DAILY THANKSGIVING WITH CHARLES

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.

Many of you know my wife’s penchant for one CHARLES STANLEY.  I even mentioned a few months back that if something were to happen to me or if I “strayed” again, Beth would likely pack her bags and head to Atlanta to begin her pursuit of Mr. Stanley.

But with all kidding aside, Charles was an instrumental part in me and Beth’s marriage recovery.  He guided her through the hard times of my addiction and selfishness and 

now offers weekly inspiration for our continued growth.

This past week in honor of THANKSGIVING, CHARLES shared a message about THANKSGIVING EVERY DAY.  If you are frequent reader of this DISPATCH, I encourage you each day by asking “HAVE YOU THANKED HIM.”  

Why? 

Because GRATITUDE is a crucial element to our WALK with CHRIST and a non-negotiable in recovery. I have witnessed more recoveries crater due to a lack of gratitude than any other reason.

Gratitude keeps our hearts and minds focused on the LORD! – Charles Stanley.

Therefore it is imperative to GIVE THANKS daily!

So today I thought I would pull a portion of Charles’ recent talk and include it here the day before our “DAY” of THANKSGIVING as a powerful reminder of the IMPACT OF GRATITUDE!

True, heartfelt, daily thanksgiving has a powerful impact on our lives. It results in a changed mindset and a desire to obey the Lord.

Gratitude . . .

·        Keeps us continually aware that we are walking in God’s presence. This contributes to a godly lifestyle.

·        Motivates us to look for the Lord’s purposes in everything in our lives. Even if we don’t understand what He’s doing, thanking Him lifts the burden.

·        Helps us bring our will into submission to His when we suffer pain or loss. By thanking Him in the midst of our pain, we acknowledge His loving sovereignty.

·        Continually reminds us that He is our God and motivates us to tell others about Him.

·        Reminds us of our continuing dependence on Him.

·        Helps us trust the Lord. Because He alone knows what’s best, we can thank Him even if we don’t understand why something’s happening. God honors our thanksgiving the most when we feel like we have the least reason for gratitude.

·        Is essential for rejoicing in the midst of suffering. When the bottom drops out of our lives and everything looks dark, songs of praise and thanksgiving restore our hope, assuring us that God is the Light in our darkness.

·        Removes anxiety. Praise and gratitude drive out fretting and worry.

·        Keeps our focus on the Lord. The situation may not change, but our attitude will.

·        Energizes us physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

Ephesians 1:18-19 (MSG)

…grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!

So Charles and I ask you this morning…HAVE YOU THANKED HIM?

 

Love you all

Freedom Church

PEACE I GIVE TO YOU

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.

Blessed are the peacemakers…Matthew 5:9

In our little gathering at AHOP in Xenia this past Sunday my fellow Pastor Josh encouraged us to be PEACEMAKERS and PEACEKEEPERS. 

Not an easy task when the pressures and pain of the past continue to creep into our present. 

Not an easy task when our culture rewards the snarky and promotes conflict.  

Not easy when we have levied some hurt or have been hurt ourselves.

And many struggle with that “call to peace" even though we know that bitterness and offense have a way of blocking our peace keeping or peace-making efforts; that they strangle our options to resolve, repent or repair.

“As my sufferings mounted I soon realized that there were two ways in which I could respond to my situation -- either to react with bitterness or seek to transform the suffering into a creative force. I decided to follow the latter course.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr King was right on the money.

We are to take the latter course in our responses to “less than peaceful” situations.  We are to keep the peace.  We are to levy the peace.

It can be transformative!

Yet often the question is “HOW do I?” “How do I become a peace-maker and a peace keeper?”

Well here is the answer.

By first recognizing that as FOLLOWERS of CHRIST we have been given the gift of PEACE from CHRIST HIMSELF! 

John 14:27 (CEB)

 “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give you. I give to you not as the world gives. Don’t be troubled or afraid.

Philippians 4:7 (ERV)

And because you belong to Christ Jesus, God’s peace will stand guard over all your thoughts and feelings. His peace can do this far better than our human minds.

That means HIS PEACE is our peace my friends.

That means it is HIS PEACE that is ours to extend.  

HIS PEACE is now ours to distribute!  

We don’t have to manufacture it to share it! We just need to SHARE IT! Jesus has done the hard part!

That is wonderful news!

But in order to do our part we must lay down our grievances and pettiness so we CAN extend this great gift to others. 

That is our job as followers of CHRIST. 

We must constantly remember that it is HIS peace that transcends our human minds and gives us the ability to BREATHE peace into situations and circumstances that would otherwise remain broken and tarnished in bitterness.  It is HIS peace that allows us to pray for those who persecute us and to “be at peace with all men” whenever possible as we are asked to do.

Romans 12:18 (AMP)

If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

So we can be peace makers and keepers today! 

It is possible thanks to Jesus.

So extend HIS peace today.  JESUS will bless you!

Make it your “way” today.

” Peace Isn’t The Destination, Peace Is The Way ” – Author Unknown

Love you all

Freedom Church

IT IS WELL

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.

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say

It is well, it is well, with my soul.

My dad has been a worship/song leader for 62 years.  Yes, that is not a typo.  He has been in the pulpit with my mom accompanying him leading music for more than six decades.  And if you ask him, that lyric, that old hymn, “It is Well” is one of his favorite to lead.  My guess is he has easily led it more than 1000 times.

And what a message that is hidden within that powerful verse!

Yet it is the proclamation of the chorus that truly resonates.

IT IS WELL, WITH MY SOUL, IT IS WELL!

What is well? 

We are!

Life, challenges, circumstances, pressure, or uncertainty, attack, mess or upheaval they all succumb to the PEACE like a river, the WELLNESS of our souls covered by GOD’S promises and GOD’s protection!

Yet it was yesterday as our praise and worship team shared Bethel’s remix of that powerful declaration (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Txg5nOIZYO8) that inspired me to remind all of us that regardless of what o shareal they all succumb to the PEACE  the pulpit with my mom accompaningyou may be facing today, seas billowing, a "mountain" of a problem or as the Bethel lyric expresses, when “eyes can't see”, that any “mountain that's in front of me (you) will be thrown into the midst of the sea…and it is WELL”

That is the truth.

GOD is bigger than any mountain you face today.

GOD is your stabilizer in the storm today.

GOD can and will make today “WELL” with your soul.

Regardless what you are facing!

All that is needed from you is the FAITH to realize and the FAITH to take GOD at His word!

“God never calls His people to accomplish anything without promising to supply their every need.”  ― Charles R. Swindoll

...or every protection!

Isaiah 46:1-3

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fill into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.

It is WELL!

 

Love you all

Freedom Church

COMPOUND INTEREST

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.

“Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of…” – C.S. Lewis

Unpack that a little this morning.

Doing good often results in “more good”.

Doing evil sadly often results in “more evil”.

That seems to be the thread Mr. Lewis is conveying.

It is a familiar one.  Deuteronomy 28 and Galatians 5 make the same points when it comes to obedience and disobedience, living GOD’s way or the opposite.  Look them up!

But GOD does bless the obedient.

And GOD does deposit good fruit in the right living.

So what is the message today?

It can’t be more simple and direct.

Be obedient!

Do a little good.

And watch GOD compound that interest!

1 Peter 5:7-8 (ERV)

…add kindness toward your brothers and sisters in Christ, and to this kindness add love. If all these things are in you and growing, you will never fail to be useful to God. You will produce the kind of fruit that should come from your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

“…Living the good life that God has made ready for us is based on our being obedient to His way of being and doing. He gives us the strength to do what is right, but we are the ones who must choose it… God won’t do it for us.” ― Joyce Meyer

Catch that?  GOD won’t do it for us.

We have to supply the “PRINCIPAL” to this transaction; we must make the investment to gain the interest.

So the chance to invest is in front of us today. We have some choices to make.

GOD has GOOD investments waiting to be leveraged.  GOD has opportunities for us to DO GOOD in His name today.  There are also some potholes, trouble and bad investments out there as well.

Let’s invest wisely.

Let’s invest for GOD. Let’s opt for GOOD…

1 Timothy 6:11

…work instead at what is right and good, learning to trust him and love others and to be patient and gentle.

…and compound “some GODLY interest.”

 

Love you all

Have a blessed weekend!

Freedom Church

 

THANK 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.

“I hope you have a awsome day! ty for your help im vary thankful to have met you. you gave me my hope back. and my faith godbless you!”

Isn’t that nice?

That was a text I got early yesterday morning.  It was out of the blue from someone quite frankly I haven’t chatted with in a little while.  She was recently homeless and hopeless.  But GOD changed all that.

Here was another one…

“I love him pastor Greg he's my everything”

That one was from someone who just returned home from surgery.

How about this one?

“18 Months clean today thank you god could not have done it with out him”

I love those texts.  They are such reminders!

So many times we “go to GOD” with the laundry list of troubles and needs and forget to THANK HIM and ACKNOWLEDGE Him for what He already IS doing.

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” ― Epicurus

I have 9500 texts in my phone right now.  The reason I have 9500 is because my phone doesn't hold 9501. But none are more precious that these 3 I got yesterday.

They were powerful reminders of how crucial it is to THANK GOD moment by moment for EVERYTHING!

Ephesians 5:20

Always give thanks to God the Father for everything.

Thanksgiving is a week away.  How about we dedicate these NEXT 7 days to truly THANKING GOD?  Clearly it can be as simple as a text of acknowledgement or a kind word to someone GOD has intersected with your life or who has blessed you.

But let's do it. Be intentional.

Before the "list of needs" prayer, utter a little thanksgiving first.

Got breath? Thank Him.

Got breakfast? Thank Him.

Going to work? Thank Him.

Got a coat? Thank Him.

“The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but the thankful heart will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings.”  ― Henry Ward Beecher

Psalm 111:1-3(MSG)

Hallelujah!...give thanks to God with everything …God’s works are so great, worth A lifetime of study—endless enjoyment! Splendor and beauty mark his craft; His generosity never gives out. His miracles are his memorial—

 

Thank Him!

Love you all

Freedom Church

 

ANSWER HAND

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.

You have faced the mountains of desperation

You have climbed, you have fought, you have won

But this valley that lies coldly before you

Casts a shadow you cannot overcome

And just when you thought you had it all together

You knew every verse to get you through

But this time the sorrow broke more than just your heart

And reciting all those verses just won't do

Instead of asking why did it happen

Think of where it can lead you from here

And as your pain is slowly easing, you can find a greater reason

To live your life triumphant through the tears

When answers aren't enough, there is JESUS

He is more than just an answer to your prayer

And your heart will find a safe and peaceful refuge

When answers aren't enough, He is there – Scott Wesley Brown

Ever been there?

Been doing “what you are supposed to be” doing for some time now and the doctor offers a bad report anyway?

Been doing you best to make amends and finding no forgiveness.

Been faithful in “walking the talk” and you’re the one being scrutinized and “corrected”.

Instead of sifting through the noise or thumbing through advice, why not just seek JESUS. 

He is there.

That same yesterday, today and forever Jesus is there.  That same never leaving, never forsaking Jesus is there.

He is.

And before we get too far down this road, I will admit. I am most guilty of lifting eyes toward heaven with either anger or despair or seeking sages for the answers to my pain and questions.  So this is for me too.

But when we encounter the seemingly "answerless" we SHOULD settled down and just seek. 

It can change everything.

A man (woman) is never the same after he/she simultaneously sees his/her utter despair and Christ’s unbending grace. To see the despair without the grace is suicidal. To see the grace without the despair is upper room futility but to see them both is conversion. Come meet the God of encouragement. He loves you. He never gives up on you, especially when life is hard, because he has been there. The hand that reaches out to comfort you is a pierced one. – Max Lucado

That is so true.

So if you are dealing with the “answerless” today, grab the pierced hand of Jesus. 

In it you will find GOD’s mercy. As you hold it you will find GOD’s comfort. As you squeeze it you will find GOD’s grace.

And interlocked with it you will find that “answer”.

Psalm 86:5-7 (MSG)

I put myself in your hands! You’re well-known as good and forgiving, bighearted to all who ask for help. Pay attention, God, to my prayer; bend down and listen to my cry for help. Every time I’m in trouble I call on you, confident that you’ll answer.

 

Love you all

Freedom Church