3 Benefits of Going to Church

Continuing the ABC’s of Growing Closer to God . . .

G is for Going to Church 

            Growing up in an Air Force family we moved every two years. I don’t think it did any lingering damage to me,  . . .  at least none that I know of.  It did, however, keep us from attending the same church for extended periods of time. When we moved to a new city we would visit many different churches, and finally settle on one months later. By the time I knew the Sunday school teacher’s name and met some kids it was time to move again. I longed to be part of a church family where, like in the TV show Cheers, everyone knows your name.

            Thankfully, in my adult life, we have belonged to a church family for many, many years. Our kids have grown up with other church kids. We met all of our best friends at church. I love being a part of a church family, caring about people and having them care about me.

Although the list could be much longer, here are Three Benefits of Going to Church.

1. Gain Positive Friends

            No, people at church are not perfect. But, even by being there they are showing they want to follow God. They want to do things God's way. People are happy at church because they have the joy of the Lord. People know they are forgiven and don’t have to carry around the guilt and shame of the past. People at church have hope because they look at world events through the eyes of a loving Creator, and they know there is more than just this earthly life.

2.  Grow in our walk with God

            Worshiping God at church helps us grow closer to Him. The Bible is explained in a way that makes sense and we can apply it. We can read it by ourselves, but sometimes it helps to listen and learn. We can sing praise songs by ourselves, but it is something special to sing praise songs with a room full of people who love God. Don’t you think Sunday mornings are God’s favorite, knowing His people are coming together to praise Him?

3.  Go into the community and serve

            It is wonderful to get together and serve others who need a helping hand. Whether it is hosting a carnival to give away backpacks to needy kids for school or providing food boxes and gifts to low income families at Christmas, the Bible encourages us to show God’s love to others in a practical way. Sorting food at a food pantry, serving meals at a homeless shelter or building fences, pulling weeds and painting at a school, serving where needed is a blessing to the community. It brings fulfillment and joy and is what the church should be about, serving as the hands and feet of Jesus.

Let me encourage you, go to church this week. If you haven’t been in a while, come back. 

Your church family needs you. 

And if you want to grow closer to God a great way to start is to go to church.

What do you think the benefits of going to church are?

F is for Forgiveness

            As I was vacuuming the living room, I wished I could vacuum out the resentful thoughts popping into my head. I had forgiven that person. We had talked out our differences. I had taken it to the Lord and wanted to be done with that situation. And yet, the thoughts kept coming back. As I was vacuuming I said to myself and to the Lord, I forgive that person, again. The next week the resentful thought popped in my head . . . again. I prayed and asked God to help me forgive them  . . . again. It was during this time I realized forgiveness is sometimes a process and not just a one-time event. The Bible says when we take our thoughts captive, meaning stop them, we can demolish arguments. That is what I was doing in forgiving over and over. I was taking the negative thoughts captive, choosing to forgive again, and demolishing an argument, that did not need to take place.

            The followers of Jesus had a hard time with forgiveness also. They even asked Jesus how many times they should forgive someone. Jesus, who came to forgive everyone, answered,

“I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven.”

            Jesus did not mean after 490 times we could stop forgiving. No, he meant that we were to keep on forgiving people, and sometimes it might be a process of forgiving before we could be at peace having truly released them.

            We are so thankful that the Lord has forgiven us many times. We are more like Him when we forgive others, especially when we are wrongly accused. Forgiveness, whether the first time or the 50th time, is good for our soul. We grow closer to the Lord when we forgive others.

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ has forgiven you.”      Ephesians 4:32

                                              Who do you need to forgive today?

For more of the ABC's of Growing closer to God click here.

Just Keep Swimming!

            Ann Voskamp, author of One Thousand Gifts, often blogs and then writes “preaching to myself.” She writes encouraging people to be thankful. But many times it seems she needs the encouragement herself.

            Why is it that we can see someone else’s situation more clearly than we can see our own?  I was walking with a friend recently and she was explaining her dilemma. It was clear to me what she needed to hear. I had to bite my tongue so I would not interrupt her story, wanting to encourage her in a certain direction.  When it was my turn to talk, out came these encouraging words. I praised her for how she was handling a difficult situation. I thought of a principle from the Bible that pointed in a certain direction. I agreed with her that doing nothing and waiting on the Lord seemed like the best course of action.

            As the words were coming out of my mouth, thoughts about my own dilemma were swirling around in my head. I thought about how my husband had praised me for working through my dilemma, and that was a huge encouragement. The biblical principle I told my friend about, applied to my situation as well. Even as the words were floating out of my mouth, I knew that doing nothing right now and waiting on the Lord was exactly what I should be doing in my situation too.

In encouraging others, we can grow closer to the Lord.

         Encourage is defined as:  give support and advise to someone so that they                                                                                      will continue to do something. 

            We all need encouragement with our jobs, in our families, and with our difficult situations. As we encourage others to seek God, make the godly decisions, and keep on keeping on in the Christian walk, we grow closer to the Lord and we encourage ourselves as well.

In the ABC's of growing closer to God, E is to Encourage others.

“So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.”                          
 I Thessalonians 5:11

To read more ABC's of Growing Closer to God, start here.

 

Make a Decision Already

          Are you able to make decisions quickly? It is difficult for me to make decisions. The more options there are, the more difficult it is for me to nail down and commit to a decision.

Some examples:

Choosing a paint color --- 

            I am plagued by a few bad paint color choices, one being the Happy Face yellow I painted our bathroom at work. It really wakes us up when we get there in the morning. I painted over the weekend, and surprised everyone at work Monday morning. Then there was the painter’s tape blue. Do you know the dark blue painter’s tape used to cover baseboards, outlets and windowsills? Yes, I painted three of the four walls in my bedroom while my husband was out of town.                                                         BLUE. BOLD DARK BLUE.

Color of my bedroom walls.

            I am afraid to make another bad paint color mistake. I am afraid I won’t like the color, because it looks different on the wall than it does on a tiny square at the store.  I’m afraid even if I talk myself into liking the finished product, other people won’t like it. Kind of like when you get a haircut and people say,

“Oh, you got your haircut.”  Instead of “Looks good!” 

            Similarly, on that Monday morning of the surprise bright yellow bathroom at work, people said,

“So, you painted over the weekend, huh?”  Not “Nice job. Looks great!”

            Other examples of my indecision: choosing food at a restaurant, picking a parking spot, choosing a hair style, picking out clothes or shoes, choosing a bathing suit (Don’t even get me started on how hard that is!) I could go on and on.

            That is why I love reading about that prophet of old, Elijah, giving the people a choice as to which God they would serve. I picture him shouting from the mountaintop so everyone could hear, just before the Lord performs a huge miracle. Elijah shouts,

 “How long are you going to waver between two opinions?                                                

 If Baal is God, choose him. If the Lord is God, choose Him.” 

            The people are silent. What? They stay undecided, because they were satisfied with worshipping Baal sometimes, and worshipping the Lord sometimes, and doing whatever they wanted.

            But then, when the one true God rains down fire from heaven and consumes Elijah’s sacrifice and the entire alter, the people are jolted into deciding. They bow down low and exclaim together,

“The Lord He is God! The Lord He is God!”

            Making a decision for God is one of the ways we grow closer to Him. First, we have to make the big decision to follow Him and commit our life to Him. Then, we have to make hundreds of little decisions to either choose His way or our way. It is easier to choose His way in the small decisions, if we have already made the big decision to commit our life to Him.  But, there are plenty of daily decisions to be made: This movie or that one? This website? That book? This magazine? These friends or those friends?

            Making the decision that The Lord He is God, and then choosing His way on our daily decisions will help us grow closer to Him.

What daily decision have you made to choose God’s way today?

C is for Communicate

            My hubby and I are great communicators. And by great, I mean great in volume of communication. Not loud,  . . .  although we can be that too. :)  I mean we communicate a great amount. In other words,  ---  we like to talk. A lot.

            Before the time of cell phones, when we were dating and engaged long distance, he in one state and me in another, we wrote letters to each other  . . . every day, for a year.  I know it is hard to believe. WHO has that much to say to another person, that they could write a multi-page letter every day?  Two people who were young and in love and couldn’t wait to be together, that’s who.

Who could you write a letter to every day? For a year?

            Even since the advent of cell phones, and after 28 years of marriage, not a day goes by without us talking to each other. I am embarrassed to say we still call or text each other at least 5 times a day!   5 times! WHO has that much to talk about, to call another person 5 times a day?         We do. ;)                      

                         (We even work in the same building now, and still, call each other all day.)

That is how we grow close to someone.

            Talking.

                        Sharing experiences.

                                                Asking questions.

                                                                        Getting their opinion.

                                                                                    Bouncing ideas off of each other.

                                    Sharing the details of our thoughts and lives.

            That is how close God wants us to be with Him. He wants us to talk to Him every day  . . . even more than 5 times a day. He wants us to ask questions, get His opinion, take our ideas to Him, and share the details of our thoughts and lives.

            We grow closer to God by communicating with Him daily through prayer. We don’t need to write Him a letter or use our cell phone to talk to Him. He is always available to listen to us 24 hours a day.

                                    Have you communicated with Him today?