October 8

1 Thessalonians 5:6-11
6 So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded.
7 Night is the time when people sleep and drinkers get drunk.
8 But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation.
9 For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us.
10 Christ died for us so that, whether we are dead or alive when he returns, we can live with him forever.
11 So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.

Six-year-old Lauren helped her mom and dad with odd jobs around the house for months until she had saved enough money to buy a doll she'd admired. Four-year-old Andrew saved money and cereal box tops for weeks to buy four tiny toy cars. He had to wait almost six more weeks for the cars to arrive in the mail. Jenita's mom gave her a choice between a nice restaurant dinner with her family on her thirteenth birthday and waiting almost two weeks for a larger party that would include her friends from church and school. It wasn't easy, but Jenita chose to wait. She later said she had "the best birthday party ever!" It may not seem like much, but Lauren, Andrew, and Jenita all did something that few kids (or adults) seem able to do anymore. They delayed gratification. Huh? "Delayed gratification?" What's that mean? Well, gratification means enjoyment. Pleasure. Satisfaction. Reward. Fun. Some-thing that tastes good or feels good. Something desirable or pleasing. One of the marks of maturity is the ability to delay gratification, the ability to postpone pleasure until later. Like Andrew did when he put that money and those box tops in the mail and had to wait six weeks to get his cars even though it would have been easier to buy something right then! Like Jenita did when she waited almost two weeks for her birthday party. Like Lauren did when she saved for months to buy a doll she wanted-a lot of us would have given up after three days (or hours!) and spent the money on some candy or gum. There's another term for this ability to delay gratification-it's called self-control. It can be hard to control our wants and wishes and put off getting everything we want. That's why some kids get in trouble for stealing stuff. That's why some kids get into drugs. That's why some kids get pregnant or get a girlfriend pregnant. They have trouble delaying gratification because that takes self-control. To tell the truth, it can be painful to wait for something you really want. (Ask any Chicago Cubs fan!) But if we don't learn to control ourselves, we can really get into big, big trouble-no matter how old we are. Not only that, but we'll end up missing out on a lot of important things. Like the respect of others. Like the trust of our parents. Like a good education. True love. And all kinds of really neat stuff.

REFLECT: Think of a time when you couldn't wait for something good. Think of a time you delayed gratification. Did one have better results than the other? If so, which one and why?

ACT: Be alert for chances to delay gratification today.

PRAY: "Thank you, God, for all the good things you have planned for me if I'm willing to wait."

Much like the meaningful sermon that pastor Kye gave us, he showed a great example from his children.
A prime example for me would be procrastinating, always pushing the work to the side, where I'd have immediate gratification.
It takes me until sunday night to realize that I should have gotten my work done earlier, to do my homework slowly and thoughtfully rather than rushing it to get it done the next morning.
God does this in our lives for our own good and benefit.
I struggle with this alot actually.

i totally understood the short story. It was about how we should have patience and look at the bigger picture instead of the general look.
I know that we can all relate to a time where we wanted something soo bad and we couldnt waait for it to happen. But that just makes it better because when the time finally comes you feel amazing and awestruck.
But for humans, we are impatient and are doing things on earth that we should not be doing. We are not looking at the bigger picture but wanting to gain the short term enjoyment rather than the looong term hapiness with God.
i remember a saying
"Short term pain, long term happiness"=)
gnite

Pastor Kye's sermon was definitely the first thing that popped up in my head.
The moral of the the series of these stories were that good things would come if you waited.
We're ALWAYS waiting on God, whether it's a request or a response.
We always expect him to do something and it's just up to us to put that trust into him, that he'll give us that gratification if we wait.
Patience is a great virtue.

ohgod finished all my homework, so tired


This devotion reminded me first of pastor Kye's son, and then his own sermon. The virtue of patience is something I think I lack a lot. Instant gratification may seem like a good alternative to waiting for it, but in many cases, waiting it out may come with a greater gratification. Like putting in money for insurance, the money won't gain any unless it sits there for a long time. So practice your patience any time you can, and know that delaying the gratification we may receive on earth will be worth it when we "get the entire bag of marshmallows" later.

I think all of us remembered Pastors Kyles sermon from the retreat. I dunno, i usually dont remember sermons, but his sermon was set in my mind.
The devotion reminded me of Kyles son and how he couldnt wait to eat the marshmello and got instant gratification. But if he had waited a little longer he couldve had more marshmellos and could have been even happier.
I think thats what God is trying to tell us. Wait... and better things will be brought to you. I think i struggle with that a lot. When theres a chance to get something good, i never hesitate to see if i could get something better in the future. It always has to be at that time and that certain thing.
God will give us gratification no matter what, but it could be better to wait and give up an opportunity of instant gratification and receive a greater amount of gratification later on.

I'm going to mention something different... since you guys all focused on pastor kye's sermon.

11 So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.

We're all part of ONE team. ONE ministry. ONE family. And I cannot stress this enough:
KEEP EACH OTHER ACCOUNTABLE.
We can't just grow on our own. We have to continue to grow together. We're only as strong as our weakest link so!
I don't really think I can explain that any more than I have but yes.
Keep each other accountable. If you notice someone having a hard time, ask them what's wrong, help them through it.

uummm... okk I feel like a broken record for repeating this...
But yea this devo is another reminder about being self controlled and an overall positive person. Since we are christians, we have to be a positive influence.

ugh there were some technical difficulties for me on this site for the past few days, so i wasnt able to post. but its all fixed now i guess so hurrah!
anywhoo i liked todays devotion. i am a pretty patient person but of course there are limits to my patience. i noticed that most of you guys mentioned pastor Kye's sermon but what came up to me was something Dan had told us. he once told us during our saturday devotions that whatever we pray to God, he will fulfill it. but your prayers dont get answered right away, you need to be patient and know that God is making you wait for a reason. after a long wait, God will answer your prayers one way or another and you will be grateful for it. i guess patience and gratitude sort of come hand in hand since you need to be patient to be grateful for what happens in the end.

I think one topic this one is getting at would be at just sticking through our daily obstacles. If we can't manage to even bother go through the troubles in our life that we deal with, then, what can we say about Jesus getting crucified? We'd be the same as followers who follows a King for his ideals, but cannot bring ourselves to follow his ideals with him. In short, hypocrites. Saying that we believe in him doesn't mean that we only think Jesus is real and that he holds almighty power. Believing in Jesus means that we believe that he's our saviour and lord, along with the fact that we follow his ideals to our very best extent knowing that Jesus can help us through with what we can't go through with.

It also means that we can stick through our problems, knowing that he would help us if we can't deal with it.