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response to what God is doing



This past week I challenged our church staff to join me in memorizing some verses.  I also asked from of our church peeps to join in too.  Now it is your turn.  Will you join me?

The verses below is part of what I shared Sunday morning and is also the passage that I asked people to memorize with me.  Read through it a few times…

Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God.  Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.  And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

As we talked about yesterday, when God changes us there are responses that we should have.  Thanks.  Joy.  Continued expectation that God keeps on working.

These verses popped out at me last week in a big way.  God changes us and leaves us very different.  That is something that we all should strive for and want more of.  Hope that makes sense.  I sat last night listening to several people talk about how God has changed their lives, and I have to admit that it never gets old.

Those verses speak from the past.  But they also step forward anticipating a great future.  When Paul wrote “every time I think of you”, he is doing one thing we all do pretty well.  That is remembering.  Things from our past stick out in our minds.  They are points of learning and of historical and personal value.  There are many spiritual times that stick out in my mind, and they leave me thanking God.

Another huge part of growing in our faith is the fact that prayer has become an even more important part of our lives.  It does us good, makes us happy and even fills us with joy when we pray for the people we care about.

It really is all about the spreading of the Good News of Jesus.  As Colossians 1:6 says the truth that changed us is still changing others.  By our testimonies, our serving and our worshipping we are leading people to see, experience and come to know Jesus.  We are partners in this.  Back to the point of Paul remembering, it is incredible to see that we are all on the same team and sharing with more people that Jesus saves.

The verses above ends with the conviction that God is still at work.  He began working in our lives some time ago.  God will continue to work in our lives.  We are convinced that God is doing awesome work in us and through us.

I pray that we will be people who are thankful and have lots of joy.  I pray that we recognize what God is doing and that He is not done.  May our response to what God is doing lead others to meet our God.

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