Habakkuk 1:5 (NIV)
Look at the nations and watch—and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.
GOOD MORNING!!!
Are you picky? Do you like to pick and choose your food and how you like it? Are you picky when it comes to what you are going to wear for a certain day? Are you picky?
My brother, Jacob, seems to be the pickiest four year-old EVER!!! You cannot simply make him a peanut-butter sandwich…you have to make him two peanut-butter folded! (Where you take one piece of bread and spread peanut-butter and then fold it…and do it again.) THEN…he asks for the crust to be taken off. If you try to give him the end piece (crust piece), then he won’t eat it! Most likely, he will throw it on the floor!!! AND…who makes it…he asks for who he wants, so you can’t get out of making it for him!!! When he eats, he likes to watch TV, but not just any show…his show! If you don’t do it, he will throw a tantrum!!! Does he sound like a person you want to be around?!?!
We do the same thing! We pick and choose who we want to be around. We pick and choose what we want to do in life. Sometimes, I wonder if we don’t pick our call and what we want God to do about anything and everything that we are going through! BUT…do you realize that by being picky, you give up the one thing that you committed to do when you said that you would follow Jesus?! You have forgotten how to follow. You may know all about the Jesus part, but you have to remember that Jesus is in the lead. You go where Jesus goes and you do what Jesus did. You let Him take control of your life. (Remember how it was when you were in control?)
Being a graduated high school student, I have been asked many times—“So what are YOUR plans for your life? Where are you going to college?” This Scripture reminded Habakkuk that God is God. That God is in control and that God is only up for the best. This Scripture reminds me that I shouldn’t be picky! If I always told God exactly what I want and when I want it, I may never see the great things He gives me. I may never see the opportunities to share the Gospel with a neighbor while I take out the garbage. I may never see how important it was for me to go through that time of pain, so that I could help someone else along in their life’s pains!
Quit being picky. Let God lead the way…He knows it best. And watch and be utterly amazed at what He can do in your life!
___________________________
© Copyright 2009, Samantha Fomera
All rights reserved
Articles may not be printed in any “for profit” publication without further permission by the author. Articles may be freely distributed via e-mail, reprinted in church bulletins or in other non-profit publications without further permission. Please keep this copyright and Web Site information intact with copied articles. Articles are sent originally to subscribers only. You may have received a forwarded or reprinted copy.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
Hole heart? Or Whole heart?
Romans 1:9-10a (NIV)
God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times…
Jacob, my little brother who is four, has just started getting himself dressed. Yesterday, he put on a shirt and said, “The girls are gonna check out this shirt on me!” I have no idea where he got that phrase, but it made me smile! BUT…When I heard him putting on his socks, I heard a profound phrase – “Sammie, this one has a hole in it! I need a whole sock!”
Do you have a hole in your heart? When was the last time you spent time with God? Is your heart whole? Where do you put all of your heart? Is it in your work, your children or grandchildren, or maybe your fun? Where do you put all of your time? Effort? Money? Where do you put your whole heart?
Webster’s Dictionary defines ‘whole’ in this way: in sound health; not diseased or injured; not broken or damaged; containing all of the elements, or parts; entire; complete; not divided up; in a single unit; in all aspects of one’s being including the physical, mental, social, etc. Webster has 19 lines to define this one word! What part of this definition, does your own heart need? Pray and ask God to create in you a whole heart…and to fill any holes there maybe.
Do you serve God with a hole in your heart? Because He needs you to serve Him with a WHOLE heart! A heart with a hole won’t fit right, just as a sock with a hole doesn’t work well. God needs YOU to be spreading the gospel of Jesus! Paul served the Lord with his whole heart…and he served by preaching the Gospel and relying completely on God for everything! And YOU can do that too! You can serve God with a whole heart! I encourage you to look into your life, and see where you can serve God, with a whole heart, TODAY!
---------------------------------------
© Copyright 2009, Samantha Fomera
All rights reserved
Articles may not be printed in any “for profit” publication without further permission by the author. Articles may be freely distributed via e-mail, reprinted in church bulletins or in other non-profit publications without further permission. Please keep this copyright and Web Site information intact with copied articles. Articles are sent originally to subscribers only. You may have received a forwarded or reprinted copy.
God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times…
Jacob, my little brother who is four, has just started getting himself dressed. Yesterday, he put on a shirt and said, “The girls are gonna check out this shirt on me!” I have no idea where he got that phrase, but it made me smile! BUT…When I heard him putting on his socks, I heard a profound phrase – “Sammie, this one has a hole in it! I need a whole sock!”
Do you have a hole in your heart? When was the last time you spent time with God? Is your heart whole? Where do you put all of your heart? Is it in your work, your children or grandchildren, or maybe your fun? Where do you put all of your time? Effort? Money? Where do you put your whole heart?
Webster’s Dictionary defines ‘whole’ in this way: in sound health; not diseased or injured; not broken or damaged; containing all of the elements, or parts; entire; complete; not divided up; in a single unit; in all aspects of one’s being including the physical, mental, social, etc. Webster has 19 lines to define this one word! What part of this definition, does your own heart need? Pray and ask God to create in you a whole heart…and to fill any holes there maybe.
Do you serve God with a hole in your heart? Because He needs you to serve Him with a WHOLE heart! A heart with a hole won’t fit right, just as a sock with a hole doesn’t work well. God needs YOU to be spreading the gospel of Jesus! Paul served the Lord with his whole heart…and he served by preaching the Gospel and relying completely on God for everything! And YOU can do that too! You can serve God with a whole heart! I encourage you to look into your life, and see where you can serve God, with a whole heart, TODAY!
---------------------------------------
© Copyright 2009, Samantha Fomera
All rights reserved
Articles may not be printed in any “for profit” publication without further permission by the author. Articles may be freely distributed via e-mail, reprinted in church bulletins or in other non-profit publications without further permission. Please keep this copyright and Web Site information intact with copied articles. Articles are sent originally to subscribers only. You may have received a forwarded or reprinted copy.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Tithing Your Heart_Sermon for Lent
Deuteronomy 26: 1-11
When you have entered the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it, take some of the first fruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name and say to the priest in office at the time, "I declare today to the LORD your God that I have come to the land the LORD swore to our forefathers to give us." The priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the LORD your God. Then you shall declare before the LORD your God: "My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, putting us to hard labor. Then we cried out to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders. He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; and now I bring the first fruits of the soil that you, O LORD, have given me." Place the basket before the LORD your God and bow down before him. And you and the Levites and the aliens among you shall rejoice in all the good things the LORD your God has given to you and your household.
If I were to summarize this sermon into a few words…I would say it is about how to tithe (back in the WAY old days). A ‘tithe’ is ten-percent of one’s income of produce paid as a contribution to support a church according to Webster’s Dictionary. But today, I don’t want to teach or persuade you to give money to the church. Today, I want to show you how to enrich this Lenten time and tithe your heart.
When we read the first verse, “When you have entered the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance…” I immediately started thinking about how we could be so important to receive an inheritance from God. Usually when we hear about inheriting something, we think of “who died?” I read half of a book once…. ‘Yes, only half,’ but it stated out with this man jumping off the balcony and dying. As the book goes on, all of the children (old, grown children) fight over who should get what rather than what the will says. It isn’t such a strange book as it sounds, but God offers to us as individuals an inheritance and so we take it. Back in the Bible days, an inheritance was passed down by birthright. The oldest male received the bigger slab of land and other property. Now-a-days, it is whoever the owner is that decides. I think that God takes this side and gives each of us the ability to be called “God’s Son” or “God’s Daughter.”
And we are to take possession of this land! I began to wonder what our land is. What has God given to us freely without charging us or taxing us? For me, it is my family, my friends, my musical talents, and a wonderful skill of making sermons too short!
After finding and settling into the inheritance that we have, God tells us to ‘take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the Lord God is giving you’…so to take something that has made you YOU!...And ‘put them in a basket.’ Have you ever tried planting a garden? Doesn’t have to be a big one. I know my dad did when I was little. I would help him drag out the long hose and water the seeds and then…poof! There was a sprout! And I kept watering it and making sure that it had everything a tomato plant could possibly need…and one day, I went out and found one little green tomato hanging on the vine all by itself! I was so proud of myself…now I can’t keep anything green in my house because I was not blessed with a green thumb! I don’t know how happy I would have been in I was told, that once it got all big and red and pretty, that I needed to put it into a basket and take it to church. Though, I would have been thrilled to show off the tomato to anyone who would listen, but God says to keep it in a basket so that only God knows what you are offering to Him.
“You reap what you sow” is a common phrase that usually is used in a negative way, but if you have worked hard, you will receive what you put into it. To be able to give God a part of that harvest is a wonderful thing. Relating it to our own lives, taking something that you have created through what God gave you in the first place and giving it to God can be HARD!!!
We are in a time of Lent. Lent is a time for renewal and self-examination. I have been thinking lately about my heart. God gave me my heart. When we talk about giving our heart to God, we talk about giving ALL of it. Earlier in Deuteronomy, in chapter six, it says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart”…not just 10%!!! I could probably relate my heart to my house—there are some really clean parts and some places where I would never bring company. There are also parts of my heart that I would not want to show God. The parts where there is anger or resentment or pride or any sin! Why would I want to show my perfect God my dirtiness? But God says to place the offering before the alter and to declare… “Read Vs. 5-7”
Often in the Old Testament, when anything is being done around God, there is a remembrance of who you are… “my father was a wondering Aramean”…and where you came from. I am an heir of God. Being His Daughter, I receive the promised land…I have been redeemed from my sins so that I may live freely in the world. I, as these persons in the Scripture, cried out to God and the Lord saw us and heard us…He brought us out of our Egypt of sin, misery and toil and brought us to good things.
Lent is a time of self examination and renewal. Some of you all here today may have attended an Ash Wednesday service. If you have, you know that in the pastor marks your forehead with ashes. Being marked with ashes at the beginning of Lent indicates our realization of the need for deeper conversion of our lives during lent, or a season of renewal.
Being a time of renewal, you hear of people “giving up” things. I have heard from many different sources that to change an old “bad” habit, you must consciously be aware of doing the thing you want to change and spend six weeks correcting the habit. By the end of that time, your habit should have changed enough that the “habit” is gone. Isn’t amazing that God gives us six weeks in Lent to come closer to Him before the crucifixion and resurrection!
Some people give up watching TV or eating sweets, or drinking soda. In fact, every year since I can remember…it’s been such a long time…my friend has given up soda for lent. One year, as lent drew nearer and nearer, one friend was getting…angry! On fat Tuesday, he told me, “Lent already!! But that means for six weeks I won’t get the bubbling sensation going down the back of my throat and the amazing burps it produces!” We’ll give him a break for that one…he is a GUY! I never understood why he gave up soda if he didn’t want to do it in the first place!
Crazy enough..the entire lunch table gave up soda for lent that year. About two days into it, one girl, started getting really BAD headaches! We came to find out that she was VERY addicted to soda and drank four to five Mountain Dews a day! I and the others tried to remind her of why we give up things, but she decided that she was too addicted to it and she tried to just do one a day. I didn’t tell you this story to make you feel bad or to tattle-tale on my friend. I told it because I wanted to tell you we are HUMAN!!! Maybe you didn’t know that! And sometimes we forget why we have this time of lent. Why people give up, or sacrifice good things? (or some not-so-good things)
As I was reading through some Sunday school material this week, I came upon a very true, but simple definition of a sacrifice. It doesn’t come from Mr. Webster, but it says: “A sacrifice is giving up something you love for someone you love more.”
Remembering that you can very well love a sin, a true sacrifice is to give it up for someone you love more…call Him God, Jesus, Savior, Prince of Peace, whatever…
As you examine your heart in this time of lent, sacrifice you heart. Let God clean it of anything un-pure and let Him change YOU to be more like His Son who made the ultimate sacrifice for YOU!!!!
And lastly, but not least, the Scripture says to rejoice! Rejoice in all the good things that God has given you and your household! Be joyful when you are able to give your heart to God…for Him to take it and mold it into something beautiful!
___________________________
© Copyright 2009, Samantha Fomera
All rights reservedArticles may not be printed in any “for profit” publication without further permission by the author. Articles may be freely distributed via e-mail, reprinted in church bulletins or in other non-profit publications without further permission. Please keep this copyright and Web Site information intact with copied articles. Articles are sent originally to subscribers only. You may have received a forwarded or reprinted copy.
When you have entered the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it, take some of the first fruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name and say to the priest in office at the time, "I declare today to the LORD your God that I have come to the land the LORD swore to our forefathers to give us." The priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the LORD your God. Then you shall declare before the LORD your God: "My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, putting us to hard labor. Then we cried out to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders. He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; and now I bring the first fruits of the soil that you, O LORD, have given me." Place the basket before the LORD your God and bow down before him. And you and the Levites and the aliens among you shall rejoice in all the good things the LORD your God has given to you and your household.
If I were to summarize this sermon into a few words…I would say it is about how to tithe (back in the WAY old days). A ‘tithe’ is ten-percent of one’s income of produce paid as a contribution to support a church according to Webster’s Dictionary. But today, I don’t want to teach or persuade you to give money to the church. Today, I want to show you how to enrich this Lenten time and tithe your heart.
When we read the first verse, “When you have entered the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance…” I immediately started thinking about how we could be so important to receive an inheritance from God. Usually when we hear about inheriting something, we think of “who died?” I read half of a book once…. ‘Yes, only half,’ but it stated out with this man jumping off the balcony and dying. As the book goes on, all of the children (old, grown children) fight over who should get what rather than what the will says. It isn’t such a strange book as it sounds, but God offers to us as individuals an inheritance and so we take it. Back in the Bible days, an inheritance was passed down by birthright. The oldest male received the bigger slab of land and other property. Now-a-days, it is whoever the owner is that decides. I think that God takes this side and gives each of us the ability to be called “God’s Son” or “God’s Daughter.”
And we are to take possession of this land! I began to wonder what our land is. What has God given to us freely without charging us or taxing us? For me, it is my family, my friends, my musical talents, and a wonderful skill of making sermons too short!
After finding and settling into the inheritance that we have, God tells us to ‘take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the Lord God is giving you’…so to take something that has made you YOU!...And ‘put them in a basket.’ Have you ever tried planting a garden? Doesn’t have to be a big one. I know my dad did when I was little. I would help him drag out the long hose and water the seeds and then…poof! There was a sprout! And I kept watering it and making sure that it had everything a tomato plant could possibly need…and one day, I went out and found one little green tomato hanging on the vine all by itself! I was so proud of myself…now I can’t keep anything green in my house because I was not blessed with a green thumb! I don’t know how happy I would have been in I was told, that once it got all big and red and pretty, that I needed to put it into a basket and take it to church. Though, I would have been thrilled to show off the tomato to anyone who would listen, but God says to keep it in a basket so that only God knows what you are offering to Him.
“You reap what you sow” is a common phrase that usually is used in a negative way, but if you have worked hard, you will receive what you put into it. To be able to give God a part of that harvest is a wonderful thing. Relating it to our own lives, taking something that you have created through what God gave you in the first place and giving it to God can be HARD!!!
We are in a time of Lent. Lent is a time for renewal and self-examination. I have been thinking lately about my heart. God gave me my heart. When we talk about giving our heart to God, we talk about giving ALL of it. Earlier in Deuteronomy, in chapter six, it says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart”…not just 10%!!! I could probably relate my heart to my house—there are some really clean parts and some places where I would never bring company. There are also parts of my heart that I would not want to show God. The parts where there is anger or resentment or pride or any sin! Why would I want to show my perfect God my dirtiness? But God says to place the offering before the alter and to declare… “Read Vs. 5-7”
Often in the Old Testament, when anything is being done around God, there is a remembrance of who you are… “my father was a wondering Aramean”…and where you came from. I am an heir of God. Being His Daughter, I receive the promised land…I have been redeemed from my sins so that I may live freely in the world. I, as these persons in the Scripture, cried out to God and the Lord saw us and heard us…He brought us out of our Egypt of sin, misery and toil and brought us to good things.
Lent is a time of self examination and renewal. Some of you all here today may have attended an Ash Wednesday service. If you have, you know that in the pastor marks your forehead with ashes. Being marked with ashes at the beginning of Lent indicates our realization of the need for deeper conversion of our lives during lent, or a season of renewal.
Being a time of renewal, you hear of people “giving up” things. I have heard from many different sources that to change an old “bad” habit, you must consciously be aware of doing the thing you want to change and spend six weeks correcting the habit. By the end of that time, your habit should have changed enough that the “habit” is gone. Isn’t amazing that God gives us six weeks in Lent to come closer to Him before the crucifixion and resurrection!
Some people give up watching TV or eating sweets, or drinking soda. In fact, every year since I can remember…it’s been such a long time…my friend has given up soda for lent. One year, as lent drew nearer and nearer, one friend was getting…angry! On fat Tuesday, he told me, “Lent already!! But that means for six weeks I won’t get the bubbling sensation going down the back of my throat and the amazing burps it produces!” We’ll give him a break for that one…he is a GUY! I never understood why he gave up soda if he didn’t want to do it in the first place!
Crazy enough..the entire lunch table gave up soda for lent that year. About two days into it, one girl, started getting really BAD headaches! We came to find out that she was VERY addicted to soda and drank four to five Mountain Dews a day! I and the others tried to remind her of why we give up things, but she decided that she was too addicted to it and she tried to just do one a day. I didn’t tell you this story to make you feel bad or to tattle-tale on my friend. I told it because I wanted to tell you we are HUMAN!!! Maybe you didn’t know that! And sometimes we forget why we have this time of lent. Why people give up, or sacrifice good things? (or some not-so-good things)
As I was reading through some Sunday school material this week, I came upon a very true, but simple definition of a sacrifice. It doesn’t come from Mr. Webster, but it says: “A sacrifice is giving up something you love for someone you love more.”
Remembering that you can very well love a sin, a true sacrifice is to give it up for someone you love more…call Him God, Jesus, Savior, Prince of Peace, whatever…
As you examine your heart in this time of lent, sacrifice you heart. Let God clean it of anything un-pure and let Him change YOU to be more like His Son who made the ultimate sacrifice for YOU!!!!
And lastly, but not least, the Scripture says to rejoice! Rejoice in all the good things that God has given you and your household! Be joyful when you are able to give your heart to God…for Him to take it and mold it into something beautiful!
___________________________
© Copyright 2009, Samantha Fomera
All rights reservedArticles may not be printed in any “for profit” publication without further permission by the author. Articles may be freely distributed via e-mail, reprinted in church bulletins or in other non-profit publications without further permission. Please keep this copyright and Web Site information intact with copied articles. Articles are sent originally to subscribers only. You may have received a forwarded or reprinted copy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)