Author: Randy Elster

Truth for tonight: Thursday, March 3, 2016

When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

—Deuteronomy 8:10-14 NIV

Thought for today: Thursday, March 3, 2016

If you are selfish, and make yourself and your own private interests your idol, God will leave you to yourself, and let you promote your own interests as well as you can. But if you do not selfishly seek your own, but do seek the things that are Jesus Christ’s, and the things of your fellow human beings, then God will make your interest and happiness his own charge, and he is infinitely more able to provide for and promote it than you are. The resources of the universe move at his bidding, and he can easily command them all to subserve your welfare. So that, not to seek your own, in the selfish sense, is the best way of seeking your own in a better sense. It is the directest course you can take to secure your highest happiness.

—Jonathan Edwards

HT: What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done by Matt Perman

Thought for today: Wednesday, March 2, 2016

A selfish man is not apt to discern the wants of others, but rather to overlook them, and can hardly be persuaded to see or feel them. But a man of charitable spirit is apt to see the afflictions of others, and to take notice of their aggravation, and to be filled with concern for them, as he would be for himself if under difficulties. And he is ready, also, to help them, and take delight in supplying their necessities, and relieving their difficulties.

—Jonathan Edwards

HT: What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done by Matt Perman

March 2016 Reading Challenge book: START by Jon Acuff

Our new group the 2016 Reading Challenge is off to a great start! Last week we met to discuss our February book, Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear by Max Lucado. And this week we’re starting our March book, Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, Do Work That Matters by Jon Acuff.

This book ties into our theme for the year, Courage, as a guide to not just settle for average in life but to have the courage to go for awesome.

In Start, Acuff talks about the five stages of a successful life, which used to be tied to your age during a time when people tended to stick with one career their entire working life:

  1. Learning (20s)
  2. Editing (30s)
  3. Mastering (40s)
  4. Harvesting (50s)
  5. Guiding (60s)

But now, according to Acuff, the stages are no longer tied to when you were born, but to when you decide to live. You just have to Start!

This week we’re reading chapters 1 and 2. Chapter 1, “You Are Here,” introduces the concept of the five stages of life and shows how things are different now. In chapter 2, “The Start,” he talks about the importance of not only being wildly enthusiastic about your future, but also being extremely realistic about your present—where you are now. He also says that the Start is the only part you truly control and you can’t really predict the finish.

We’ll meet at the end of the month—on Wednesday, March 30, at 7:00pm at NorthStar Church—to discuss the book together. Email me at randy dot elster at northstarchurch dot org for more information.

Thought for today: Monday, February 29, 2016

Let us be on the watch for opportunities of usefulness; let us go about the world with our ears and our eyes open, ready to avail ourselves of every occasion for doing good; let us not be content till we are useful, but make this the main design and ambition of our lives.

—Charles Spurgeon

HT: What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done by Matt Perman