Encouraging Word

Leave a legacy before it is too late. My grandfather on my dad’s side was a poet, writer and hymn writer. He realized that his family was his deepest treasure, and before he died, he had all of his writing bound in books, and gave one to each of his children and grandchildren. That was way before it was as easy to do as it is now. He knew that the words he had written would be lost, had he not printed them for his children to pass on. He left a legacy that I treasure. We are to redeem the time. Redeeming the time means to make the most of our time. We are not to waste it, or squander it. Material things are temporary, but our influence lasts a lifetime and beyond. Eph 5:15-17 actually says to make the most of how you live….redeem the time. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but try to understand what the Lord wants you to do. What lasting impression do you want to leave? It is never too early to start, so why not start today. What do you want the people around you to remember you for? They want more than your dishes or the pictures on your wall. They want a deposit of you in their life. Things are temporary, but relationships are lasting. The most important thing you can leave behind is your desire to follow the will of God, and obey what God has called you to do. Obedience is the way to walk in the blessing of God, and what a great legacy to leave behind, that you knew God, and accomplished what He put you on the earth for! That is a great example for your children to follow.

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Admit your need, and go to God. Begin to exercise your faith in small areas. Become optimistic, and then look around to help someone else. When you are feeling empty and drained by the circumstances you are in, the best thing you can do is to look for others in that same condition (or worse) and begin pouring into them. James 5 tells us to be praying for others, but the cool thing is when we do, we can receive healing as well. When we put that together with Mark 10:27, we can remember that, ALL things are possible with God. Then add the scripture in II Cor 1:3,4 where we see that the areas God has comforted us will very often be the same way that God will use us to comfort someone else. The word ministry actually means help. The ministers at your church are there to prepare you and I for the work of the ministry as it says in Eph 4:11. So the helpers, pastors, teachers, leaders at your church body are there to prepare you to be a helper to somebody else. It seems easy when it is put that way! We can all offer some help. So what can you do to help? Most of the time, it isn’t necessarily spiritual. It can be, but often help can very natural. It can be helping someone move, bringing someone a meal, watching someone’s children, going grocery shopping, helping tutor a child, teaching English to a foreigner, or driving someone to a doctor’s appointment. When we help others, very soon we will find that our needs are met in the process. Living as a giver and a helper is a fantastic way to live a no regrets life. Find someone to help today!

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We are trying something new to make it easier for you to get your dailyeword. You can still listen to KAGF and hear me throughout the day. You can still find it on Facebook at your dailyeword.com and on the AGF website and either read or listen to the podcast. Since it seemed to be most easily accessible when encouraging word was sent directly to your email, we are going to add that back as an option, and send a full week of ewords, once a week, that you can read on your own time frame. (Call the church office at 736-0727 and give us your current email address if you would like to be added to the list )Blessings!

Intro:
Blessings to you today! Hi, this is Dorette Schaal with your dailyeword. I hope you have accepted the challenge to join our church staff and many of our body to live a life without regrets. Instead of making all kinds of New Year’s resolutions, if we can, as believers, decide to live a life without regrets, our life will be better, not only this month, but all through this year and our lifetime. Thanks for joining us on this month long journey. We are almost done! This can be the beginning of living your best life ever. Here is your dailyeword.

Day 21
Integrity…being the same, at home, at church, at work, as you drive, as you live! The Bible says that God is pleased with integrity (I Chron 29:17). Integrity involves adherence to moral and ethical standards, soundness of moral character, honesty, the state of being whole, entire, undiminished. It also means unimpaired, sound, and in perfect condition. Integrity makes us honest. I love the quote by Chris Shook that says “the more you love, the less you lie.” Love gives you the courage to tell the truth. A no regrets life is a truthful life. I read somewhere recently that the average person lies 11 times a week. Surprisingly, that didn’t surprise me that much. As unbelievable as that statistic is, we live in world where it isn’t unusual to catch people in lies all the time. Let’s be those who live in the truth. The love of God in our hearts gives us the courage to tell the truth. The more we lean on and experience the love of God, the more truthful we should be. We should be such people of integrity that those around us would be shocked if we ever spoke an untruth. To live with no regrets, we can make the choice to watch what we say, watch how we say it, and then let our lives speak truth just by how we live. That is called integrity, and that will lead to a no regrets life.

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In a fallen world, life will have losses. People fail us. Aging parents get don’t live forever. Things in our world can fall through. Faith can be shaken, but foundations can be strengthened even in the midst of difficult circumstances. If we want a firm foundation, we have to place our life on the Rock. (Matt 7:24,25). This earth has a curse on it. It groans because of it. It gets shaken because of evil. For the believer, we can live above the curse, because Jesus reversed the curse for us. We can live above our circumstances because our God is greater. He can carry us above the storms and tempests. I often see the picture of the clouds in the sky. When a storm is happening on earth, we forget that the sky above the clouds is still blue. As Christians that’s how we can see life. Even if there is a storm happening around us, we know the sky is blue. We can rise above the storm as we cast our cares on the Lord. His strength and mighty arm will carry us through. So be encouraged even if you are in the midst of a storm at the moment, storms don’t last forever. You can outride it because God is with you. You can give courage to others who are in storms that are trying to take them out. Your courage and confidence can strengthen them as you lead them to trust in the Lord.

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Changing from the inside out. Are you so glad that when we come to Christ we are not required to get ourselves cleaned up first? God takes us just like we are. He cleans us up from the inside out. In fact, that is really the only effective way to change. Just ask someone who is trying to make a change in their life. Can you really change who you are on the outside without first making a change on the inside? It really isn’t possible if you want long lasting, and even lifetime results. Just ask someone who worked hard for 6 months to lose weight, only to gain it back in the next year. Outside changes are most effective when the heart changes. It works with outward circumstances too. If we are restless, we need to depend on the strength of the Lord to have our soul be stilled. We can ask God to do it, or we can speak peace to our own soul by remembering God’s promises, and rehearsing the victories of the past. If God wouldn’t have been there for me, I would never have made it is the sentiment in Psalms 94. How many of us can agree with those verses? How could we have made it through unbelievable circumstances had it not been for the peace of God that passes all understanding. How can we live today, tomorrow and all the rest of the days of our life without realizing that without God, it is impossible, but with GOD, all things are possible. What an amazing truth, and what an awesome way to live! With God, we can accomplish what He has put in my heart to accomplish! NO REGRETS!

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What kind of people do you live with? Do you think that nobody knows the trouble you have to deal with? I know that sounds funny, but how often do we think that? No one can relate to the crazy people I live with, or the circumstances I have to deal with or the boss I have to work for. Well, even if you feel that way, our relationships can improve. Our circumstances can improve. We can get along with our coworkers, and enjoy our boss. How does that happen? One huge way is to pray about everything. Don’t just settle for how things are. Make a choice to ask God to work on your behalf in each of those situations. Remember the scripture that says NOTHINGS IS TOO DIFFICULT for God. Your situation is not too hard. God can help the rough edges become smoother as we lay our lives before God and ask to be a tool in His hand to minister peace to the ones we are around. Our reaction to any situation is what is powerful. We make a choice to bring more peace, or to bring more turmoil by the words we speak and the attitudes we hold. Choose today to live with no regrets, bringing peace to our relationships, and living life

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You’ve probably heard of conflict management. You might know it better by the term fighting fair! One of the most important valleys to navigate is conflict. Whether in marriage, on the job, with your kids, or anywhere, learning how to deal constructively with conflict is a learned skill, and one that get you on the road to better and better relationships. Instead of brushing things under the rug, or ignoring problems, we need to take Norman Swartzkopf’s approach to life….never walk past a problem. Fighters have different strategies. One might try to wear the other down. One might say my way or the highway, some might throw in the towel, so might try a give and take resolution, and others might stay in the ring until they come to a mutual decision that is best for both. Do you fit one of those categories in how you deal with conflict? Conflict is the place we need to realize that we are on the same team. We do want to make it to the same goal and we are committed to maintaining respect for each other even if it means that you agree to disagree. We do need to include God in our relationship conflicts. Ask for His wisdom. He brings peace in the midst of turmoil, and He has given us the ministry of reconciliation so as believers we should always be able to reconcile. No regrets living means we resolve conflict. That kind of living brings peace to our homes!

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Once you have experienced love, you realize that it is wider and deeper than we can even fathom with our human brain. God’s love is so complete that He totally washes away our sin, and removes it from us, as far as the east is from the west. I love what Corrie Ten Boom used to say. God puts our sin in the lake of forgetfulness, and puts up a sign that says NO FISHING! God’s love covers our sin. It is removed, it is forgotten. Humans often are grudge holders. We get offended, we carry someone else’s offense, and often we get derailed. Unforgiveness is like being in handcuffs. It binds us up. Often the other person goes on with their life, but we get stuck, can’t move or do anything, paralyzed because we are holding bitterness, resentment and unforgiveness. Part of the Lord’s prayer says this:
“Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors”
God assumes that since we have been forgiven much, we will forgive much. You would think that would come naturally for us humans, but it doesn’t. We have to make a choice to forgive. We have to choose not to walk in offenses. We have to make a conscious decision not to harbor ill feelings toward anyone. Sure we have the opportunity. But the choice is ours….a no regrets life is one where forgiveness flows freely. We have been loved, let’s love and forgive lavishly!

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Teamwork and unity are key ingredients to living a life of no regrets. We are not lone rangers. We cannot do life by ourselves. God sets us in a family when we are born again, and He wants us to do life together. You’ve heard the overused saying that there is no I in TEAM. It brings the idea that teamwork takes priority over individual achievement; we win as a team & we lose as a team.” Because of the many ways we can individually worship God, we sometimes forget that it is not just about me and God. It starts there, but He has placed us in a family of believers, where you go to church, that should be functioning as a unified team. We shouldn’t be warring with one another over silly issues. We should be looking at the big picture and really walking in love and forgiveness, helping, serving, and blessing others. You may think that is unattainable, but the world will know we are Christians by our love. They should see us working together and being unified. So my challenge for you today is, look at the relationships in your own home. If you are married, can the world see Jesus in your relationship with your spouse? Are you demonstrating how Christ loved the church with your spouse? How about your kids, or others who may live in your home. Can the world see Jesus by how you love? Can they see unity and teamwork? Can they see how forgiveness works and how not to carry offenses? I hope so. If not, today would be a great day to begin to see a change. Each change takes a choice. Make one today!

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This faith walk seems like a risky life! Trust is a word that rattles our brains, because most of us like to know what is happening, why it is happening, how to prevent it, or how to make it continue. Trusting means not leaning on what we may already know, but leaning on God. It takes being open to what God has for us. It takes risks. Where are you most likely to take a risk, in your personal life, in your professional life, in your relational life, or in your spiritual life? Most of us are seeking the most comfortable way to make it through another day. Comfort can make us lazy. Comfort can keep us on the couch. Comfort can make us sour. Staying comfortable, and choosing not to reach out, branch out or take a risk is like living in a swamp. The water gets murky, because there is an inflow, but not an outflow. We are blessed to be a blessing. We aren’t just blessed to be a swamp! We are blessed to be a river of blessing to someone else. So today, during your time with God, ask Him to help make you more like a river, and less like a swamp. Take some of the opportunities that are presented to you and find a way to bless someone. There are so many ways your life can touch someone else. That is a great beginning to living a no regrets life.

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