Everlasting?

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

ARE YOU SEEKING?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

^1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

It is tough to get our head’s around the concept of forever isn’t it?

Even the most durable of goods or the most secure of traditions eventually succumb to the rigors of time.

So when I am presented with a statement like God’s mercy is everlasting, my feeble little mind really struggles.

Doubt creeps in. Thoughts like “How could GOD continue to love me when I fail Him daily, almost continuously?” “I know my scorecard and my grace account has to be getting close to being overdrawn.”

You ever feel that way? You ever string a few bad days together, struggle with an old sin, have a cadre’ of “bad decision days" and wonder if GOD has “had enough of you”?

I know I have.

There have been many times I have convinced myself that GOD’s forgiveness has to have limits.

This usually happens when I can’t seem to shake one of those “recurrent” sins we talked about last week. You know one of those constantly confessed but “sticky sins”. That is when the enemy comes along and whispers that the Lord must surely be weary of this constant sin/admission cycle. And that is usually followed by the ubiquitous, doubt…guilt and shame.

That is when I remind myself that the enemy…

John 8:44

...he is a liar and the father of lies.

The “real truth” is that we CANNOT sin our way out of God’s grace, no matter how sticky the sin or exhaustive the confession.

Lamentations 3:22

²² The Lord's love never ends;
his mercies never stop.

Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross paid our past, present, and future sin-debt. This means that no matter how great our offense or how often we sin, God’s grace covers every transgression. He forgives as often as necessary.

And while this mercy never stops, it is not a “get out of jail free” card.

His forgiveness is infinite, but that does not mean we can get away with sin. As a loving Father, God disciplines His children. He will allow us to face the consequences of our sin but He is also faithful to show us where we have gone wrong and how we can correct our actions to return to the path of righteousness.

God desires that each of us grow in righteousness and reflect the nature of Jesus. But GOD also understands that we all are a work-in-process and that sometimes we will make mistakes and fall into sinful patterns from which we must be restored.

Yet because His grace is infinite, GOD is pleased to draw us back into a right relationship with Him. Pay close attention to that! GOD is PLEASED to draw us back!

For...

2 Corinthians 12:9
...he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you...

And boy oh boy am I grateful for that. Aren’t you?

I love you all.

Have a blessed day!

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney

PROPER PERSPECTIVE

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

ARE YOU SEEKING?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

^1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

Yesterday during our time in staff, we got on to the topic of encouraging ourselves DAILY in the Lord; affirming to one another again the crucial element of acknowledging GOD’s presence at the start of each day.

For when we pause each morning to “encourage” ourselves in the Lord we set a PROPER PERSPECTIVE for the day. We are better equipped. We inject GOD’s confidence, GOD’s resolve, GOD’s strategy, and embrace GOD’s presence for the day ahead.

And that is some very powerful stuff!

Things like…

Philippians 4:13 (NCV)

13 I can do all things through Christ, because he gives me strength.

Psalm 118:5-16

Pushed to the wall, I called to God; from the wide open spaces, he answered. God's now at my side and I'm not afraid; who would dare lay a hand on me? God's my strong champion…

Jeremiah 17:7

7-8"But blessed is the man who trusts me, God,

the woman who sticks with God.

They're like trees replanted in Eden,

putting down roots near the rivers—

Never a worry through the hottest of summers,

never dropping a leaf,

Serene and calm through droughts,

bearing fresh fruit every season.

Encouraging ourselves daily in the WORD and with the LORD is crucial preparation for what lies ahead.

It can remind us what we are up against!

1 Peter 5:8 (NIV)

⁸ Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

And also remind us of who we are in Him!

Romans 8:37
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

So ENCOURAGE YOURSELF in the LORD!

Enhance your perspective for the day ahead.

Honor GOD!

Magnify the Lord!

Heighten your awareness of Him!

Speak of His greatness, His power, His might. Talk about how big and powerful God is for...

“When you make God bigger, you make your trouble smaller.”

That makes for PROPER PERSPECTIVE.

I love you all.

Have a blessed day!

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney

BE THERE!

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

ARE YOU SEEKING?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

^1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

What a wonderful evening at FREEDOM last night; a little good food and more important a lot of “good” fun.

It is good when we fellowship with one another.  It gives us a chance to encourage one another, lift each other up, to motivate, bless and inspire each other!

Hebrews 10:24-25 NLT

Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

Recovery is not an adventure to be taken on alone!

God tells us not to face the battle alone. Along with trusting him and asking the Holy Spirit to empower us, we are to motivate each other and spend time together. We need to choose and resolve that we will help and encourage one another to go on in the Christian life until we live in the light daily praying for each other!

John 12:35-36

Walk by the light you have so darkness doesn't destroy you. If you walk in darkness, you don't know where you're going. As you have the light, believe in the light. Then the light will be within you, and shining through your lives. You'll be children of light.

People struggling with any life-controlling problem—tend to isolate themselves. Coming out of that isolation and allowing others to help and encourage is a vital step in recovery.

Give this the “once over”

Not only should we allow others to help and encourage us—we should encourage them as well.

Philippians 2:4

Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

One of God's most precious gifts to us is the opportunity to lean on ... and reach out to ... our brothers and sisters in Christ. Let us be faithful to meet together ... to pray for each other ... to encourage each other ... to admonish each other in love ... to help each other.

I love you all!

Freedom Church

Memorial Inspiration

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

ARE YOU SEEKING?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

^1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

Remembering…

A Memorial…

Brought me to some words of remembrance…

None more eloquent…no words more poignant…

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.”

― Abraham Lincoln

Enjoy the video...have a blessed and safe holiday.

I love you all.

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney

RECURRENT SIN

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

ARE YOU SEEKING?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

^1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

It can be tough making sense of recurrent sin. We KNOW better. We WANT to behave better. We work on it constantly. We set up boundaries and take safety precautions. We close the door to our hearts over and over again, but it seems we can’t get them to lock.

Recurrent sin is that lazy groove I spoke of last week. Recurrent sin is that “hard habit to break”; I spoke of a few DISPATCHES back.

You know the “sticky stuff”.

A brother and I were discussing this topic just yesterday and truth is recurrent sin is frustrating sin. It is heart-sickening stuff; frustrating stuff.

It is the kind of sin that makes you question your progress. It is the kind of sin that once we commit it, the devil rains down with a gully-washer of guilt that can knock us off our feet.

Yet as tough as it may seem, recurrent sin is just sin and for those in Christ Jesus it has no special power or dominion over us!

And while yes, it is imperative to confess that sin...

And yes 1 John 1:9 is powerful and true…

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

…and I know I run to this verse for reassurance that God will once again hear my confession for it –followed by my promise to do better, I am learning that sin HAS NO DOMINION OVER ME, it is not special and GOD has freed me from it already.

That is why I am pouring this truth into my heart daily almost moment by moment so that I don’t forget!

Romans 8:1

New International Version (NIV)

Life Through the Spirit

8 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

I will be honest, the enemy continues to hound me and tempt me with my old vices and fallibilities; doing his best to beat me up, pull me down, blur my focus and shower me with shame.

And while I don’t discount in any way that my sin, my missteps, my poor judgment may still have temporal consequences, I am daily being re-girded by God unconditional love and pardon for me.

Never forget our sin causes US to ABANDON, (pay close attention to that!) our fellowship with God.

We choose the times that we walk away from the FATHER just as the prodigal son deliberately and willfully walked away from his father. And yes, confession is a vital part of a right relationship with the Father - maintaining intimate daily communication with Him - but our standing as His child cannot change.

You see, God does not encourage confession in order to wipe away our condemnation. Instead, He wants us freed from guilt's emotional bondage because He loves us. He wants to restore the relationship. He knows the healing power that it brings!

James 5:16

Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed

So if you like me, are battling a recurrent sin in your life, deal with it. Confess it. Let GOD remind you that you are FREE FROM IT. And move past it!

Romans 6:12

The Message (MSG)

^12-14That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don't give it the time of day. Don't even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you've been raised from the dead!—into God's way of doing things. Sin can't tell you how to live. After all, you're not living under that old tyranny any longer. You're living in the freedom of God.

I love you all.

Have a blessed weekend!

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney

HEALING PRAYER

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

ARE YOU SEEKING?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

^1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

Over the course of the last six or so weeks, our little church family here in Xenia have been called to rally in prayer around a dear sweet little guy Judah James Robinson. And the response has been no less than astounding.

A FACEBOOK page with over 3000 “friends”has been raised up. “Team Judah”T-Shirts and bracelets have been printed and forged. There was even a fundraiser at the Chick-Fil-A in Beavercreek last night that before 2 o clock had exceeded all current records for participation at that franchise.

It has been amazing.

Thousands of folks praying for healing.

Yet today, I am asking you, those along this DISPATCH channel, to engage that same zeal in prayer for one of my “family”,Dawn Farley.

There isn’t enough memory on my laptop or bandwidth in Microsoft Word to adequately describe the love me and especially my wife have for Dawn, her husband Chris and our “other kids”, Kyle, Lauren and Caroline. It would be a feeble exercise to try.

But later today Dawn is scheduled for surgery to remove a cancerous kidney.

So will you join me in healing prayer for her?

I pulled a little thought from one of my favorites, Max Lucado today on this topic of healing prayer. Be it for Judah James or for Dawn or for someone dear to you this morning, it is a comforting and powerful perspective.

Healing Prayer

Max on Life #67

The following is a one of 172 questions and answers from the new book, Max on Life.

QUESTION #67:

In my med-school class we discussed the place of prayer in the hospital. As you can imagine, we heard strong opinions on both sides. What are your thoughts? What is the purpose of healing prayer?

We tend toward one of two extremes on this subject: fanaticism or cynicism. Fanatics see the healing of the body as the aim of God and the measure of faith. Cynics consider any connection between prayer and healing as coincidental at best and misleading at worst. A fanatic might seek prayer at the exclusion of medicine; a cynic might seek medicine at the exclusion of prayer.

A healthy balance can be found.

I LOVE THIS LINE FROM MAX:

The physician is the friend of God. Prayer is the friend of the physician.

The example of Jesus is important.

Great crowds came to Jesus, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, those who could not speak, and many others. They put them at Jesus’ feet, and he healed them. The crowd was amazed when they saw that people who could not speak before were now able to speak. The crippled were made strong. The lame could walk, and the blind could see. And they praised the God of Israel for this. (Matt. 15:30–31 NCV)

What did the people do with the sick? They put them at Jesus’ feet. This is the purpose of praying for the ill. We place the sick at the feet of the Physician and request his touch. This passage also gives us the result of healing prayer. “They praised the God of Israel for this.” The ultimate aim of healing is not just a healthy body but a greater kingdom. If God’s aim is to grant perfect health to all his children, he has failed, because no one enjoys perfect health, and everyone dies. But if God’s aim is to expand the boundaries of his kingdom, then he has succeeded. For every time he heals, a thousand sermons are preached.

Speaking of sermons, did you notice what is missing from this text?

Preaching. Jesus stayed with these four thousand people for three days and, as far as we know, never preached a sermon. Not one time did he say, “May I have your attention?” But thousands of times he asked, “May I help you?”

What compassion he had for them. Can you imagine the line of people? On crutches, wearing blindfolds, carried by friends, cradled by parents. For seventy-two hours Jesus stared into face after hurting face, and then he said, “I feel sorry for these people” (v. 32 NCV). The inexhaustible compassion of Jesus. Mark it down. Pain on earth causes pain in heaven. And he will stand and receive the ill as long as the ill come in faith to him.

And he will do what is right every time. “God will always give what is right to his people who cry to him night and day, and he will not be slow to answer them” (Luke 18:7 NCV).

Healing prayer begs God to do what is right. My friend Dennis, a chaplain, offers this prayer over patients: “God, would you put on the surgical gloves first?”

I like that.

And so do I.

“God today, put on the surgical gloves first as those operate and care for Dawn, Judah, and the countless others who you have placed in our lives to love and care for. We know you will do what is right”

In Jesus name.

I love you all.

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney

"Can't doer?"

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

ARE YOU SEEKING?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

^1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

What is your motivation when it comes to recovery?

Have you decided to change because you know you “can’t” continue to live the way you have been living?

Or has GOD begun to influence and impact your life so that your recovery is more about being obedient and in alignment with what HE wants for your life and recovery?

To put it another way, have you embraced this walk of recovery out of fear of the consequences, or have you begun to experience the blessings of obedience and want that for your life?

The truth is that most recovery usually begins on the fear side of the coin.

“I can’t smoke because my husband/wife told me not too. I can’t use because I am being drug tested. I can’t drink because I will lose my job.”

So often we do our best, "get in line", and behave differently because we “don’t want the trouble.”

But as we begin to embrace a recovery founded on Jesus and inspired by truth, we begin to learn that trusting and OBEYING GOD offers so much more! In fact, when we recover with OBEDIENCE as our motivator, we discover that we are kept safe from the harsh repercussions we deeply fear. And by continuing in a GOD-focused recovery, our fear is replaced by recognition of God’s blessings, His love for us and His passion to see us through the challenge!

It is the reason STEP 3 tells us to SUBMIT to GOD’S WILL for our lives as the key to recovery. Because by following God’s will our focus shifts from disobedience’s consequences to obedience’s blessings!

This is made so clear in this little passage from ROMANS!

Romans 6:16-23

Since we're free in the freedom of God, can we do anything that comes to mind? Hardly. You know well enough from your own experience that there are some acts of so-called freedom that destroy freedom. Offer yourselves to sin, for instance, and it's your last free act. But offer yourselves to the ways of God and the freedom never quits. All your lives you've let sin tell you what to do. But thank God you've started listening to a new master, one whose commands set you free to live openly in his freedom!

¹⁹I'm using this freedom language because it's easy to picture. You can readily recall, can't you, how at one time the more you did just what you felt like doing—not caring about others, not caring about God—the worse your life became and the less freedom you had? And how much different is it now as you live in God's freedom, your lives healed and expansive in holiness?

^20-21As long as you did what you felt like doing, ignoring God, you didn't have to bother with right thinking or right living, or right anything for that matter. But do you call that a free life? What did you get out of it? Nothing you're proud of now. Where did it get you? A dead end.

^{I LOVE THIS PART OF THIS PASSAGE!!!!!}

^22-23But now that you've found you don't have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God's gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master.

You see friends, once we taste the best He has to offer, we want to keep good flowing into our lives. Obedience and God’s best are natural partners — good derives from following divine commands, while suffering results when we stubbornly choose our own way.

As we become more aware of how blessing follows obedience, we realize that complying with the Lord’s will is the only wise choice.

It is then we will move from “I can’t do that” “RECOVERERS” to “I choose NOT to do that RECOVERERS”.

And that is where we want to be blessed with a “real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master.”

I love you all.

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney

HAT RACK

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

ARE YOU SEEKING?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

^1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

Yesterday was a “HAT-RACK” day for me.

I got to wear the husband hat, my dad hat, my advocate hat, my relapse counselor hat, my brother hat, my “conflict resolutioner” hat, my consoler hat, my intercessor hat, my compassionate hat, my adoptive parent hat, my preacher hat, not to mention the taxicab hat, the referee hat, the consultant hat and the encourager hat to boot. And I am positive there was a couple I forgot like the “car negotiator” hat, travel agent hat, cell-phone helper hat…you get my drift.

If this is the life of a Pastor it is no wonder that Pastor Mark is as "follically challenged" as he is! J TOO MANY HATS!

Now don’t get me wrong, I love being a Pastor. There are just some days when it’s rather “loose” job description can get a smidge chaotic.

But I am sure that I am not alone.

That is why I appreciate passages that offer a path to sanity for “hat-rack” days.

Philippians 4:4-7

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

There are times when we're all caught off guard by life. We are suddenly faced with problems that can wipe out our joy in an instant. Big surprises or a strange twist, maybe a disturbing phone call out of the blue or tragic email can unsteady us. Our hearts are disquieted and we go into “scramble-mode”.

Reply to that text with a verse, pick up that call and console, talk with the counselor at school and craft an alternative, help the one who just got her job with some transportation, START SWAPPING HATS!

Can you relate?

I know you can!

We live in a busy, rapid, and intense culture and it is easy to get swept up in its intensity.

That is why I said, I love passages that encourage me to take off the hats and pause and pray.

I listen when GOD says “DON’T BE ANXIOUS”.

Because I know that when I pause and pray, GOD will bring order and provision to the “hat-rack” day.

Philippians 4:19
And my God will liberally supply ( fill to the full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

So if you’re standing at YOUR hat-rack this morning and mulling over which one to put on first, pause.

Pray.

Prayer guards hearts and minds and causes God to bring peace out of chaos.

- Beth Moore

Get a little perspective. Grab a little peace.

I love you all.

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney