This past month we finished our series How To Neighbour and as we prepared the message, the prep was also doing a deep work in us, causing us to be so very mindful of the brevity of life and the foreverness of eternity. What I do every single moment of every single day is so vitally important.
Psalm 90:12 instructs us to ask God to ‘teach us to number our days that we would live with a heart of wisdom’.
The only thing we can seemingly take to eternity with us is relationships – our money, homes, and cars, etc. will all be left behind. We believe that it is wise to regularly take stock of our lives and honestly wrestle with answering the question ‘Who or what gets the best and the most of our time – are we focused on being heavenly minded or earthly minded.?’
God’s word tells us repeatedly that a rich and beautiful life will never be measured by what we have accumulated, but by what we have sown and invested into the lives of people. Truly, there is no greater place to invest our lives than into relationships with a God-centered purpose attached to them.
When that God-centered purpose happens to be neighbouring here are some final encouragements for you to consider as you engage with those around you:
Pay close attention to the story that God is writing over your life.
Here’s a few ways that God ordained friendships and relationships have been brought into our lives and have helped shape our neighbouring relationships:
Open your eyes – Live your life with a sense of expectancy. Often, we can’t see the opportunities for new relationships because our heads are down, so focused on the immediate stuff in front of us that we disregard the God-invitations that He is presenting to us to engage in.
Open your heart. It’s hard to hug someone who lives their life with their ‘arms crossed’. Many of us have been hurt in relationships so we are unapproachable – we are closed off and standoffish and so many God-opportunities can be lost or delayed. We have been hurt in relationships, but we are also healed in relationships, so let’s open our hearts.
Open your mouth. Speak words that invite and engage others into your life. Go first and start the conversation.
Most importantly – PRAY. Prayer opens our hearts to engage God’s heart toward others. Prayer heightens our spirits to be in tune and engaged to hear God’s voice speaking and His Spirit nudging us to action.
Life is to be fully lived and enjoyed, not simply endured. True joy comes from knowing our days are filled with living for God’s higher purpose and fulfilling God’s dreams for our lives and relationships – Neighbouring well helps to accomplish this.
- Who has come into your life recently or many years ago that is clearly a God connection?
- Which friends and relationships are you truly thankful for today? Be sure to let them know.
We heard a great pastor teach that 90% of your destiny is in others and only 10% is in you. Based on our personal experience, we believe this is so true, so be encouraged to pay close attention to the divine God-encounters coming your way this summer. They may look very ordinary, but they have supernatural potential to change your world, their world, and the world.
Pastors Marlee and Dave.
