Thursday, December 31, 2015

FORWARD TO THE FUTURE

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 am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me… I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back. Philippians 3:13-14 (MSG)
I'm not going back, I'm moving ahead
Here to declare to You my past is over
...in You
All things are made new, surrendered my life to Christ
I'm moving forward – Houghton
December 31st.
Great day to REFLECT on what was 2015 and also a great day to prep for a “launch” into 2016.
How DID you do on those resolutions? 
Lose the weight? Get through the Bible in a year as planned? Were you nicer? Did you serve like you thought you would?
Don’t get too bogged down if you didn’t.
A FRESH chance looms at the top of the 24 hour clock.  And with it comes the mercy that GOD promises with each NEW day!
Lamentations 3:22-23 (NCV)
The Lord’s love never ends; his mercies never stop. They are new every morning…
Remember, the LORD wants us to LEARN from our past and trust Him with what is "FORWARD".
“This is what the past is for! Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see.” ― Corrie ten Boom
So as we learn from the past, our job is to keep our eyes FIXED forward on the GOAL.
And the GOAL as PAUL surmises is to grow CLOSER to CHRIST.  For Christ is BECKONING us to trust HIM today and to trust Him with what is just over that date-line horizon and beyond.
So while today is a great opportunity to thumb back through the FACEBOOK posts, the pictures, the calendar and see where you have come, don’t lose sight of where you are GOING and who is GOING with you!
1 Peter 1:18,21 (MSG)
Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God…
(SO) trust God…you know you have a future in God.
We all do have a GLORIOUS future with GOD.

We do. We need to step into it boldly. ten Boom reminds us to “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”
So let’s BE bold!
For here we all stand at the precipice of a new year.
Let’s reflect on the learnings of 2015.
Let’s look to 2016 with GREAT anticipation and HOPE!
Our future IS in WONDERFUL and MERCIFUL hands.
FOR:
“God expects you to have enough faith and determination and enough trust in Him to keep moving, keep living, keep rejoicing. In fact, He expects you not simply to face the future (that sounds pretty grim and stoic); He expects you to embrace and shape the future--to love it and rejoice in it and delight in your opportunities.”  - Holland
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Love you all!
FREEDOM CHURCH (CHAMPIONS NETWORK)

COMPETENT DRIVER - 12.28.2015

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.
Jesus...is a thoroughly competent leader. When you wake up in the morning, you can feel completely confident in saying, “Okay, Jesus, today you lead… - Ortberg
“LIFE begins when a person whispers, 'Jesus today you lead and I’ll follow. Whatever I have to do in my RELATIONSHIPS, my BODY, my HEALTH, and my FINANCES are in YOUR hands…YOU lead, I’ll follow.'” - Brooks
That would seem easy enough right?
Jesus IS a COMPETENT leader as ORTBERG surmises. 
We wouldn’t disagree with that. (1 Peter 2:22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.)
So it would make perfect sense to dedicate this and every 24 hours to someone who lived so fully, completely and perfectly. His direction would be flawless.
But rather than following, often, more often than not, we attempt leading. And lets be honest, often, more often than not, that isn’t a great strategy.
And while our SPIRITS are often willing, our FLESH is most definitely weak. (Matthew 26:41)
So we let our deceitful hearts lead.
We let our flawed flesh lead.
We let our direction-ally challenged emotions lead.
But Jesus knows that if we ALLOW Him to lead, though it is NOT an easy “follow”, it is BEST for us!
…Jesus went to work on his disciples (THAT IS US!).
“Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. Matthew 16:24-25 (MSG)
So the question is pretty simple today.
Who is in the driver’s seat?
Want to FIND your TRUE self? 
Want TRUE answers to today’s challenges and direction for today’s encounters and interactions?
Ditch the self-help!
I know many of us in the DIFFICULT times of life will GRAB hold of that little country song lyric, “Jesus take the wheel”, but why not just jump in the passengers seat right out of the box today. 
Don’t wait for the crisis.
Give Him His place in the driver’s seat.
Let Him drive and direct.
Give Him the baton and allow Him to conduct.
It may not prove EASY, but it WILL prove to be authentic and greater than you or I could imagine. (Ephesians 3:20)
“Let God have you, and let God love you - and don’t be surprised if your heart begins to hear music you’ve never heard and your feet learn to dance as never before.” ― Max Lucado
For: 
The way to life is the Jesus way – Brooks
Have a blessed day…
I love you ALL!
FREEDOM CHURCH (CHAMPIONS NETWORK)

HOPE HELP - 12.29.2015

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.
Hopeful?
Hopeless?
Glass half full or empty?
2015 is winding down; a couple of days still to go. And since
returning home from a couple days away the tenor of most of the “Pastory” conversations have sadly been more hopeless than hopeful.
“She wants a divorce.”
“The kids are making bad choices.”
“She is back in jail again.”
“I can’t put the needle down Pastor, I want to, but I don’t know what to do.” – (this is very real)
So while many of us look expectantly to when the calendar freshens and a new sheet of paper for plans and adventures appears, others just see the looming year as merely “more of the same”; not much to hope for.
For my hopeless friends, I offer a thought or two.
Look past the hopeless situations to an ALWAYS hopeful GOD.
…God is so good, and by raising Jesus from death, he has given us new life and a HOPE that LIVES ON. 1 Peter 1:3 (CEV)
And then reach out to some of those “glass half full” folks. 
You know who they are in your circle. 
They are your prayer partners, your “intercessors” to leverage one of those big “biblical” words.
Get a little HOPE HELP.
Ecclesiastes 4:9, 11-12 (MSG)
It’s better to have a partner than go it alone.
…By yourself you’re unprotected.
With a friend you can face the worst.
Can you round up a third?
A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped.
And then start EXPECTING “better”.
Really!
Reset your expectations.
GOD has great plans for you.
GOD loves you with an everlasting love. He said so!
GOD wants you to HOPE in HIM. GOD wants you to TRUST in Him.
Has GOD not come through in the past?
What will keep this “same yesterday, today and forever” GOD to NOT come through again?
All He asks is that you give Him a shot!
Jeremiah 29:13-14 (MSG)
“When you come looking for me, you’ll find me. “Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” God’s Decree. “I’ll turn things around for you."
The question today is will your focus remain on the seemingly hopeless circumstances or on our ETERNALLY HOPEFUL GOD?
Choice is yours.
For GOD says GET serious about seeking Him, finding Him, and wanting Him.
He won’t disappoint you!
He WILL turn it around for YOU!
Seeds of sorrow are no more when hope raises her wings.
Her light will dispel the darkest night. A heart healed by hope will be strengthened against the shadows that blight the soul…
If you seek hope, she will come in a flash of white light to dispel despair. 
But if you look into your heart you will find she is already there. - Littlefair

HAVE A HOPEFUL DAY!
I love you ALL!
FREEDOM CHURCH (CHAMPIONS NETWORK)

GLUE REMOVER - 12.30.2015

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.
Stuck?
Can I offer a quick suggestion?
Pursue GOD passionately today.
By doing so, you will begin to “unstick” your life from the things that hinder you. You will.
Trust me. Trust Him.
Truth is it is really easy to get “stuck” and stay there. It is.
Don’t.
The best way to get out of a rut or regain your traction and contentment is to get back to PURSUING GOD!
Why?
For one thing, GOD knows you.
Psalm 139 (NCV)
Lord, you have examined me and know all about me. You know when I sit down and when I get up. You know my thoughts before I think them. You know where I go and where I lie down. You know everything I do.
He knows what is “ailing” you, GLUING you.
By pursuing GOD you let Him have a look "under the hood".
Psalm 139:23-24 (NCV)
God, examine me and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any bad thing in me. Lead me…
So give Him access. 
Open your heart to Him. 
Let Him exam it then listen for HIS guidance. 
He will send it!
Keep your eyes and ears open. Maybe He will speak through a friend. Maybe a song of encouragement. 
Maybe He will inspire you to “serving” somewhere today.
For remember…
GOD is always working. 
24/7 365 GOD is invested in you. You have His undivided attention and He wants the VERY BEST for you. He loves you.
GOD is always “doing”. GOD is always hearing. GOD knows your distress. GOD’S hand is on you. So GOD will guide. 
GOD WILL “unstick”.
Isaiah 58:11 (LB)
…the Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy you with all good things, and keep you healthy too…
So don’t stay stuck today.
Trust that GOD knows what He’s doing.
Choose to have faith in GOD'S promises that He loves you and will do what’s best for you.
Decide today to live purposefully by pursuing GOD so you can end up where God wants you to be; unstuck.
Remember…
…God doesn’t leave you on your own. He doesn’t leave you with the tool box of your own strength, righteousness, and wisdom. No, he invades you with his presence, power, wisdom, and grace. - Tripp
And that is the best “glue remover” I can think of…

I love you ALL!
FREEDOM CHURCH (CHAMPIONS NETWORK)

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

SUPER-HEROIC

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.
 
“The reality of loving God is loving him like he's a superhero who actually saved you from stuff rather than a Santa Claus who merely gave you some stuff.” – Jami
 
That hits right between the eyes doesn’t it?
Yet it is true.
Our love for GOD SHOULD be centered in gratefulness for His amazing SAVING grace.
 
In human experience it is a rare thing for one man to give his life for another, even if the latter be a good man, though there have been a few who have had the courage to do it. Yet the proof of God’s amazing love is this: that it was while we were sinners that Christ died for us. – Romans 5:7-8 (PH)
 
GOD DID put His love on the line for us, offering the GIFT of CHRISTMAS, His Son.
 
…she will have a Son, and you shall name him Jesus (meaning ‘Savior’), for he will save his people from their sins. Matthew 1:21 (LB)
 
That is our greatest blessing.
No SANTA could or will ever match it.
Not this Friday.
Not ever.
Before His first infant cry, GOD knew what His Christmas gift to us would cost Him. It would cost Him the MOST.
And in spite our sin, in the face of our rebellion, He chose to adopt us via this baby wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger.
 
Lucado tells the story of a master and a servant who went on a journey to a city.
Before the two men could reach the destination, they were caught in a blinding blizzard. They lost their direction and were unable to reach the city before nightfall.
The next morning concerned friends went searching for the two men. They finally found the master, frozen to death, face down in the snow. When they lifted him they found the servant — cold but alive. He survived and told how the master had voluntarily placed himself on top of the servant so the servant could live.
 
That sacrifice was “superheroic”.
 
But even it pales when we contemplate the magnitude of what the CHRIST CHILD would eventually do for us.  Read that from Romans 5 once again. 
In human experience it is a rare thing for one man to give his life for another, even if the latter be a good man, though there have been a few who have had the courage to do it. Yet the proof of God’s amazing love is this: that it was while we were sinners that Christ died for us. – Romans 5:7-8 (PH)
 
We are a couple of days from “SANTA’S” big day.
Enjoy his visit.
Laugh and love around the Christmas tree.
But don’t stop there.
 
Grab a Bible. 
I know many of you do. Open it to Luke 2
Share the first act of redemption and grace’s story with those family and friends.
Reflect.
Pause.
Pray a prayer of thanksgiving for GOD’S SUPERHERO-SIZED love for us.
Relish in the season’s greatest gift. 
Grace.
…every Christmas should be for us a new and special meeting with God, when we allow his light and grace to enter deep into our soul.”- Escrivá
 
 
I love you ALL!
FREEDOM CHURCH (CHAMPIONS NETWORK)

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

SEUSS WAS RIGHT

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.

(Sorry I missed you all yesterday...)

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. - Matthew 1:21 (NIV)
“Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas … perhaps … means a little bit more.” – Dr. Seuss
 
I posted this yesterday later in the morning than my usual daily post and so far it has gotten the more “likes” on FACEBOOK than most of my daily encouragements.
I have to admit it, I am kind of happy about that.
 
Maybe the “likes” indicate that Christmas does mean more to folks than just the hoopla and harried rushing around; the tinsel and the overtaxed credit cards. 
 
That is a good thing.
Seriously.
 
I was in Atlanta on Sunday at First Baptist Church and heard a little message from Charles Stanley about the “Bigger Picture” of Christmas; that when we pull back from the shopping, the meals and the nuttiness we can see that Christmas truly is much more than all of that.
 
Simply put, Christmas marked the start of GOD changing EVERYTHING for us.
 
Just reflect on the scenes.
 
Pious shepherds who are on their knees?
Kings who bring their gifts?
 
What is going on here, where Mary becomes the mother of God, where God comes into the world in the lowliness of the manger?

World judgment and world redemption—that is what’s happening here.
And it is the Christ child in the manger himself who holds world judgment and world redemption.
 
He pushes back the high and mighty; he overturns the thrones of the powerful; he humbles the haughty; his arm exercises power over all the high and mighty; he lifts what is lowly, and makes it great and glorious in his mercy.” ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, God Is In the Manger
 
Redemption?
World alteration?
Opportunity to be lifted to eternal life and unity with GOD Himself?
 
That is the BIGGER picture of Christmas.
 
Seuss is right… Christmas … perhaps … DOES mean a little bit more.
 
So when you wade into the crazy of the next couple of days doing those last minute things, the parties, the wrapping, and whatever else still needs to get done getting ready for Friday, don’t forget that Christmas indeed means a bit more than all of that.

Remember: 
“It is not enough to celebrate Christmas. We need to be changed and shaped by what we are celebrating. – Papavassiliou
For:
“How we spend Christmas is of greater significance than how much we spend for it.” ― Fisher
 
 
I love you ALL!
FREEDOM CHURCH (CHAMPIONS NETWORK)