Super Size, Value Size, Whata Size. It has become the nature of American consumer that when we place an order, we want to go big with it. We all want to get the most bang for our buck.
But, real life is much more complicated than ordering off of a fast food menu. How do I go big on the menu of everyday living?
Jesus may not have frequented fast food establishments (though He was the originator of the super-sized happy meal), but He understood the principles that can make life much bigger and more full than the smallness we often relegate ourselves to. In Luke 6, He tells us:
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” — Luke 6:37-38 (NIV)
Jesus says you are the determining factor of the size of your life. When you measure generously toward others, you measure generously toward yourself.
I pray you find freedom in this remarkable teaching from our Lord Jesus. As you walk in forgiveness and generosity toward others, may it lead you to experience the fullness of life our Lord desires to pour into your lap.
May you experience the joy of a King-Sized life today!
My apologies that the Monday Morning Review has lagged to the Tuesday Evening Review, perhaps even the Wednesday Morning Review. I hope everyone was able to satisfy their Monday morning cravings in other ways.
If you missed Sunday morning, I want to echo Pastor Loran’s advice to find a Haiti mission team member or members and pick their brains. I think you will be pleasantly surprised. The testimonies and reports shared during Sunday’s services were absolutely incredible. I want to take a moment to thank all of the Haiti team members for all their hard work, not just during the mission trip, but also in the fund raising and other preparations in the months leading up to the trip. Also, thank you to all of the EFC members who helped to make the trip possible. And last, but certainly not least, to the other Pastor Loran for putting together such an awesome team and trip. I know lives were changed in Haiti and right here in Sweetwater.
Podcast
I don’t know if the Haiti testimonies and/or Pastor Loran’s sermon will be available in this week’s podcast, but if it is, you can click here to listen.
On the Radar
EFC Volleyball @ Sonic. Wednesday, July 27, come join us at Sonic for food, fun and volleyball from 7-9pm.
Kids School of Worship (Jammin’ with Jesus) is right around the corner. Sunday, July 31-Wednesday, August 3. The theme this year is “Fruits of the Spirit,” and we still need volunteers to help out with supplies, snacks and manpower. For more information or to volunteer, contact Pastor Lolo.
EFC Fantasy Football League. Yes, it’s that time of year again, and if you missed out last year on the First Annual EFC Fantasy Football League, now’s your chance to get in on all the fun. You can contact league commissioner Curtis Ward to find out how to play.
Discipleship Training: How to Study the Bible. Coming August 7 & 14, 6pm at EFC.
There is a special place in God’s heart for widows. Widows, orphans, and foreigners represent a vulnerable demographic of both ancient and modern culture. Without a steady source of income or strong representation in business and legal affairs, they can easily find themselves exploited.
It is interesting that over and again God chooses the vulnerability of widows to demonstrate the principles of His kingdom. Throughout the lineage of Jesus, we see widows taking their place in God’s unfolding story of redemption through the lives of women such as Tamar, Ruth, Bathsheeba, and even Mary.
It is a widow who provides for the prophet Elijah. It is a widow who recognizes Jesus as Messiah when He is presented in the temple and only eight days old. It is a widow who is commended by Jesus for her generosity when she offers her two mites. And it is the story of a persistent widow Jesus uses to teach his disciples to always pray and not give up.
There are powerful lessons to be learned from those who would appear to be helpless among us. Little is much when it is held in faith-filled hands.
The following is a collection of sixteen verses in the Bible that tell us of God’s heart for widows.
Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. Exodus 22:22 (NIV)
He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. Deuteronomy 10:18 (NIV)
When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. Deuteronomy 24:19 (NIV)
Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow. Then all the people shall say, “Amen!” Deuteronomy 27:19 (NIV)
Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food. 1 Kings 17:9 (NIV)
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. Psalm 68:5 (NIV)
The Lord watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. Psalm 146:9 (NIV)
The Lord tears down the proud man’s house, but he keeps the widow’s boundaries intact. Proverbs 15:25 (NIV)
…learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. Isaiah 1:17 (NIV)
Leave your orphans; I will protect their lives. Your widows too can trust in me. Jeremiah 49:11 (NIV)
Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” Mark 12:41-44 (NIV)
There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. Luke 2:36-38 (NIV)
Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. Luke 7:11-15 (NIV)
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’ ” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:1-8 (NIV)
Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. 1 Timothy 5:3 (NIV)
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27 (NIV)
Every Sunday a pastor preaches three sermons:
the one he planned, the one he preached, and the one he wished he had planned to preach. This blog is dedicated to that third sermon.
Super Size, Value Size, Whata Size. It has become the nature of American consumer that when we place an order, we want to go big with it. We all want to get the most bang for our buck.
Monday Morning Review 