Welcome to Quality of Life Blog - a place to learn how to live as a Christian

Everything from trusting God to how to pray.

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Who's in Charge Here?

Jesus is considered by scholars such as Weber ...Image via Wikipedia
Who's in Charge Here?

What does it really mean to take responsibility for the gifts God has given me, to be a committed steward for my Creator and Lord?



In order to answer this question, you first have to determine WHO is responsible for deciding how you will use your gifts. When faced with this question, most Christians reply in one of three ways:



1. "I'll decide, alone, how to use my gifts."

This is the Christian who takes sole responsibility for his life, and leaves God out of the decision-making process. Why? Because the person is like the deist who believes that, at one point in time, God wound up the universe like a great clock, and has left it running ever since. The deist feels that God really doesn't have the time to get involved in mundane human affairs. So without any personal attention or direction from a detached, impersonal Creator, this self-sufficient Christian is left to answer the stewardship question alone.



Unfortunately, on his own, this person runs the risk of failing to see, understand, and obey God expectations. And, God is not detached, impersonal or too busy to be involved in your life. Jesus said, "Surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:20).



2. "I'll just leave it to the Lord."

In contrast to the first Christian who shoulders the entire weight of decision-making, alone, the second Christian gives that same entire responsibility over to God. This person believes that God, and God alone, is solely responsible for telling him how to use his talents, abilities, and skills in leadership.



While this response sounds more spiritual, it can actually be a way of avoiding responsibility. It leaves the individual passively awaiting the results of the law of natural consequences: "Let's wait and see what happens, and if it fails, it can't be my fault because I didn't choose!" But isn't it true that to NOT chose is in itself, a choice?



There is a third way that you, as a Christian, can answer the question, "Who's responsible for deciding how I should use my gifts to serve God?"



3. "God and me-together."

Jesus deliberately stripped Himself of everything - His divine rights and privileges - and crossed the unthinkable chasm between God and man.



Try to imagine the span of that chasm.... The unlimited God became limited man.... Jesus Christ is God.



...From the world's viewpoint, Jesus had descended almost as low as a man could - to say nothing of God - could go lower.



But there was one more downward step, in heaven's eyes the deepest descent of all: from sinless to sin stained.... Truly, He could go no lower.



...He knowingly and actively embraced a life of giving, serving, losing, and dying.



What was, and is, really hard for Jesus' followers to swallow is that we are called to do the same. To make ourselves nothing.... We must believe that as painful as it sometimes feels, descending is the only way to greatness.... Jesus obeyed for the sake of love.



And we, His followers and the recipients of His love, are called to do the same. When asked about the two greatest commands, Jesus replied: to love God and to love others. That is what motivated Jesus, and that is what is to motivate us.



(From Descending into Greatness by Bill Hybels)



God views service and humility as strengths, not weaknesses. What steps in your relationships can you take to show greater humility? How can you expand your relationship to others (including God)?



This response combines a balanced and proper measure of God's sovereignty and your responsibility. This balance is described beautifully in Philippians 2:12-13, "Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose." God expects to be in a relationship with Him, you can make responsible decisions about how you can best use your gifts throughout your life.



This expectation reveals how insufficient the other two responses are in recognizing God's deepest desire for you. Since He created you and sent His only son to live and die for you, is it any wonder that He wants to be intimately involved in every aspect of your life? God has already invested too much of Himself in you to expect you to make those all-important life decisions, alone.



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Friday, July 30, 2010

Principle: God expects you to accept responsibility for wisely managing and investing the abilities God has entrusted to your care.

Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglica...Image via Wikipedia
Principle: God expects you to accept responsibility for wisely managing and investing the abilities God has entrusted to your care.




The God of the universe invites you to discover that you are His unique creation. He urges you to accept Him as Lord in all that you are and all that you do.



When you acknowledge God’s Lordship of your life you give Him the right to rule over your life. But, simultaneously, when you call Him Lord, He gives you a new responsibility called "stewardship." Stewardship means "to manage and administrate resources belonging to someone else." As Lord, God is the owner of your talents and abilities. As steward you are responsible for their wise use and investment.



Many of Jesus' parables provide insight into the meaning of stewardship. Let's look at one that is especially helpful.



What Is Stewardship?: A Parable

In Matthew 25:14-29, Jesus tells the parable of the talents. Take a few minutes and read the parable. This parable teaches some important lessons about stewardship. First, stewardship means entrusting what is rightfully yours to another. This is exactly what God does with you when you present your life to Him. Presenting your life to Him means you acknowledge His ownership. By entrusting your life back to you, God makes you a steward.



Second, though we have different talents (abilities, not money) entrusted to us, we are each responsible for the wise investment of precisely those talents that are given to us.



God only expects you to achieve results in your life that are consistent with the measure of skills and abilities He's built into you. Yet, at the same time, "To whom much is given much is expected." This phrase doesn't just refer to your abilities. It can also refer to your knowledge of God and His Word, your citizenship in a free country, your income, or hundreds of other resources God allows you to manage.



The more God invests in you, the more He expects of you. It was true in the parable of the talents, and it's true today. This has staggering implications for those of us who God has richly blessed.



Third, the goal of a steward is to meet the Lord's expectations. Two of these stewards knew the master well enough to know that he expected them to invest his money; the third either understood the master's expectations and disregarded them or did not know what the master expected. Either way, the third steward failed.



God has invested talents in you, not only in the form of money, as in the parable of the talents, but in the form of skills and abilities. He expects you to invest those talents in work that meets His expectations.



Understanding the principles in the parable of the talents should help you understand stewardship better. It provides important insight regarding who is responsible in your career decisions. Yet understanding how to make life decisions as a steward requires knowing what your Master expects and who He holds responsible for making decisions.


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Thursday, July 29, 2010

If there is a Creator; why not let him run the show?

Armageddon loomingImage by nimboo via Flickr
The majority of humans believe there is a God.  But we won't let him be in charge of our life.  Why Not?
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Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Are you happy with how things are going in the times we are facing. Well if you are reading this I can assume that you are not.

Local citizens from the Janabi Village wait th...Image via Wikipedia

Are you happy with how things are going in the times we are facing. Well if you are reading this I can assume that you are not.
You like me I'm sure; are looking at the world we live in, and see many challenges:

The physical world. We are facing enviromental problems that are monumental. There doesn't seem to be any answers that will be accepted by all the people and implemented.
The social world. Crime is running rampant in almost all locations. There is very few places to hide from it.
The moral world. We are more concerned about what we own; then how we can help each other.
The economic world. There are more people below the poverty line then above it.
The Spiritual world. Our "spirits" are deeply challenged with the challenges we face.
The mental world. Our schools are in trouble.
The communication world. We are more interested in discussing how we can have more pleasure then how we can solve the challenges.
Our health. We have as many or more health problems then our ancestors.
The political world. Each country is still interested in the best for the people in power then the people around them.
Many other worlds.
We as human individuals; with our minds, sciences, and efforts; have not solved these challenges. We need to look for different solutions.
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Monday, July 26, 2010

Can Humankind on its own solve the challenges?

No. It would be the same as a child walking up to a broken plane and attempting to fix it.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

georgehach: Do we have a problem

georgehach: Do we have a problem: "I believe that we have a major problem on this earth. I believe the earth is in trouble."

Do we have a problem

I believe that we have a major problem on this earth. I believe the earth is in trouble.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Welcome

I would like to welcome you to my personal blog; where I will be blogging the thoughts the Holy spirit has provided me.