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

Bringing a Team Together

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Mark Shields

A good leader has faith, applies that faith as the Lord guides, has followers that buy into a plan, and surrounds themselves with good team members.

David had proven that he was a great leader as the ruler of Hebron. In 1 Chronicles 11, the people made David king. God was with David and David ascribed success to the Lord; devoting all his talents to the Him. As a leader, David knew the importance of
surrounding himself with great people that were strong, courageous, and mighty.

Here is a link to a post from one of my blogging friends: Able To Go To War. Within this post, it is mentioned that Jesus brought a team together. We see in the passage today that David surrounded himself with his mighty men. No one person can be successful without a team surrounding them because there is chemistry that makes each individual stronger. Each is using their strengths to bless, inspire, uplift, energize, and help. As individuals, we are just one drop but together we can form an entire ocean.

This day with God, let us fight as a member of His team and believe that He is alongside us helping to take on the challenges we face at work or home.

Posted in 1 Chronicles | Tagged Christianity, Courage, David, Faith, God, Guidance, Hebron, Inspiration, Jesus, Leadership, Lord, Plan, Religion and Spirituality, spirituality, Strengths, Talents, Teamwork | 3 Comments

Making Good Decisions

Posted on February 7, 2013 by Mark Shields

In Yesterday’s post, I wrote about making decisions. How can we make good decisions that will lead us on the correct path? The passage from yesterday tells us that inquiring of the Lord is the best choice. Pray to God with questions and have faith that His Holy Spirit will give answers. Reading in 1 Chronicles 10, Saul lost his way and went to a medium for advice.

We all face difficulty. We read about difficulties during the time of Saul and today we experience difficulty in our own lives. The important thing to remember is that prayer provides an answer. Hold onto the way of God like this song calls attention to: Busted Heart (Hold On To Me) For King and Country.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. – Proverbs 3:5-6

Decisions (thisdaywithgod.wordpress.com)
The eyes of the Spirit (RPT) (bcong.wordpress.com)
Position vs. Purpose (powerofyou320.com)

Posted in 1 Chronicles | Tagged busted heart, Christianity, Decisions, Faith, God, Holy Spirit, HolySpirit, Lord, Path, Pray, Prayer, religion, Religion and Spirituality, Saul, spirituality, Trust, trust in the lord with all your heart, YouTube | 3 Comments

Decisions

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Mark Shields

God’s Word is good for the body and soul with lessons that can be applied to life. These lessons can be used along with prayer to talk to God, listen for plans, and ask for help in carrying them out.

Reading in 1 Chronicles 10, Saul 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. The Philistines started to overtake them and Saul’s sons were killed. Then the Philistines pressed hard after Saul until they surrounded him. When Saul was wounded, he decided to take his own life instead of be captured.

Leaders should not provoke God by going somewhere else for advice but inquire for guidance and give glory to Him for success. Some may achieve short term stardom without God but long term success is dependent on persistent spiritual growth or learning about the God of the Bible and applying our faith.

In prayer today, I’m asking God to help me learn from the lessons in His Word and share with others. I’m praying for those in leadership positions and that they make good decisions; leaders in government, churches, work, and school. This day with God, let us understand that the problems we go through in life are not stop signs; they are guidelines and it is during tough times that He provides sure signs of a brighter future.

Posted in 1 Chronicles | Tagged Body, Churches, Decisions, Faith, Future, God’s Word, Government, Guidance, Leadership, leadership positions, Lessons, personal choice, Philistines, Plans, politics, Prayer, religion, School, Soul, Spiritual Growth, spirituality, Success, Work | 1 Comment

Repaired Relationships

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Mark Shields

We discovered in Sunday’s sermon at my church an amazing story that we can apply in life today. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers but this didn’t hold him back. He worked hard to move into responsible positions with powerful people in Egypt. His owner’s wife attempted to seduce Joseph but he resisted. He was a man of great integrity and the people above him always could trust Joseph. Even when he rose to second most powerful man in Egypt next to Pharaoh and could have easily taken out his anger against his brothers, he decided to reconcile.

The story of Joseph reminds us of another amazing story of someone who patched up broken relationships. Christ on the cross patched up our broken relationship with God and put us back together again. As we take on this day, here’s a video to encourage us in this need to repair broken relationships: I’ll Take You Back.

But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will you Father forgive your trespasses. – Matthew 6:15

Joseph’s Story (thisdaywithgod.wordpress.com)
Genesis 45. Joseph tells his brothers who he is. Joseph sends for Jacob (bummyla.wordpress.com)
February 5 (bibleday2day.wordpress.com)

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged broken relationship, broken relationships, Character, Christ, Disappointments, Egypt, Egyptian, Family, God, Integrity, Joseph, Pharaoh, Reconciliation, relationship with god, Relationships, religion, Work | 5 Comments

Joseph’s Story

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Mark Shields

Joseph Being Sold to Potiphar (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We just concluded a four-part series at First United Methodist Church Waco titled “Amazing Stories”. Yesterday’s message was “Joseph’s Story” 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.

1. STORIES OF FAMILY.

“…they hated their brother….” – Genesis 37:4b (NCV)

Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him and sold him into slavery.

2. STORIES OF WORK.

“Now Joseph was well built and handsome. After some time the
wife of Joseph’s master began to desire Joseph, and one day
she said to him,….” – Genesis 39:6b-7a (NCV)

Joseph is taken to Egypt and sold as a household slave to Potiphar who was captain of the palace guard. Joseph was a hard worker and did everything in an excellent way so he was given increasingly responsible duties.

3. STORIES OF DISAPPOINTMENTS.

“But when you are free, remember me. Be kind to me, and
tell the king about me so I can get out of this prison….but
the officer who served wine did not remember Joseph. He
forgot all about him.” – Genesis 40:14 & 23 (NCV)

The wife of Potiphar attempted to seduce Joseph into sleeping with her but Joseph resisted. After several attempts, she finally decided to falsely accuse him of rape. Joseph was sent off to prison but even in prison, God gave him success and the warden of the prison put Joseph in charge.

4. STORIES OF CHARACTER.

“So Potiphar left Joseph in charge of everything he owned
and was not concerned about anything….” – Genesis 39:6a (NCV)

“The warden paid no attention to anything that was in
Joseph’s care because the Lord was with Joseph and
made him successful in everything he did.” – Genesis 39:23 (NCV)

“…‘Can we find a better man than Joseph to take this job? God’s
spirit is truly in him!’ ” – Genesis 41:38b (NCV)

5. STORIES OF INTEGRITY.

“…But Joseph refused and said to her, ‘My master trusts me
with everything in his house….How can I do such an evil
thing? It is a sin against God.’ ” – Genesis 39:8b &9c (NCV)

“…But Joseph left his coat in her hand and ran out of
the house.” – Genesis 39:12c (NCV)

Joseph kept his faith and ran from Potiphar’s wife.

6. STORIES OF RECONCILIATION.

“You meant to hurt me, but God turned your evil into good
to save the lives of many people, which is being done.” – Genesis 50:20 (NCV)

“ ‘So don’t be afraid. I will take care of you and your children.’ ”
So Joseph comforted his brothers and spoke kind words to them.” – Genesis 50:21

Joseph rose to second most powerful man in Egypt next to Pharaoh. He could have held a grudge against his brothers but took care of them. He reconciled their relationship and lived a long good life. Later in history, the story of his family continues with the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.