Tag: service

There’s Beauty in Work

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As we are coming down to the end of the week, most are ready to divorce themselves from the idea of and the word work. Looking forward to the weekend ahead, attaching oneself to the daily grind is the last thing on the mind.

But today I want to encourage you just in case the daily grind has been grinding too hard, and you may feel a little discouraged – there is beauty in the work that you do. Your labor, assignments, business, and service you do for others matters and is to be respected.

Now, before you take a weary second glance at the words beauty and work coming together as one in the title, I want you to consider a few things that make work beautiful. But before we get to that, I want to reassure you that work is something many struggle with daily. Even the most stout-hearted and dedicated individuals will have times when they must muster up their willpower and grudgingly, get on with their day.

Work is honorable. In the very beginning, when God created Adam, one of the first things He did was give Adam jobs to do such as grounds to till and animals to name (Genesis 2:15, 19, 20).

Our Heavenly Father is a worker, and He has never promoted laziness or idleness amongst His children (see Proverbs 6:6, 9-11; 2 Thessalonians 3:10, and many more).

He is a very on-purpose God, and I believe being made in His image that we are people of purpose. We each have tasks that we can do and, in their doing, we can bring glory to our Heavenly Father (Colossians 3:23, 24).

Work produces. One of my favorite things to watch on streaming devices is videos about modern homesteading. And if I have learned anything from them it is this, if you are going to venture into this lifestyle, to have any sort of farm or productive garden and the like, it is going to take work, and lots of it.

But at the end of it all, my friends, there is a harvest. And it is only through the effort one puts into what they do that will allow them to see a reward in the end.

Your work doesn’t have to involve farmwork to reap a harvest of produce. Production comes from the efforts of any work be it at home with the kids, behind a desk in the office, in the operating room, walking the police beat, or any of the multitudes of services of employment offered through and to people.

Whatever and wherever your place of employment finds you, you will produce a result from what you put into a job well done.

And when that job is well done, it brings not only productivity and harvests, but it brings its own measure of satisfaction.

Two of my favorite times of the day are in the morning when the day is still new and there’s nothing but possibilities ahead. And then there is the tucking in at night when the jobs of the day are done. It is with great satisfaction that I put the day to rest knowing that I did my best, knowing that none of my work is in vain.

Work is not an ugly word. It is very beautiful and what comes at the end of it, no matter what form it takes, is very beautiful as well.

“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” Ecclesiastes 9:10

Text Free Image by congerdesign from Pixabay

Head on over to “You Have to Work It!” for another encouraging read and be blessed.

Copyright © Word For Life Says.com (Sharing any posts or lessons can only be done through the share buttons provided on this site from the original posts, lessons, and articles only. You can reblog from the original posts only using the reblog button provided, or share using the share buttons provided from these social media platforms: Facebook, X, or Pinterest, etc., and they must be shared from the original posts only. All other repostings are prohibited. Posts and other items of interest found on this site MAY NOT BE COPIED AND PASTED, downloaded, uploaded, etc to another website or entity not listed (physical or electronic).  See COPYRIGHT PAGE for more details. 

Daughters of Grace | Her Excellence Within

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As a woman of God, a daughter of grace, are we any more beautiful than when we are reflecting the character of our Father?

Graciousness, for women, often applies to her poise, her friendly and welcoming demeanor, manners, status, and more. But, oh, my friends, she is so much more. Those things may describe what people see, but her true excellence comes from within.

Inwardly, she is known and loved by God. Inwardly, His salve of grace has covered her wrongs, hurts, and scars. Inwardly, she has received a holy covering, and she cannot help but cover those she meets in the same manner. Inwardly, she has been touched and transformed by the Father, and in turn, she wants to touch those around her in an authentic and meaningful way.

She is true for people and not a woman of pretense. Sincerity is the rule of her heart. The changed heart inside of her won’t let her be anything but. She sees the personal beyond the people. She is solicitous in her concern for others. She pays attention to them. People and their circumstances matter to her.

She loves the way her Father taught her to love, thinking of others before herself. She seeks to put their needs ahead of her own, selflessly moving through this generation with compassion as her guide, being a vessel fit for the Master’s use (2 Timothy 2:21).

So, she shares her heart through her words, ready to bless, encourage, and lift others with the power of her tongue. She shares her heart through service, loving people through acts of selflessness. This gracious woman adorns herself not with merely external adornments of this world but with “bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering” (Colossians 3:12).

She is her Father’s daughter, ready to pour grace into the heart that needs it. As He loves, so she seeks to love. As He operates, she wants her life to echo the image of what He desires from one’s heart, will, and mind. She wants her footsteps to mimic His as she walks through this life distributing kindness, gentleness, and compassion; cultivating love, and expressing to those she meets the true beauty of what it means to be a child of God, a daughter of grace.

“A gracious woman retaineth honour…” Proverbs 11:16

Where can you pour extra grace into a life today? Your actions, no matter how small, may be the largest act of kindness another receives today. I encourage you, don’t hold back. Pour, dear daughter of God, pour out His love, and let it overflow into the lives of others. You may never know the impact it makes, but no small deed done for the Lord will ever be insignificant.

For more encouragement, check out this poem I previously wrote titled Within.

Photo by Marina Abrosimova on Pexels.com

Are You Willing?

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My friend, if you are willing, that means you have a heart prepared to go and do what others may not be willing to do.  You see the possibilities and enthusiastically embrace and receive what may be ahead simply because the Master wants to use you.

Willingness for what?  Ah, my friend, only you can answer that question because only you can know the call you have been hearing or the pull in a certain direction that you have been feeling.  But it is not until the feet of faith have moved to the fulfillment of those things does your willingness shine through.

And shine you will.  For those who respond to God’s drawing in to follow and fulfill – that one, moving in obedience, shines, for “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” Matthew 5:14, 16.

That three-letter word “let” is asking for your permission to be allowed to be used by Him.  It’s asking are you willing?  Are you ready to respond in the affirmative with a steadfast “Yes”?

Second Corinthians 9:7 reminds us that God loves a cheerful giver.  Stretch that possibility beyond the gathering of an offering to be worked out in our everyday lives.  Are we cheerfully giving of ourselves?  Are we allowing the Master to use us as vessels fit for the job, “prepared unto every good work” 2 Timothy 2:21?

Many are agreeable in tongue, but has our willingness reached the point of being ready, pliable, and active in services to our King?  Paul implored the Roman church, and us, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” Romans 12:1.

Are you willing?

Copyright © Word For Life Says.com (Sharing any posts or lessons can only be done through the share buttons provided on this site from the original posts, lessons, and articles only. You can reblog from the original posts only using the reblog button provided, or share using the share buttons provided from these social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest, etc., and they must be shared from the original posts only. All other repostings are prohibited. Posts and other items of interest found on this site MAY NOT BE COPIED AND PASTED, downloaded, uploaded, etc to another website or entity not listed (physical or electronic).  See COPYRIGHT PAGE for more details.

What Am I Giving?

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Examining our lives, can we truly say that we have given God our all?  And I am not necessarily talking about money.  Our life, in general, is this huge opportunity to do something wonderful with our time on this earth.  Every day we have the chance to make something beautiful out of our days – to impact this generation and those around us with the love of God.  If we were to take an inventory of her mites and our portions, what would be the sum of what we have offered to our God?  As I read the words “she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had” (Luke 21:4), I couldn’t help but to stop and take a closer look at my life.

While the reference is clearly related to money, I still asked myself, what of my living?  What am I giving to God?

Romans 12:1 says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”  As recipients of God’s grace, in our “reasonable service”, what are we happily rendering back to God?  What is our daily offering we bring to Him?

No, we are not saved by our works, but “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26).  No, we are not trying to work our way up the ladder of success of heaven, but we are in good company when our focus is on wanting to express our appreciation for all that God has done for us.  Even the psalmist once asked, “What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me?” (Psalm 116:12).

Like the woman pouring out at the feet of Jesus, when we have received so much, it seems our natural inclination is to want to show much love and appreciation for all the Lord has done for us (Luke 7:47).

So, the psalmist continues: “I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.  I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people.” (Psalm 116:13-14).

No, and with that, no, I mean, NEVER, can we repay God for this great work of salvation He has done in our lives.  But like the widow and the giving of all her two mites, I can show my love and joy to my heavenly Father in the daily offering of my life by how I choose to live and what I choose to give.

So, I ponder, what am I giving?

“I will freely sacrifice unto thee: I will praise thy name, O Lord; for it is good.” Psalm 54:6

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Copyright © Word For Life Says.com (Sharing any posts or lessons can only be done through the share buttons provided on this site from the original posts, lessons, and articles only. You can reblog from the original posts only using the reblog button provided, or share using the share buttons provided from these social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest, etc., and they must be shared from the original posts only. All other repostings are prohibited. Posts and other items of interest found on this site MAY NOT BE COPIED AND PASTED, downloaded, uploaded, etc to another website or entity not listed (physical or electronic).  See COPYRIGHT PAGE for more details.