“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16 (KJV)
Someone once told me, “You bring such sunshine in with you each day.” My coworkers saw that sunshine as smiles, rays of hope, and kind words. They saw it as a cheerful uplifting spirit that came into the office with an upbeat “Good morning”. God created us to be a light unto the world. He created us to be joy and happiness for others. We have been sent out into our respective places of business to shine God’s light in areas where He would not be. We bring prayer into businesses, Godly ways into negotiations, a spirit of goodwill amongst potential selfishness among colleagues, and a feeling of happiness to those who might otherwise be experiencing tough times. As we go into our workplaces remember that we are bringing light. We are bringing hope. We are in effect bringing God and godly ways of accomplishing our business. We do not need to necessarily quote a scripture; we may simply smile, be a positive force, or say a kind word, and others will feel that “goodness that we bring” and they will gravitate to it. As they do, they gravitate toward our Heavenly Father.
God, we thank You for the opportunity to be salt and light to the world. God we thank You that others will see You through us – through our behavior, our attitude, our kind words, and our smiles. God we thank You for an opportunity to be a ray of hope for someone else in an environment where many do not expect to see You. God we thank You that this day, someone will experience Your light and Your love through us. Thank you Lord for using us this day. Amen.
Praying for God to Do Our Will on Earth or Truly that God’s Will Be Done on Earth?
This morning as I was reading I read a profound statement. The purpose of prayer should not be about getting God to do our will on earth but about getting God’s will done on earth. I personally had to stop and sit with that for a moment. (I’m still sitting with that.) Do we pray to see God move in our lives, move on our behalf? Do we pray so that we can become better, more Godly people and live better lives? I would say yes and not that these are bad prayers but just maybe my prayers should be less about me and more about God’s will being done on earth. Just maybe my walk with God should be more about others.
Dear God, we thank you for each moment of change, growth, development, and perspective. We thank you for a deeper desire to infect others with your love, to inject others with a knowledge of your life changing power, and impact the world at large. Today, we commit it is not about us, but all about you. Today we pick up our crosses and follow your will (not ours) to see a changed, saved, renewed world.
Your Passion is Priceless!
““Blessed is she who believes that the Lord will fulfill His promises to her.” Luke 1:45 (NIV)
This morning I find myself up working since 2:30 am. I am not working on Project Plans or Proposals or anything that I am paid to do daily. I am up writing a proposal to complete a very inexpensive work that can hopefully bless others and at an extremely nominal cost. I find myself excitedly seeking these opportunities even more. I find that the time and energy I spend still surprises me. I find myself turning down fiscally profitable work to do what I love. As I was sitting here working on it, I thought “wow, passion really is priceless” and started writing this post. I never imagined wanting to do something that had little fiscal return. I once read that you can light the world on fire with your passion and purpose. Passion and purpose are gamechangers. They are life changers. They are worth more than an annual salary or hourly rate. When you find it, you cannot measure its value in anything we typically hold dear but it is the deepest treasure you will find.
Whatever you desire to do; whatever God has purposed in your heart to do. Do it. Do not make excuses; do not disregard it because of it is seemingly unable to provide for you or your needs. God is the great provisioner. As you make your way to his purpose for your life, he will bless you abundantly; above all the you should think or ask.
God, thank you for purpose. Thank you for passion. Thank you courage to step out in pursuit of our passion! Thank you for a reason to start early and go long! As a psalmist recently wrote, “You’re Incredible! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JTFbrZp7xE
Be Good Medicine!
A cheerful heart is good medicine but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Prov. 17:22
All around us, whether we know it or not, there is anxiety, dismay, and disappointment in the lives of others and sometimes in our own lives but we have such simple God-given medicine — our cheerful hearts. A cheerful heart is not just good medicine to us and our outlook and our ability to do great things, but it is also good medicine to those around us. You have the power to not only impart joy in the life of yourself but to also infect everyone else around you with the same excitement. Let’s face today with exuberant joy. This morning let’s be good medicine. Let’s leave out excited this morning and enter the space that we will share with others sprinkled with good medicine that will uplift their spirits and totally change the atmosphere and people around us.
Dear God we thank you for all that you have placed in us. We thank you for all the reasons you gave us to have cheerful hearts and to be good medicine. Today, we will not drag into our offices and places of work but we walk in joyfully, smiling, and with zeal if for no other reason than to simply be the goodness and light to others that you desire us to be.
New Every Morning
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23.
Each morning we wake up and say Good Morning to our spouses, our children, our families, and many of us even say Good Morning to Facebook. Each day we wake God has not only provided us this opportunity to see a new morning but he has promised us renewed faithfulness each day; renewed possibilities each morning; regardless of yesterday. God has in fact made every morning Good. Each day, before Facebook, before our spouses, and even our children, let’s greet the author of our new morning and thank Him for the goodness made available to us this day.
Dear God, we thank you for a new day. We thank you for renewed faithfulness that you are merciful enough to provide. God today, we not only acknowledge and thank you for this day but we thank you for the endless renewal of love that you bestow upon us. As we go about this day, we greet you, we thank you, we honor you, and we commit to sharing your steadfast love, faithfulness, and endless mercy with others.
Speechless
In the age of communication — tweets, cams, blogs, v-blogs, and everything else, we are rarely speechless. In fact, we are all writing editorials and op-eds on everything that goes on in our lives and in the lives of others but sometimes coming to God during the most difficult times, during the most daunting situations leaves us speechless — utterly at a loss of what to say, what to pray, or what to ask. So, how do we bring that which causes such deep concern, that which causes complete confusion in our hearts, minds, and homes to God when we cannot communicate the issue nor bring a request.
When we come to people we have to communicate effectively: no stuttering, no stammering, no “all over of the place sentences” that lack order and clarity; but God is not like that. God knew that life would bring us to moments of being totally speechless and he long ago left us with our personal speechwriter – the Holy Spirit. “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us”. Romans 8:26.
Dear God, thank you for not requiring intelligible conversation or words from us but we thank you for being able to take our silence, our quiet moments, and rolling tears and knowing just what we need. Thank you for being the God who needs not our words but our hearts. Thank you for hearing our inaudible needs, muted hearts, and silent requests and providing the answers we did not know we needed, the direction we did not expect, and leading us to the outcome we never saw coming. Thank you God for knowing what we need even before we ask.
New Every Morning
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23.
Each morning we wake up and say Good Morning to our spouses, our children, our families, and many of us even say Good Morning to Facebook. Each day we wake God has not only provided us this opportunity to see a new morning but he has promised us renewed faithfulness each day; renewed possibilities each morning; regardless of yesterday. God has in fact made every morning Good. Each day, before Facebook, before our spouses, and even our children, let’s greet the author of our new morning and thank Him for the goodness made available to us this day.
Dear God, we thank you for a new day. We thank you for renewed faithfulness that you are merciful enough to provide. God today, we not only acknowledge and thank you for this day but we thank you for the endless renewal of love that you bestow upon us. As we go about this day, we greet you, we thank you, we honor you, and we commit to sharing your steadfast love, faithfulness, and endless mercy with others.
God Applied 