God intentionally CHANGES things up in order to get us to FOCUS more on Him. As a pastor, my prayer is often, "Lord, take away any preconceived notions of how church should be 'done' and place YOUR HEART, MIND and DESIRES in me."
Too often, we tend to FOCUS on what we think needs to be the priority and easily overlook what God is PRIORITIZING.
- It's like the rooster in the chicken yard who was overseeing the hens. One day, two boys were next door playing kickball, with a brand new white kickball. One of them accidentally kicked it over the fence, and it rolled into the chicken yard. The rooster walked over to the kickball and examined it carefully. He then called for all the hens to come out into the barn yard. When they had all gathered around, he said, "Now, girls, I don't mean to be negative, but here's the kind of eggs they're producing next door. Ya'll need to step up your efforts!"
Our FOCUS can become fuzzy due to health issues, problems, stress and even success.
God has to constantly push us towards remaining FOCUSED. Churches are no different.
- In Acts 2 God changed the idea that the church was supposed to REMAIN a group of 120 people. He did a SWITCHEROO and added 3000 converts in one day.
- In Acts 6 God changed the idea that the pastor needed to do everything and the people were merely to observe and not participate. He did a SWITCHEROO and added deacons who would wait tables, minister to the widows, distribute food and bring assistance to the church leaders.
- In Acts 8 God changed the idea that church is always safe. He did a SWITCHEROO and the Christians were faced with heavy persecution for their faith.
- In Acts 9 God changed the idea that some people are beyond the reach of His grace. He did a SWITCHEROO and turned a murderer into a minister.
- In Acts 10 God did a SWITCHEROO and took Peter through a very uncomfortable experience in order to change the notion that the Gospel is limited to a group of people who looked and acted just like him.
When we FOCUS on allowing God to CHANGE US in order that our attention on Him may become more INTENSE...it's not always COMFORTABLE...but it is often NECESSARY!
Perhaps we are just a SWITCHEROO away from experiencing God's BLESSING and FAVOR like never before! :)
- How's your prayer life?
- How's your time in the Word?
- How's your church attendance?
- How's your tithing?
- How's your marriage?
- How's your relationship with your children?
- How's your health?
- How's your thoughts?
- How's your volunteerism?
Philippians 1:6 "being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
The God of the SWITCHEROO loves YOU!
