LIVE FOR HIM NOT THE 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?

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.

They both were a little confused.  No question that both were good folks; both believers in the most solid of senses.  No one could or would dare to question their desire to be Christians.  There was no question that they loved the Lord.

But each was feeling guilty.

Some pesky sin was troubling each of them.

The Holy Spirit was pulling at them, but unfortunately the enemy was doing his best to drown out the Spirit’s healthy conviction with his orchestra of clanging guilt.

But the good news is as we were sitting there and having some coffee we started to follow GOD’s plan for dealing with pesky sins.

We were giving it to GOD.

1 John 1:9

But if we confess our sins to him, he can be depended on to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. And it is perfectly proper for God to do this for us because Christ died to wash away our sins.

We were sharing it with one another. (I even had the chance to air some of my “less than fresh” laundry).

James 5:16

Admit your faults to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed.

And then with our 6 hands we grabbed hold of GOD’s AMAZING grace.

2 Corinthians 12:9

9 But he (Christ) said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

But we didn’t stop there.

No, we then we put some skin in the game.  We remembered and listened to the words of Jesus and committed to one another to do our best to “sin no more”.

Whether it was a woman at a well, a cripple by a pool, an adulteress embarrassed in the square, or 3 folks at a coffee shop, Jesus offered the same solution; forgiveness and then a clear instruction to stop sinning.  Or in other words, Jesus reminded them and us that HE just took care of the SIN, now it was our time to START living for HIM and not the sin.

We all are given the wonderful promise of grace from the moment our eyes open until they close each day. 

It is sufficient.

But the enemy wants you think otherwise.  He wants you to stifle your talent because of that sin.  He wants to condemn and defeat you with comparisons to others. He wants to snuff out truth.  He wants to darken your light.

Don’t let him.

Instead embrace what GOD says in Romans 8:1 about you who are in Christ...

So there is now no condemnation awaiting those who belong to Christ Jesus.

…and grab the grace and do your best to SIN NO MORE!

Confession that leads to change is the desire of GOD.  It is more than saying you are sorry.  Instead the Bible makes it clear that grace is the opportunity to give the challenge to Jesus, allow Him to cleanse it and take the opportunity to begin again.

My friends and I closed the session(s) in prayer. We asked GOD to help us grab this GRACE.  And we thanked Him for the promise and provision that HE has brokered to us!

Hebrews 8:12

I will be merciful to them in their wrongdoings, and I will remember their sins no more.”

Yet I know we are not alone.

Perhaps there is a pesky sin that is holding you down, keeping GOD’s blessings for you at bay.  Give it GOD.  Find a friend to open up to about it.  Get it into the light.

GRAB the grace.

“Trust God's Grace by receiving forgiveness. Forgive yourself. See yourself as God's dear child who He's remodeling daily. Let Grace overpower your past and create in you a clean conscience.                                      Max Lucado

And LIVE FOR HIM and not the sin...

 

I love you all!

Have a great weekend…

Freedom Church

 

Pastor GDelaney

UNLOCK GRATITUDE

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.

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.”

Melody Beattie

Don’t you find it interesting how on FACEBOOK or TWITTER folks moods can go from spectacular to sullen, fabulous to faulty or terrific to terrible in a matter of a click or two?  The morning report looks rosy and by dinner time the day and life have turned that rose into a thorny and bitter bud.

Can I offer a little cure for this bouncing back and forth?

Before you tweet or push the send, unlock a little gratitude first and remember the great gifts of GOD. That might just delay the depressed information download.

James 1:17

So, my very dear friends, don’t get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle.

So before posting the pitiful, count those blessings and leave the bummers buried.

Ephesians 1:3

How we praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every blessing in heaven because we belong to Christ.

I promise that will move the needle from frustrated to flourishing, from beaten to blessed, and from overwhelmed to overjoyed!

Brian Tracy says it this way…

“Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.”

Simple short message today but take it to heart!

Instead of thinking about what you’re missing, try thinking about what you have; GOD’S GOODNESS. 

It is ours 24/7, 365. 

Be grateful friends.  THE LORD IS GOOD!

Psalm 34:8

The Voice (VOICE)

8 Taste of His goodness; see how wonderful the Eternal truly is. Anyone who puts trust in Him will be blessed and comforted.

 

Now that is something worth “tweeting” about.

Have a great day!

I love you all!

Freedom Church

 

Pastor GDelaney

SHARE IT!

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.

Always enjoy the chance to “share the story”.  Seems lately GOD has been placing me in spots and situations where it can and even needs to be shared.

Monday it was with a small group of folks in the first steps of recovery.  Yesterday it was one on one with someone that if I didn’t know better could have been my clone as our “journeys and challenges” were that similar.

But the truth is we all have a story.  We all have light to share, revelation to expose and offer.  You don’t have to have a death bed experience like mine to have a powerful story or to make a difference.  All of us should be ready to share what GOD has done and is doing.

Yet it was during one time of “sharing” that I was impacted by the faith and “story” of a little boy.

It seems that one day in a Sunday school class he asked for prayer for his grandma who he thought “drank a little too much wine”.  Grandma clearly moved by this “story” was now choosing to get the help she needed!

That is a cool story right?

Stories are powerful. They humanize God’s touch and providence.  The bring context often when it is most desperately needed!

Jesus used them to teach us things like how to invest our talents and gifts for His glory; that we can come home even when we have blown it; that salvation is offered for the early arrival as well as those who come late to His grace.

And the stories do make a difference.  But they can't unless they are shared.

1 Peter 3:15

Always be ready to offer a defense, humbly and respectfully, when someone asks why you live in hope.

GOD is writing your story today.

Don’t think so? Think again.

How has He impacted you today?  You haven’t escaped His touch or reach.

Psalm 138:2-5

You know when I leave and when I get back;

    I’m never out of your sight.

You know everything I’m going to say

    before I start the first sentence.

I look behind me and you’re there,

    then up ahead and you’re there, too—

    your reassuring presence, coming and going.

He is right alongside of you looking to help you author your story.

I mean He got you up didn’t He? Maybe a few weeks ago that was touch and go.  That is a story!

Has He opened up a new door of opportunity for you or maybe kept things moving smoothly through these rocky economic times. That is a story!

Maybe what looked bleak and impossible a few days ago has taken a turn for the better. I mean maybe you were lost and now have a new lease on life.

You see! You do HAVE a story!

All GOD asks is that you acknowledge Him when you share it! Make it the chapters and pages of GOD’s infinite impact on your life!

Psalm 107:2

Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others…

GOD is doing something in your life that is not just for you. 

Remember that!

The things you are experiencing the lessons you are learning the deliverance and grace you are experiencing are to be shared!  They are to help another!

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

…Jesus Christ, the source of every mercy, and the one who so wonderfully comforts and strengthens us in our hardships and trials. And why does he do this? So that when others are troubled, needing our sympathy and encouragement, we can pass on to them this same help and comfort God has given us.

So please don’t stifle your story.  Be like that little boy, obedient to help re-write the story of his grandma as he was experiencing his own.

Be ready to share it! 

It may be just the JESUS story someone else needs to hear and experience!

 

Have a great day!

I love you all!

Freedom Church

 

Pastor GDelaney

BE BRAVE

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.

Last night I am at the back of our little stage at FREEDOM getting ready to share a little talk with the hundred or so that stepped in to eat and be with us when my little ‘sis Natalie was at the microphone sharing this powerful passage and promise.

Deuteronomy 31:6 (MSG)

Be strong. Take courage. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t give them a second thought because God, your God, is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave you.

Another version of that same passage, the NLT encourages us to “not panic”.

The passage was followed up with Natalie sharing and exhorting a new song for our fellowship.  “You Make Me Brave”

Here is a little from the lyric for you today.

(GOD) “You make me brave,

You make me brave,

You make me brave,

No fear can hinder now

The promises You’ve made.

We say no to fear

We say yes to love

We will go with You

Where You’re leading us.”

Isn’t that a wonderful reminder; a powerful encouragement?

“No fear can hinder now the promises” GOD has made to us. Here is just one of those promises!

2 Timothy 1:7

...God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.

So we CAN boldly say YES to HIS love and NO to any fear as the lyric exhorts because as that passage from Deuteronomy promises, GOD IS STRIDING AHEAD OF US, HE is right there with us today!

You have big test today? No fear!

No need for panic. 

GOD is right there at the desk with you.  Take HIS power of love and calm and trust Him to help! He will! 

He promised!

Is there a big meeting or potentially challenging conflict on the horizon at work? Approach with a well balanced mind and self control.  No need to fear, GOD is leading you! 

He promised!

Far too often we allow the enemy to creep in and attempt to steal the peace and courage that is ours in Christ.  We instead turn timid and panicky in the face of crisis rather than striding confidently into the challenge armed with these promises.

Isaiah 41:10

So don’t be afraid. I am here, with you; don’t be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, help you. I am here with My right hand to make right and to hold you up.

Let’s be brave!

I don’t have a clue as to what you are up against today.  But I can assuredly promise that you CAN BE BRAVE as you face it knowing that GOD’s strength, help, provision, direction, guidance, and power are there to help take you through it!

How do I know?

Numbers 23:19 (NIV)

19 God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

HE promised!

 

 

Have a great day!

I love you all!

Freedom Church

 

Pastor GDelaney

PROTECTED

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.

Yesterday was a powerful day at our local church, AHOP in Xenia.  We are in the middle of a series and focus on SPIRITUAL WARFARE.  For some the thought of SPIRITUAL WARFARE seems a bit spooky or too ethereal to believe.  But without question, it is most certainly real.

Day after day I watch it in action from behind my desk, I hear it over the phone, and see it in the eyes and challenges of my clients and friends.

There is no question in my mind that this battle, this WARFARE, and this passage are most definitely REAL!

Ephesians 6:12

12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

This especially rings true for those to whom I have been called to minister; the addicted.  If I have had one conversation, I have had hundreds with folks who desperately want the FREEDOM of recovery and the possibilities of a changed life only to be dragged back into the challenge over and over again by a “power” that overwhelms them.

Even traditional recovery formats like AA acknowledge the presence of SPIRITUAL WARFARE.  Step 2 from the BIG BOOK makes no bones about it.

Step 2: Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

If we acknowledge that we need something greater than us to recover then we are most certainly acknowledging that something greater than us is hampering or worse yet derailing our attempts to progress.

That is why the NEXT STEP for the addict is so crucial to fighting and WINNING in this WARFARE.  But this step is not exclusive to just the ADDICTED.  It is a STEP for ALL of us for it SHOWS US the WAY to VICTORY in this WARFARE!

STEP 3: Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God.

Those along this DISPATCH NETWORK understand WHO GOD is and that GOD is truly our REFUGE and STRENGTH for this ongoing battle and challenge!

Psalm 91:1-6

We live within the shadow of the Almighty, sheltered by the God who is above all gods. This I declare, that he alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I am trusting him. For he rescues you from every trap and protects you from the fatal plague. He will shield you with his wings! They will shelter you. His faithful promises are your armor. Now you don’t need to be afraid of the dark anymore, nor fear the dangers of the day; nor dread the plagues of darkness, nor disasters in the morning.

All we need to do is allow Him to do what He is capable and desires to do, PROTECT US!

I will have more to say about this ongoing battle and as the weeks unfold I will come back to it time and again.  But for today, I want to encourage each of you to TAKE HEART!  For while we all are in a difficult battle and it is true that some days the challenge and warfare can be wearying, remember we are protected!

So step into today confidently knowing you can surrender and trust your will and day today to a GOD who will “rescue you from every trap and shield you with HIS wings!”

 

And there is nothing spooky about that at all!

 

Have a great day!

I love you all!

Freedom Church

 

Pastor GDelaney

REVELATION NOT INFORMATION

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.

“Revelation not just information” is what she said.

Yet another rock solid observation and insight from my friend Anna; oddly enough confirmed later that evening in an interview with Joyce Meyer on TBN.

Both were reminding us what we should be looking for when we crack open our Bibles each day; for GOD to REVEAL more of Himself, offer more depth, more insight, perhaps more relativity to our current condition and circumstance.  That the BIBLE is so much more than just a book.

John Hagee is one who loves to point out, “We don’t so much as READ the Bible as it reads us” or something to that effect.  He is right.

Hebrews 4:12

… whatever God says to us is full of living power: it is sharper than the sharpest dagger, cutting swift and deep into our innermost thoughts and desires with all their parts, exposing us for what we really are.

Yet often we stop and relegate the WORD of GOD to that of an information resource, a guidebook of rights and wrongs, a few good stories and nuggets of wisdom.  We shouldn’t do that.  The WORD of GOD is so much more!

Just look what it offers!

Romans 15:4

We find encouragement through the Scriptures and a call to perseverance that will produce hopeful living.

Encouragement!

Hope!

Psalm 119:105

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Direction!

Guidance!

Jeremiah 23:29

29 Does not My word burn like fire? Does it not shatter rock like a strong hammer?

Clears the deck!

Smashes strongholds and stubborn sins!

John 6:63

The words (truths) that I have been speaking to you are spirit and life.

Offers LIFE!

Elevate your expectations of your interaction with GOD’s WORD today.  

Prayerfully ask GOD to speak to you, to reveal Himself and offer insight before you sit down to read.  Read with a purpose!

Never forget the Bible is ORGANIC.  It is alive just as Jesus is alive.

Passages that you have read countless times will suddenly leap from the page and take you to a deeper level when you open your mind to new possibilities and applications.

Embrace that power!

Romans 1:16

…the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…

Respect that tenure!

Isaiah 40:8

The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.

Know that GOD is ready to reveal something to you. So pay attention and have your heart and spirit poised and pliable.

Revelation is coming.

 

 

Have a great day!

I love you all!

Freedom Church

 

Pastor GDelaney

ADVERSITY UNIVERSITY

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.

“Your adversity just may be your university.”

I heard that last night while fighting a little insomnia.  That may be something that many of you have heard before, but it did strike me as profound and insightful.

Often when adversity strikes we get so swept up by the pain of it that we rarely see the potential purpose in it.

Adversity is God's most effective tool for growing us in our faith. What often serves to put us on our knees and take responsibility is what often grows us up; helps us learn.

“The greatest day in your life and mine is when we take total responsibility for our attitudes. That's the day we truly grow up.”

― John C. Maxwell

Paul said it well.

Philippians 4:12-13

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

He had discovered and experienced God's presence and power in the most intimate ways in his troubles.  

The truth is God carefully chooses where He wants to work in our lives and will use adversity to take us to school.  In intense times of difficulty, when we are “in the crisis” we may be hard pressed to understand what God is doing but we can be certain God has a divine purpose in it. God never wastes a motion; there is always something to be gained from the pain.

Hebrews 12:11

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

And regardless the source of the trouble whether it is from something we caused, from someone else's actions, straight from the devil or from God Himself, God has a purpose and a plan for it. God is engineering all of our circumstances for His glory and for our good.

But you know that.

Romans 8:28

And we know that all that happens to us is working for our good if we love God and are fitting into his plans.

Adversity is an effective and accurate barometer of our spiritual life. If we want to know the strength and quality of our faith, we need only look at how we handle our troubles. And God invites us to see adversity as He does; as times for REAL development education and yes even PRAISE.

Romans 5:3-5

We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!

So if you are going through some trials and challenges right now, let me be the first to welcome to Adversity University.

 

Time to learn.

 

Have a great day!

I love you all!

Freedom Church

 

Pastor GDelaney