Diary of a Peacemaker: January 2012

Thursday, January 5, 2012

²⁵ “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
²⁸ “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; ²⁹ and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
³¹ “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³²For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. ³⁴Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day isits own trouble.

Came across this Scripture passage in my devotions today, and it couldn't have come at a better time, my God is so awesome. For the first time in our 18 years of marriage, my wife and I are experiencing some financial difficulties. My wife is so good at managing our finances and does a great job of keeping it all in check. But there comes a time when the bills start piling up and there just isn't enough money coming in to pay everything that is due, on time. So with much prayer and communication, we have learned to place our worries in God's hands. We have tightened our budget, and still have some work to do, but I am confident that we will get through this period of difficulty in our lives, without letting it stress us out.

Paul wrote,

I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. (Phil.4:12)

So we are learning how to be content with what we have and are, with the Holy Spirit's guidance, developing the discipline of stewardship. And the end result will be that God is glorified in our lives...especially in the one area that tends to cause the most stress within a marriage...money/finances

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

idk:what is God up to?

Got to admit, 2011 turned out to be a year when I had no clue as to what God is doing...for the most part anyway...speaking of myself and my own life, that is. Can we ever truly know what God is up to? (rhetorical question)

Have you ever felt like that?

In 2010 we spent most of the year at the Troy YMCA, using their community room each Sunday for our weekly CORE Church gatherings, but as 2011 approached, and after five years into this church re-plant, my wife and I were tired, warn out from trying to make this ministry work. We felt led by the Spirit to take a break from church planting and we did just that. We still continued to reach out to a few adults and 15-20 students who are still a part of our church family. We began bringing the Jr & Sr high kids to Grace Fellowship's youth ministry gatherings where we have met and befriended youth pastor Jason Coombs and dozens of wonderful adults who serve at Grace, as well as many great students. Additionally, my wife and I have become more involved with serving at Grace and taking part in small groups. In September 2011 I went to the 201 next step class and proceeded with the process of becoming a covenant member of Grace Fellowship. Not wanting to be just a name on a membership roll, I began praying about where I can serve and where me and my family fit in at Grace, and God has opened new doors for all of us; myself, my wife, and my two sons.

Another great and effective door God has opened to us in 2011 is at Matthew 25 ministries' weekly community meal hosted by United Church of Cohoes each Saturday afternoon and led by UCC's own David Stowell. My family and I have become weekly regulars, serving every Saturday along side Mr. Stowell and a great group of volunteers.

So we are looking forward in 2012...still don't always have a clue as to what God is doing, but I know it will always be something good (Romans 8:28) and that what He is doing is made clearer to me through Scripture and through serving in the body of Christ

happy new year = happy new music

I am thoroughly enjoying some new music purchases I've recently made. Thanks to my lovely wife and two great sons for the Christmas gift card to Living Word/Parable bookstore...my favorite place to shop, located in Latham on rt.7...Peter Harris Plaza.

So here is what I'm listening to

Epiphany 2012

I was looking over my calendar for this first week in the new year and noticed that Epiphany is coming up this Friday, January 6th. This is one of those annual events that I know of but rarely stop to think about. Growing up in the Roman Catholic tradition, I knew this date somewhat well as a boy. I had served as an altar boy from the time of my first communion (age 7) up through my teenage/high school years and had served a few Epiphanies during those years. Maybe it just became another ritual that we observed once a year, like the numerous holy days that popped up each year; a mass, communion, liturgy, prayers, hymns, sit-kneel-stand, readings from the Psalms and Gospel, waving of the incense, etc. All of these things, maybe not in the exact order they occur(ed) in these observances, became plain to me after awhile; common, ordinary, things that we just did because that's what we were taught; religion, tradition, culture, dogma.

noun, plural -nies.

( initial capital letter

) a Christian festival, observed on January 6, commemorating the manifestation of Christ to thegentiles in the persons of the Magi; Twelfth-day.

an appearance or manifestation, especially of a deity.

a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality oressential meaning of something, usually initiated by somesimple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.

a literary work or section of a work presenting, usuallysymbolically, such a moment of revelation and insight.

Monday, January 2, 2012

giving out grace:what does it look like?

Grace is a word I hear alot in Christian circles and it is a major theme throughout Scripture. Grace is what God pours out on us through the finished work of Christ on the cross. Grace is God's undeserved, unmerited favor. God's mercy means that he withholds what we do deserve and His grace is His extending to us what we do not deserve. We deserve an eternal existence in the flames of hell but instead, God lavishes upon us the gift of eternal life. He has redeemed us through the shed blood of Christ...He has forgive our sins.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast.(Ephesians 2:8&9)

So grace is God's love demonstrated toward mankind. Because we are all sinners, we need God's grace. we cannot save ourselves, so He did it for us, once for all time, by sending His Son to take the punishment for sin and to pay the price that the sin of the world demanded. Because of this we have grace from God. We did not nor can not earn His grace. It is freely given at a great cost.

We who believe in this finished, redemptive work of Christ become the recipients of God's grace. Grace is a hard thing to grasp; especially the idea that God loved us while we were still sinners. And even in our sinful rebellion He loves us and never lers go of us. He knows that we are human...that we make mistakes and that we are limited in our knowledge of Him and inable to live up to His holy standard. So, in His mercy He had overlooked our past sins, not holding them against us, and in His grace He grants us eternal life and an inheritance that is immeasurable in value.

There is the Biblical definition of grace. So what am I to do with it? As I walk this earth in this body of flesh, born again of the Spirit, forgiven of my sins, knowing what awaits me at the end of this life, will I keep it to myself, or will I reach out to others with this same love God had poured out on me? And what does that look like on a practical level?

It means forgiving our debtors, as God has forgiven us. It means not holding grudges or harboring ill feelings towards those who may have wronged us.It means recognizing that all humans are imperfect and that things happen in the lives of others that we often don't know about or consider, which may be contributing factors when they did us wrong. It means realizing we all make mistakes. The one who dod me wrong os no more perfect than I am. God shed His grace on me, a sinner. Therefore, as the recipient of His free gift of love, my response id to extend this same grace to others; especially those who have done me wrong.

With the HUGE debt I owe to God gone, I have no room or reason to hold onto the sins others have committed against me. God's command to us is to love...love Him with all our being and our neighbor as ourself. God is asking us to give out to one another what we have received from Him

Matthew 18:21-35 (New King James Version)

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

²¹ Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”
²² Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. ²³ Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. ²⁴ And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. ²⁵ But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. ²⁶ The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ ²⁷ Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.
²⁸ “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ ²⁹ So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ ³⁰ And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. ³¹ So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. ³² Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. ³³ Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ ³⁴ And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.
³⁵ “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”

Diary of a Peacemaker