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

Questions for Reflection – 1 Chronicles 12-16

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Mark Shields

Accurate Thinking Valuable lessons have been learned in my journey through 1 Chronicles. In 1 Chronicles 1-6, I read the genealogical records and the thought come to mind that everyone’s life matters. That theme was continued in 1 Chronicles 1-11. Our God is a God of order and when everyone understands that they have a duty and makes a business of it, everything runs smooth.

Each day with God can be an adventure if we have a zest for what we do and do it to praise Him. Whatever we do throughout our day to fulfill our role, we should give glory to Him. It might be washing dishes, repairing a machine, selling a product, growing a crop, or raising a family.

Whatever we do, leadership is needed while we perform our daily roles and David gives us a good example of one who was a good leader. He demonstrated faith, applied that faith as the Lord guided, had a pleasing personality whose followers bought into a plan, and made sure he was surrounded with good team members.

Another person I read about over the last few weeks was Saul. In 1 Chronicles 10, He was unfaithful to the Lord and even consulted a medium for guidance. This personal choice affected the whole kingdom because God was no longer with Israel. Leaders should not provoke God by going somewhere else for advice but inquire for guidance and give glory to Him for success. Long term success is dependent on persistent spiritual growth or learning about the God of the Bible and applying our faith.

Our great Counselor is the Holy Spirit. We are blessed each day with God’s Word which is good for the body and soul; providing lessons that can be applied to life. These lessons can be used along with the power of prayer to talk to God, listen for plans, and ask for help in carrying them out.

It’s good to ask questions and reflect. As I continue the journey through the book of 1 Chronicles, I will use the questions below to help focus on each passage. Feel free to respond with a short note or a comment about any of these questions. Also, I welcome any other thoughts or ideas, favorite inspirational videos, photos, or favorite Bible verses. Just add them to the comments or to a Facebook page I’ve set up at this link: This Day With God.

1 Chronicles 12
Passage Lookup
Why do all twelve tribes of Israel choose to serve David (v. 18)? What abilities do the various soldiers have which will be useful to David? What gifts do you have to use in the service of your King? What God-given ability or personal experience can I offer to my church?

1 Chronicles 13-14
Passage Lookup
How did David go about directing his first official act as king? How did David make decisions and plan out strategies?

1 Chronicles 15:1-16:6
Passage Lookup
Who are commissioned to bring the ark to Jerusalem? What implications can you see here for the worship of God?

1 Chronicles 16:7-43
Passage Lookup
What do the verbs in verses 8-12 show about the various aspects of worship? What reasons are given here for praising God? Think of some of the Lord’s “marvelous deeds” which you have personally experienced, and take some time to give him thanks for them.

The above reading plan will be used as I share over the next few posts. It’s important to have a plan. I’m thankful that Jesus is God’s plan for us and by accepting Him as Savior; we have taken the steps necessary to make this day with Him amazing! At this link: God’s Plan for Us, is a post about accepting God’s plan or reaffirming our “YES” for Christ.

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Resources and Supplementary Helps Used in Posts
Adeney, Carol. This Morning with God. Downer Grove Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1978
First United Methodist Waco Podcast
Christ Notes

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Bible, David, God, god is a god, HolySpirit, human-rights, Lord, pleasing personality, religion, theology, washing dishes | 12 Comments

A Church’s Mission

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Mark Shields

Here’s what I took away Sunday from the sermon message at the church I worship at:
A church’s mission is not to compete against other churches. A church’s mission is to transform people into the likeness of Jesus Christ and into people that others want to emulate. The mission is to put hell out of business one person at a time. Each church has off-the-charts capacity through the power that Jesus provides. Here’ a video that draws attention to this mission: We Will Stand – Avalon and Russ Taff.

The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all. – Psalm 103:19

One From The Heart (thisdaywithgod.wordpress.com)
Listen to His Voice (akronalliance.wordpress.com)
Why the Church? Part #2 (graceindallas.wordpress.com)
Introducing Jesus Christ – Again (Part One) (lifebrook.wordpress.com)
The Pope Resigns but Jesus Christ is still the Supreme of the Church (hillsbiblechurch.org)

Posted in Thoughts From Sermon | Tagged Christ, Christianity, Church, HolySpirit, http www youtube, Jesus Christ, Kingdom, likeness, Mission, Power, Psalm, Psalm 103, religion, Russ Taff, that draws attention, Transform | 2 Comments

One From The Heart

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Mark Shields

Photo Credit – Calum Henderson

Yesterday’s sermon message at First United Methodist Church Waco was titled “One From The Heart” and can be watched at this link.

Below is an outline of the message. The words in black are notes provided by the church staff and the notes in blue are notes I added as I listened to the podcast.

The questions are: What is the church? How is the church doing?

1. PRACTICE FAITHFULNESS AND PERSISTENCE.

“… Much is required for those whom much is given, and much more is required from those to whom much more is given.” – Luke 12:48b (NLT)

Here are a few ways to measure how a church is doing:

What is the blessing quotient of our congregation?
What are the spiritual needs of our community?
What is our multiplier quotient?

Hang in there and if you do that, God will work things out.

2. PRACTICE SPIRITUAL URGENCY.

“ ‘Who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in Heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. Now I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church. And all the powers of hell will not conquer it.” – Matthew 16:15-18 (NLT)

Do the things we do as a church matter? We live in a very urgent culture. Everything is done with a sense of urgency in our culture today. We have cell phones and computers and to keep up and compete with others, everything seems to be urgent. What is the competition of the church? It’s not other churches. It is hell itself. The universal church has ONE strength and that is Jesus Christ and what He taught, what He gave, how He served, how He died, how He arose from the dead? That’s what we have to offer.

3. PRACTICE BEING A JESUS-POWERED AGENT.

“Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” – Ephesians 5:15 (NIV)

This is your day. Make the most of every opportunity this day. Be a person that wants to grow every day. Be a person that is transformed because of Jesus Christ and be a person that others want to emulate. One person at a time, the church can put hell out of business. The church has off-the-charts capacity to get it done because of the power Jesus gives us.

4. PRACTICE YOUR JESUS DREAM.

“…Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as it is in heaven.” – Matthew 6:9-10 (KJV)

Because this is your day, God’s purpose is being done. Some may say, “We can’t do that” but the early church leaders had far fewer resources than we have today and we know what they did. They did it without computers, without the Internet, without phones, and iPads.

5. PRACTICE COMMUNITY WITH A SINCERE HEART.

“Every day they continued to meet together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” – Acts 2:46-47 (NIV)

As God’s people, are we all in with our resources, all our time, all our heart, soul, mind, and strength?

Jesus, redeemer or reformer? (quest4light.net)
The Real Professional (lisafriesen.wordpress.com)

Posted in Sermon Outline | Tagged Community, Faithfulness, God, Gospel of Matthew, Heart, IPad, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Matthew, Persistence, Podcast, Practice, Saint Peter, Sermon | 4 Comments

Step Ahead Into the Future

Posted on February 10, 2013 by Mark Shields

home office (Photo credit: Sean MacEntee)

What will it be like in the future? What new inventions might occur? I saw a video recently with Walter Cronkite made in 1967 talking about the home office of the future. At the time the video was made, it was all like science fiction as he demonstrated what he called a computerized communications console.

Below are some of the main points of the video:

• It was a peek into the 21st century
• Equipment is shown that would carry on business from the home
• A console would allow us to get the news from all over the world
• Another console would allow us to check in on the latest weather
• We could get reports on stock we might own
• We could see and talk to anyone from anyplace in the world
• No one would have to go to work because the work would come to them

To see the video and read more, click this link: Step Ahead Into the Future.

Posted in Applied Faith | Tagged Arts, CBS, Future, future inventions, Home office, Inventions, Journey, new inventions, Science Fiction, Walter Cronkite | Leave a comment

Two Are Better Than One

Posted on February 9, 2013 by Mark Shields

Reading in 1 Chronicles 11, we get a picture of the good leadership qualities of David. He demonstrated his faith by going to the Lord in prayer and carrying out His instructions. David surrounded himself with good team members and he had a pleasing personality whose followers bought into a plan.

Today, we serve the perfect King; the ONE who demonstrated faith by going to the cross and carrying out God’s plan for us. He surrounded himself with twelve team members who bought into His plan.

This day with God, we can be team members for Christ and enjoy growing in faith together. I’d like to share a video that hopefully blesses and uplifts. It brings to light the greatness of our King: How Great is Our God – Chris Tomlin. God Bless 🙂

Two are better than one because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! – Ecclesiastes 4:9-10