NOISY GONGS!

1 Corinthians 16:14 NLT And do everything with love.

I heard this said in church last Sunday, “We may not all do great things, but we can all do small things with great love.” What a profound quote!😊

Maybe you have dreams of doing great things for the Lord and you may well do, but until then we all know we can at least attempt small things and do them with His great love as our motivation.

Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 13:1 NLT If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. None of us want to be a noisy gong! It implies that if we can’t do something with love we’re better not doing it, we’re wasting our time!

I wonder how often people do things for the wrong reasons, or because it’s their duty, or they’ve been doing it for 20 years and now the joy has gone out of it but they carry on anyway? If the love has gone we can either ask the Lord to rekindle it if He wants us to carry on, or ask Him if it’s time to stop and do something different.

It can be a bit like pushing a boulder up a hill, when the love has gone out of it, it’s just hard slog. But equally we can do the smallest service for somebody, speak a little word of encouragement and if we’re doing it in love it will have wonderful repercussions for them and for us. I believe God counts those things as great things.😊

So this is a little nudge as we go about our day, to just see if the things we’re doing are motivated by love and if not, to ask the Lord to help us tap into His love, no matter what we find to do, so we don’t have a lot of noisy gongs going on!😊 Amen.

Photo by Manuel Cossio on Unsplash

GOD’S SURPRISES

1 Corinthians 2:9 ERV But as the Scriptures say, “No one has ever seen, no one has ever heard, no one has ever imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”

Have you ever come to a drawer or cupboard and it’s been so rammed with stuff that there’s just no space to put anything else? It’s when we realise we might need some help clearing out to make room for something else!😊

I read this the other day. “Make room for God to surprise you.” What a lovely thought and just as we need to make room for things in our cupboards, we also need to make room for God to have His way in our lives. Room for His thoughts which are so much higher than ours, room for the things He has prepared for us, when we can make life so organised there’s no room for God to move!

It’s a time to reflect and acknowledge God maybe needs more room in our lives, because He has things in our future that can’t unfold until we choose to make room for them. Does that make sense to you? Our calendars can be so filled that there’s no room for God’s surprises and maybe this is a nudge to ask Him for help to make it possible.😊

Perhaps there are activities in your life that started out as necessary but have become a habit and maybe God is saying to let something go because He has something more interesting, more beneficial for you? Sometimes we have to be willing to let go of the good, in order for God to give us something better.

Maybe it’s time for us all to make some room for God to surprise us? Maybe He has joy to give us but are we so care worn there’s no room for it? Maybe He has a bucketload of peace He wants to pour into our lives but until we let go of the worries we can’t enjoy it. Maybe He has organised a new opportunity but we’re too busy to push the door and see where it leads.

Whatever it is He wants to give us it will be for our benefit, for our blessing so why not sit and have a think over the summer holidays, “Where do I need to make more room for God in my life, so He can surprise me?” I know He will show you.😊 Amen.

Photo by Stefan Lehner on Unsplash