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Stewarding Your Life

I've been there.  I finally figured it out, overcome a hurdle, broken through a roadblock, or achieved a goal. It feels so good.  I've "arrived"! I like this feeling.  I feel empowered, free, on top of the world.  I want to stay here forever. I've found my zone.  But now I have a new responsibility - I need to steward this new experience for God's glory.  I need to ask Him how He wants me to use my new-found freedom.  I doubt that God released this in me so that I could just benefit myself. Tunnel vision isn't good in the long run.  Granted, in order to achieve my above accomplishment I utilized a healthy dose of tunnel vision - or intense focus. But then I need to broaden my focus again and figure out where I am now in the grand scheme of things and how this new "thing" fits into the bigger picture. Have you ever seen or heard about the wheel of life? Picture a pie and each slice represents areas of your life that you can impact.  D
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Worship

Stewardship involves every area of our lives.  Even our worship and opinions (nice word for judgment of others). My small group Bible study is reading through Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline and this month's chapter was Corporate Worship.  Of the four couples, all of us had recently experienced times where secular songs were used in a worship environment.  Some of us liked it, some tolerated it, and some flat out didn't like it.  The question was asked, "where do you draw the line of what is worship and what isn't?"  Foster says, “Christ alone is the leader of worship, and it is He who decides what is needed and when it is needed. Christ puts His Word in the mouth of whomever He chooses, and He confirms this same Word in the hearts of the members of His community. Worship forms/elements are essential if we are to enflesh the reality of worship, however, what we are to be committed to is reality---real worship, real confession, real
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Love and Obedience

I just finished up the Bible study called "What Love Is" by Kelly Minter.  Our church women's ministry sponsored it, and my small group was "real" together.  We pressed through 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John in 6 weeks.  Learning much about what love is - and isn't.  Here are a few nuggets I want to remember.  The word "command" implies that obedience is necessary.  Obedience doesn't conjure up ideas of fun for me - in fact I often want to rebel from it.  However, God says that love and obedience go hand in hand - especially when we are showing our love to God. ************* And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.   I John 3:23 "We can't separate loving others from our belief in Jesus.  Both are intertwined.  Our confession of Him will lead to action, and true love in action will result from our knowing Him.  Belief without love can make
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