Wednesday, August 18, 2010
As I have been studying the book of 2 Corinthians, I have come to realize that Paul was able to focus on eternal things rather than temporary things. This is how he maintained joy in spite of negative circumstances. Paul knew that his life consisted of much more than things, or comfort. Jesus said the same thing in Luke 12:15, "A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
It doesn't take much to lose our possessions, does it? A fire. A flood. A tornado. An earthquake. Any of these disasters can take our possessions in a moment. So the key is to focus on the things we can never lose. I saw an acronym the other day that helps us focus on what we cannot lose. The acronym is PRAISE.
Presence of God - Psalm 46 reads, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." Notice the progression: God is our help, He is a present help, He is a very present help. He is always near. He never leaves us! We can never lose the presence of God.
Resources in heaven - In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that our Father knows our needs. Paul said that God has promised to meet our needs according to His riches in glory. We can never lose our resource from heaven.
Attitude of joy - Jesus said, "no one can take away our joy" (John 16:22). With God's help we can choose the attitude of joy in the Lord to strengthen our life.
Influence - As we remain faithful to the Lord he uses our lives to impact and influence others. I think about it this way; I'm following the Lord because someone remained faithful and that influenced me. No one or nothing can take our influence away.
Savior - Nothing can take Christ away from us. Nothing shall separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Eternal Home - Peter said, "He has given us a new birth...an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade, reserved in heaven for you" (1Peter 1:3-4).
We can lose things that we cannot keep, but hopefully this will remind us of the things we can never lose. This is how we praise God even in negative circumstances.
Pastor Tim
It doesn't take much to lose our possessions, does it? A fire. A flood. A tornado. An earthquake. Any of these disasters can take our possessions in a moment. So the key is to focus on the things we can never lose. I saw an acronym the other day that helps us focus on what we cannot lose. The acronym is PRAISE.
Presence of God - Psalm 46 reads, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." Notice the progression: God is our help, He is a present help, He is a very present help. He is always near. He never leaves us! We can never lose the presence of God.
Resources in heaven - In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that our Father knows our needs. Paul said that God has promised to meet our needs according to His riches in glory. We can never lose our resource from heaven.
Attitude of joy - Jesus said, "no one can take away our joy" (John 16:22). With God's help we can choose the attitude of joy in the Lord to strengthen our life.
Influence - As we remain faithful to the Lord he uses our lives to impact and influence others. I think about it this way; I'm following the Lord because someone remained faithful and that influenced me. No one or nothing can take our influence away.
Savior - Nothing can take Christ away from us. Nothing shall separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Eternal Home - Peter said, "He has given us a new birth...an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade, reserved in heaven for you" (1Peter 1:3-4).
We can lose things that we cannot keep, but hopefully this will remind us of the things we can never lose. This is how we praise God even in negative circumstances.
Pastor Tim
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