Random Acts of Kindness: Biblical Perspectives on Well Doing

Hey there BCU Fam!

I am a bit under the weather today, but the Lord gave me the presence of mind to record a quick thought last week! You can access the podcast here, or click on the avatar below, as you refer to the show notes below for the highlights. We pray the podcast blesses and encourages you. If so, please thumbs up AND leave a comment! Thank you and enjoy the podcast!

Podcast highlights:

  • I was talking with a group of people who were on the subject of “Random Acts of Kindness”.
  • Coined from an author in the 1990’s, “random acts” sparked a movement of doing nice things for people without reward.
  • One person in the group recalled an act of kindness and how they WERE rewarded many years later.
  • As I listened to the moving story, the Lord brought one of my favorite scriptures to mind.

KJV Scripture references

Colossians 3:23-25

23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.

Galatians 6:9

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

BCUFam, we never know how and/or when God will reward us for our well-doing. What I do know is whether the reward is on this side of Heaven, the other side of Heaven or both, because He is a perfect record-keeper, we SHALL receive our just reward! Amen? Amen! Let’s pray!

Father, in the name of Jesus, as we come before You today, we thank You for what our ears have heard. We admit that sometimes, Lord, in our constant well-doing, it feels like it’s not noticed or appreciated by people, and that doesn’t feel good. At the same time, Your word reminds us to continue to do well in this world we are living in because You (vs. people) will reward us accordingly! We ask for Your help and strength to continue doing what You have called us to do, and we will continue to give Your name all the honor, praise and glory, In Jesus Name, we pray, Amen!

As a reminder, if you have not subscribed to BlenCouragesU.com, please do so! It’s free and a good place to get the encouragement, inspiration and information based the Word of God! Additionally, you can also see what we are up to on Facebook, X, and Instagram. Also, if you so inclined, join us Thursday nights––we are LIVE on YouTube at 8:05EST/7:05CST. You can also listen in and subscribe to the podcast on many podcast platforms such as  Apple podcasts, Pandora, and Spotify!

Thank you SO much for stopping by! God bless, keep and make His face to shine upon you as you #StayOnTheWall!

Love,

BCU

BlenCouragesULeave a comment

Impact>Winning

Hey there BCU Fam!

I typically record our content in an informal “podcast on the go” format. Many times, the Lord gives me subject matter as I am driving or waiting, so I record on the spot! You can access the podcast here, or click on the avatar below, as you refer to the show notes below for the highlights. We pray the podcast blesses and encourages you. If so, please thumbs up AND leave a comment! Thank you and enjoy the podcast!

Podcast highlights:

  • During an oratorical review, I was on the podium with a well-known and beautifully skilled presenter.
  • Knowing that we’d be rated, and that the person would “win”, I almost backed out of the review.
  • The Lord let me know to stay, and do what He had put on my heart to do.
  • The outcome of the evaluation went from disappointing, a revelation, and a blessing in a matter of moments.

KJV Scripture references

Colossians 3:23-25

23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.

Galatians 6:9

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

BCUFam, initially and for a brief moment I considered taking a hiatus from the class, thinking, “what’s the use?”. In retrospect, when things do not go as we expect, the enemy comes in to accuse you of not hearing God properly, failing at your assignment, or discouraging you from doing what God called you to do. The Lord immediately let me know that was not His voice, and He used a stranger to confirm I was in the right place. Moreover, “stranger” confirmed that my obedience and follow-through to present what God said was impactful and a blessing. Glory to God!!!! He is awesome!

There is nothing wrong with receiving awards and accolades for what we do in this life. Those awards, though are temporary, perishable, and based on people’s memory and subjective standards. On the other hand, God’s standards are clearly outlined in His Word, His record-keeping is flawless, and rewards are eternal. So keep putting your time in—payday is coming after awhile! Amen? Amen! Let’s pray!

Father, in the name of Jesus, as we come before You today, we thank You for the reminder to keep doing what You have called us to do. All of the things the world has to offer in the way of awards and recognition will pass away, yet what is recorded in Heaven is permanent. That is where we are building our treasures! Jesus, please help us remember to follow Your directions in every thing we do, so we get Your results and are rewarded accordingly. In Jesus Name, we pray, Amen!

As a reminder, if you have not subscribed to BlenCouragesU.com, please do so! It’s free and a good place to get the encouragement, inspiration and information based the Word of God! Additionally, you can also see what we are up to on Facebook, X, and Instagram. Also, if you so inclined, join us Thursday nights––we are LIVE on YouTube at 8:05EST/7:05CST. You can also listen in and subscribe to the podcast on many podcast platforms such as  Apple podcasts, Pandora, and Spotify!

Thank you SO much for stopping by! God bless, keep and make His face to shine upon you as you #StayOnTheWall!

Love,

BCU

BlenCouragesULeave a comment

Weariness and well-doing.

Hey there BCU Family!

Typically, you have the option of listening to our podcast, reading the notes or both. For this post, because of the informal format, please tune into the podcast recording and refer to the written post for the highlights. We pray the post blesses and encourages you. If so, please thumbs up AND leave a comment! Thank you and enjoy the post!

~As people of God, we have a charge to do things in a way that pleases God–especially when dealing with others.

~Not everyone reciprocates that charge we have–even in the body of Christ. And that can vex us!

~God understands that, and wants us to be reminded to continue doing what He says and we will be rewarded for it.

KJV Scripture References:

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith (Galatians 6:9-10).

But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing (I Thessalonians 3:13).

Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. (James 4:17).

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust (Matthew 5:43-44).

I can tell you that after the Lord spoke to my heart, I felt SO much better! BCU Fam, it is so important to get the Word of God down in our hearts, so He can bring it to our remembrance just at the right time. And just mediating on the promises of God and His reminder that He sees everything and will reward us accordingly should strengthen our hearts to run on for Him! Amen? Amen!

As a reminder, if you have not subscribed to BlenCouragesU.com, please do so! It’s free and a good place to get the encouragement, inspiration and information based the Word of God! Additionally, you can also see what we are up to on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Also, if you so inclined, join us Thursday nights–we are LIVE on YouTube 8:05EST/7:05CST. You can also listen in and subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher Radio , Google Play, and Apple Podcasts!

Thank you SO much for stopping by. God bless, keep and make His face to shine upon you as you #StayOnTheWall!

Love,

BCU

BlenCouragesU1 Comment

#RealTalk-When you have NO strength to complete your assignment..

Hey there BCU Family!

As usual, you have the option of listening to our podcast (click the BCU avatar below to listen), reading the notes or BOTH. In any case, we pray the podcast blesses you. If so, please thumbs up or leave a comment! Thank you and enjoy your study!

I trust our Nehemiah study has been a blessing and a call to action for you–it has been for me!  Last time, we started digging into Nehemiah chapter 4, and left off with where Sanballat and his posse were threatening the work on the wall, but Nehemiah set up a watch and prayed, so the work would go on.  Now, though, Nehemiah faces more challenges with his own work crew! Let’s dig right in!

v10And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall.

What the Lord pointed out to me here was Judah saying “the strength of THE bearers of burdens”. Notice in chapter 3, Nehemiah took the time to NAME the individual builders, the priests, merchants, Tekoites, sons of so-and-so.  Here it says THE bearers of burdens--in other words, the strength of ALL the workers, the priests, merchants, Tekoites, sons of so-and-so was decayed.  Initially, everyone was willing to work even in the midst of the earlier threats. Now for some reason, the crew started to notice all the work ahead of them and things started to look impossible. Can you relate to that?

Anytime you are into an assignment, especially the middle and end, you start to get tired.
The result? You are NOW fearful, cowering, stressed, thinking this is too much of a trial, too much work, too dangerous, too difficult, you play the song over and over (notice how the enemy gave you the track free of charge) and you start think it, say it, act it and SPREAD it! So now ALL the workers are infected with this poison called fear!

It happens all the time! In the news, the police force, the Zika virus, the shortage of food, the contamination of chicken parts, the plastic we consume in a burger, the pesticides you get, is it organic or not? What is this President going to do? Will I lose my job? What if? Fear will have you DO NOTHING, GAIN NOTHING, and GET NOTHING! God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a power, love, power and a sound mind! (2 Timothy 1:7). GLORY to God!

Back to Nehemiah–on top of these threats, bluffs, ridicule and tiredness, here comes another attack!

v11And our adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease.

They learned the enemy is planning a sneak attack to wipe them out–and THEN the wall will cease. Obviously the enemy was VERY threatened by what was going on, otherwise, he wouldn’t be plotting so hard. Did you catch that BCU Family?

v 12And it came to pass, that when the Jews which dwelt by them came, they said unto us ten times, from all places whence ye shall return unto us they will be upon you.

Now the Jews who neighbored by the wall project heard what the adversaries were planning, and told Nehemiah and the crew all about it. At first, I thought about them being lazy and not helping, BUT God had a purpose for them being in place to report back to Nehemiah. This teaches us that sometimes God has people on the wall to watch and warn.

Think about the assignments God has called you to. What have we abandoned because we felt weary? Fearful? It was too much work? Who threatened you? Ridiculed you? Told you so and so was out to stop you? Why did you let it stop you? While threats and ridicule is real and HURTS, it does not negate is from staying on the wall. God gave us the assignment and we must complete it with His help!

We may need to come down and get healed up, but the work should not cease. John 9:4 says: I must works the works of Him that sent me while it is day. The night comes when no man can work. Get your work done NOW while it is day and you are able. Once our night comes (death) we cease from working and we want to be sure we are caught up with the Lord in the rapture–or if we die ahead of that, we hear well done, thou good and faithful servant. We can’t walk off the job now, Family!!!  Now, let’s take a look at what Nehemiah did about the workers concerns.

v13Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.

Notice how he took their concerns seriously and acted on them. He didn’t tell them, “oh just trust God and keep working!” He set up a WATCH. He organized them with weapons and then was able to speak encouraging words to their hearts.

v14And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.

He reminded them of God’s word, as well as who they were fighting for. Notice how Nehemiah’s faith was backed up by works. Faith without works is DEAD (James 2:17).

Is what we have worth fighting for? Is what God gave us, put in our hearts to do, the task, the assignment, the talent, the gift, the marriage HE ordained, the relationship HE blessed you with, the family member, the friend, even the STRANGER you are witnessing to worth fighting/staying on the wall/staying on duty for?  YES!!!!!

v15And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work.

Nehemiah’s crew kept working and the enemy stopped. Sanballat and his team KNEW they were defeated. The enemy KNOWS he is defeated and we do as well. It’s a fixed fight, BCU Fam! We are not to just lay down and give the enemy the victory claiming he stole it! We watch and pray (Nehemiah 4:9), we fight in the spirit RATHER than the flesh and we stay in our full armour (Ephesians 6:10-18).

We ALL get tired in the battle, myself included! In addition to the above Scriptures to encourages us, we can also wait on the Lord to renew our strength, so that we will mount of with wings of an eagle, run and not be weary, and walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:31).  Amen? Amen!

Well, BCU family we have to get ready to wrap things up, but Nehemiah has plenty more challenges for us to explore and apply to our lives in the remainder of chapter 4, so please stay tuned for that!

In the meantime, there are additional podcasts for you to enjoy–you are welcome to peruse the BlenCouragesU.com site 24-7!  You can also see what we are up to on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram! You can also listen in and subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher Radio , Google Play, and iTunes.

Before you go, please comment below and tell us what are your favorite Scriptures to encourage you?

Until we are together again,  thank you for stopping by and may God bless, keep and make His face to shine upon you! #StayOnTheWall!

Love,

 

BCU

 

 

BlenCouragesU11 Comments