Dowie (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

Good morning ladies,

The word of the day is “dowie.”  My parents’ generation loved some funny songs.  One that is going to stick in my head for the rest of my life is a song called Turn Turn Turn.  It's about the different phases in life and how we all live within those seasons.  That's actually a really good representation of what each of us will face.  But, what is even better is that the song is pretty much taken straight out of the Bible.

There’s an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth:

A right time for birth and another for death,

A right time to plant and another to reap,

A right time to kill and another to heal,

A right time to destroy and another to construct,

A right time to cry and another to laugh,

A right time to lament and another to cheer,

A right time to make love and another to abstain,

A right time to embrace and another to part,

A right time to search and another to count your losses,

A right time to hold on and another to let go,

A right time to rip out and another to mend,

A right time to shut up and another to speak up,

A right time to love and another to hate,

A right time to wage war and another to make peace.

~Ecc 3:1-8

My question is: what season of life are you in right now?  My mentor talks to me often about understanding each season of life as being particular and important.  Never should we go through life and live haphazardly.  Instead, we need to take every opportunity to be in God's grace and will at all times.  My prayer is that you ask God to always be in the right place at the right time.  Of course this will not always happen, but the more we seek counsel from the Lord, the better chance we have of living in his will.  Do not live a dowie life of dullness, but be in the moment and run for God's plan.

Praying for you,

MO

Bushwa (Philippians 3:7-11)

Good morning ladies,

The word of the day is “bushwa.” I had to laugh when reading this word. It reminded me of one of my most favorite sections of the Bible. Paul was a pretty feisty character. When he used to preach, he wanted to make sure that he got the attention of the people to whom he was speaking. This meant that every now and again he had to shock people. And for that reason, this passage right here pretty much says that Paul sees anything that is void of the gospel to be rubbish, or in other words of that day… trash. I mean come on! What an incredible way to minister to people. You figure that they would either turn to Jesus, or away from him altogether. But, that's exactly what Paul wanted people to do – to make a decision.

“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.”

~Phil. 3:7-8

My question is: with what kind of fervor do you live out your own faith? The apostle Paul realized that if he was going to live for Jesus then he needed to be ready to give everything for him. And for this reason, he considered everything that he had to this point to be absolutely nothing. Anything less than a relationship with Jesus is bushwa, or rubbish.  My prayer this morning is that you sit in the knowledge of surpassing greatness of your relationship with the Savior. When you are ready to give everything to him, the Lord will do a mighty work in your life.

Praying for you,

Mo