Friday, July 29, 2016

DISCIPLINED LIFE

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)
The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

“When does “it” get easier?”
I can almost read folk’s minds when they ask that question. It is as if they have said to themselves and GOD, “OK GOD, I am “doing” recovery, I am “doing” the right things, saying the right stuff, going to the right meetings, drinking the soda water sans the vodka, avoiding the old people places and things so when is the ‘light yoke, and easier burden' Jesus keeps talking about going to kick in?”
I often answer with this…
Proverbs 10:17 (ERV)
The road TO life is a DISCIPLINED life…
And just look at the definition of DISCIPLINE…
…activity, exercise or regimen that develops or improves…
ACTIVITY, EXERCISE, REGIMEN.

To me, that says recovery, this walk, is exactly that; exercise.
It takes a little sweat equity on our part in order to improve.
Paul said so…
1 Timothy 4:7 (MSG)
…Exercise daily in God—no spiritual flabbiness, please! Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever.

That means we must EXERCISE some GODLY decision making and that takes discipline! 
It is a must.
For Paul also reminds…
…That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don't give it the time of day. Don't even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time…into GOD’s way of doing things. Romans 6:12 (MSG)

A WHOLEHEARTED and FULL-TIME commitment to CHRIST prompts us make good and GODLY choices, to shed sinful tendencies and to think in the way GOD would want us to think. And believe me, I know that can be a challenge sometimes, it can feel like exercise. No cutting corners or cheating allowed!
Don't look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don't fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention. Matthew 7:13 (MSG)
And VIGOROUS is certainly not a passive word it is ACTIVE! 
That means a little sweat for sure!  
But it is a GOOD sweat!

For truly we shouldn’t be surprised that GOD would want us to EXERCISE some good decision-making and some daily discipline. And anything worth pursuing requires some effort, some work, some commitment, some passion, and some investment. 

And we would all agree, this NEW LIFE is worth it, AMEN?
…Mark a life of discipline and live wisely; don't squander your precious life. Blessed the man, blessed the woman, who listens to me… Proverbs 8:32 (MSG)

I love you all.
Have a blessed and disciplined weekend.
Opportunities for Hope (Champions Charge)

Thursday, July 28, 2016

FRIVOLOUS INDULGENCES

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)
The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.
We can’t afford to waste a minute, must not squander these precious daylight hours in frivolity and indulgence...Romans 13:13 (MSG)
What is your "frivolity or indulgence" that keeps you from the presence of the Lord; from His assignment?
Addiction?
Selfish gratifications?
Internet temptations?
You have “another”?
I know a tough question. It is for me. I have struggled/sometimes still struggle with frivolous indulgences. And sadly they often keep me from what Romans 13:14 says I/WE SHOULD be devoting our DAYLIGHT hours to.
(being) like the Lord Jesus Christ, (not) think(ing) about how to satisfy the desires of your sinful self. – Romans 13:14 (ERV – Emphasis mine)
So what should we do when the frivolous and indulgent try to command our time?
…demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and…take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 
2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV)
Our minds, our flesh, our self-indulgent natures, our wandering thoughts and eyes are a reality. They can prove to be very subtle, deceptive, consuming and convincing. We must be INTENTIONAL in capturing them!
We need to be quick to ask God to help us be honest with ourselves and real with our temptations and thoughts.
We need to be quick to pray for the Father to help us be honest with ourselves and make choices that will keep us away from any occasion for sin.
We must be quick to resolve to fix ourselves in the PRESENCE of GOD for it is there sin cannot reside!
Remember friends living before GOD, embracing HIS presence is better than anything temptation offers. And it always offers the PREFERRED alternative for when the frivolous and the indulgent try to take over.
Thomas Chalmers called the “presence of GOD an “expulsive power of a new affection.” 
We will always struggle with the temptations and the indulgent until we replace it with something more pure, more right, and more fulfilling; the presence of GOD.
So simply put, if we want to overcome things like addiction then this new affection, our intentional relationship with the presence of GOD must command the CENTER of our attention! Why? Because a day centered in the presence of the LORD will prove superior to sin, trouble, indulgence and temptation every time.
"For the Lord God is brighter
Than the brilliance of a sunrise!
Wrapping Himself around me like a shield,
He is so generous with His gifts of grace and glory!
¹²Those who walk along His paths with integrity
Will never lack one thing they need,
For He provides it all!
O Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
What euphoria fills those
Who forever trust in You!"
Psalm 84:11-12 TPT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQspvrTBd6E
Love you all…
Have a centered, affectionate day with the Father!
Opportunities for Hope (Champions Charge)

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

TURN IN YOUR PAPER

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)
The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

“Dedication is writing your name on the bottom of a blank sheet of paper and handling it to the Lord for Him to fill in”
― Rick Renner

Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ’s care and control. – Baker (Life’s Healing Choices)

Ready to do that today?
That takes some real trust; a “conscience commitment” Baker says. 

Are we ready to take GOD at His Word and give Him the day; our sheet of paper?  
Are we willing to set aside our feelings, our agenda, our plans, and our expectations?

What about when the fear creeps back in?
What about when the uncertainties surface?
What about when conflicts come?
What about when the noise around us intensifies and attempts to distract and disillusion us?
What about when circumstances are such that re-assuming control seems the only way to go? 
Are we willing to leave it all in GOD’S hands or do we grab the paper and pencil and start “rewriting” the script?

Are we really ready to trust GOD?

Great blessings belong to those who fear and respect the Lord, who are happy to do what he commands. Such good people will never fall. They will always be remembered. They will not be afraid of bad news. They are confident because they trust in the Lord. They remain confident and without fear, so they defeat their enemies. Psalm 112:1, 6-8 (ERV)

SO:
Trusting people are confident.
Trusting people are fearless.
Trusting people are bold.
Trusting people are victorious!

If that is the case then why is it so hard to TRUST? 

How is it that we can spout freely things like Proverbs 3 and Psalm 28 and yet when the noise around us intensifies or when conflict seeks to derail our plans, or when “what we want to do” and “where GOD is leading” aren’t aligning, are we so quick to tank our trust?

It is a good question.

And I am sure we all often will ask God what he wants us to do and what are the steps we need to take, which alliances to forge, which path is best, how to follow our perceived calling longing for GOD to just communicate the next things He wants maybe via a quick text, FACEBOOK message, Tweet, anything!

But He doesn’t.
And it is then I am reminded of this little story I have shared before.

“When John Kavanaugh, the noted and famous ethicist, went to Calcutta, he was seeking Mother Teresa … and more. He went for three months to work at “the house of the dying” to find out how best he could spend the rest of his life.

When he met Mother Teresa, he asked her to pray for him. “What do you want me to pray for?” she replied. He then uttered the request he had carried thousands of miles: “Clarity. Pray that I have clarity.”

“No,” Mother Teresa answered, “I will not do that.” When he asked her why, she said, “Clarity is the last thing you are clinging to and must let go of.”

In other words, TRUST.

So for those of you who are in a similar place in your lives as I am today, let’s sign and turn in our papers.

GOD has got it and us.
Time to trust.

Love you all…
Opportunities for Hope (Champions Charge)

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

VACUUM FILLING

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)
The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

Last night I was privileged to share our vision for CHAMPIONS and “community” with a group of concerned folks in Fairborn, Ohio The Mayor who has become a good friend invited me along with some other amazing people from our community to share with the citizens of Fairborn current SOLUTIONS and OPPORTUNITIES for HOPE in the face the current opiate challenge.

It was a very productive and encouraging night! 
In fact, I am pleased to announce that First United Methodist of Fairborn will be joining the Champion’s team in AUGUST!
Praise the LORD for Pastor Aaron and his team!

Yet it was during the presentations/discussion that one of my dear friends, a true light in our community and probably one of the smartest mental health and recovery professionals I have ever worked with Chris P., made this statement when emphasizing the criticality for folks in recovery to EMBRACE and ENGAGE healthy communities!

He commented that, “Nature abhors a vacuum.”

After doing a little digging this morning these were the words of ancient philosopher Aristotle.

Aristotle based his conclusion on the observation that nature requires every space to be filled with something, even if that something is colorless, odorless air.

Chris went on to share that one of the primary challenges for those in recovery is to FILL their lives with healthy alternatives after they experience sobriety or clean-time.  

We often have dear people embrace treatment for their addictions, but because that treatment typically occurs in the context of a vacuum, they struggle when the treatment ends.  For as we treat them we work diligently to remove the unhealthy things, the addictions, that have “filled the vacuum” for so long.  Yet once treatment has ended, more times than not our recovering folks return to OLD PEOPLE, OLD PLACES and OLD THINGS; in others words, OLD VACUUM “FILLERS”. 

And sadly they fall prey to the addiction again.

A big part of why we have spent this year raising awareness and starting small groups in our churches and connecting them to our community, social and Christian networks is because we desire to provide “healthy, spirit-filled “FILLING” for those seeking deliverance and recovery from addiction challenges.
Continue to pray for our efforts.  We have a busy close to the summer!  

But this challenge is not just for the addicted.

The same principle is at work in ALL of our spiritual lives. Our nature abhors the vacuum too.  We all have that "GOD spot” as our local Pastor Mark likes to say that needs “filling”, SPIRIT filling!

Ephesians 5:18 tells us plainly how not to fill it and how TO fill it! 
“Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be FILLED with the Spirit…”

Healthy communities, spirit-filled friendships, collaborative companions, intentional worship and communion with GOD all help keep us stay FILLED with the SPIRIT.

We must DAILY pray that Christ would filled our vacuum not with unhealthy habits and choices like drug addiction; but that our hearts through faith would consistently and constantly “know the love of Christ . . . (&) be filled with all the fullness of God” Ephesians 3:19 (NIV)

The truth of the matter is that the only permanent solution to the problem of sin in our lives, the only true solution to the damaging relationship and relationships of addictive behaviors is to embrace the SPIRIT and LOVE of Jesus.

That solves our “natural dilemma” and fills the vacuum.  

And the more we fill that "GOD SPOT" with His love, the more we surround ourselves with like-minded and like-“spirited” folks, the better we do at blocking that space for anything harmful, addictive, or damaging!

FOR:
“Being filled with the Spirit is simply this - having my whole nature yielded to His power. When the whole soul is yielded to the Holy Spirit, God Himself will fill it.” ― Andrew Murray


Love you all…
Be blessed and filled!
Opportunities for Hope (Champions Charge)