Posts Tagged ‘return’

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Never Lag in Zeal and Earnestness

July 3, 2011

Romans 12:11 begins, “Not lagging behind in diligence”; some versions say “zeal”.   

I remember when I was first born again in 1975; my passion for the Lord and for sharing the good news was intense.  I could not stop talking about Him, about grace, about freedom.  I drove most people around me crazy; they either ran away from me or accepted the Lord to shut me up.  Thankfully, those who accepted Him are still with Him today. 

I walked away from Him for several years in the 1980s and didn’t fully recommit myself until 1996.  During that time, although my life took a downward spiral, I always had a strong sense that He was just waiting for me to come back.  Even then, if anyone asked me about Him, the fire returned as I witnessed (in word, truly not in action).  The Holy Spirit honored the attempt despite me.  A friend told me during that time that because I had been sealed with the Holy Spirit, I would return to the Lord.

 Well, I did return and He received me back, and blessed me and loved me and forgave me.  What I learned while wandering in my self imposed wilderness has now given me compassion, understanding and a ministry to guide others who need a savior back to Him as well. 

 The zeal and passion has returned, but now in a mature, level-headed, scripture based and guided fashion (by the Holy Spirit, good teaching of the Word and great mentors). 

So, if the zeal has left, do not despair:  “Our misery becomes our ministry” (Mark Shell). Return to Him and He will return to you.

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God’s return on investments.

June 27, 2011

Recently, our Pastor has been teaching about tithing.  Usually, that topic comes up when a church is in financial need and most, if not all, the congregants groan inwardly and fidget.   Well, in our church, praise God, that is not the issue and our Pastor is an excellent teacher of the Word of God.

Once he completed teaching on tithing, he went on to teach about offerings.  He showed us that an offering is not part of the tithe, but a separate gift given from the heart.  The tithe is God’s.  He leaves us the 90% to do with what we please.  The tithe protects the 90% from the devourer.  The offering, however, comes out of our 90% and is the seed that God can use to bless us.

I don’t know if this short synopsis is clear, but we began giving offerings along with our tithe two weeks ago.  We had been just “making it” financially, week to week, all our needs have always been met, but we haven’t had increase.   What we now understand, is that we haven’t been planting the seed that the Lord provides in the 90%.

We have our own business, a mobile oil change company.  Last week, a competitor dropped out of the business and we have been picking up his customers…a dramatic increase!  I’m excited to see where this will go and I am excited to see how much more we can give. 

So…I challenge you to come along!  This is really cool.  God is Awesome!

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