Faith

Have you wondered how to have a blessed life or how to have a blessed new year in an ever-changing, stress-filled world? Scripture offers ample guidance in how to have a blessed life, how to have a blessed year, and choose blessings through our actions and lifestyle. 1. Obedience Always Brings Blessings:  “It shall come about, if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, to love the Lord your God and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul, that He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early and late rain, that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil. He will give grass in your fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied. Deuteronomy 11:13-15 In our society, the one who works hard and does the most gets the greatest blessings, or so we assume. According to Scripture, however, it’s the one who loves and obeys God the most who receives the greatest blessing, not the one who does the most or works the longest hours. Let’s take a closer look at the blessings promised in the verses above. Israel was an agrarian society. They grew the fruits and vegetables they ate and raised the livestock from which their dairy and meat came. Sufficient food (produce, dairy, and meat) depended on the early and late rains to grow and develop. Those life-giving rains would only come IF the people listened obediently (i.e. listened with the intent to obey), loved the Lord, and served Him with all their heart and all their soul. Obedience brings blessing. Disobedience does not. Ample rain was only the beginning of the blessing God had in store for those who loved and obeyed Him. Crops and livestock would not only survive but thrive. Harvests would be ample. The people would be satisfied with more than they needed. Imagine being satisfied with exactly what you have…no craving for more, better, different, newer. Satisfied. Content. Sounds good, right? Jesus confirmed the connection between obedience and blessing in his famous Sermon on the Mount. We choose blessings when we live the way God wants us to live. “For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your body, as to what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body than clothing?… Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all the things shall be added to you.” Matthew 6:25, 32, 33 Again, if we focus on God’s kingdom and His righteousness (being right in God’s eyes), He will provide the food, drink, clothes, and everything else we need. How do we become right in God’s eyes? Know what He wants and do what He says. Listen obediently. Love and serve Him. It’s that simple. It’s that hard. The path to blessing is clear. Love and obey God in every area. 2. Right Words Matter: “To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing. For, “The one who desires life, to love and see good days, must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. He must turn away from evil and do good; He must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, and His ears attend to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” 1 Peter 3:8-12 Speaking your mind may be celebrated in our society but in the Kingdom of God, restraint and care with words are both expected and required. Give a blessing to the person who insults you. Keep your tongue (words) from evil. Seek peace and pursue it. We can choose blessings with our words if we chose the right wor James 3:6 describes our tongue as a fire from hell, able to defile our entire life. If you’ve ever said something and wished you hadn’t, you know. If we want the blessing of “right” words, we must shun harsh, hurtful words. Instead, we must choose the right words and use them carefully. Peter’s words (above) suggest we are called to give a blessing of right words so that we can receive blessing in return. What blessing comes from “right” words? “The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and His ears attend to their prayer.” God pays attention to us and listens to our prayers. Words matter. When we choose them well, a blessing is sure to follow. 3. The Blessing of Wisdom and Understanding: How blessed is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding. For her profit is better than the profit of silver and her gain better than fine gold. She is more precious than jewels; and nothing you desire compares with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who hold her fast. Proverbs 3:13-18 There’s no specific blessing for the person who knows the most facts or has the highest IQ. Instead, the blessing goes to the one who gains both wisdom and understanding. We gain godly wisdom and understanding by studying God’s Word in-depth and planting His Word in our hearts. (Bible study and Scripture memory) As a result, we learn to see ourselves, others, and society through the lens of God’s perspective. Blessings accompany wisdom and understanding in the form of long life, honor, peace, and contentment. This passage doesn’t promise great riches but the wealth of a life well-lived. Seeing things as God sees them brings the blessings money

Are you wondering how to bless your pastor or other clergies during Clergy Appreciation Month?  We have suggestions for how to bless the ministers in your life. Read here to learn three (spiritual) things clergy members wish for and seven easy, tangible ways to bless your pastor or other clergies. Four Spiritual things Clergy Members Want  1. How to bless your pastor: Commit to discipleship We talked to a variety of ministers, from lead pastors to missionaries in the field. When asked what they’d like for Clergy Appreciation Month, every person said the same thing: surrender your life completely to the Lordship of Jesus. They want to see fruit from their labors in the form of repentant hearts, dedicated lives, and surrendered disciples. One pastor recently mentioned the more than fifty baptisms of all ages in his church in the last few months. Did he want more baptisms? No. He wants the changed lives and obedient hearts those baptisms represent. Although only God can draw a heart to Him, our job is to surrender to His call. Pastors wish more of us would be all-in. Jesus wants all-in disciples and pastors do, too. 2. How to bless your clergy: Respect their family time A pastor’s wife we spoke with wanted something every happily married wife wants: More quality time with her husband. She feels called to the role of pastor’s wife and she completely understands (and encourages) emergency calls at night and on days off but she wishes there were fewer routine calls after hours. If it can wait until the morning, let it. 3. How to bless your pastor and clergy: Choose words wisely One local church has a “no-gossip, no-murmuring” policy with which every new member must agree. Why? Gossip, grumbling, and backbiting will destroy the unity of a church faster than the enemy can say, “Gotcha.” Ministers and their families wish people would think before they speak and choose words designed to build unity and love. One grandmother said it best, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” Choose loving words, not harsh ones. 4. How to bless your ministers: Pray for them daily Those in ministry value the power of prayer and they pray regularly for those they serve. What they seldom say is they need your prayers as much (or more than) you need theirs. Pray for wisdom, faithfulness, discernment, and for love to abound. Bless your pastor (and your church) with God-sized prayers. Want ideas on how to pray? Check out this free printable Clergy Appreciation Month prayer calendar. Seven Easy, Tangible Ways to Bless Your Pastor during Clergy Appreciation Month: Not even one pastor wished for “stuff,” so we asked ministerial spouses for suggestions. Here’s their list of most-wanted items: Hand-written notes of encouragement. Bonus points if you include ways you’re praying for him/her. Hand-written notes/cards from your children. Invite them to your home with no expectations and use the time to get to know each other better, not to vent or complain about issues in the church. A gift card to a favorite restaurant with enough on the card for the entire family. Taking the children along gets expensive fast. Money or gift cards for books so they can buy the books/reference materials they need (not the ones you wish they’d read). Suggestions here include www.lifeway.com, www.christianbook.com, thriftbooks.com, or www.goodwillbooks.com/religion. Offer to babysit the children for a date night. Bonus points if you include a gift card to a nice restaurant. Bless their spouse and children in a way they might not be able to afford. Share your swimming pool for an afternoon or a bonfire for an evening. Flowers for the ladies. A gift card to an upscale clothing store. How to bless your pastor during Clergy Appreciation Month: The Things No One Mentioned Not one of the ministers or spouses suggested a trip to the Holy Land but, if your church can afford this, it’s a life-changing, ministry-expanding experience. You will bless your church as much as your pastor if you completely fund a trip for the ministry couple. Consider this gift (with a reputable trip leader) for a major anniversary. (10 years in service? 20 years?) You’ll be glad you did. Dr. Gary Chapman’s book, The Five Love Languages, lists five major areas in which people “feel” loved. They vary from words of affirmation to quality time, physical touch, acts of service, and receiving gifts. It’s important to remember you and your minister may not have the same love language. If his/her love language is words of affirmation, a hug may not do it, but a hand-written note could be balm to a weary soul. Take time to know and love the one who takes the time to know, serve, and love you. Pastors, ministers, clergy—no matter what you call them, these servants of God make sacrifices about which most of us will never know.  What Scripture Says about Blessing Your Clergy: Clergy appreciation is not just for October. It’s something we should do all year long. Here are a few verses to remember as you consider how to bless your ministers: How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” Isaiah 52:7 One who is taught the word must share all good things with the one who teaches. Galatians 6:6 We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. 1 Timothy 5:17  Let’s chat: How do you or your church bless your pastor/clergy/ministers during Clergy Appreciation Month? We’d love to hear your stories, so feel free to

What does He must increase and I must decrease mean for a website? Does He must increase and I must decrease impact a revamped website or mpact your life? Does More Jesus, Less me really matter? Yes to all three questions. An explanation follows but first, a little history… Eight years ago, a restless longing in my spirit directed me to 1 Chronicles 4:10. You probably know this verse as the Prayer of Jabez in which he asked God to expand his territory. In an unexpected turnaround, God said to me, “I’m going to expand your reach.” It wasn’t clear at the time, but an expansion of “my” reach included more of Jesus and less of me. The idea of “expanded reach” didn’t generate great enthusiasm. “What does this mean?” “Is further expansion possible?” The questions were met with one still, small Whisper: “start a blog.”  Google answered the “What is a blog?” and “How to make a blog” questions and, in less than an hour, the Faith Lived Out Loud blog was born. Nearly five years, more than 2,000 blog posts, and over 700,000 views later, the blog moved to this website. Professional writers need a “real” website to promote their blog, or so the experts said. Soon, we had a lovely, author-named website. It was all about Leanna. Photos of Leanna. What Leanna was doing. Too much Leanna. Needless to say, God didn’t bless the new website. I’m ashamed to admit it took nearly three years to ask why not. The answer was simple and found in John 3:30.  “Too much Leanna. Not enough Jesus.” What did He must increase and I must decrease mean in terms of the website? Massive change. We needed more Jesus, less Leanna. Our team worked diligently the last few months to correct this problem He must increase and I must decrease defines our focus. The basic problem was the focus. He must increase and I must decrease means the focus can’t be on any single person. Instead, it must be directed toward Him. There was also another problem. Experts say you need to write for your audience but what if you don’t know your audience?  After many struggles, one thing was obvious. You were there all the time. Thank you. Another Important truth also became obvious: We provide resources for the body of Christ to help them live the life of a real disciple of Jesus. Sometimes those resources are stories about everyday events in which we can see Jesus and learn from Him and sometimes they’re Bible studies, prayer guides, or how-to instructions. If you want to dig deep with Jesus, we can help. If your idea of the Christian life is to attend a church service now and then but make no changes in your life, you may not find what you’re looking for here…unless you’re ready for a challenge and change. Are you ready to ask what does He must increase and I must decrease” for yourself? We’d love to help. So…this newly designed website is a (still flawed) attempt at obedience. You won’t “see” as much Leanna but we pray you will see lots more of Jesus here. How to use the new “More Jesus, Less Me” website: 1. The Faith Lived Out Loud section This is the blog location. This is the only “new” blog post for today, but you can expect more to come. Will there be stories again? Yes. Definitely. Storytelling is one of my core values so there are definitely more stories in the future. 2. The Resources Section This section provides an organized structure for lots of resources in the areas of community outreach, discipleship, and prayer. The Women’s Ministry resources take you to our Whisper Gathering website for now. We’ve included quite a few resources, including some to help you embrace what it means for Him to increase and you to decrease, but there are more to come in the next few weeks. If you don’t see something you need or the answer to a question, use the Contact form to let us know. It may take a bit to get it done, but we want to provide the resources you need. 3. The Freebie page. We offer a free printable resource every month and it’s usually theme-based. Since we celebrated Labor Day this month, our free resource is how to pray for co-workers. We’ll also offer new one-day-only freebies this week, so be sure to check back regularly. Subscribers to the devotional newsletter (Faith Lived Out Loud newsletter) will receive all the freebies in their email so be sure to subscribe. 4. The About section This includes introductory information about many of the areas of outreach in our ministry. We’d love it if you’d decide to get involved. There’s plenty of work to be done. 5. The Get Involved tab This tab has multiple sections so you’ll need to use the drop-down menu to navigate. You’ll find the Contact form and all the newsletters from our Global Outreach ministry. If you’ve prayed, participated, or given in any way, these newsletters tell the story of your work so take a few minutes to read about what God’s doing through you. You can also sign up for the devotional newsletter too. (Please note: This is not the sign-up for the “paper” ministry newsletter but you can sign up to receive the snail-mail ministry newsletter version via the contact form.) What does He must increase and I must decrease mean for your life? The life of a Christian, a disciple of Jesus Christ, must be focused on Him and not on ourselves. The more we know Him and experience His love, mercy, and grace, the more we want to please Him by ridding ourselves of sinful actions, thoughts, or attitudes. We want to rid ourselves of the “deeds of the flesh” listed in Galatians 5:16-21 and allow Him to fill us with the fruit of the Spirit, found in Galatians 5:22-23. How does more