BETTER GONE BAD

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.

I want more!

Better car, better house, better job, better circumstances.I want to look better, have better skin, have the 6 pack abs or fit into that size 6.

Things just need to be BETTER!

Ever catch yourself "begging for better"?

Now before I go further there is nothing wrong with wanting to better ourselves; there is nothing wrong with continuous improvement and pursuing the next level when it is kept in the proper context.

What I am talking about is when “wanting better” degrades from a healthy pursuit into a dangerous game of comparison and ungratefulness bordering on covetousness.That is when “better” can go bad.

I will give you an example.

Yesterday I had two families looking for help from the JEREMIAH TREE.Both wanted better lives.Both needed help to move that dream forward. Yet one operated from a position of gratitude and expectation the other operated from a position of entitlement and disgruntlement.One had a great handle on how blessed they were already and the other had settled for complaining and comparing.

Both wanted better and both were in a spot of trial and challenge but only one knew the importance of gratitude.

I get it.

Often gratitude seems inappropriate, considering the depth of pain or turmoil we are experiencing. But GOD calls us to be thankful in all things FIRST…

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.

Psalm 92:1-2

It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and sing praises to Your name, O Most High. It is good to tell of Your loving-kindness in the morning, and of how faithful You are at night…

…then the “better” will follow.

Psalm 37:4

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.

Did you catch that?Delight first or in other words be thankful first and the “better” (those dreams and desires) GOD will grant according to HIS will for you!

Friends it is important regularly recall His provision.

Even when life turns sour, thanking GOD resets our perspective and allows us to operate from a position of gratefulness and not grumbling; of contentment rather than comparing. And GOD blesses the "cheerful" and thankful.

Ephesians 1:3

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ, God has given us every spiritual blessing in heaven.

Therefore the bottom line is be careful with this “begging for better” thing and remember to be "faithful with your grateful!"

Proverbs 28:20

A faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.

Have a blessed (and better) weekend!

I love you all…

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney