Faithful in our stewardship

God expects us to be faithful in our stewardship.

Steward – a person put in charge of the affairs of a large household or estate, one who acts as a supervisor or administrator

Being a good steward doesn’t imply riches but being faithful with everything God has given you charge of.

Luke 16:10-12  He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?

Have you ever wondered what life would be like without discipline?  It would be quite different.  Think about it...there would be no rules, no laws, no common form of doing anything. People would be doing whatever they felt like doing whether it be good or bad, and I think with all the greed and selfishness in the world it would be mostly bad.  I don't know how long humanity would last, Without discipline it would be a disaster.

I think it would be safe to say..that a world without any form of discipline whatsoever..could not survive.  Wouldn't you say that you are thankful for discipline?  I know that I am!

Acts 10:20
Peter teaches us that being steadfast in the things of God include presenting our lives with confidence, and setting priorities when faced with spiritual challenges. Being a modern, resourcful christian in todays society rests heavily on the need to set aside our obstacles , in the quest to remain steadfast and focused on our goals.

What better example than Jesus himself, who has shown us that being steadfast means having an understanding that the christian walk excludes looking back on our path already walked, and embodies the hunger to reach for what is before us. (Philipeans 3:13)
Going through a motion of church or outreach has less impact on a community than a body that practices being steadfast together, and in their personal lives. Lets always have something to work towards and have the confidence to set aside our fears and obstacles to remain faithful to God, as he is to us.

John 13:15-17

Christ has left us a perfect example to follow. His greatest desire was to do His Father's will. We as humans love to set goals for ourselves and make plans for our lives. But sometimes we need to take a step back and ask the question, "Is what I'm doing the Will of the Father?"

If we feel discouraged, we should check ourselves and find whether there is anything that God has asked us to do that we haven't been doing. Discouragement will come if we aren't living up to the example Christ set us.

JOhn 5:30
Jesus was on this earth to do God's will. He knew He had a limited amount of time on earth; thus, He must have dwelt on His Father's will often. We often think that we live in the worst times and circumstances that have ever been - but things were terrible in Jesus' day also. In fact, things could even have been worse than today. People were openly persecuted and killed for their faith. As for doctrines and ideas of man, Jesus had to deal with them all. He lived in a world of people with strong religious ideas who firmly believed that what they had been taught was truth. Jesus wanted to show the world who God was. If we want to do the will of the Father, we must desire to show Him also.

Unified Purpose of Heart

Acts 10:9-28 ~

Peter’s vision helped him to understand that no man is common or unclean. During Peter’s time the Gentiles were considered unclean and not candidates for salvation or becoming apart of God’s people. However when you get down to the basics, Jews and Gentiles are really not that different, as long as there is a common desire to serve God. Both Peter and Cornelius were just men that desired to serve God, this sets them aside to be apart of God’s people even though they come from opposing cultures.

Acts 4:32-34 ~ And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.

The church had one goal, one heart, holding everything in common. They were in unity as the people of God but they were individual people. The success of any operation floats on the fact that EVERYONE is working toward the same goal. We can come from different backgrounds, cultures, and beliefs, individuality is good, but we must have the same purpose in heart, the same goal in mind, to serve God, for us to be in unity and prosperous as the body of Christ.

Mark 3:24-25 ~ And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

We have to have the same goal in mind for the Church of God to stand and be effective in winning souls.

Achieving your Goals

Are you achieving your goals? What is your goal?

In order to know the answer, you need to know what your goals are. The following are some steps that can help one to achieve their goal:

·         Must have a vision of having achieved the goal. What will that look like? Picture it in your mind and don’t allow yourself to be distracted away from that vision. We need to have faith here on earth in order to have a vision of receiving the reward.

·         Set a date or time frame in which the goal is to be reached. Don’t let the opportunities pass by, challenge your self to achieve the goal with in the allotted time frame.

·         Have a detailed plan of how to achieve your goal. Stick to this plan and don’t allow your self to waver. Seek God to help you with determination to follow the plan.

·         Know and understand the obstacles that will come against you when trying to achieve your goal.

·         Find those around you that can be of assistance to you in achieving your goal. Locate your resources and use them to their potential. Even those that may not be an obvious resource can offer great help.

·         Make sure you have a strong determination to complete the task. Are you doing what you need to do in order to achieve your goal?

·         Recognize the benefits that you have, who you are and that you are able to achieve the goal.

These steps can be used to meet spiritual as well at temporal goals, if you have a goal in mind, follow God’s direction as you work toward achieving that goal. Don’t allow discouragement or difficulty keep you from achieving the goal.

"But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard."-  Acts 4:19-20

INFLUENCE:
When we stand for something we know to be true, it is not about our opinion, and what we posses is not easily contained. We want to share what we have with others. What we have is so valuable that we cannot contain it. Jesus bids us to spread the gospel and to reach out to others. Peter and John were just like us, simply trying to reach out to the masses and trying to deal with the religion of the day, but God used them in a mighty way because of their willingness to be used of Him. God is the One who does the work and not us - we are merely the vessels He chooses to use. It's all about God and His power and not about us. When God is working through us, we can have a mighty influence on those we come in contact with. If we don't stand up for what we know to be true, then who will? Our influence does count and people will respect you more for being willing to do right and take a stand. Our stand WILL influence others!

Influence - a) the power of persons or things to affect others, seen only in its effects, b) the action of effect of such power, c) the power of a person or group to produce effects without the exertion of physical force or authority, based on wealth, social position, ability

Both positive and negative influences are very powerful.

There is an account in the Bible telling the consequences of acting as a result of influence.

Trust takes Risk

Trust: firm belief or confidence in the honesty, integrity, reliability, justice of another person or thing; reliance; confident expectation, anticipation or hope; thrust worthiness, loyalty; the fact of having confidence in someone or thing and the responsibility and obligation resulting from this.

Trust is vital to our daily life. We trust that the building will keep standing, the sun will rise in the morning, and the light will go off when we flip the switch. Because we live our life with trust, we are violently shaken if our trust is challenged. Psalms 46 tells of an account of one who had trust in God and was able to stand strong even though their earth was shaken, their mountains moved, and their trust challenged.