Encouraged by God's Word

Archive for June, 2009

Hello Family,

How many times have you boasted about something you’ve done? Was it good grades in school? Was it a play where you had the lead role? Or what about scoring the winning touchdown in a high school football game? I know; you were the prom queen.

Or maybe as an adult you got a promotion over someone else? Maybe you got a better deal on the new car you bought compared to what your friend paid for his new car?

I think at some point in time everyone has boasted about something they’ve done.

But when you boast on those things, is it really that important? Is it really worth it to boast on something that comes and goes? Things that really aren’t that special.

How does it benefit us to boast and brag on our new car? Every year cars are being upgraded so what will you do next year, buy a new car?

And what about your promotion? People are getting promoted all the time so yours really isn’t that special. And if you don’t do your job you can get demoted or fired.

How about you start boasting in something that’s truly worth it?

Psalms 44: 8 says In God we boast all day long, and praise Your name forever.

To boast is to speak of or assert with excessive pride.

Now instead of boasting in ourselves, why don’t we boast in God like the word says? God is the one and only all powerful, consistent, loving and merciful being worth propping up. He is our supporter and provider and will never fail us.

But we don’t do that. We boast in ourselves and what we’re really doing is being prideful. Yeah that’s right, boasting causes pride. Boasting declares that YOU did it. YOU are the one who engineered your good fortune. YOU made things happen. YOU are da man or woman!

But when we boast on God all day long, what we’re saying to the world is that everything that we do, and can do, comes from God and not by our own power and might. He is our source of strength and we will praise His name forever.

Boasting in God declares that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Phil 4:13).

Be Encouraged and Have a Great Day!

Hello Friends,

Don’t you love it when you go to a restaurant and they ask, “How may I serve you?” Or what about when you’re at a nice hotel and the bell boy is waiting to provide good service and take your bags to your room?

One of the things I like about my church is when you call the church, they say “Thank you for calling First Baptist Church of Glenarden, how may I serve you?”

When someone asks you this, don’t you feel significant, important, like a dignitary? It feels good when someone wants to cater to you and please you?

Now on the flip side, I don’t like it when someone is in a position of authority and they think that others are supposed to serve them. They think that people owe them something because they have a title in front of their name or some letters behind it.

Do you have a servant attitude or are you looking to be served? And if you are serving someone or something, who or what is it?

Mark 10:25 says For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Check this out. Here we have the King of kings and the Lord of lords saying that He did not come to earth to be served but He came to serve.

Now this is by far the most powerful person there was or ever will be who walked the face of this earth and if He had a spirit of service, why is the world are you looking for someone to serve you?

It amazes me how many times I see people working as the low man on the totem pole and when they get a promotion and they have to supervise 2 people, they lose their minds. They act as if they are the king of the universe and everyone should bow down to them.

But not Jesus. He could have commanded all of the earth to bow down before Him but instead He showed us that we should be servants and that we should serve others.

And on top of that, He gave His life a ransom which means He paid the price of His life so that we would be released from the grip of Satan. We are not captives of sin.

So the next time you’re in a situation to serve, be like Jesus and jump on it and do it with all your heart.

Be Encouraged and Have a Great Day!