my-opinion-on-biblical-stewardship

Continuing Last Post about Salvation and Wholeness

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 04:18:30 +0100

Timothy was exhorted to read and study the scripture, to meditate on it and to continue in the things he had been taught. Doing so would help to save himself and those that would be hearing him.

I Timothy 4:13-16

Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.

Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.

Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shall both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

This instruction is to the youth. In Biblical times youth was anyone under the age of thirty. Timothy fell into that age group.

The Greek word used for save thyself, is the word sozo. It is defined as make whole, heal preserve, save, be whole, do well, save one's self, such as should be saved and be saved. THese definitions are found in the Young's Analytical Concordance to the Bible, copyright 1982, by Thomas Nelson.

A different Greek word used for salvation and wholeness is soteria. In the Young's Analytical Concordance to the Bible it is defined as safety and soundness. The different ways it's been rendered in the KJV of the Bible is: health, salvation, saving, that we should be saved.

One of the places this word is used is in Jude 3:

Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

The salvation brought to mankind by way of Jesus Christ is common to all, it's a common salvation. It is also safety and soundness as that understanding is inherent in this Greek word soleria. Luke 3:6 uses a different rendering of the same word. It uses soterios.

Luke 3:6

And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

In studying each of these words; sozo and soteria, or soterios, we will gain more understanding about the salvation or wholeness God has given to every man. We can then strive to obtain that for ourselves.

Stewardship of Your Whole Self

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:47:06 +0100

God's word instructs us how to steward our whole self. He gave us the freewill choice to have the stewardship over our own bodies; which includes body, soul and spirit.

II Thessalonians 5:23

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly;
and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body
be preserved unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

There is one way of looking at the order of God's intention for these three, that make up the whole you; your spirit, soul and body. We know that one of them is antecedent to another and that is antecedent to the last. In other words your spirit is antecedent to your mind, as your mind is to your body. There are two other ways to look at this. One is that your spirit has the dominion over your mind, and your mind has the dominion over your body. The other way is to use the word subjection. Your body is to be in subjection to your mind, as your mind is to your spirit.

So, whichever word you prefer, or way to look at it isn't the point, the point is that God expects us to control our own minds and bodies. When we teach our children to obey us, we are teaching them subjection. We are teaching them to do something they may not want to do, when their parents want them to do it.

How many times do we as adults sit around when there are things to do? Yes, we need a break, yes, it would be nice if we got some help with our tasks once in a while, yes, it's our day off. Even if all those things are true, what might we be breeding? Possibly laziness, slothfulness, an error in jugement or thinking patterns. WE are in charge of our own bodies, if we (meaning our mind) doesn't say to it's body, "hey there, we have things to accomplish, people are counting on us," or whatever, then we have no one to blame but ourselves. If we can't learn how to do the things we want to accomplish, then how are we ever going to train up our children?

Interestingly enough, each of us has to know our own selves. If a person is a Christian, then God will work with them on what is needed in the situation. We cannot judge our fellow man, as we don't walk in their shoes. It may look like someone is lazier than we are, but it's not for us to decide. We need to take care of our own wholeness as the bible teaches.

Philippians 2:12

Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed,
not as in my presence only, but now much more in
my absence, work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling.

God's heart is that we trust Him more and more.

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 04:06:56 +0100

Still thinking about and working on the idea of trusting God to meet our(my) need. As I was saying the other day, There are plenty of verses that speak about God taking care of our food and the basic necessiies of life.

Matthew 6:25-26
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink;
nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns;
yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

v. 31-34
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or,
Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth
that ye have need of all these things.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;
and all these things shall be added unto you.
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought
for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

In Exodus the children of Israel in their trek to the promised land began to get tired, and decided that they needed to eat more than they thought was being provided for them. In verse 4 of Exodus 16, they murmured against Moses and Aaron saying that God brought them into the wilderness to kill them with hunger.

Exodus 16:4
Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you: and the people
shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.

Exodus 16:5
And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna; for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.

(My computer is running slow tonight, so I will finish this tomorrow.)

"Oh ye of little faith"

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 03:17:05 +0100

Mat 6:30 "Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?"

Does anyone out there ever feel like they are so stressed out, worrying about the bills, or about having enough food to feed the family, or similar matters? It doesn't matter how bad it seems to us, God has always made a way through the situation even when the situation looks totally bleak.

First what we need to do is dwell on the promises that God has already given us. Another thing that helps is reading of others that have gone through similar circumstances, like George Mueller from the 1800's. He put God to the test by believing that God would supply each and every morsel of food that was placed on the table for the kids in his orphanage.

Sometimes, it seems like we are believing God, yet we might get afraid that we'll run out of food,.Then, when there are sales, we possibly spend more money on sales for the food pantry rather than paying that bill that we've owed for over a month and expecting God to meet the need for the food.

God doesn't want us to be anxious about anything, not any little thing Phil 4:6
He wants us to prosper and be in health III John 2
He says He'll take care of all our need Philippians 4:19

Whatever is going on in your life you can rest assured that God is watching out for you and trying to make a way where to you there doesn't seem to be any way. I Corinthians 10:13 says that God won't allow us to be tempted above what we are able, but will make a way to escape.

The seemingly difficult thing is finding out where that way of escape is. I think too many of us are trying to figure it out ourselves, rather than trusting in the Lord and leaning not to one's own understanding (figuring it out). It continues by saying in all thy ways acknowledge Him and He will direct thy heart. Proverbs 3:1

II Corinthians 4:18 says "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

To me, it seems that the problem may lie in what are we looking at? When we look at our problems, our overdue bills, our questionable health, we are looking at the things that are seen, But, can we in all honesty say we are looking at what God wants us to look at? He wants us to look at the things that are not seen, like His promises.

One neat promise, is Mark 11:25 "herefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." We are instructed to pray and believe as if we've already received the promise, then we'll get the promise.

How to do that with bills and similar things, I do not yet know. But hopefully, I'll understand it more as the days proceed.

Maintaining One's Home

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 01:59:17 +0100

First published on blogspot, August 22, 2009

My husband and I clean a lot of siding for our customers. We've always preferred to clean vinyl siding because you don't have to worry about any oxidation like would happen with aluminum siding. Even with vinyl siding, comes aluminum gutters and soffets and it's been our experience that white gutters tend to stay dingy after cleaning, whereas other colored gutters such as yellow, blue and brown, will clean up very nicely. Why this is we do not know.

When people call us to clean their siding it is usually because the north side of the house has mildew on it. This can be black or it may look like grass stains on the siding. Or it just may be plain old dirty. Often when we clean it, it may be the first time it's ever been cleaned.

For the most part, vinyl siding will clean up. The only thing that won't clean is when small black bugs are on the siding, or the residue of the bugs. Oftentimes one can't see the bugs until one is up close. We've scrubbed them with a hard brush, soft scratch pad that won't scratch vinyl, or sometimes just used our fingernails, gently. But the black top surface comes off, leaving a lighter brown color behind, which will not budge.

Until recently, we've never cleaned any aluminum siding without having the color look spotty from the effects of oxidation on the aluminum. When years have passed before aluminum siding is cleaned, be expected to paint afterwards. Even white paint may look dingy or even have a yellow cast.

This past week, we cleaned someone's home that had no oxidation whatsoever. What a change that was. Come to find out the homeowner usually cleaned it once or twice yearly, herself. She would have done it herself this year, but she's had health issues to deal with instead.

From her experience, I see where if you want to maintain the exterior of your home properly, you should clean it yearly. This would also help to prevent the bug buildup. Oxidation is a fact of life, one cannot change it's effects on siding any more than one can change a cut up apple from turning brown without using lemon juice or similar topping.

Both painted surfaces and aluminum will oxidize. It's just that if your home is cleaned, the oxidation will be kept off the surface, and it will weather evenly. Eventually it may need to be painted, or treated once more, but if it needs to be cleaned inbetween times, it will not look like it's falling apart.

Our recommendation is that you not use a powerwasher as that can actually harm the siding if the pressure is too hard, it can remove the vinyl surface off the window frames, and the water can get underneath panels of siding and harm your insulation. Cleaning by hand is the safer way to go.

If you as the homeowner choose to clean your own siding, check out the articles linked below to help you decide how to proceed. Make sure whatever method you go with that you get the windows cleaned the same day preferably to prevent chemical spotting, or staining on the glass.

Like anything else in our lives, prevention and upkeep may not be easy, but it will benefit your home and your pocketbook long term.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5204166_clean-vinyl-siding-much-scrubbing.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_5323362_keep-aluminum-siding-oxidizing.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_5215872_keep-damaged-after-cleaning-siding.html

Revamping Blog

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 01:51:17 +0100

FIrst published on blogspot, August 13, 2009

I'm in the process of revamping this site. I'd like it to contain several ways a person can improve the quality of their lives. Not only improving themselves spiritually with learning more of God's word, but also ways we all can improve our physical well-being.

Mankind was originally designed to be a person of body, soul and spirit. It is important for all of us to improve the quality of our life in all different categories.

Both maintenance and stewardship is an important part of not only our sound minds but it should also be important to us to take care of the things we utilize in our lives.

If anyone has checked out this blog in the past, I've not been able to access it as I misplaced not only my password to this blog, but the password to the two email addresses this blog is associated with. I've been trying for the past week to reset my password on gmail, not an easy task.