|
GLEANINGS FROM THE WORD Experiencing an extraordinary God in ordinary life Issue #909 September 16, 2003 An Ordinary Day An integral part of our ministry is our prayer team. We're looking for some additional members. If you think you might be interested in serving with us in this way, send an email with the subject "Prayer team" and we'll send you some additional information. The house is quiet. The only sounds are the buzz of my laptop's power supply and the dripping/gurgling of the coffee pot. My eldest son, Kris was off to his full time job before I awakened. He works a full time and a part time job at the moment. Kathy is awakening for work and soon Kyle will be getting up for school. Tigger the cat came by my office for a quick visit then went back to bed. Genni the wonder dog is sitting expectantly beside me. She shared my bagel and cream cheese and is hoping in vain that there might be more. Brief intermission in the narration as Kevin goes to get his morning cup of coffee. It's a good cup. Sometimes in the morning, I'm not the best at counting the number of scoops so the first taste can be an adventure. I must have measured right today. So what? Well the subtitle of this daily devotional is "Experiencing an extraordinary God in ordinary life." You just seen a snapshot from our very ordinary lives. We're ordinary, everyday people having an ordinary day. We're just "plain folk". Some would even say we're boring, but I prefer the term content (my eldest sister Jean taught me that there is a difference). The good news is that God works through very ordinary people in every day life. Moses was an aging shepherd with a warrant out for his arrest for murder. Abraham was an aging businessman. Gideon worked secretly in the family winepress out of fear. The disciples were an odd combination of blue collar workers, petty criminals and zealots. It's the power of our righteous and holy God who transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary. The all powerful God of creation could have accomplished His goals in any way He wished. Yet He chose to give us the blessing of participating with Him. He's given you and me, ordinary people, the task of sharing His love with the world. He's made us to be salt and light to a dark world. "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:13-16 NIV That means that while our lives may be ordinary and while the world may think we're ordinary, we're truly extraordinary people. Not because of who we are but because we've allowed a holy God to accomplish His work through us. You are an instrument of peace, love joy and transformation. Absolutely nothing short of God Himself could be less ordinary. The flip sign of the coin is that we never know what other ordinary people are being used in an extraordinary way by God. That behooves us (I know behooves is a dated word, but I love the sound of it) us to treat all people as if they were special in the eyes of God. We have no reason to not do so. Until next time, I pray you get a grasp on how truly extraordinary and how valuable you are for all eternity when Jesus works through you and may you learn to see all people as He sees them. Be blessed Hallelu Yah (Praise God)! Kevin YOU ARE Once you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour you are a new creation. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 2 Corinthians 5:16-20 NIV Never let the enemy tell you that you are worthless or insignificant. You have value in the eyes of God so great that it was worth dying for. You are a blessing to the world. You are so precious to God that heaven will not be complete without you. HELP FOR THE HURTING Maybe you've always thought you were too ordinary to be of any interest to God. Maybe you think your sins disqualify you from His service. Nothing could be further from the truth. God specializes in transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary and the broken to whole. All you have to do is open yourself up to Him. You can simply begin the relationship by honestly and completely opening your heart, admitting you need God's help, and saying a prayer along the lines of: Jesus: I have made many mistakes in my life and done things I am not proud of. I have sinned. I need your love and forgiveness. I believe that you came into this world and gave your life on a cross to pay for my sins and that you defeated death and rose again. Please forgive me, and be the Lord of my life. I give my life to you Lord. Amen If you pray this prayer for the first time let me know so I can rejoice with you. Did you know that at Gleanings, we have a dedicated team of prayer warriors and all prayer concerns are kept strictly confidential? Your comments, your questions and your joys are shared with the prayer team, to keep me accountable as the head of the ministry and to encourage them as they see God at work in your life. As with prayer all these things are kept confidential within the Gleanings team. To share your questions, comments, thoughts, prayer concerns and praise reports email us If you enjoyed this issue of Gleanings From The Word, email it, in its entirety, to a friend. For information on use of Gleanings in your church newsletter or other situations please visit the permissions page . You can write to us at Gleanings From The Word Ministries International 114 Oak St Sherwood Park, AB Canada T8A 0V8 © 2003 K.F. "Kevin" Corbin Gleanings From The Word Minististries International - All Rights Reserved
|