Find refreshment for your heart, home and life
My husband and I have been arguing again. You know how that goes. It’s over a topic we’ve discussed before – serving one another. The conversation went something like this:
Me – Let me do that for you.
Him – No, I already took care of it, but thank you.
Me – I can never seem to find a way to serve you: you always beat me to it! You do so much more for me than I do you.
Him – Hon, that’s not true! You do so much for me. Goodness, I couldn’t do what I do on a day without you!
Wow. I love being a hostess and having people in my home! It’s just a blessing to throw open the door and invite them in. I love sharing what I have cooked or baked. It’s also fun to just share a steaming cup of coffee in ceramic mugs. It’s fun setting out my pretty dishes, linen napkins and basket full of silverware so everyone can help themselves to a casual buffet-style meal. I also love setting the table for a sit-down brunch or dinner. Either way, bowls full of steaming hot foods are shared while the conversation pours out easier than the full pitcher of tea.
Southerners are typically noted for entertaining. We have books written on the subject and even magazines overflowing with recipes and tips for success, but for a follower of Christ, if one ingredient is missing we will have served that food in vain. As a child of the Lord Jesus Christ, we must share the Gospel. It must be as natural a part of our conversation as adding the bananas to the Banana Pudding. Oh yes, it’s that important. Let me share why.
First, our home is really the easiest place in which to share the Gospel – the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. We’re on our own comfortable turf. We have control over the conversation topic and we can steer that subject matter in a causal way to the Theme of Themes.
Secondly, the Gospel should flow from a believer’s heart in a way that serves others. Because Christ served in humility by dying on the cross, we learn to serve others by sharing with them the Truth that will do far more for them than our fried chicken or Coconut Cake.
Lastly, our ultimate goal in opening our home must come from a heart that desires to bring every person who walks in our door to an understanding that Christ loves them and offers eternal life through a relationship with Him. The conversation may be brief, but it should be even more important than making sure everyone’s glasses stay full.
How to do that?
This conversation should be as natural as you offering another biscuit. Make it part of the table talk as you’re enjoying dessert and coffee. The more we do it, the easier it will become.
Even if your guests are all believers, share the Word together. Ask what God is teaching them, what burdens they are bearing and how you can pray for them, then do it before they leave your home.
I’ve failed miserably at this over the years, but the Lord has been awakening in my heart the need to serve the Gospel each time my doors open to a guest. It’s the most important Theme of any social gathering in my kitchen and I pray it is in yours, too.
How do you share the Gospel in your home?
Years ago one of my girls sent me a text message from their college dorm room. It read –
“I’m so ready to be done with dorm life! Someone is singing at the top of their lungs in the shower!”
Not everyone is a morning person who can sing first thing in the morning. Though I’d consider myself a morning person, I need about an hour of quiet before I’m ready for sounds above a whisper. However, whoever the girl in the shower was, she had a song in her heart first thing in the morning!
Proverbs 29:6 says,
“In the transgression of an evil man there is a snare:
but the righteous doth sing and rejoice.”
The implication of that verse is that if there is sin in our hearts we will lose our song. Because we’re caught in the snare of our transgression, there’s no reason to rejoice. Is there a song in your heart at this moment? Do people irritate you quickly? Is there a nagging restlessness within you? I’m not asking if you’re a morning person, I’m talking about the majority of the day – are you singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord?
Obviously if a person hasn’t asked Christ to be their Savior, there’s still a void in their life and there’s no song. But if you’re God’s child because you’ve received Christ, there should be singing and rejoicing. Even in the midst of trials the song is there. It’s quiet, but it’s there.
If you’re song is gone, look for the reason. Sin is probably at the door. Confess it. Call it what God calls it. Don’t smooth it over. God knows what it is, so name it.
Was it worry?
Criticism?
Lying?
Repent of it and know the joy that comes from having it out of your heart, and then replaced by the sweet song of the redeemed!
Sing your song…but if it’s early, you might want to sing it softly. 🙂
When my husband and I were dating, we lived several hours apart and the loneliness for him was prevalent every day! But then an occasional weekend would come up that would allow him to be able to travel home to visit with me for a day and half, and my heart would literally be in my throat as I waited and watched for his Chevy Impala to come barreling down the lane to my home!
I kept my eyes peeled out the window, but only after I had prepared myself to greet him. I made sure I was cleaned up and ready for his arrival. I also straightened up the living room for his visit. I knew he was on his way, and I had to have everything ready!
Because of my faith in Jesus Christ, I have a promise that Christ is coming again to take His children to heaven. Christ made the promise the He would return again. We’re waiting for the shout, the voice and the trump of God. We also know that no one knows when He will return. He is coming like a thief in the night. So what does that mean for us as His followers? It means we must be ready. We won’t have time when He comes to go get ourselves clean and fit to meet Him.
I heard a story this week that I’ll share not word for word, but you’ll get the point. There was a family who learned that their son was coming home. He’d been gone a long time and the family was anxiously expecting his return. But on the day of his arrival, the family was found squabbling and fighting. It seems that they were having a disagreement about how the son was coming – one said by plane, another by train, and someone else said he was bringing others with him. When he returned, he found them in this quarreling state. Is that how we want the Lord to find us when He comes? Will all our trivialities really matter on that Day? I hardly think so.
So, how will He find us if He were to come in fifteen minutes?
Or
I John 3:2,3 says,
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
Just like I got cleaned up when I knew my boyfriend was going to be coming, if we have the assurance of salvation, God’s Word says we’ll be making sure we’re clean. Not because we’re afraid we won’t go to heaven, but because we ARE His child and we know He’s on His way! We don’t want to be ashamed at His coming.
Friend, are you indeed God’s child? Have you taken Christ as your Savior because you realize you are a sinner separated from a holy God? All you need to do is receive the gift of eternal life through the person of Christ. Tell Him you know you’re a sinner and that you want to receive His gift of salvation that He purchased through His death, on the cross.
Are you looking for Christ to return today? He could come…oh I pray He will come today!
Will I be ready and clean? Will you?
Lovingly,
For the last 50 days or so, I have been putting my meals into My Fitness Pal – an online calorie counter. I type in the foods I’m eating at each meal, and it tells me how many calories and nutrients are in each food. If I go over the “allotted” carbs, sugars or sodium, for example, it will tell me what number I was supposed to stay under. It keeps me from eating that extra snack I might be hungry for or the dessert that is tempting me. It’s really a good thing because it keeps me eating what is good, and it keeps it in healthy portions.
In another part of my appetites, I enjoy a good fictional book. I love a funny Andy Griffith Episode. I have several You Tube Channels that I watch. I have Instagram and Facebook accounts. At times these “outlets” can overwhelm me…
if I let them.
If I don’t keep a check on them.
My heart’s inclination would be to “munch away” on Insta-stories,” or be lured by the fancies of my entertainment. It’s up to me to reign it in so that I may fill my heart with more that is edifying and will push me closer to the Lord.
The Spirit of God guides my entertainment like My Fitness Pal guides my food. You see, if I allow the worldly to outweigh that which would edify, my emotions will be flighty. My temperament is unpredictable. My decisions are based on feelings instead of Truth. Oh, how I need God’s Spirit to lead me to His Word so that I will be spiritually healthy! When I tip the scale and absorb more of the world’s philosophy than God’s thoughts, I’m asking for trouble. I pray for the Lord to
Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation;
on thee do I wait all the day.
Psalm 25:5
When I listen to the guidance of My Fitness Pal, I smile when I look at the scales. On a much higher plane, when I listen to God’s Spirit tugging at my heart to binge less on the world, I smile when I see the results of godly thinking and actions replacing my fleshly ones. I don’t always win this battle, but it’s one I want to keep fighting!
Do you find yourself devouring more of the world’s thinking than you do spiritual nourishment? Ask the Lord to help you have a healthy balance; it’s a prayer He will answer!
RefreshHer 