This Day With God – A Spiritual Journey | Share The Word

Preparation

Posted on November 14, 2018 by Mark Shields

Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 about their preparation to the Lord’s Supper. He had heard that the believers were not unified spiritually. Before communion, it was customary for them to eat together but cliques had formed so that the rich had a gathering with much food but the poor or needy were insufficiently provided for.

Paul goes on with his teaching concerning the Lord’s Supper and disciplines them in their preparation. He explains the purpose for the bread and wine; the bread representing the body and the wine as the blood of the Lord.

Paul explains that their wrong spiritual attitudes would bring on judgment resulting in sickness, weakness, and even death among them. Instead, each person should prepare for the communion meal in unity, share equally, and remember what Christ has done for them.

Lord, we come to You in prayer today as we prepare for our day. Following Your way gives us the best chance to get amazing things done today. More than we could ever imagine. You give limitless resources to make a difference, tell others that You love them, and meet urgent needs in the most efficient way. Amen

Posted in Bible Study, Purpose | Tagged Bible Study, Bread, Communion, Prayer, Purpose, Wine | 1 Comment

Simplified Way

Posted on November 13, 2018 by Mark Shields

Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. – 2 Peter 3:18

Many things in a culture can complicate our life as brought out in some points made in the post “Respect for Customs and Traditions”. During the time of Paul, women were to cover their heads. Also discussed was the relationship between God, man, and woman.

Fortunately, we have an example to follow in Jesus who is the Way. The gospel message provides us with a beautiful and refreshing simplicity that sets us free and never lets us down. Here is an inspiring song today to get us started called The Way by Jeremy Camp.

Index of devotionals

Posted in Devotionals, Good Common Sense | Tagged Customs, Devotional, Fashions, Gospel, Grace, Praise, Society, Traditions, Trends | Leave a comment

Respect for Customs and Traditions

Posted on November 12, 2018 by Mark Shields

In 1 Corinthians 11:1-16, Paul discusses the issue of head covering. The custom during the day of Paul was that women were to cover their heads for modesty reasons. They wore long hair and covered their heads in public to symbolize their submission and purity. On the other hand, it was not appropriate for a man to participate in public worship with something on his head (v. 4).

One has to wonder if these customs during the time of Paul have carried over to current times. It is interesting that most men in current times wear their hair shorter than women. Trends come and go. The 1960’s had many men with longer hair and even today, the fashion has come back a little with men having longer hair.

The thing we have to keep in mind is that people within a society expect a certain amount of respect. A person working for a company who interacts with customers may feel that some customers may be offended by a man with long hair therefore, they have set up rules for employees and length of hair.

We may not agree with many customs and traditions but it’s important to show respect to others and understand if it’s important to them, it’s important to us. It just makes good common sense. We are not independent from each other but are brothers and sisters in Christ.

Lord this day, we are grateful that You keep things simple for us. The gospel message has a beautiful and refreshing simplicity about it that sets us free and never lets us down. Help us today to understand that You are the Way and with You by our side and people around us to support us, amazing things will happen. Amen.

Posted in Bible Study, Good Common Sense | Tagged Bible Study, Customs, Fashions, Prayer, Society, Traditions, Trends | Leave a comment

No Pain – No Gain

Posted on November 9, 2018 by Mark Shields

There may be some major difficulties to overcome but with God on your side and lessons learned from history or nature, and music to inspire, you can go from pain to gain.

Step Ahead

Anything faced in life like meeting deadlines or making it through graduation requires the ability to remain optimistic during the difficult times. This photo was taken at my daughter’s high school graduation 5-20-2017.

There are pressures faced
And deadlines come about
But with good people
It all works out.

For major problems
To overcome,
There is inspiration
So raise your thumb.

They can be worked out
With God on your side,
Taking in life lessons,
And faith applied.

Be inspired from nature,
From mystery,
From inspiring music,
Or history.

For what once caused
Misery or pain
Can be turned around
To result in a gain.

View original post

Posted in Photos, Poems | Tagged Faith, History, Inspiration, Lessons, Music, Mystery, Overcome Difficulty, Poetry | Leave a comment

Do All Things for His Glory

Posted on November 8, 2018 by Mark Shields

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. – 1 Corinthians 10:31

The post “Unity and Liberty” points out that there is a need to unify around core principles but at the same time to balance these principles so there is freedom to attract more to the way of Christ.

There is a lot of good common sense in the gospel message. Our growing faith can never be taken away or depleted and there is a beautiful and refreshing simplicity about the gospel message that sets us free and never lets us down.

As the song O Come To The Altar by Elevation Worship points out, forgiveness was bought with the precious blood of Christ. Let us tell the world of the treasure we’ve found.