Vacuum Floors…Check<\/p>\n
Remove Stains from Couch…Check<\/p>\n
Oil Change…Check<\/p>\n
Make Lunch…Check<\/p>\n
Live Comfortably…Check<\/p>\n
Invite the New Uncultured Family from Church…<\/p>\n
Participate in Children Mentorship Program…<\/p>\n
Visit the Retirement\u00a0Home…<\/p>\n
Offer to Take the Neighbor’s Kids for the Day…<\/p>\n
Live Uncomfortably…<\/p>\n
This morning I am reminded. As I prepare my home. Clean and decrease the clutter. Preparing for our friends to\u00a0visit this weekend.<\/p>\n
In the first year as\u00a0newly weds, I dreaded having anyone over. I always felt awkward. What if they don’t like the food? How do I tell them to take off their shoes? When do I serve dessert? What if one of the kids pees on the floor? We don’t have enough room in our little trailer. On and on. I did not understand hospitality. I was afraid and insecure. God’s love did not rest in my heart in this matter.<\/p>\n
In those days I wanted everything to be comfortable, perfect. Hospitality was more of a show than the gift of love. Hospitality was about me and not about my guests.<\/p>\n
Now, this morning I feel in my heart, God’s gentle whisper. What about the least of these? It is easy, comfortable to serve your family and friends. They know you. They love you, but what about the rest? What about the rest of My children?<\/p>\n
Uncomfortable\u00a0is difficult, stretching, challenging. Comfortable feels good, normal, natural. However, comfortable is dangerous. Comfortable leads us to a life of ignoring, refusing God. And a rebellious life like that can lead to an eternity of pain.<\/p>\n
God’s word teaches us in Matthew 25: 41-46<\/p>\n
41\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cThen the King will turn to those on the left and say, \u2018Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.<\/span><\/span>\u00a042\u00a0<\/sup>For I was hungry, and you didn\u2019t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn\u2019t give me a drink.<\/span><\/span> 43\u00a0<\/sup>I was a stranger, and you didn\u2019t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn\u2019t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn\u2019t visit me.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/em>44\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cThen they will reply, \u2018Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/em>45\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cAnd he will answer, \u2018I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/em>46\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u201cAnd they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.\u201d<\/em> NLT<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Are our eyes open to opportunity? Opportunity to serve God through serving others.<\/p>\n It is not easy. It is not natural. I struggle in this area. I struggle living uncomfortably for God.<\/p>\n Yet I see, as I think about the evening meal for my guests. I see that God wants me to be stretched. God wants me to let go more and more of myself and put on more and more of His character.<\/p>\n In His character, striving for His likeness, the uncomfortable will be less and less resisted. The uncomfortable living will come from a surrendered, willing heart. A heart that loves Jesus. A heart that loves in loving others.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Philippians 1:11\u00a0being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.<\/em> NKJV<\/p>\n Romans 12:2\u00a0Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.<\/em> ESV<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Vacuum Floors…Check Remove Stains from Couch…Check Oil Change…Check Make Lunch…Check Live Comfortably…Check Invite the New Uncultured Family from Church… Participate in Children Mentorship Program… Visit the Retirement\u00a0Home… Offer to Take the Neighbor’s Kids for the Day… Live Uncomfortably… This morning I am reminded. As I prepare my home. Clean and decrease the clutter. Preparing for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","sharing_disabled":false,"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[31,35,8],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/praline-27-61.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7NWg5-99","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=567"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":568,"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567\/revisions\/568"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}