Like a Good Neighbor

I love this time of year, with Thanksgiving next week and Christmas close behind.  It does, however, still feel odd to see Christmas decorations and gifts in the stores at the end of September and in October when it can still be 100 degrees outside!

Each year, usually right before Thanksgiving, we get together with our neighbors for a light breakfast (okay, so neighbor Chuck's queso dip isn't light), and then the men go house to house to help put up Christmas decorations.  Then, later that afternoon, we all gather in the cul-de-sac for a pitch-in and cookout.  After eating we usually sit around the fire pit and catch up on each others' lives.  We see and talk to each other all through the year, but I always especially enjoy this event.  We try to be intentional about building community in our little neighborhood.

Do you have any neighborhood traditions?  Maybe a 4th of July cookout?  An Easter egg hunt?  A Labor Day pool party?  Do you take time to get to know your neighbors, and do you know if they have any needs?  Is there any way you can serve your neighbors?  Any single moms or widows in your neighborhood you could help or check in on regularly?  Comment below to share any neighborhood traditions or how you serve your neighbors.

Jesus said we are to love our neighbors, and that means knowing them, spending time with them, and even serving them.  Read Luke 10:25-37 and consider how you can be a good neighbor.

God's Presence

Part of my daily reading is from the Old Testament, and I'm reading in Exodus right now.  I'm struck by a verse I read this morning from chapter 3.  In verse 10, God told Moses to go to Egypt to bring the Israelites out of there.  Here's Moses' response in verse 11: "But Moses said to God, 'Who am I, that I should go to Pharoah and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?' 12 And God said, 'I will be with you.'"


This is a good reminder for me whenever I begin to question God with "But what about...?"  Or, "But, I don't know what to do!"  God is with me.  Jesus said that when He was going up to heaven in Matthew 28:20: "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."  He has given me His Holy Spirit to live in me (John 14 and 15).  His presence is always with me.  If God has called me to do something, it doesn't matter what my excuse is; He's with me and I'd better get to it!


Notice, too, that Moses had asked "Who am I?"  God doesn't respond to that, because it doesn't matter if God is with me.  I should let Him work and speak through me and not worry about who I am, or what I have or don't have.  As I heard Louie Giglio say once, "I know I am not, but I know I AM!"


Live every day with His presence in you.