Daily Word – Thursday 29th April 2010

A Full Life in the Emptiest of Places

"If you get rid of unfair practices,
   quit blaming victims,
   quit gossiping about other people's sins,
If you are generous with the hungry
   and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,
Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
   your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
I will always show you where to go.
   I'll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—
   firm muscles, strong bones.
You'll be like a well-watered garden,
   a gurgling spring that never runs dry.
You'll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,
   rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You'll be known as those who can fix anything,
   restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
   make the community livable again.                        Isaiah 58: 9-12  

All too often we think that we have to be at ‘the top of the heap’ doing ‘big things’ for God in order to prove ourselves good and worthy Christians. But this mind set will only create jealousy and competitiveness within us, as we seek to ‘outdo’ our fellow Christian for the sake of being top of, what we perceive to be, Gods ‘popularity poll’

But we need to remember that the Kingdom of God does not work on the same principles as the kingdoms of this world. The kingdoms of this world tell us that bigger is better --- Gods Kingdom tells us that the least shall come first. That’s not to say that we are to be like worms crawling in the dust, no on the contrary, God has called us to be like eagles --- carried on the wind of the Holy Spirit.

But God knows that it is often the ‘little’ things that have the greatest impact on other people’s lives. It’s the caring touch --- the shared meal --- the listening ear --- the shoulder to cry on --- the words of comfort and encouragement (I could go on and on) that change peoples lives.

Yes the big meetings with the great speakers of our time are wonderful, but at the end of the day we all have to go home to our ordinary, every day lives, and its in the ordinary every day living that lives are changed. Changed when ordinary people like you and me reach out to the ordinary people around us with the love of an extraordinary God!

Stay fervently focused

Much love

Chrissy