Thing!"

Zoned Out!

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500

....oh my, lately I've been noticing how often I'm been "zoning out"..just chosing not to think. Like the title of the recent movie "Zombeland" . With so much fighting for our attention all the time, text messages,ipods,laptops,800 channels of cable,movie releases,news media,not to mention the real important stuff like spouse,family,friends,church activities,when I finally do get a few moments alone I'm spent! I just wanna Vege out ! And do! I fear I'm losing the art of thinking! Thinking about God and working out our salvation, seeking to understand what God wants from me now as a new creation in Christ. God has made it so that in order to find Him and know him one has to actively SEEK! Jesus said "Seek and ye shall find".We do not come into the wonderful riches of wisdom that God has for us in Christ passively!We have to be active! Seek is an action Verb! Yet I'm so burnt with all the distractions I ain't too active in my mental pursits these days, thats for sure ,and it bothers me! I just shut down all too often. it's just too much work.Intresting that the aposle Paul wrote many of his epistles from a prison cell..no distractions there! I think we have to be vigilant in learning to ignore alot of these distractions so we can free our mind up to think on spiritual things. Not to be legalistic or self-righteous in any way(these things are not evil in themselves,e.g. cell phones,computers, news.well maybe the news media..heh-heh .. kidding) but to keep our mind free so we can as the apostle says in Colossians 3:1 "set our mind on things above".....:)

Unwrap the Gift!!

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0600

Hey Are you using your gift? We have just come through Christmas and I'll bet you opened all the gifts that were for for you,as it would be silly to take a present from another and not open it to find out what it was! The same is true spiritually, since Jesus came,suffered, and died, the Holy Spirit was sent to earth to indwell believers(Acts 2). Along with the Holy Spirit came at least 1 gift,and often multiple gifts given to each believer to help grow the body Christ and expand His Kingdom! ...forgive the analogy but it's like Jesus was the first Santa Claus giving out spiritual treasures of abilities to benefit the church and bring glory to God! Perhaps that's what St. Nicholas had in mind when he started this whole gift giving thing! " as each one has received a special gift,employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God" -1 Pet.4:10 So are you using your gift? Or is it staying wrapped up? Many gifts lie dormant in the church, people are just too buzy with other stuff,content to let the paid staff do everthing, or unaware that they have a gift(s) and suppossed to use it!.. Jesus wants everybody in the game and involved working together for the common cause of Christ, as it builds, faith, unity, and growth! Don't just come and sit there in the pew!! Because unless we use our gifts we won't grow! So whadda say find out what your gifts are this year! Make that a new years resolution! Do a study on them,(Rom. 12,I Cor.14) then try something you'd think you'd like to do,teach a sunday school class,lead a small group,counseling,worship team,create a hospitality ministry, missions, and so on..cause when you do, others will benefit and grow,you will be filled with joy,walking closer with the Lord,and God will get the glory..so tear off that paper and open the GIFT!!