£2 for your smile, or simple ways to shepherd one another - One Meaningful Thing I Did Today (30-day challenge)

Catchy title, isn't it? :) These days I'm more and more before the Lord concerning my blog since the last thing I want it to be is "an outlet of Stefan". We all - and especially me - have so much STUFF to talk about! We can say so many things, we can give our opinion on so many topics, we can comment on the current events and the state of the nation, etc. We know a lot, and the more we grow in the human life, the more we are taught to think for ourselves, "be ourselves", express ourselves, etc... but NO, I don't want this blog to be my expression, something "of me"....

But what would this blog express? Since it's a 30-day challenge with, "One Meaningful Thing I Did Today" - isn't it about ME? O Lord.... I want to learn to deny myself, put the Lord first, and allow Him to saturate me and permeate me to such an extent that my expression is actually His expression, my experience daily is experiencing Christ in my human life, and even my words would be words that convey Christ and not myself... I hope and pray that the reading of these articles would encourage everyone not to "wonder who this guy is" or "how bad a person he is", etc - but to cause you to love the Lord more and seek Him more! Which brings me to the topic today,

£2 for your smile, or simple ways to shepherd one another - One Meaningful Thing I Did Today

Nope, it's not me in the picture :) 

Today the story is about someone that had a haircut! Finally, I went and had a haircut - I've been thinking to do that for a while now. But it's interesting what happened - I got into the hairdressing place and I asked how long will they still be open(since it was almost 6.20pm). The guy there said it was until 7pm, and then I went on and said, "OK, I'll just go and get some cash out, then come back and get a haircut". No, he said, just come in I'll give you a haircut and you can give me the money later. I have never met or seen this guy before, and he had no idea who I am, but he was OK to give me a haircut - counting on the fact that one day I will come and pay him back!

This warmed up my heart. I don't know how your day was, but sometimes things pile up on you, don't go the way you think they should go, you have to deal with an increasingly amount of stress or customer care, orders, etc... - no complaining, just that daily there's a thing called, "the wearing out tactics of the enemy"... And out of all the people in the world, this particular hairdresser, in his 40s, managed to make me smile :) I sat on the chair, found out he is from Kosovo (and I'm from Romania), he came here a very long time ago, etc. We had a nice conversation, he gave me a nice haircut, and since I had only £6 with me - and the fee was £8 - he said, Whenever you come by, just bring me the change, when you have time. This is where the "£2 for your smile" comes from :)

I was walking home and thanking the Lord for shepherding me in such a way, and I realized the second part of the title, "simple ways to shepherd one another". We think that in order to "shepherd the saints" or to "take care of others" we need to be trained, qualified, mature, etc. But all it takes is to be open to the Lord and cooperate with Him to meet others' needs even in a human way. Someone is hungry or thirsty, and you get him a drink / something to eat. You sense someone's need and then, in prayer before the Lord, you cooperate with the Lord to meet that need. And it's these little things, the small things, that not only "bring a smile on your face", but they also encourage you to go on with the Lord and in your Christian life.

A simple text message or an email to one of your contacts can encourage him / her. Just saying HI to someone who doesn't usually talk to you after the meeting, or "meeting someone half-way" by taking the first step to talk to someone after the meeting / after class - shepherds others! Take a young brother the Lord put on your heart out for dessert or visit someone at home with your companion - you "waste your time" on the saints to spend time with them, and you can gain the Lord! I was so surprised to find out how much my heart was warmed up after this person, by all outward means an unbeliever(but a loving father to his kids), shepherded me in this way.

This is something that the Lord Jesus does towards us - He meets us where we are, and He surprises us with these little gestures, these little things, through which He just shows us how much He loves us! Sometimes He may expose us and allow us to make a mistake, but when we return to Him He is so loving and forgiving! He who is forgiven much loves much - so we just love the Lord! At other times the Lord, through people or the environment or even the weather, just shepherds us and brings us on with Him. THIS ONE IS IN US, and as we are around people and around saints, we can also be in this way!

I am NOT good at this. I may be inclined towards, "Let's do this!", or, "help me do that", but what if I would really listen to someone and find out his real need + bring this to the Lord? The Lord is the most attentive One, being intimately and kindly interested in us and our needs. He in us can do it towards the young ones, towards our workmates, towards our fellow students, and towards our family members! Even giving a little attention to the smallest members of our families will make them happy. In the church life we need to minister Christ to one another - and we do this by learning to shepherd one another and care for one another to make others' heart happy in the Lord first...

Lord, we want to learn to care for others in simple ways and simple things - to warm up their heart and give them something of Christ in the Word for You to grow in them and have Your way! We don't know how, we may not be too available in our being for this, or we may not even be willing - but Lord, we give ourselves to You to be shepherded by You and for You to shepherd others through us!

Having KFC for the Lord with the saints - One Meaningful Thing I Did Today (30-day challenge)

There we go again, fast-food on the blog and talk about fast food! It is NOT healthy to have KFC regularly, and it is NOT recommended to have it too often. Before I came to the UK I used to hold KFC to a very high standard, loving even the smell of it... It was a special time for me when I had KFC :) - but then I discovered so many other fast food places or even the wonderful Nando's, with the grilled chicken... yummy... :) And so from time to time I pay a visit to these "establishments" / places / fast food restaurants. But that's not the point of this story - rather, it is that I can be,

Having KFC for the Lord with the saints - One Meaningful Thing I Did Today

This article is NOT intended to promote KFC or any other fast food restaurant, as neither is it to promote Pepsi (but maybe I'll recommend the pure water to quench your thirst...). No. Sometimes as I am with the young ones - the students, the young people, the saints - we have some KFC together. Not regularly, of course. Most older saints, including the parents, don't recommend it - and neither do I. But since the young people like it, one of the ways we can shepherd them is to "take them out to KFC"(or McDonald's / Subway / other fast food places, if they prefer it), go have some ice cream or coffee together, etc.

What I recently experienced is that you can use a KFC place to have some fellowship with the saints. You can order something to eat, and sit down and have some fellowship. There is a particular brother I'm having fellowship with almost every Tuesday evening - right after my gym time, as he also finishes his work, we would meet and have one whole hour together right before the prayer meeting. We would have either KFC or McDonald's or something else short to eat, and then go through a book called, The God-Man Living. It was such a building up time and such a sweet time!

Of course, after a while, having KFC every week can become too much, so we would choose either another place to eat(since we needed to have dinner, right?) - but we would continue our fellowship. And this is how we got together for several months, having a weekly time of talking about our day, turning our heart to the Lord, having some KFC :) or something to eat / drink, then getting into either the Word of God or a spiritual book(like, the God-man living). It's not easy to set a regular time aside every week to meet with someone and enjoy the Lord, but once you have it, you will taste the Lord together and you will be built up with the other one in a very sweet way!

Can you believe that a coffee shop, a tea shop, or a fast food place like KFC can be a place where you can enjoy the Lord with the saints?

What we need to do - and what I want to continue to learn to do - is to take care of one another in a very human way, yet at the same time in a divine way. Divinely human - that's what we are, as believers in the Lord. We need to eat - so we go out and eat together; we need to spiritually feed and be built up, so we get into the truth together and pray together! Believe me, KFC or any other fast food / dessert place will  become a different place once you get together with the saints there! I have experienced it so many times that it is very rare that I sit in a KFC or Nando's without the saints - it's uncomfortable to be there by myself!

Especially now that the university starts its schedule, and as school also is starting, we can use any opportunity we have to take care of one another, be built up together, and also spend time to know the saints. Starbucks or Costa Coffee (or any other coffee shop) are good places to get together, sit down, take care of some young ones or new ones, and read something together. It's so simple, so human, yet it can be filled with the divine presence once we exercise our spirit! Can you believe that? You can exercise your spirit when you have your tea at your favourite tea shop, or when you grab a Colonel's meal at KFC! Or, as they have new meals, you can get a Boneless Banquet or a Godfather meal :) - with another brother!

One more thing: when it comes to taking care of the saints and being built up together, the money we spend for this we actually give to the Lord for His purpose. You may invite a young brother(if you're a brother) out to eat some KFC(for example), and pay for his side - if you are before the Lord about this, you actually spend both your time and money on the Lord and His Body. You can give real value and meaning to your money by spending them on the Lord, the saints, the new ones, the young ones - His flock! What a privilege, to waste ourselves on Him!

Disclaimer: for the record and also for our conscience / good health, we need to do our best to eat healthy and drink healthy, even to take care of our body as of the temple of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes though, for the sake of others, unless it goes against our principles / conscience, we can "go along" with them and go out have some dinner somewhere - and the Lord will accompany us :) We are where we are, and we are not here to force others to eat what we eat or to stop them eating stuff... - but we are here to enjoy the Lord and bring others to enjoy Him more! Lord, have Your way in us!

Being Supportive Without Being Noticed - One Meaningful Thing I Did Today (30-day challenge)

We all need support and a friendly advice. Some need this more than others, while some seem like they don't need anyone or anything - they are "all-inclusive" and they "know everything". Apparently I am the second kind of person, at least that's what hits the eye when one meets me / sees me. But within, just like everyone else, "I am NOT OK"! Here in the UK everyone asks you, instead of "How are you?" - "Y'alright? Y'alright?" In the beginning I would say like the rest, I'm fine, thanks... but then I realized - nah, I'm not fine at all! Funny thing though, sometimes I would answer them, NO, I'm NOT OK... and they would nod... [obviously, not even listening!]

This doesn't mean I have major problems or some issues(which I do, just like everyone else), but this means that we as human beings are NOT OK - we need help! We need the help of our parents when we grow up, the help of our teachers in school, the help of our friends(and sometimes this help is "not very helpful"), the help of our professors and teachers in university, the help of our family in need and at any point in life, the help of our workmates at work, etc - no matter how much we give the impression that we are OK, we actually are the product of being helped a lot by many many people in our life! Which brings me to,

One Meaningful Thing I Did Today - Being Supportive Without Being Noticed

Maybe I started a bit too dramatically than the principle and the "thing I did today", but even at work we need to help one another - and in the church life it is the same. Somehow we need to shepherd one another in a way that is not "obvious" or "to be applauded", but in an organic way and even "being supportive without being noticed". Things may be piled up on you - you have a lot of things to do, but someone comes and demands your immediate attention to help him. What do you do then? Do you care for "the many things to do", or do you care for the person? Most times I just "go right ahead as a steaming train" and "do my thing", but sometimes it's better to STOP and HELP / SUPPORT someone...

There's no incident or a particular event of today that I am referring to, but I realized it's all about the PEOPLE and not about the THINGS you do. At work, in the family life, in the church life, wherever we are - we need to care for people! And having a being that is open to them and available to them, caring more for people than for what you think you need to do or something that HAS to happen... that is noble and also much needed! I'm NOT that kind of a person, but there are situations, even pressing environments or surroundings, where the test comes and exposes me of my lack + brings me to pray,

O Lord, WHY? Why am I like that? Is it my disposition? I'm always right, I always judge others, and I always criticize others! Why don't I rather help or shepherd others - instead of having this "attitude"? O Lord.... Work Yourself into me to such an extent that You will live the God-man life on earth IN ME!

There was One Person that was like this - He did not live for Himself, He did not speak His own words, He did not do His own work, He did not seek His own glory, and He did not express Himself. This One expressed the Father by being one with the Father. Because He was always listening to the Father, the Lord Jesus also listened to the people and could meet their real need. Some people would come to Him with questions to ensnare Him, but He would answer in such a way that would show them that what they need is not "a doctrinal answer" but "a living Person who can save them". Some people were physically sick, but the Lord would not just heal their body but also their soul and their spirit.

Being right does not satisfy, and doing all things right / "according to the book" does not fully approve one before man or God. What really satisfies both man and God is the living of the God-man Jesus to be reproduced in the 21st century in many believers who express Him corporately as the Body of Christ! Only by allowing Christ to live in us can we support others, help others, in a way that it's almost un-noticed. The Lord ministered to people and then when they would try to crown Him as King, He would disappear / leave! I want to learn from Him by enjoying Him until He lives in me the same life He lived on earth 2k years ago - the life that pleased the Father!

... I thank the Lord for my workmates, for my family, for the people I know, for the saints in the church life, and for everyone that somehow the Lord brought in my life. They mostly did one thing towards me - showing me what I really am and exposing me of what I am not. I'm not supportive, I am not helpful towards others, and I can't do things that will not bring me appreciation from others. All the characteristics of the Lord which were aromatic, expressing the bountiful God - this is what I am not. But Lord, little by little, stitch by stitch, work Yourself into me / into us until we become Your duplication - Your increase and Your extension on the earth today!

Crystallization-Study of the Psalms(1) - so wonderful!

We are going these days through the video-training on the Crystallization Study of the Psalms, and I just love the Lord so much more when I see how wonderful He is in all the Psalms! On the one hand, the psalmists wrote out of their devotion for God, their sentiments, their experiences, and their feelings toward God and His house. On the other hand, many times God inspired the psalmists that they may write something which is a prophecy concerning Christ! Wow, Psalm 2, 8, 16, 22, 23, 24, and so on! Some Psalms just stand out and really declare Christ! Here are some portions I enjoyed and posted on the A God-Man blog from the recent summer training on Psalms(crystallization-study):

• Crystallization Study of the Psalms(1) – praising the Lord and speaking psalms to one another! Praise the Lord, we have started the video-training on the Crystallization Study of the Psalms(1)! We watched the first message entitled, the Central Thought of the Book of Psalms – and it was so rich! It will take us weeks to digest and our whole life to experience and enjoy the riches of Christ as presented in the book of the Psalms! One of the first matters that touched me in this message(and this is NOT a review of the whole message…) is that we need to be recovered to a proper praising the Lord.
• Crystallization Study of Psalms(1) – God’s system of grace and God’s system of government(message 2) - The second message from the Crystallization Study of the Psalms(1) is entitled the Revelation concerning Christ in God’s economy – and I was very much impressed with the two systems of God. There are two systems of God in the universe – two ways God relates to man and to His creation – which are the system of grace and the system of government
• God has perfected praise from the mouths of the babes and sucklings(crystallization-study of the Psalms) - Man can fall and man can sin, but man cannot overthrow the perfect will of God! What a statement – though man has fallen and is in a free fall ever since, man can never chage God’s will or overthrow His purpose: God’s purpose will be fulfilled! God desires to have a corporate man in His image filled with all His riches expressing Him and representing Him to reign over Satan, sin, and death – and eventually reign with God over the whole earth and bring in God’s kingdom to the earth!
• a governing principle in the Bible: the two trees with two lines, two flows, and two destinations! - It is so easy to read the Bible and try to understand it through your own perspective and way of seeing things – and especially when we come to the book of Psalms, where there are so many expressions of the sentiments, emotions, and desires of the psalmists… But we need to see that there’s a governing principle in the entire Bible! I was inspired and touched today by the fourth message in the Crystallization Study of the Psalms(1), entitled, The God-man who satisfies God’s desire and fulfills His good pleasure
• a detailed picture of Christ in His suffering of death – the redeeming death of Christ in Psalm 22 - In the recent Crystallization Study of the Psalms(1) I was very much impressed by the vivid portrait of Christ’s death in Psalm 22. In message 5 entitled, Christ in His Redeeming Death and Church-Producing Resurrection, the center and the main burden is the church-producing resurrection of Christ(Psa. 22:22), but in the beginning the brother encouraged us all to study, dig in, dive into, and get more deeper into the aspects of Christ’s death, His crucifixion on the cross.
• we need to see and cooperate with the pneumatic Christ’s shepherding as revealed in Psalm 23 - Praise the Lord for Psalm 23 with the proper interpretation and the high view of Christ in His ascension as the organic Shepherd! I really enjoyed in the recent Crystallization Study of the Psalms(1), in message 6 entitled, The Organic Shepherding of the Pneumatic Christ, the fact that the pneumatic Christ is the Shepherd, He is shepherding us, and He wants us to shepherd others also! The Christ whom we love, enjoy, and worship is the Shepherd!

O, Lord, amen! These messages are so rich...