Modern Day Outcasts

Yesterday morning I arrived at church in time to grab a small cup of coffee then get settled into my chair for Sunday School.  There was nothing unusual about this morning.  Since I am the secretary/treasurer for our Sunday School class, I got busy taking care of the administrative side of things.  Once that was done, Sunday School began!  Yes!  Time to learn more about Jesus and His Word!  Time to strengthen my relationship with Him!  All of a sudden there was a knock on the door followed by, "We need somebody to teach the youth class this morning their teacher isn't here."  Silence filled the room.  Nobody wanted to teach those young kids.  I said, "I'll do it."  I have very little experience working with youth but I knew they needed somebody.

I walked in and head their little sighs of disappointment that they weren't going to be left to themselves!  We began to take praises and prayer requests.  I asked them what they were studying and they gave me the book.  I started flipping through the pages looking for the lesson.  It was about their relationship with God via The Woman at the Well.  We dove into the lesson and got down to the fact that the woman was an outcast.  Jews and Samaritan's didn't associate with each other.  We discovered the woman had to go draw water in the heat of the day and that she had a long walk.  After we got through the details of the woman, the location of the well, and the distance she had to walk I asked them, "Who is your modern day outcast?"  "Who is the person that people stay away from, shun, and talk about because they don't dress like you, look like you, or have the clothes you do?" 

As Sunday School finished up I challenged them all to do two things this week:

1.  Read a bible verse each day.
2.  Go out of their way to say something nice to their modern day outcast or to do something nice for them.

It's easy to sit in our church pews and be comfortable with people who agree with us and who are like us.  What about you Christian?!!!  Who is your modern day outcast?!!!  I dare you this week to the very same challenge I gave those young teenagers.  Read one Bible Verse this week and do something nice for your modern day outcast.   We were the outcast all caught up in our sin.  Jesus visited us at the well and told us to go and sin no more.  So, get out there beyond your church pew and do something nice for somebody who is considered an outcast.

Blessings,
Alicia

How we treat others!

Every day God gives us opportunities to love others and show them His love.  Easy from the church pew isn't it?!!! Well, what about those who aren't so lovely and easy to get along with?  What about those brothers and sisters in Christ we sit in the pew with?!!

Come on Alicia, cut me some slack right?  After all Monday is the toughest day of the week right?!  Well, that was yesterday if you've forgotten and today is Tuesday!  Well, you don't know that a certain person I work with gets on my nerves, or  they act different.  Oh, and little sister seat-saver that sits on the second row piano side every week is always complaining about the music.  She just gets on my nerves. 

Luke 6:31-35 says: "If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you?  Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount.  But love your enemies, and do good and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.  Be merciful, just as your father is merciful." 

It isn't easy to always follow the Golden rule.  Satan is right there waiting each and every day to attack us where we are weak.  I too experience those same issues, trust me.

This week I want you to challenge you to ask the Lord to help you be mindful of His still small voice and to help you to treat others the same way you want to be treated!  It's a command!  It's in red letters which means it came straight from Jesus himself! 

Have a great day and God bless you!

In His unfailing love,
Alicia

Stay and away and there's a price to pay!

Have you ever said to yourself on a Sunday morning, "I'm just too tired to get up and go to church.  I'll just stay home and watch a sermon at home?!"  I"m sure we all are guilty of it.  I am.  I have done that before.  It's easy to stay away.  The devil is more than glad to help you find an excuse to stay away from God's house.  Satan hates Sundays.  As we all know, the longer you stay away the easier it becomes and sometimes the harder it is to go back to church. 

Well, I have a very modern day scenario for you.  Some of you know I've been loosing weight.  To date, I've lost 20.5 lbs.  Two weeks ago I was under the weather and didn't exercise all week.  Well, the following week didn't look much different.  I didn't exercise then either.  This morning I woke up at 5:45 and got on my exercise clothes and started exercising.  It felt like I'd just started.  You see, I  didn't have any excuse as to why I didn't exercise last week except pure laziness.  Yep, you heard me.  I was lazy for a solid week in my exercising.  Now, this week and next I'll really be paying the price for it. 

During the week you will pay some kind of price if you get lazy and don't read your Bible, don't pray, don't spend time with God, and don't attend corporate worship.  The devil will come in and have a hay day with you.  It will be for the entire week and you will feel MISERABLE.  1 Peter 5:8 says: "Be sober; be vigilant: because your adversary the devil, as a roarking lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour."KJV
You will find yourself on Friday saying "What a horrible week."

So, this week I'd like to challenge you to:

1.  Have a quiet time.  Spend time with God
2.  Go to church! YES..go to church and worship God
3.  Spend time in prayer with God...AND spend time listening...Yes, that means you have to be quiet and wait on Him!

Whatever you do, don't stay away from God and His Word so long that the devil has his way with you.

Because He lives,
Alicia Roark