This Sunday, I had the privilege of sharing with the wonderful folks at Sierra Pines Church. They’ve blessed me for 33 years and that continues to happen.
My talk was on Growth and what it means to Grow in Christ. I am a woman and a southerner and that’s 2 reasons for me to have lots of words. I ended up with more than I could cover in 30 minutes on a Sunday. So here is the T and the H of the acrostic. You can find the rest of the sermon here https://youtu.be/GJCFN7ffawE
T-Take Him with you all day long.
1 Thessalonians 5:7 tells us to pray without ceasing. Philippians 4:6 instructs us to pray about everything.
Until they outlawed talking on cell phones in the car it was easier to talk to God on your drive everyday. No one knew who you communicating with. Now it’s easier again because we are all wearing masks and no one knows if we are talking or not! Just sayin’. So we can sustain an ongoing conversation with God Himself 24/7. We take Him with us into every part of our day.
Let me clarify that. He is already there. We just need to recognize that and acknowledge that. Ask for His advice. Seek His counsel. Request His comfort, support, and strength.
As Sarah Young from Jesus Calling says, “Sometimes it’s as simple as saying, ”Help me, Jesus.”
We are going to strive to find time to quiet ourselves to be in God’s uplifting presence as we breathe out our concerns and breathe in His peace. But even in the midst of the craziest day, we can talk to Him all day long.
J. R. Miller, a Presbyterian pastor who lived from 1840-1912 wrote this:
“Let the life of prayer flow into the busiest hours of your busiest days. It will be your defense against temptations. It will give you power in Christian service. It will give you peace in the midst of dangers, help in weakness, light in darkness, comfort in sorrows, companionship in loneliness, and friendship for your hungry heart.
“If we know how to get help in prayer, we need never fail at any point in life, for then God’s might is back of us as the ocean is back of the bay.”
George Mueller established orphanages in the mid-1800’s and trusted God to miraculously provide for them—which He did said this:
“I live in a spirit of prayer. I pray as I walk about, when I lie down and when I rise up. And the answers are always coming.” Mueller and those who worked with him told stores of having no food to feed the kids in the orphanage, and Mueller would lead the workers in prayer. Many times within minutes the food would arrive.
God isn’t just a Sunday morning God. He is available to us every day all day long. That should make you say, “Amen!” right where you sit!
The H in GROWTH IS
Hold your plans tentatively.
The definition for tentatively is cautiously, hesitantly, not set in stone, open for influence.
I don’t know about you, but I am a planner, and unless I am intentional, I can get rigid about those plans. It’s taken time for me to learn that as I communicate with God all day long. His plans for me may differ from my own. So I work at staying open to what God may want me to do or say at any given moment. And that has left me open to some awesome blessings.
We don’t have it all wired. We need His constant guidance and direction. In Acts 17:28, Paul explains, “For in him (the Lord) we live and move and have our being.” And check out Paul’s words here from The Message Bible:
1 Corinthians 10:12, “Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence.” Or as I like to shorten it, “God-fidence.”
This will keep us from acting in our own self-interest and as we seek the Lord for direction, we will be more like Him in our choices. This will make us more able to attract to impact, so that we represent Jesus and not our own agenda. Isn’t that what God wants us to go after?