Our Calling is Connected to OTHERS

It’s refreshing to know that God called us to be connected to others; think of how lonely you would be otherwise!

Your calling, the assignment, purpose, vision or dream that God has for your life, is connected to other people. It is impossible to fulfill your purpose in life by yourself. Apart from others, we cannot succeed in our calling. 

Pastor Rick Warren emphasizes, “Calling and community go together. You cannot be what God wants you to be…fulfill what God wants you to fulfill…enjoy your destiny on your own. You have to do it connected to other people.”

Think about the different parts of your body. An eye can translate the world into beautiful pictures for your brain to store as memory. An ear can bring you the sounds of the ocean or the voice of a friend. A hand can write, fix things, or support a friend. But an eyeball outside of the socket cannot see. An ear lopped off cannot hear. A hand removed cannot pick up a child. Apart from the body, each part is worthless—powerless, talentless, purposeless—because they are not connected. You have to be connected to the body to fulfill your calling.

There is a similar example in nature. The beautiful and grand redwoods are magnificent trees that commonly grow to between 200 and 275 feet tall. The tallest one currently measures 368.6 ft. And as tall as redwoods are, they have a comparably shallow root system. How is it that they so rarely fall? 

The redwoods’ root systems reach out for great distances and are intertwined with one another, literally holding each other up.

We are a church family—God’s family. In order to reach our full potential, we need to support each other and hold one another up! 

"Brothers and sisters, you are holy partners in a heavenly calling." Hebrews 3:1

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Sandra D. Bricker is a best-selling and award-winning author of laugh-out-loud romantic comedy for the Christian market. Her most popular series (that started with Always the Baker Never the Bride) will conclude this spring with Always the Baker FINALLY the Bride, which is now available for pre-order at Amazon.

Sandie leads a team of writers in creating the Living It Out daily Bible study for CedarCreek Church. Today's devotion is based on the Living It Out study on the importance of community within bodies of believers. If you enjoyed it, feel free to check out the daily studies by e-mail or audio podcast by clicking HERE.

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Evolution Isn't All Bad

CynthiaRuchti tells stories of Hope-that-glows-in-the-dark through her novels and novellas, devotion collections, speaking, teaching, and a history of 33 years as a radio writer/producer. Her books have been recognized by RT Reviewers’ Choice, Retailers’ Choice, Family Fiction Readers’ Choice, and other honors. Her novel When the Morning Glory Blooms (Abingdon Press Fiction) releases April 1, 2013, and has received an impressive 4-1/2 stars AND Top Pick from Romantic Times. In July, her nonfiction project—Ragged Hope: Surviving the Fallout of OtherPeople’s Choices—releases from Abingdon Press Christian Living.

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 “I can’t imagine this scene any other way.” … “No, I can’t kill off such a beloved character!” … “Read my lips. I’ll never write historicals.” …“I’ll never write contemporaries.” … “You’ll never find the word Amish in one of my novels.”

I don’t remember saying the words aloud, but the last of the foot-planting fell this past month when I keyed in the letters A-m-i-s-h in the final draft of a novel that releases in 2014. I know. It surprised me, too.

Another novel, releasing April 1, 2013—When the Morning Glory Blooms (Abingdon Press)—could form an Evolution is Not a Dirty Word chapter of a fiction craft book. In its earliest form, it had one viewpoint character and one timeline—the late 1800s. It languished that way in the primordial ooze for years. Not quite whole. Its limbs weren’t fully formed. The character telling her story did a lot of that. Telling.  But I couldn’t imagine the book any other way.

Tenacity is prettier than stubbornness. So I traded up. I let imagination wander far enough to include a second era, a second point-of-view character. Better. Now the story could both swim and crawl. It crawled and swam for three more years. But I wanted it to fly, too.

On the phone with a writer friend one day, I moaned, “I feel as if it needs a contemporary element. A third viewpoint character. A third era. That’s crazy. How could I make that work? But I can’t get away from the feeling that it needs the contemporary component.”

“Then do it,” she said.

Evolution? In the world of writing, it pairs well with creation. The book that started out as one woman’s story turned into three women’s stories told in three eras. When I quit fighting the things I said I’d never do, the novel was free to become something better, richer, deeper, more satisfying—even to me—than its original version.

 “I’ll never” may be among the most dangerous words a writer can utter. Stubbornly clinging to an initial concept could cost the heart of the story that longs to be told.

Swim. Crawl. Fly. What questions should a writer ask to help a story evolve to its full potential?

1. Would the story be stronger in a different setting?
2. Are all the secondary characters worth retaining? Are they worth the page space?
3. Am I stubbornly hanging onto a favorite scene, chapter, line that needs to go…or evolve?
4. What’s missing? Am I brave enough to consider something radical?
5. What’s holding it back from soaring?
6. Have I resisted the depth of research it would take to pull the story out of the ooze and onto solid ground? Is resisting fair to the story?
7. Am I tapping into the wisdom of others who have the story’s best interests at heart—a wise author friend, my editor, my agent, a mentor…?
8. Am I looking at the words I write as if they are untouchable treasures or as tools of storytelling? One will make them petrified. The other will make them pliable.
9. How far am I willing to let imagination roam in order to discover what the story lacks?
10. Am I thinking dangerously about this story, using words like “I’ll never” or “I can’t imagine it any other way”?

Just a few days from the launch of the novel that evolved when I was willing to ask questions like these, I’m grateful for the friend who challenged, “Then do it.” I’m grateful for the editor who said, “Go for it, but make sure all the threads of all three stories are tied up at the end.” And I’m grateful for a God who isn’t stingy with imagination, a God who decided creativity was one of the character traits we could share with Him, a God who cared about the story before I did and wouldn’t let me settle for half-formed.

If you pick up a copy of When the Morning Glory Blooms, try to picture it with any one of the three eras and three viewpoint characters missing. It wouldn’t be the same, would it?

When have you waded through a similar process in one of your own projects? How hard was it to give up the form you thought the story was meant to take in order to let it find its breath? 

Leave a comment about that process or your thoughts on these “evolution” questions so we can keep the discussion going, and I’ll enter you to win an autographed copy of When the Morning Glory Blooms.

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Now is the time for AGAPE

“The best use of life is love.

The best expression of love is time.

The best time to love is now.”

― Rick Warren

The Greek word Agape is often translated to Love in the New Testament, and the essence of agape love is self-sacrifice. Unlike our English word Love, Agape is not used in the Bible to refer to romantic or sexual love, nor does it refer to close friendship or brotherly love. Agape love is unique and distinguished by its nature and character. Agape love is the love of God, whose very nature is love. God does not merely love; He is love.

Everything God does flows from His pure and loving heart. His affection for us comes for no other reason except that it is His nature and the expression of His being. We are the undeserving recipients upon whom He lavishes His affection. In that same way, we are called to love others sacrificially.

Loving others takes time and sacrifice.

Jesus gave the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37) as an example of sacrifice for the sake of others, even for those who may care nothing at all for us, or even hate us, as the Jews did the Samaritans.

Sacrificial love is not based on a feeling, but a determined act of the will, a joyful resolve to put the welfare of others above our own. But this type of love does not come naturally to humans. Because of our fallen nature, we are incapable of producing such a love. If we are to follow the example of agape, it can only come from its true source: Only God can generate within us the kind of self-sacrificing love which is the proof that we are His children. And because of God’s agape love toward us, we are now able to love one another.

Ask yourself today whether you’ve been a free and willing vessel of God’s agape love, and whether you’ve allowed it to flow out to others. What was the last sacrificial expression you’ve extended to someone else?

Remember the wave of people who initiated and encouraged others to follow suit in a trend toward Random Acts of Kindness? Step out today and revive that trend. Give yourself the permission to perform five acts of random and selfless kindness this week. Make it your mission to take the time and make the sacrifice. As Rick Warren wrote, “The time to love is NOW.”

John 15:10-12 (New Living Translation)

¹⁰ “When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! ¹² This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.”

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Sandra D. Bricker is a best-selling and award-winning author of laugh-out-loud romantic comedy for the Christian market. Her most popular series (that started with Always the Baker Never the Bride) will conclude this spring with Always the Baker FINALLY the Bride, which is now available for pre-order at Amazon.

Sandie leads a team of writers in creating the Living It Out daily Bible study for CedarCreek Church. Today's devotion is based on the Living It Out study on the importance of loving others. If you enjoyed it, feel free to check out the daily studies by e-mail or audio podcast by clicking HERE

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Doing Unto Others

“Put your love where your mouth is.”

“Actions speak louder than words.”

To remain humble and forgiving, to ask strangers and our enemies to sit and eat at the table that the Lord has prepared for us is sometimes the hardest – but also the biggest – way to show God’s love. By serving others, we put our love where our mouth is and show the world our faith.

If you have a hard time evangelizing – that is, telling people about Jesus Christ and salvation – show them. Think about the image of someone with an “I (heart) Jesus” sticker on their bumper but behaving badly in traffic. It leaves an impression; just not a favorable one.

It’s difficult to live out what we know Christianity should be about, but that’s what people see. By actively living our faith, we show others around us the love of Christ.

How do you serve the stranger on the street, the co-worker you have never gotten along with, even your own friends and family?

In Craig Groeschel’s book, The Christian Atheist, he writes about the many different ways in which we can serve and how service is a great way to share our faith. He writes, “You don’t have to be a Bible scholar to take some time to serve… When you serve others in Christ’s name, with no strings attached, people will notice something is different about you.”

Notice he said serve with “no strings attached.” It’s as simple as asking your neighbors if they need help with chores or volunteering at a food pantry or other outreach, without sharing anything Biblical at that point—just serving them. Then when they ask, “Why are you so nice?” or “Why are you doing this for me?” you can share the love of Christ!

Galatians 6:10 (New Living Translation) says: Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.

Serving others is a huge way to share our faith in Christ. By giving our life away, we receive so much more in return.

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Sandra D. Bricker is a best-selling and award-winning author of laugh-out-loud romantic comedy for the Christian market. Her most popular series (that started with Always the Baker Never the Bride) will conclude this spring with Always the Baker FINALLY the Bride, which is now available for pre-order at Amazon.

Sandie leads a team of writers in creating the Living It Out daily Bible study for CedarCreek Church. Today's devotion is based on the Living It Out study on the importance of service. If you enjoyed it, feel free to check out the daily studies by e-mail or audio podcast by clicking HERE.

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