{"id":2582,"date":"2020-10-09T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-09T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/?p=2582"},"modified":"2020-10-10T18:18:33","modified_gmt":"2020-10-10T23:18:33","slug":"whose-inspiration-leads-to-good-works-in-your-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2020\/10\/09\/whose-inspiration-leads-to-good-works-in-your-life\/","title":{"rendered":"WHOSE INSPIRATION LEADS TO GOOD WORKS IN YOUR LIFE?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cWe remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.\u201d (1 Thess. 1:3 NIV)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus inspires our good works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If it weren\u2019t for Jesus, we wouldn\u2019t forgive.  He teaches us what forgiveness is by His example.  Think about the person you are the most mad at right now.  Would you even try to forgive them if it wasn\u2019t for Jesus?  I wouldn\u2019t.  But because I believe in God, I work at forgiving those who hurt me.  As I work at forgiving, I discover what my role in the situation is.   Issues that need addressing from within me come out as I try to forgive others.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, jealousy; as I\u2019ve worked through forgiving someone, I\u2019ve seen my jealous nature.  I\u2019m much more aware when I\u2019m experiencing jealous feelings.  Also, I\u2019ve recognized a lie I\u2019ve believed about jealousy.  When I was little and having friend problems, I would talk to my mom.  Often, her summation of the situation was that they were jealous for whatever reason.  My ego developed around my mother\u2019s words.  Recently, my husband pointed out to me; jealousy isn\u2019t the answer for every issue.  My mother wasn\u2019t wrong; she was probably right.  However, the way I processed her words weren\u2019t how she meant me too.  In other words, the answer to every relationship issue isn\u2019t jealousy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working to identify and deal with deep-seated issues isn\u2019t easy. When bonds break, freedom comes.  If I didn\u2019t follow Jesus, I wouldn\u2019t do any good works.  Instead of forgiving, I\u2019d stew in my anger and plot revenge.  I\u2019d live my life based on unintentional lies that I believed.  But because of Jesus, I let go of the negative, striving for the positive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus is the motivation.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we do what Jesus did, instead of arguing over what He meant, good works will abound. People debate and interpret God\u2019s word regularly.  Perhaps one of the devil\u2019s most fantastic tricks is getting believers to argue over God\u2019s commands.  However, Jesus made our mission on earth very clear: Love God, Love Others (Mark 12:30-31 NIV<\/a>).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Jesus simplified, people complicate.  Instead of doing what God wants, we argue over what He means.  As a result, nothing gets done.  But if we stop arguing and start doing, life change occurs for all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.\u201d (<\/em>1 Thess. 1:6 NIV<\/em><\/a>) <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Become an imitator of Jesus. Imitating Him results in good works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Question of the Day:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can imitating Jesus inspire you today?
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further Reading:<\/strong>Jeremiah 12:1-14:10 NIV<\/a>, 1 Thessalonians 1:1-2:8 NIV<\/a>, Psalm 79 NIV<\/a>, Proverbs 24:30-34 NIV<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.\u201d (1 Thess. 1:3 NIV) Jesus inspires our good works. If it weren\u2019t for Jesus, we wouldn\u2019t forgive.  He teaches us what forgiveness is by His example.  Think… Continue reading WHOSE INSPIRATION LEADS TO GOOD WORKS IN YOUR LIFE?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2582"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2582\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2623,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2582\/revisions\/2623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}