New Year? Same Plan

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?

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.

December 31st.

So which side of the fence are you?

Thankful for the year to FINALLY be over and praying that some new doors open and that GOD slaps on a fresh coat of paint soon? Or was last year a breakthrough year and you can’t wait to see what GOD has got on the horizon?

Whether you are looking for some new momentum or riding the impetus of some existing favor, one thing is sure. GOD has a plan. GOD has got it. Old year, new year, all years...GOD has your plan well in hand.

Psalm 139: 16

You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your book!

So this coming year, this day, even the time spent writing and reading this DISPATCH is part of GOD’s plan for us!

And we can be sure of one thing. The plan is good! Always GOOD.

Romans 8:28

We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love him.[a] They are the people he called, because that was his plan.

Very good indeed.

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Pastor Mark eluded yesterday that sometimes, especially at this time of year, we need to be REMINDED of the familiar. These verses are very familiar, but their TRUTH sinks deep when we are at crossroads like new chapters and new years.

So let the TRUTH of GOD sink in for a second. The calendar says December 31, 2012 and yes at midnight a NEW year will commence. But our GOD, your GOD, the GOD who crafted the cosmos, hung the moon and created the calendar is deeply invested in your plan for this coming season! And He is excited to see how YOU respond to what HE has in store!

And never forget, it has the promise of being something quite astonishing if we trust it!

Ephesians 3:20 (MSG)

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!

I love you all.

Happy New Year

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney

THROUGH THE DIRT

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?

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.

Just remember, every flower that ever bloomed had to go through a whole lot of dirt to get there!

Barbara Johnson

It has been a trying week. Sandwiching the fun and smiles of Tuesday have been some serious challenges and struggles for many; challenges that sometimes get overshadowed by the tinsel and holly.

Bitter relapse. Incarceration. Treatment sought and denied. Hospitalization. Homelessness.

Some strife. Real strife.

And no I don’t wish to draw a dark cloud over what was likely a wondrous Christmas, but rather remind us that for a few, Christmas has not delivered many presents, just some unwanted pain.

Pray for them as you scan this over this morning.

The fact is that we all have painful moments in life; times where the seasons and our circumstances didn’t seem to mesh; inconvenient troubles and difficulties, ill timed tragedies and drama. I think of the families from Newtown where the Christmas songs were drowned by funeral processions and eulogies.

Yet in spite of the circumstances we must resolve to reach through the dirt!

We don’t give up. We look up. We trust. We believe. And our optimism is not hollow. Christ has proven worthy. He has shown that He never fails. That’s what makes God, God.

Max Lucado

As I have shared with so many this week in a myriad of meetings and discussions, the next time you find your courage tested to the limit, remember that God is as near as your next breath, and remember that He offers strength and comfort to His children. He is your shield and your strength; He is your protector and your deliverer. Call upon Him in your hour of need and then be comforted. Whatever your challenge, whatever your trouble, God can help you persevere. And that’s precisely what He’ll do if you ask Him.

1 Peter 1:17

You call out to God for help and he helps—he’s a good Father that way.

And yes while this week focused on the glorious arrival of CHRIST, the real gift is that He remains here with us and for us just as promised.

Romans 8:31

What can we say about all these things? Since God is for us, who can be against us?

So if you are one of those who is "in the dirt", look up and keep reaching. GOD'S hand is waiting there to help pull you up and through.

I love you all.

Have a blessed weekend…

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney

FOCUSED?

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?

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.

Psalm 86:11

Train me, GOD, to walk straight; then I’ll follow your true path. Put me together, one heart and mind (focused)…

Ever pray that for yourself?

We should.

Lord knows we rarely have ourselves together, let alone focused do we?

The busyness of each day, the challenges of parenthood, the difficulties at work, I mean life does its best to keep our minds divided and distracted doesn’t it?

Yet GOD wants a sharper focus.

Colossians 2:2-4

I want you woven into a tapestry of love, in touch with everything there is to know of God. Then you will have minds confident and at rest, focused on Christ…

As we slide out of the CHRISTMAS season and journey to the promise of a fresh year it is as good a time as any to do a little rethinking about our focus right?

Life consumes us in activity leaving us little time for GOD, for listening and for focus.

It is time we change that.

And no I am not talking about packing up the car and heading off to some secluded mountain peak or taking an extended walk in the woods, rather I merely encouraging us to each day refine our focus; just as Jesus asked us to do.

Matthew 6:6

“Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.

The nature of life causes our focus to be far too centered on ourselves. Opting each day to move that focus to GOD pleases GOD and opens up the very doors of FREEDOM for us! To stay self-centered...well....

Romans 8:7-8

…attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn’t pleased at being ignored.

So here is a little suggestion. Take that little verse that started today’s DISPATCH and pray that over yourself and your day.

Shift the focus from you to GOD.

What is promised to begin to happen?

Sensed grace…free life…confident and restful mind...

Hmmm…

I love you all.

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney

Not a SEASONAL sensation

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?

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.

Big big day yesterday; action packed? "SeaSONsational" perhaps?

Kids bursting with anticipation, families and friends gathered your bibles get opened and the familiar passages read; a full day I trust?

So how are things today? Are you a little woozy; the yuletide caroling the turkey and mistletoe taken their toll? Are you just staring at the little piles of yet to be put away gifts and the hefty bags of torn wrapping and discarded bows?

Perhaps before the plans for taking down the tree or “un-decorating”take over, give yourself one more moment to revel in the miraculous message that was yesterday. Take a breath and recall.

Jesus the Messiah and Savior King was born, He lived, and He died and now He lives.

And this morning and every morning since He emerged from the tomb He is here WITH US providing love and LIFE, hope and peace, counsel and care just as the prophets said He would do, just as many of you read yesterday!

Just look!

Romans 5:17

...Christ did something so good that it makes all people right with God. And that brings them true life.

So rub that sleep from your eyes my friends! Brush aside any “post-Christmas” blahs and energize yourself once more with the MESSAGE!

CHRIST came so that you could live whole and holy. CHRIST gave His life for your life.

Simple as that.

Jesus left the most amazing place imaginable and waded into our world unrelenting. He came focused on a single mission, to serve His Father so perfectly and completely to make a way for us to live eternally as He lives eternally.

This, which was birthed so humbly, has now been raised victoriously and WE, yes WE get to share in that CHRISTMAS gift; the real gift, all day every day.

Colossians 1:22-23

…by giving himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God’s side and put your lives together, whole and holy in his presence. You don’t walk away from a gift like that! You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in…

So don’t ever stop embracing “the gift”. Don't miss the message. Stay tuned in.

This is not just a "seasonal-sensation"!

Don’t make the 25^th of December the only time that you cherish it and honor it. Go back and recount the story again. Go back and capture the enthusiasm and wonder that enveloped your yesterday and read it again!

Matthew 1:22

…she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

Hebrews 12:3

...go over that story again, item by item...That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

Have a blessed day!

I love you all.

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney

CALL HIM...

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?

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.

Hiding in a stable

I hear a baby cry

Awestruck by wonder

a presence from on high

Could this be the Prince of Peace who came to Earth for me?

Emmanuel, the King of kings

In a manger I saw Him

a star shone above

The shepherds came, the wise men bowed proclaiming “He’s the One!”

Angels are singing, “Tonight, faith has come!

He is the light, the Son of God

Call Him Jesus

Call Him Jesus”

Mary holds the Savior

while heaven holds its breath

Born into our hearts

the seed of righteousness

This Holy Child

The Prince of Peace who came to Earth for me

Emmanuel, the King of kings!

In a manger I saw Him

a star shone above

The shepherds came, the wise men bowed proclaiming “He’s the One!”

Angels are singing, “Tonight, faith has come!

He is the light, the Son of God

Call Him Jesus

Call Him Jesus”

This Holy Child

The Prince of Peace who came to Earth for me

Emmanuel, the King of kings!

In a manger I saw Him

a star shone above

The shepherds came, the wise men bowed proclaiming “He is the One!”

Angels are singing, “Tonight, faith has come!

He is the light, the Son of God

Call Him Jesus

Call Him Jesus”

Jesus

Be Blessed Today!

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney

THE REVEAL

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?

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.

Well here we are!

T minus a few hours and counting before the calendar flips and it is once again December 25^th, CHRISTMAS DAY!

Kids are wired like chimpanzees on Monster drinks and diet pills. Parents are frazzled after the hours of running, shopping, and wrapping.

The procrastinators and the insane have pushed their way into the fray; running the retail gauntlet scurrying for that last minute “whatever” that was forgotten or overlooked.

It is chaos. The air buzzes with both anticipation and frustration as the clock ticks toward the BIG REVEAL!

But just wait a second here! WHOA! WHOA! WHOA!

Let’s all hold up for a tick.

Before you get too caught up in the crazy take a pause.

RESET.

Yes, this is CHRISTMAS EVE and yes tomorrow will be a wild and wonderful day for most. But don’t lose perspective.

This is the eve of the most amazing event in history. And it has nothing to do with IPADS and HDTV’s I assure you.

Go back with me to another “eve” will you?

A little virgin girl is racked and staggered with contractions. A stable is being prepped for the most unexpected and unfitting of arrivals. A devoted husband is likely looking for “hot water”, because isn’t that what all the husbands look for in those old T.V. shows when someone is about to give birth?

“WHERE is THE HOT WATER and BLANKETS? We need HOT WATER”

And while Joseph is frantically boiling and blanketing, Bethlehem is oblivious to what is about to happen.

Yet ALL of the cosmos are on watch. It is must see T.V. in heaven.

No angel is taking a break to even fluff a wing or two. Their eyes are fixed on what is about to happen. They are locked and loaded onto the countdown of countdowns. They know they are minutes from something astonishing, something that will change the world forever!

Matthew 1:21

She will give birth to a son. You will name him Jesus. Give him that name because he will save his people from their sins.”

This was it. GOD's gift of grace was just minutes away. The clock was ticking.

The Messiah and Savior King was about to be revealed!

Through the silence of hundred’s of years a baby’s cry was about to knife through the uncertainty and GOD’s voice was again to be heard!

Can you imagine that expectancy? Can you imagine the crackle of energy and excitement that coursed through the very fabric of heaven?

The time was approaching. GOD’s BIG REVEAL was just moments away.

Can’t you feel it?

So ask yourself. What are your anticipating this most important of “eve’s”, what has you feeling expectant?

Is it the last minute “chaos” or the last minutes of the countdown to GOD'S eternal gift?

Just something to think about it.

Be blessed and safe today.

I love you all.

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney

GETTING

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?

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.

“Whatcha GETTING for Christmas?”

Or when the kids scale up to Santa’s knee and what does Jolly Ole St. Nick inquire?

“What can I GET you for Christmas, kid?”

Sadly Christmas has dissolved into a whole lot of “whatcha getting” hasn’t it?

Somewhere along the way the retail giants, the savvy marketing teams and the aggressive sales folks grabbed Christmas by the throat and “packaged”it. Careers are made and broken over the holiday receipts. Annual reports and dividend checks hang in the balance while the cash registers whirl, beep, scan, and calculate. The banks wait with baited breath for those first “minimum credit” payments to float in so that the big interest charges can start adding up.

Christmas has become all about who’s getting.

And no, this isn’t a new notion. The commercialization of Christmas has been bemoaned since I was placed on this planet. In fact the year I made my appearance in 1965, Linus was “resetting” the Christmas story for the very first time.

But as Christians and “recoverers” we need to guard against the "getting”.

As addicts it got us into trouble. Selfishness is at the core of all addictive behavior. And as Christians it robs the beauty of the season.

And to be frank, GOD isn’t overly keen on the “getting” thing.

Matthew 6:32

What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving.

You see simply put, Christmas should be OUR RESPONSE to GOD’S GIVING and have nothing to do with "getting".

GOD gave his BEST, the BEST, at CHRISTMAS and our response should be gratitude, reverence and awe like some of those who saw the CHRIST CHILD first.

Matthew 2:1-2

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

I don't see anything in there about the wise men looking for their piece of the CHRISTMAS pie do you?

The honest truth is we really don’t need to GET anything for CHRISTMAS to be blessed. This baby born in Bethlehem grew to provide to us the greatest gift imaginable; eternal life. At the cross, HE GAVE completely. And that is enough don’t you think?

1 Corinthians 1:7-9

Just think—you don’t need a thing, you’ve got it all! All God’s gifts are right in front of you as you wait expectantly for our Master Jesus to arrive on the scene for the Finale. And not only that, but God himself is right alongside to keep you steady and on track until things are all wrapped up by Jesus. God, who got you started in this spiritual adventure, shares with us the life of his Son and our Master Jesus. He will never give up on you. Never forget that.

So stay grounded as Christmas approaches. Don’t let all the "getting" blur your vision from what you have already received.

Life from Jesus.

I love you all.

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney