F.E.E.D

F.E.E.D                                                                                               By Pastor Joe  

F.E.E.D is an acronym for “Family Emphasis Enrichment and Development. From Mother’s Day through Independence Day Weekend, we will be focusing our sermons on how we can be better parents, a better spouse, a better son or daughter, how we can be more connected to our local fellowship, and many other virtues which should improve as we grow in our faith.

A secondary purpose is to remind the congregation the we need to focus inward for a portion of our yearly messages and activities. You often hear the term personal development, F.E.E.D will speak to this growth dynamic, so each of us should be prepared to evaluate where we are in our growth process.

One benchmark to evaluate as we get closer to the 1st day of summer, which also means the year will be nearly half over, is “How has your One Word impacted you during the last 130+ days”.   Whether it be; Body, Soul, or Spirit we need to be honest with ourselves and the Lord as to our direction and level of progress. There is a need and value in  allowing ourselves to be accountable to something beyond our own evaluation.

King David said in Psalm 139:23-24, ‘Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life”. WOW! Let me ask you, when is the last time you allowed God to search your heart?  When we share at the Lord’s table all of us need to allow the Holy Spirit to search our hearts.

Even as you read this, pause and think of the last time you said, “not only search me, but test me  and point out in me, and adjust my direction”!  This sounds like someone who has driven down the wrong road, and a course correction will be needed.

Throughout our life's journey each of us will need multiple course corrections. As we look at our children we can remember multiple times they needed discipline and correction. We can even think about how God gave us the privilege to raise these souls to become a blessing to their circles of friends and family! So, if we who are finite can see how important this process is, with our children, how much more important must it be for us to embrace this relationship with God as our Heavenly Father. 

Never forget he looks at us through the lens of eternity  and infinite wisdom, all knowing, having the absolute best intent for his creation.  God uses multiple resources for this course correction. It could be: friends, scripture, music, divine encounters, poor decisions and much more. Each of us should be prepared to hear something from heaven which may catch us off guard.

For the next 7 weeks I am challenging all of us to allow Psalm 139 permission to make the changes necessary as God sees fit. 2024 is more than 1/3rd completed. I'm not just talking about dusting the cobwebs, or shaking out the rugs. This is washing the windows inside and out, and cleaning out the bugs from the light covers, removing all the stuff in the back of the fridge, vacuuming under and behind the stove, and last but not least scrubbing the toilet where no one else can see. Allow God to shine his light. Ironically most of know better than anyone else where we need God to shine his light.