The Solace of Harmonious Relationships

In Psalm 133, David makes it plain to us that harmony is precious and pleasant. He begins the chapter by saying, “Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.” God loves when we worship together in spirit and in truth. One of the benefits of this is that you get to experience the joy of His blessings. Harmonious relationships are so important for a number of reasons. First of all, it makes our church more attractive and would bring others to want to fellowship with us. Harmony is the remedy that helps us unite as a body of believers just as God has designed for us to be. Whatever is going on in the inside of you, will be a reflection on the outside of you. Unfortunately, there are those who delight in discrediting others and cause division over issues that’s not even important to the life of the church. In the book of Exodus, chapter 29 talks about the dedication of the priests. There’s an annotation how Moses used ointment when he anointed Aaron who was the first High Priest of Israel. A harmonious relationship, like the anointing of oil, is a perfect example how we who are ordained Deacons are to be dedicated to serving God genuinely and wholeheartedly. Most importantly, as leaders of the church, we must all agree on our purpose in this life, and that is that we all work together for God!

What’s your thought?

Serving the Lord with Gladness,

Deacon Terri McFarlane

Controlling our Tongues

According to James 3:2, it reminds us that we all stumble and fall and offend in many ways. And if anyone does not offend in speech, he is a fully developed character and a perfect man, able to control his whole body. We all must be mindful of what we say as well as what we don’t say. There is a time to speak and a time to be silent. We as leaders must constantly ask the Holy Spirit to control our desires to say what we shouldn’t say. We must learn use our words wisely and avoid putting others down, gossiping, complaining. Take a moment and ask yourself, Is what I want to say is kind? Is it necessary or is it even true? The word bridle means to control or to restrain. As mature Christians, if we are not controlling our tongues, we are not walking in the Spirit, but walking in the flesh. God wants His servants to operate in the level of maturity that He has Called each of us to do. I encourage you today and everyday, to speak by God’s grace. Meditate on Psalm 19:14 and let it become part of our daily lives. “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer. “ Amen.

Serving the Lord with Gladness,

Deacon Terri McFarlane

Deacons living the “Fruit of the Spirit”(Love, Joy and Peace)

The fruit of the Spirit is the work of the Holy Spirit that abides in us. As Deacons, one of the greatest virtue to being a servant of God is LOVE.  Jesus said, “The greatest of these is love.”(I Cor. 13:13) If we say we know Jesus, if we say we love Jesus, then our lives ought to imitate Jesus. It’s the love of God that compels us (2 Cor. 5:14) to love sacrificially and to serve others. It is out of God’s great love that He sent His only begotten son to the cross on Calvary. We are saved out of His love and through His love; God placed us into His service.

JOY is something that you experience in the later rather than the before. When we serve God and serve others out of the heart of LOVE, it will bring great JOY! If your Spirit is weak, Nehemiah 8:10 says, “the JOY of the Lord is our strength.” In other words, Nehemiah is saying that service brings JOY and JOY brings strength.

Fellow Deacons, it is inevitable to live a life of PEACE.  We all know there are days that outweighs your peace, but John 14:27 reminds us that, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you…”God’s PEACE says that He will keep us in perfect peace when we keep our minds stayed on Him. This PEACE will guard our hearts and our mind in Christ Jesus. If we are to be effective servants of God, PEACE should always take priority over conflict. Everyone wins when you choose PEACE.

Serving the Lord with gladness,

Deacon Terri McFarlane

First blog post

The purpose of this blog is to encourage, inspire, educate, pray, share our biblical understanding of our roles as Deacons of the church and to build stronger relationships with our congregation.

The Apostle Paul makes an appeal for harmony in the church in I Corinthians 1:10 saying, “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” Jesus has called us to be soldiers in His army rather than fighting among ourselves.

Jesus is Lord of all of us! Let us talk and behave in a way that will always reduce arguments and increase harmony. Most importantly, pray that God will use you to be a catalyst that fosters an atmosphere of Love, Forgiveness and always ready for Reconciliation.

Serving the Lord with Gladness,

Deacon Terri McFarlane