For Thy Sake

I've been reading devotionals from a book, "Tozer for Today: Tozer on the Almighty God" recently during my quiet times. The compiler, Robert Eggert, took passages from well-known Christian author, A.W. Tozer's books and put together a daily devotional. There are some devotions that are good, and I'm glad that I read them, but then there are some, like today's, that grab me and make me think, challenge, and encourage me. 

Here is the devotion for today, September 28, entitled "For Thy Sake."

A Christian poet of a bygone generation wrote a rather long hymn around a single idea: You can, by three little words, turn every common act of your life into an offering acceptable to God. Those words are "For Thy sake"...

All this seems too simple to be true, but Scripture and experience agree to declare that is indeed the way to sanctify the ordinary. "For Thy sake" will rescue the little, empty things from vanity and give them eternal meaning. The lowly paths of routine living will by these words be elevated to the level of a bright highway. The humdrum of our daily lives will take on the quality of a worship service and the thousand irksome duties we must perform will become offerings and sacrifices acceptable to God by Christ Jesus. 

To God, there are no small offerings if they are made in the name of His Son. Conversely, nothing appears great to Him that is given for any other reason than for Jesus' sake. If we cannot die for Christ we can live for Him and sometimes this is more heroic and will bring a larger reward.

"For Thy sake." These are the wondrous words which, when they are found in the heart as well as in the mouth, turn water into wine and every base material into gold. (from Tozer's book, "Born after Midnight, pg 70-71).

As I read this devotional this morning, I was deeply challenged. There are so many times where I have viewed a task as mundane and insignificant. If I have this mind-set and attitude, where in all that I do, I declare it as "for Thy sake," my tasks become an offering unto God. The phone calls that I make, the conversations I have, the text and Facebook messages that I send can all be an offering to God. Washing  dishes, cleaning the bathroom, sweeping the floor can be an offering unto God. This devotional challenged me to not think of a task as something that needs to be completed and checked off my list, but as something I can do for the glory of God and to do it to the best of my ability. It also encouraged me that even if I feel that a task is insignificant, if I do it for His sake, it is an offering unto Him, and He doesn't view it as something small. 

I needed this devotional this morning and it always blows my mind that God knows exactly what I needed and when I needed it. How awesome is that?? :)

 I wanted to share it with you to encourage and challenge you in your walk with Christ as it has mine, even only a few hours later.

A New (Academic) Year...and My Prayer for This Campus

A few weeks ago, Chi Alpha partnered with eight other campus ministries to host GO Week, a mission trip to Florida State's campus. During those three days, we helped freshmen and transfer students move into their dorms, become acclimated with campus, and work with the university to provide entertainment and pancakes for the new students. Tuesday night, there was a kick-off service for the ministry staff and students that were participating in GO Week. We met at First Baptist Church in Tallahassee for registration, dinner, and a brief service to worship, pray over the rest of the week, and talk about why we were doing this. During the worship service, we sang a worship song named "You'll Come" by Hillsong. I've sang this song several times since I moved to Florida in different services and has become one of my favorites, but this time, the bridge hit me differently. The bridge goes like this:

"Chains be broken
Lives be healed
Eyes be opened
Christ is revealed."

I realized in that moment that this is my prayer for this year...I want this happen in the students at Florida State: chains to be broken, their lives to be healed, eyes to be opened, Christ be revealed to them. Basically, whatever is holding them back from having a personal relationship with Christ to be stripped away and for Him to be revealed in their lives.

Since that service, the bridge has run through my mind several times and each time, I pray, "Yes, Lord, let this happen on your campus." I am also in awe that God has chosen to use me, that as powerful and almighty as God is, he chooses to use me, an imperfect, broken vessel...but that is another post for another time. :)

Our semester has gotten off to a great start, with 70 people coming out to our first Chi Alpha Live service of the semester and nearly half of them being new!! Our small group Bible studies start this week and we are very excited to see God move through both our small groups and weekly service.

*If you would like to hear the song, You'll Come, click here for a link to a YouTube video. I get goosebumps every time I hear this song :) *