Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Fwd: Take a Minute Digest for takeaminute@googlegroups.com - 1 Message in 1 Topic

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: takeaminute+noreply@googlegroups.com
Date: Wed, 04 Aug 2010 11:29:18 +0000
Subject: Take a Minute Digest for takeaminute@googlegroups.com - 1
Message in 1 Topic
To: Digest Recipients <takeaminute+digest@googlegroups.com>

=============================================================================
Today's Topic Summary
=============================================================================

Group: takeaminute@googlegroups.com
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/takeaminute/topics

- -- Wednesday, 8/4/10 -- EVERY JOB IS ESSENTIAL -- Judges 8:1-3 NIV
[1 Update]
http://groups.google.com/group/takeaminute/t/c35575260414574d


=============================================================================
Topic: -- Wednesday, 8/4/10 -- EVERY JOB IS ESSENTIAL -- Judges 8:1-3 NIV
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/takeaminute/t/c35575260414574d
=============================================================================

---------- 1 of 1 ----------
From: "J.R. & Bonnie Ricks" <j-r-and-bonnie@dogwoodministries.org>
Date: Aug 03 05:43PM -0500
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/takeaminute/msg/8306d33484a5e722

Take a Minute is a daily devotional ministry of

Dogwood Ministries, Inc.

If you need prayer. contact our partners in ministry.

SJ Ministries - Ministry of Prayer <http://sjministries.co.uk/>

Or simply send your request to SJMinistries@aol.com

All other requests, please see the end of the devotional

for Dogwood Ministries addresses

EVERY JOB IS ESSENTIAL -- Judges 8:1-3 NIV

Now the Ephraimites asked Gideon, "Why have you treated us like this? Why
didn't you call us when you went to fight Midian?" And they criticized him
sharply.

But he answered them, "What have I accomplished compared to you? Aren't the
gleanings of Ephraim's grapes better than the full grape harvest of Abiezer?
God gave Oreb and Zeeb, the Midianite leaders, into your hands. What was I
able to do compared to you?" At this, their resentment against him subsided.


The Ephraimites were not at all happy with Gideon. They hadn't been invited
to participate in the battle, but instead were told to come along behind
Gideon's army and take care of the stragglers. They felt the job they had
been given was too unimportant. too ordinary for them. They didn't get all
the glory the main army did. They felt cheated and left out. So they
complained to Gideon about it. Gideon told them, "Hey, guys, calm down.
You did a really important job here. Coming in behind us like that, you
managed to capture the Midianites' generals and cut them off from their men.
That was extremely important. What we did was nothing in comparison to
that!" After this little lecture, the Ephraimites were pacified.

So many of us are under the impression that the only people who are really
serving God are the pastors and the teachers and the evangelists and the
administrators and the soloists for the choirs in our churches. And, of
course, the only missionaries who are doing any real good are the ones in
deepest Africa and the jungles of South America. What we fail to realize is
that every job within the Body of Christ is essential. Not just important.
Essential.

Here are some examples. A church we used to attend, did not have permanent
seats in the sanctuary. This was because our sanctuary doubled (and tripled
and quadrupled) as a gym, plus a few other functional things. I never saw
the men who set up the seating for our church services, but I was certainly
grateful that they did their jobs! That wooden floor would have been
terribly uncomfortable to sit on! The men who set up our chairs every week
provided an essential service for the rest of us.

Look at all the other functions within your church. the people who
distribute the hymnals. the secretaries who keep the work flowing day in and
day out. the print shop that makes sure you have a Sunday bulletin to look
at. the person who takes coffee all over the building on Sunday morning,
making sure that your classroom has a steaming pot full. and the janitors
who come in and clean when no one is there.

Are you happy with the job God has given you? Or do you long for a more
"glamorous" position in God's service? Remember, just because some jobs are
more "glamorous"... just because they are more noticeable... just because
those people stay in the limelight... doesn't make them more important. The
person who cleans the toilets is just as essential as the one who stands at
the pulpit.

--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~-
-

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"TakeAMinute" group.

To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
takeaminute-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com

For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/takeaminute

General correspondence or to subscribe to Take a Minute:
J-R-and-Bonnie@dogwoodministries.org

Donations to Dogwood Ministries: http://www.dogwoodministries.org
<http://www.dogwoodministries.org/>

Personal correspondence to Bonnie Ricks: bonnie@dogwoodministries.org

Personal correspondence to J.R. Ricks: j-r@dogwoodministries.org

--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~-
-

No comments:

Post a Comment