Category Archives: hope and motivation

by

Your First, Your Best, As Long As You Last

Indeed there are those who are last who will be first and first who will be last. Luke 13:30

EVERGREEN COMMUNITY CHURCH is all about saving the Last, the Lost, the Least. We know what this world is going through and we believe the local church is the HOPE of the world.

Then they asked him, What must we do to do the works God requires? John 6:28

WORSHIP– Do this corporately with a church family. Sing praises to God, allowing your thoughts to be conditioned to see and hear blessings instead of troubles. Also worship privately, my ideal place to worship is outside in nature. To revel in God’s glory while rowing across a sun-kissed lake at sunset is the best feeling in the world, I can do anything with God’s strength in those moments!

STUDY-In order to understand what God is telling you in times of worship, in order to make thoughtful, God-centered decisions, you need to know him. You cannot know Him without studying his word. Through podcasts, reading and writing, you can get a better sense of what you need to do to stay on the beam.

SERVICE-In order to practice the teachings you learn, in order to get better at building relationships and in order to further God’s kingdom, you need to work in God’s house. And believe me, you get way more out of it than the hard work you put into it.

SACRIFICE-I am an extremist. An all-or-nothing kinda gal. So when I intially think of sacrifice I think I must flog myself at every turn, give all my money away and live with the lepers. This is not what God means with sacrifice. It actually means:

Honor God with EVERYTHING you own; give him the first and the best. Your barns will burst, your wine vats will brim over. Proverbs 3:9-10

Doesn’t seem so sacrificial does it?

God wants the best for His children. He wants us to succeed. He desires a relationship with us. When we put God first, everything else is first-class.

Advertisement
by

Best-Case Revolution

“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” –Dale Carnegie
Many of us have heard or read the story of Jonathan and his armor-bearer (1 Samuel 14.) Most of the time it is used to illustrate the presence of the armor-bearer and his undying loyalty to Jonathan that he would follow him up a steep cliff to attack a large gang of Philistines. What struck me was the idea that prior to their attack, in which the two young men killed twenty enemies before anyone really got wind of it, was what was happening back at the camp. King Saul was chilling with his 600 men; eating pomegranates and wondering how in the heck he was gonna grow his troops and defeat the Philistines. While they were comfortably pondering, Jonathan and his armor-bearer snuck away and started a ruckus so loud that Israelites and Philistines alike came running to see the fuss. What ensued was Philistines killing Philistines, Israelites who had defected to the enemies’ side came back, the Israelites who ran and hid came back and King Saul’s army grew to ten thousand. Just because one kid and his armor-bearer decided, “what’s the worst that could happen?” I’d like to be more like Jonathan and less like King Saul. I mean, c’mon, what’s the worst that could happen?