Final Thoughts on Complaining

Wow! God reveals so much through His Word I could never post it all here! I am amazed by His goodness, His grace, His love!

As I finish up this week, I am left with a couple of thoughts: everything I do and say reflect Christ; as I am a Christian. (Colossians 3:17)

Am representing Him appropriately?
Are people drawn to Christ through the way I live my life and the words I say?
Am I bringing glory to His name?
What changes do I need to make in my life to honor Christ?

I should do ALL things without complaining or arguing. When I do this I become blameless and pure, without fault. I will shine like the stars in this dark world. I will stand out because this is so different than the way the world does things. (Philippians 2:14-15)

Lord, I desire to reflect You at all times in my life... Even when I am tempted to complain and argue. I am blessed and I thank You for Your blessings upon my life! Lord, love through me so that I can reach this world for you!

And here's a picture of my 6 year studying with me as we study the complaining tabs: we had a very different kind of week last week due to sickness, but we were able to dig a little deeper!

 

Have a great weekend! See you Monday!

Complaining and Being Thankful

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and over-flowing with thankfulness." Colossians 2:6-7

Continue to live in Christ Jesus like you did when you first received..

Remember when you first received Christ, you were so excited and you were growing. Everything was so grand and great. Then, the new wears off and you slip back into life as usual, if you are not careful.

The Bible says we need to be "rooted and built up IN HIM," because then we will be "strenghened in the faith." We will be overflowing with thankfulness.

We live in a world of, "you can't get enough." "More is better." Just look around everything offers biggie size now...and not just food. That is such a lie of the enemy. He wants us to believe that, but when we are "OVERFLOWING with thankfulness," we tend to forget the things we do not have. We do not have room to complain. We realize we are entirely too blessed to complain.

At church on Wednesday night, we finished up a series on the ten commandments. We were talking about "Do not covet." So, to reverse coveting, the children made lists of things they were thankful for. It is amazing at the list of things once we start to thinking of all the things God has truely blessed us with. The kids were so excited and joyful. It was amazing to see them light up when they began to list what all God had blessed them with.

If you are feeling down today, I encourage you to make a list of things that you are thankful for. I promise you, you will realize how blessed you are and forget what it is you lack. God is more than enough.

Complaining

“For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things stored up in him.“ Matthew 12:34b-35

I love using the dictionary even on words I know the meaning to. It seems to bring such a visual for me. So, lets start with a definition.
Overflow means to fill a space to capacity and spread beyond its limits.

I was at a restaurant the other evening and as I was filling my drink, the tray began to overflow because their was a problem with the machine. But if you know me, I was making a little scene and quickly told a worker. It did catch others attention due to my excitement … I mean come on, water was flowing everywhere. Would it have gotten my attention and everyone else’s if it weren’t overflowing? No! I would have filled my drink and I wouldn’t even remember the incident.

What overflows is definitely seen, whether good or bad.

Our heart is my personality, disposition, the emotional or moral as distinguished from the intellectual nature, one’s innermost character, the central or innermost part, the center.

Disposition is our temperamental makeup, the tendency of something to act in a certain manner under given circumstances mood, prevailing tendency, or inclination.

What is my tendency? How do I normally respond to situations? At home? Is it different than when around others? Who am I when no one look? Do I desire to change the way I respond to situations?

The mouth speaks..

Whatever is in my heart, whether good or bad, will overflow in the way I live my life, the words I say. It will get the attention of others, especially my children.

Good heart = good lifestyle

Bad heart = bad lifestyle

What do I store in my heart? Do I have my heart filled with God’s Word? Do I create an atmosphere for my children to have their heart filled with God’s Word? Do I fill their heart with things of this world? Do I fill their heart with too much tv? What do I expose my children to? Their actions will overflow with what’s in their heart. What is in their heart is a combination of all the things they experience. Only God’s Word can truly transform their hearts. But we have to have renewal time in Jesus.

We can’t solve our heart issues by cleaning up our speech and actions. We must follow the Holy Spirit to lead us to new attitudes and motives. When this happens, my life is cleansed at the source.