Sunday, October 6, 2019

Take this job and love it!

Ecclesiastes 2:17  (NLT)

17 So I came to hate life (like my job) because everything done here under the sun is so troubling. Everything is meaningless—like chasing the wind.




Colossians 3:1-2  (NLT)

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 




Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.






What condition is my heart going to be when I get to work?   It is a choice to think from earth's perspective or heaven's.





Colossians 3:12-14 (NLT) 

12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 


13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.


14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.  





Patience has never put itself on for me.  We must put on love.  That's what ties it all together. 




1.  I must discover the purpose for my life to make a difference.   




Ask will it show up in heaven?  A career will give you something to live on.  A calling will give you something to live for.  




Acts 20:23-24 (MSG)

22-24 “But there is another urgency before me now. I (Paul) feel compelled to go to Jerusalem. 


I’m completely in the dark about what will happen when I get there. I do know that it won’t be any picnic, for the Holy Spirit has let me know repeatedly and clearly that there are hard times and imprisonment ahead. But that matters little. 



What matters most to me is to finish what God started: the job the Master Jesus gave me of letting everyone I meet know all about this incredibly extravagant generosity of God.

  


2.  I must realize that my job is my ministry location.  
  



We can't make a difference if we are not different.   Paul was just a tent maker when he penned most of the New Testament, and impacted his world. 





Acts 18:1-4 (NLT)

 

18 Then Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 

There he became acquainted with a Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently arrived from Italy with his wife, Priscilla. They had left Italy when Claudius Caesar deported all Jews from Rome. 

Paul lived and worked with them, for they were tentmakers just as he was.

Each Sabbath found Paul at the synagogue, trying to convince the Jews and Greeks alike.




3.  We must work for God and not for people.  




Colossians 3:23-24 (NLT)

23 Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. 

24 Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.




We have an audience of one.  We live for our Master Jesus to say well done.  




Today, we must live as if it is the only day that will be remembered. 


Chris Hodges, Church of the Highlands


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