Some things I have been thinking about...

I long to be a part of what God is doing in not only my own life, but in the lives of my family and friends, and in my city and nation. I know that every day God is working out His plan and His love through the power of the Holy Spirit and His people. And that begs the question, are we approaching every day with the mind set that every person and every situation we encounter is an opportunity for us to build into His kingdom? Or are we going through the day just going from one place to another, to class, or to work, and not seeing beyond the every day routine to what God is doing behind the scenes? He is working in people's hearts, tearing down strongholds, planting seeds, convicting and refining, and drawing people to His heart again and again. And His primary way of doing this, is through His word and His church. If we aren't tuning in to this and surrendering our every day to God, we will often miss out on how God wants to use us to build into His kingdom. Wherever we are in life, whether we are students or working, old or young, rich or poor, God has good and perfect plans for us, that He wants to accomplish now - right now. Not 5 or 10 years from now when you finally have a degree, or you are finally settled in a career. He wants you to be buiding His kingdom, loving and serving, and reaching out to those still living in darkness, RIGHT NOW. Every day is a day that  God has made for a purpose... and we need to make sure that we aren't losing sight of that.

It is so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day routine though, and often we end up reserving our 'God time' for right before we go to bed (and often fall asleep without really diving into God's word or prayer), or on Sundays, and for small groups. And I am definetly guilty of this! But those are the places we go to be recharged so that in the day-to -day- ness of life we can spread and shine God's love. What does it mean to go and be the hands and feet of Jesus? What does it really mean to love our neighbours? And for that matter, who is our neighbour? It is certainly not just limited to those we happen to live beside. It is every single person that we interact with throughout our day... God has brought those people into our lives for one reason or another - and though we may not see the full picture, we know that we are called to love them, and to pray for them, and to lead them closer to Jesus.

But we are sinners saved by grace, and thus we often make mistakes, and feel too tired, or too busy, or too grumpy or too ________, to love others the way we know we are called to. And sometimes we are in seasons of our lives where we just need someone to love us... but regardless, we can not love the way we are called to through our own merit, or perserverence, or skills. It is only possible through Christ... because there are some times when I really don't feel like loving someone! But all things are possible through Christ.

I read a verse in Haggai recently that made me think of all of this.

"The Lord Almighty says: These people say, "The time has not yet come for the Lord's house to be built." ...Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?" ..."You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?" declares the Lord Almighty. "Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house...So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole  remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God." - Haggai 1: 2, 4, 9, 14

What really stood out to me is that the people were neglecting the house of God because they were too busy with thier own lives and houses, and God's power was not being displayed in their lives as a consequance. But then, God stirred up their spirits and everything changed. They went to work on the Lord's house, together. If I think about this in terms of my own life, then my prayer is: Lord, stirr up my spirit. Stirr up the spirits of the christians around me - propel us to make Your house and your kingdom the number one priority in our lives, on a day-to-day, right here- right now, basis. Then maybe our lives will shine out the glory and power of God in ways that we can't even imagine!