Balance
2009-07-26

Jumping right in with a prayer request from the PPT site.

Impact of minimum wage rise. The minimum wage increased to $7.25/hour last week. Millions of workers benefit from the pay increase, but some small business owners worry they may have to cut hours or lay off workers because of the economy.

Not sure it's a good time to be raising the minimum wage. This could cause more hardships on small businesses.



Psalm for today: 84:11-12

All sunshine and sovereign is God,
generous in gifts and glory.
He doesn't scrimp with his traveling companions.
It's smooth sailing all the way with God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
(The Message)

"After God has once taken the faithful into his favour, he will advance them to high honour, and never cease to enrich them with his blessings. God's bounty can never be exhausted, but slows without intermission. We learn from these words, that whatever excellence may be in us proceeds solely from the grace of God."

(Commentary from Heart Aflame: Daily Readings from Calvin on the Psalms)



Tabletalk Magazine

"No Little People"
Weekend Reading

Francis Schaeffer said, "With God there are no little people." How many times have we regarded older men and women as irrelevant? And how often have we ignored younger people as though they had nothing of value to offer?

The truth is, everyone is made in the image of God, no matter how old or young. In 1 Timothy 5, Paul reminds us of how we need to be treating all of God's people from the youngest to the oldest, from the orphans to the widows. All Christians with whom we come in contact have the same Father and the same Spirit.

It's very possible that when anthropologists analyze the demise of our culture, they will trace it to the generation that failed to teach its children to say, "Yes, sir" or "Yes, Ma'am."

We must also remember that even a frail, supposedly weak widow might have a powerful ministry. Elderly women make some of the best prayer warriors ever!

Paul admonishes us to care for the physical needs of these widows. He says that if anyone does not care for or provide for his relatives, he has denied the faith. We need to take these words seriously. Many people only want to be concerned with the soul and the spiritual needs. It's hard and mundane work to care for physical needs.

Amy Carmichael once said, "One cannot save and then pitchfork souls into heaven. There are times I heartily wish we could. But souls, in India at least, are more or less securely fastened to bodies. Bodies can't be left to lie about in the open and as you can't get the souls out and deal with the separately, you have to take them both together."

What does James say in James 1:27? "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." (ESV)



Holiness Day by Day

"Work or Trust?"
Psalm 62:8

Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah
(ESV)

Sometimes we talk about "letting the Lord live through me." Is this really what happens? Is our walk with God really this passive? More realistically, as I depend on him, he enables me to live a life that is pleasing to him!

The author relates a struggle that he was having in loving a particular brother. He asked God to love the man through him. What happened instead, was that God enabled him to love the man. "We are not passive in the pursuit of holiness. We are the ones who love. We are the ones who clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, gentleness, and patience (Colossians 3:12)." But we accomplish this through complete trust in God.

Some say that we can do nothing but trust, and it is God's responsibility to work. This is troubling. God enables. We must trust and work. Just like the old hymn says: "Trust and obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey."



Father, I praise you that your blessings never cease. I have truly been a recipient of your blessings throughout my life. Even when times are difficult, I can still see your blessings! I thank you that you have given me eyes to see them. Let me never get so bogged down in my troubles that I can't see your blessing.

I pray, Father, that I would have more of a heart to give physical help to those who need it. And let me never look down on another Christian because of their age, whether it be older or younger. We are all your children and all deserve the same respect.

I also pray that there will be a healthy balance of trust and work in my walk with you. Let me never get too much on one side or the other. Too much work with not enough trust tends to cause us to "burn out" and get weary. But not enough work makes us lazy in our faith, and we truly won't grow properly. So I ask for a good balance in my life.



I pray that all who read this might have a refreshing time of worship today somewhere.

Grace and peace, friends.



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