steward – Oh Lord Help Us

Gratitude, thankful, thankfulness, joy, blessings, God’s provision, provision, Jesus, Oh Lord Help Us, Christian, women, mentor, ministry, nonprofit

Source of Joy: Have You become Bored with God’s Blessings?

DevotionalsNovember 10, 2019November 10, 2019

God gives us many blessings. Once we move past our initial thankfulness, the weight of what we must steward can distract us from the source of our joy.

Perception

For a month or more, the Lord has been confronting me… I hear messages about my perception of His blessings. Most of the time, He returns me to a small portion of the Israelite’s story; when they journey out of Egypt and into the land God promised…

Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, ‘Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.’
Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium. The people went about and gathered it and ground it in handmills or beat it in mortars and boiled it in pots and made cakes of it. And the taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked with oil. When the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell with it.
Numbers 11:4-9, ESV

Bored of Blessings

As an outsider looking in, I become outraged on God’s behalf. He blessed the Israelites with precious food straight from heaven so they would not have to hunt for food. When they woke in the morning, the manna lay in wait for them, alongside the dew. Then, they had the audacity to dream of returning to their lives as an enslaved people because they were bored with God’s provision.

As Christians, we like talking about the blessings of the Father. We praise God for the blessings as we receive them. Once we have them in our possession though, what do we do with them? Do we continue to praise God for them? Or do we become a little like the Israelites, wishing for more or different blessings in the midst of God’s goodness?

Steward His Blessings

God gives plentifully.

He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that he swore to your fathers to give you.
Deuteronomy 7:13, ESV

The Word promises that God will bless us on Earth. He allows us to multiply through childbirth. He blesses the land and animals that He created for us to provide us with food. Once we possess this bounty, then, we must steward over them.

The blessings, never less so blessings than when we received them, then become responsibilities. This is precisely when we start taking them for granted, viewing them as burdens. Jesus tells us quite clearly in the parable of the talents that we are to steward over what He gives us. When we do we will be blessed with even more responsibility.

Source of Joy

His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’
Matthew 25:21, ESV

The master praises the servant for managing the gold given to him well and promises him more to oversee. The promise of more influence brings happiness, much like when we receive a hard-earned promotion. The reality, though, includes more work and greater challenges. We are still called to find joy in those challenges, not in spite of them.

I must reflect on when I received those gifts to remember the joy I found in them. I must seek a greater source of joy in the greatest blessing ever bestowed on me: His love, expressed most earnestly through His death on the cross.

The Joy of the Lord

Entering into the joy of the Lord can be difficult for a few reasons. First, we mistake the temporary and conditional emotion of happiness with joy–an attitude of the heart which is steadfast and constant. Joy persists in the midst of very strong, negative emotions because God is present with us in those moments, He is our source of joy.

Do not get me wrong, happiness is expressed in the Bible. It is not absent, but it does not have the sustaining power of this joy that God gives us freely. In Nehemiah 8, we are told that the joy of the Lord is our strength. It allows us to traverse challenges, to steward our blessings, whether we find happiness in them or not.

Additionally, if you are anything like I am, you look for joy in who you have become or are becoming. I read the bible to find me. I look for who I am and who I should be. At the end of the day, though, the protagonist of the Bible is God. All the stories in the Bible, all the statutes, and all of the commandments point us to who God is and what He has done. God is our joy. He is our strength. He sends His word out as the source of our joy.

so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace;
Isaiah 55:11-12, ESV

A Challenge

I challenge myself to find joy by reading about who God is. I challenge myself to look at what He has given me to steward over and remember their origins as blessings. If this is something you struggle with, I invite you to come alongside me in this challenge.

We must remember God’s gifts of provision and the joy we found in them. But never forget the greatest blessing ever bestowed on us…God’s love, expressed most earnestly through His death on the cross. Click To Tweet

james shepperdley

fear, influence, Holy Spirit, impact, God’s guidance, Oh Lord Help Us, Christian, women, mentor, ministry, nonprofit

Impact with Fear: Preparing to Influence Others for the Kingdom

DevotionalsOctober 27, 2019October 27, 2019

We are called to positively influence everyone we come into contact with for God’s Kingdom. Preparing to act even through fear comes only through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We can impact with fear.

Some of my favorite time spent with my husband is late at night, snuggling under the covers, having meaningful conversation. Recently during one of our pillow talks the Lord convicted me when we were in the middle of a conversation about a friend who doesn’t know Jesus.

Stewardship

I’m a believer in being a good steward of the things the Lord gives us. Just as I believe in being a good steward of our home and our finances, I believe that the people in our lives are there strategically. We are called to be good stewards to them. How many days go by where we hardly think anything of that?

Both hands raised, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m guilty of overlooking people placements and just focus on me and my day. But actually, every lunch appointment, every barista, every stranger that we pass in the post office, every neighbor, all of those people are strategically in our path for that day.

Hear me: I’m not saying we should walk around stopping every stranger. I’m simply suggesting we consider this question: what would happen if we learned to be more sensitive to the guiding of the Holy Spirit? Movements? Maybe even miracles?

In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.
Proverbs 16:9, NIV

People in our lives are there strategically. We are called to be good stewards to them. Click To Tweet

Great Commission

“Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations” Matthew 28:19. This is the Great Commission, it’s a command to us from the Lord. So why are we so stagnant in this regard? Why do we mosey around like we’ve got all the time in the world? We don’t. Job 14:5 says our days are numbered, Friend.

I listened to this speaker once who gave the most perfect visual of earth versus eternity. In his talk he had a rope. The first five inches or so were red. The rest of the rope, which seemed like miles long, was white. He said that the red part of the rope represented our time spent on earth and the white part of the rope represented the time we spend in eternity. His emphasis was on sharing Jesus because we are not given much time here on earth.

It created an urgency for me. It put things into perspective. The things I claimed to be important, couldn’t compare to the importance of this: Souls. Hearts. Eternity. We, as Christians, are to be salt and light. So what are we waiting for?

Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
Hebrews 12:1-2, NIV

Impact with Fear

As our pillow talk conversation got a little deeper, I shared with my husband that I haven’t always been able to freely talk to people about the Lord. Until about the age of seventeen, I was incredibly shy. Over the years boldness developed. That boldness came from encountering the Lord, growing my confidence in Him.

It used to be, if I came across someone with a different belief or someone who didn’t have a personal relationship with God, I just didn’t talk about Him. I know that it’s not all in the talking. But I realized the reason I didn’t talk was because of fear.

Fear is paralyzing. I was afraid of what other people would think of me. Afraid that they would be mean to me because I believed differently than them. And the worst, I was afraid that they would ask a hard question about Jesus that I wouldn’t be able to answer.

Well friends, the truth is… none of us have all the answers. I had to learn to trust the guidance of the Holy Spirit and just share what He has done in my life. And what the Lord has done in my life is far too great for me to stay silent about it. I have also learned that it is more about loving someone well instead of “convincing” them into Christianity. Love will take you farther than persuasion ever will. We can love even though we are afraid; we can impact with fear.

Holy Spirit Guidance

I encourage you, the next time you are around that table with your family, on that bike ride with your friend, bumping into that neighbor while at your mailbox, or grabbing that coffee from the barista, lean into the Holy Spirit and trust His guidance.

When you don’t know what to say or have no response to a “God question”, silently ask Him to give you the words. Trust that He will give them to you. Let Him work through your vulnerability and be willing to be bold. Let Him guide you to impact with fear. After all, you may just experience something pretty amazing.

So let us keep on coming boldly to the throne of grace, so that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Hebrews 4:16, ISV

Annie Spratt

blessing, joy, praise, provision, steward, Oh Lord Help Us, Christian, women, mentor, ministry

Steward: Finding Joy when Blessings Seem Like Burdens

DevotionalsMay 5, 2019May 5, 2019

God gives us many blessings. Once we move past our initial thankfulness, the weight of what we must steward can distract us from the source of our joy.

Perception

Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, ‘Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.’

Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium. The people went about and gathered it and ground it in handmills or beat it in mortars and boiled it in pots and made cakes of it. And the taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked with oil. When the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell with it.

Numbers 11:4-9, ESV

Bored of Blessings

Steward His Blessings

God gives plentifully.

He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that he swore to your fathers to give you.

Deuteronomy 7:13, ESV

His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’

Matthew 25:21, ESV

I must reflect on when I received those gifts to remember the joy I found in them, and seek greater joy in the greatest blessing ever bestowed on me: His love, expressed most earnestly through His death on the cross.

The Joy of the Lord

Entering into the Joy of the Lord can be difficult for a few reasons. First, we mistake the temporary and conditional emotion of happiness with joy–an attitude of the heart which is steadfast and constant. Joy persists in the midst of very strong, negative emotions because God is present with us in those moments, He is our source of joy.

so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace;

Isaiah 55:11-12, ESV

A Challenge

Evie Shaffer