Who's Counting On You?

We're Counting On You!

Does the thought of others counting on you frighten you a little, or maybe even a lot? Is it even "overwhelming" at times?

As a Christian, you count on Jesus every day. You count on His "Faithfulness." You count on His keeping you. You count on Him completing you. You count on Him for everything, or at least you "should" be counting on Him.

Psalm 91:4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. 

Have you ever thought about how many people count on "You"? Have you considered being someone people around you can count on? If you are in Christ and He is in you, then it should be natural to want to be faithful and be a person that others can count on. That is one of the key ways that people will see "Christ in you"!

Thousands of fans in Camden Yards baseball stadium stood to their feet on September 20, 1998 to honor one man, Cal Ripken, Jr. Exuberant fans cheered for twenty minutes, stopping the game to salute the Baltimore Orioles shortstop. Why? Other players had better statistics. Five other Orioles held higher batting averages that year; three hit more home runs.

The fans cheered Cal because he set the new record for most consecutive games played, which was 2,632. 

• They cheered his faithfulness.  

• He was dependable.  

• They knew they could count on Cal.

Did you know people are counting on you? You need to succeed not only for yourself, but also for those who are depending on you. I am learning this day by day as I work hard to become less that God might become more, through me. I am growing in Christ first, so that I might be able. Able to do what? Able to be faithful, first to my Lord and then, I can be faithful to those who count on me.  "That's a lot of pressure," you may be thinking. Sure it is, but we need that pressure. That's what keeps us going. If people weren't counting on us we would never reach our potential.

Take a minute and think about the people who are counting on you. Write their names on a list. There are probably more people than you realize. Revisit that list daily and see how many more people are added to that list as you realize, "They might not count on me for every need, nor should they, but many people count on me for some things." Am I a faithful man or woman of God? Do I show up for every game? Am I locked in my house and not out in the Church, the community, the marketplace, where people need what I have?

Begin every day by telling yourself, "Today, God, my family and my friends are counting on me. And I'm not going to let them down." Faithfulness starts with the little things of life. First be faithful in your relationship to the perfect Faithful One, Jesus.

A popular book says, "Don't sweat the small stuff." But there is some small stuff you need to sweat if you expect to get ahead. Jesus said, "You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things" (Matt 25:23). The more faithful you are, the larger your list will grow of people who count on you. That's a good thing. The world says it's not. The world says, count on your government, we know what's best for you. Are you going to be of the world or of the Kingdom of God?

You can't be perfect but you can be faithful and that's all God expects.

* Steve

Become a Good Listener, It is a Lost Art

This new blog is for the feeding of the Body of Christ, the Church. It is meant to motivate, encourage, lift up and inspire Christian growth in Christ. It is about Transformation, Reconciliation and Glorification of God. It is not about any man or the doctrines of man.

As children of God, we must always strive to love one another, edify one another and even lay down our lives for one another. Pastors, are simply members of the Body, who are called by God to (1) dedicate themselves to the Word and to Prayer. There really is no number (2). You can best support your pastor by learning how to listen. He can best support you by learning how to listen. God can best support us all, as we learn to listen.

Yes, pastors have many duties and responsibilities, but it always comes back to the Word and Prayer. How can a pastor be effective at preaching if he isn't filling himself with the Word and then by Prayer, LISTENING for the voice of God?

How can a pastor feed God's sheep in other ways, such as visitation, counseling, teaching, encouraging, setting an example to follow, and loving everyone he meets, without filling himself with the Word and then by Prayer, LISTENING for the voice of God?

How can a pastor LISTEN to the people he is called to feed and reach for Christ, if he doesn't fill himself with the Word, then Pray and then wait before God to HEAR Him?

One of the greatest lessons we can learn , as we seek to draw closer to God, is to become good listeners!

If we can't listen to our Brothers and Sisters in the Body of Christ, how will we know how to encourage them? If we can't listen to the Lost, how will we know their hearts and see that they are lost?


If we can't LISTEN to the Lost or the Saved, how can we LISTEN to GOD!


Here are some truths about Listening;

• Listening is a lost art.

We are bombarded by so many images from television, computers, iPods, BlackBerrys, pagers, faxes,and junk mail, that we all have a form of attention deficient disorder. We've lost the art of concentrating our attention. If a television show doesn't grab our attention in the first two minutes, we pick up the remote and change channels. If we are listening to someone who doesn't get right to the point, we tune out.

This lost art of listening leaves an ever widening hole in our lives. It might take the form of a vague sense of discontent, sadness or deprivation, which can lead to depression. We don't know what's wrong or how to fix it.

We hurt each other unnecessarily by failing to acknowledge what the other person has to say.

• To listen well, we must forget ourselves and submit to the other person's need for attention.

 Often we don't hear what the speaker is saying because something in the speaker's message triggers an emotion in us that draws us into ourselves, rather than into the speaker. Hurt, anger, discouragement, disagreement, anxiety and other emotions cause misunderstandings and conflict.

To become better listeners, and to transform relationships, we must identify and harness the emotional triggers that generate anxiety and cause misunderstandings and conflicts.

I have noticed that my relationships cycle between closeness and distance and, even more important, how I could influence those cycles by the quality of my own  listening.

We can only hear God, through His Word, if we learn to do as Romans 8:1-3 instructs, ¹Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. ²Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. 

Listening requires a sacrifice. Listening to our fellow man and listening to our God. Die to self, and you then can be transformed into a Good Listener. 

 

Here are a few suggestions to help you become a better listener;

• Learn the difference between listening and just taking turns talking

• Hear what people mean, not just what they say

• Learn to give support, not unwanted advice

• Reduce arguments by being an active listener

• Practice listening on someone you really dislike talking with. You just might find they have something worth hearing. You will also bless them by showing that you care.

If you are willing to make an effort and set your needs to one side for a time, you will become a good listener. Pastor's really need you to listen. They work hard to prepare a meal, you need to eat it.

* portions adapted from The Lost Art of Listening by Michael P. Nichols, PhD.

IT'S TIME FOR A CHANGE

It has been encouraging to me and hopefully some of you to have what I called Steve's Connection Blog. It has helped me focus on what God is doing and seeing the wonders of His Grace all around.

My spiritual eyes have been opened like never before. God's Grace has bathed me daily, during a difficult time. I will be making one final post to "Steve's Connection Blog" and leave it posted for a few weeks, but it is time for a change.

It is time for a change of focus off of "me" and onto "Him." Him, being the King of kings, Lord of lords and Master of all, Jesus!

I hesitate to start this new blog by saying anything about "myself", but for God's Glory, please allow me to share this simple testimony and then bury Steve once and for all.

My heart, by the Grace of God, truly has become as David's, when he cried out to God, after his pride and sin had been exposed;

Psalm 51

 ¹Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
 ²Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
 ³For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
 ⁴Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
 ⁵Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
 ⁶Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
 ⁷Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
 ⁸Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
 ⁹Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
 ¹⁰Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
 ¹¹Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
 ¹²Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
 ¹³Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
 ¹⁴Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
 ¹⁵O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
 ¹⁶For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
 ¹⁷The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
 ¹⁸Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
 ¹⁹Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar. (KJV)

The key to my heart's desire has been turned by the hand of God and now, I can serve my Lord and not myself.

 ¹²Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

 ¹³Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

I want to encourage everyone to let Christ turn that key for you and then, when the prison door is open wide, don't wait forty years in an unlocked cell, before you walk out into the Light of His Mercy.


Now I can not only say, but actually live, as the Word so simply and beautifully puts it;

Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

 

Now He, Not I