Scripture Scrapbooking- E and F

MEANS: successful in producing a desired or intended result; operative; fulfilling a specified function in fact, though not formally acknowledged as such.

FROM: late Middle English: from Latin effectivus, from efficere ‘work out, accomplish’

BIBLE VERSE: I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ. Philemon 1:6

THOUGHTS: We hear a lot about being ‘effective’ in work, or having an ‘effective ministry’. Paul points out that it is in PARTNERSHIP that faith and understanding are increased. Life is not something we do by ourselves. It is meant to be lived in community and communion with one another. John Wesley famously said, “There is no such thing as a solitary Christian.” We can retreat for times of quiet and individual reflection, but our lives are lived with one another. In partnership we can 'deepen our understanding...for the sake of Christ'. We work out our individual ministries more fully when working together. 
A recent post by Dave Peterson on the High Calling website notes that we are part of an interconnected web. "...People are not solitary, freestanding individuals, but rather part of a vast and complex web of interconnected relationships. We are all uniquely gifted, and we exist for the sake of others...…[in] Paul's letter to the Corinthians, he sketches out the spiritual mechanisms by which God directs this vast, interconnected web…You belong to and are part of the whole world you experience…the true World Wide Web is powered by the Spirit of God at work in the world."

PRAYER: I pray that each of us may be effective in deepening the understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ as we work in partnership with one another and with God.

MEANS: put someone or something into (a space or container) so that it is completely or almost completely full; become full of; become an overwhelming presence in; cause (someone) to have an intense experience of an emotion or feeling; appoint a person to hold (a vacant position); hold and perform the expected duties of (a position or role); occupy or take up (a period of time)

FROM: Old English fyllan (verb), fyllu (noun) of Germanic origin-fill

BIBLE VERSE: Praise be to his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen. Psalm 72:19

THOUGHTS: Some mornings I look out and the sky is a glorious red or rose or gold. Like the picture of the sun highlighting the Tetons as it rises, we are brought face to face with the grandeur of our God. I am reminded that the earth is indeed filled with God’s glory. 

Erasmus is said to have stated, “Bidden or Unbidden God is Present”. Carl Jung posted this above his door (and is often credited with saying it). When we are not expecting it, God can come and fill the earth, and fill us, with glory! 

PRAYER: May each of us be open to being filled with the Glory and Love of God, even when we don’t expect it, and carry that love to the world. Amen.

SCRAPBOOK PROMPTS:

What images come to you as you consider something or someone that is effective? A leader, a machine, a teacher?

Does hearing that the ‘earth is filled with God’s glory’ bring anything to mind that you might draw or find a picture of?

Do you think you are filled with God’s glory in order to be an effective witness?
Can you find an image or write about how that makes you feel, or how that would be represented?