INEXHAUSTIBLE COMPASSION

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.

Lamentations 3:22-23 (V)

How enduring is God’s loyal love; (HE) has inexhaustible compassion. Here they are, every morning, new! Your faithfulness, God, is as broad as the day.

I know that is one of those familiar passages.  It is plastered on plaques, adorns bookmarks and desk ornaments, but I like what the VOICE translation does with it.

How ENDURING is GOD’S LOYAL LOVE?

Love that word ENDURING.

Conjures other phrases like “no matter what” LOVE, “whatever it takes” LOVE, “big enough, strong enough, and passionate enough” LOVE.

I am so glad GOD’S love is ENDURING especially when mine for Him seems rickety as I make poor decisions, choose selfishly or have bouts of ingratitude.  I am so thankful that GOD’s LOVE...

...endures

…well

…ME.

The next phrase, INEXHAUSTIBLE compassion…

For I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels won’t, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God’s love away. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, or where we are—high above the sky, or in the deepest ocean—nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when he died for us. Romans 8:38-39 (LB)

Need I say more?

And here is GOD with a HEALTHY and AMAZING dose of both this morning; ENDURING love and INEXHAUSTIBLE compassion as BROAD as the day!

How does that make you feel?

Especially if yesterday wasn’t one of your best!

Though you have changed a thousand times, He has not changed - Spurgeon

Thank GOODNESS!

So grab hold of them with both hands, the ENDURING love & the INEXHAUSTIBLE compassion of GOD.  

Allow them to MOTIVATE and INSPIRE you today!  

Allow them to ENERGIZE and GUIDE YOU!

For remember…

To be loved by God is the highest relationship, the highest achievement, and the highest position in life. - Henry Blackaby

So true.

I love you all…

Have a blessed weekend!

Opportunities for Hope (Champions Charge)

TRUTH OVER FEAR

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.

Fear and worry, a couple of the enemy’s most popular weapons that he levies against us. And they, if not held in check, can overwhelm us, doing their best to control our every move and decision. And this is true in spite of reality telling us that so much of what we spend our time worrying about never even happens; that choosing to live under the weight of the "what if's" is a hard place to dwell.

“Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy.” ― Leo Buscaglia

But sometimes they get the best of us.

I know if I let them, fear and worry will gladly sap today of my joy; the “what ifs” will rob my rest. That is why it is crucial that I cling to TRUTH.  And while that is much easier said than done, I must try, I must be intentional for if I don’t all of the “things I really can’t control” will quickly control me.

The truth, the WORDS of life from GOD have to take center stage in my heart, mind and spirit.  I must make them FAMILIAR and QUICK to be recalled when the fear and the worry start clamoring for mind-share.

Remember GOD’S words are “life” words, soothing to our soul, calming to our spirits, EMPOWERING and CIRCUMSTANCE CHANGING!

And yes, while it not always easy to conjure them from memory when the oppression, fear, and the pressure is in our face, choosing to lean on them is still well within our power and capability!  We still have a choice when it comes to WHICH voices, which WORDS will command our attention!

Two types of voices command your attention today. Negative ones fill your mind with doubt, bitterness, and fear. Positive ones purvey hope and strength. Which one will you choose to heed? – Max Lucado

Will you join me today in choosing not to allow fear and worry to control our thoughts?

Choosing to guard our hearts and spirits from the uncontrollable urge to worry?

Choosing to focus our minds on truth and certainty in the face of uncertainty?

For:

GOD’S TRUTH says…

do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Isaiah 41:10 (NIV)

That same WORD says that…

The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1 (NIV)

That we can…

Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.” Psalm 55:22 (NIV)

His truth DOES whisper strong and sure to the deepest core of our spirits doesn’t it?

So let’s trust Him!

Replace those fearful thoughts with His words of TRUTH.

Remember… 

“Each moment of worry, anxiety or stress represents lack of faith in miracles, for they never cease.” - Hodge

I love you all

Opportunities for Hope (Champions Charge)

ENDURE THE CHANGE

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.

You can endure change by pondering His permanence.

Survive rejection by meditating on His acceptance. - Lucado

Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground…

Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ – that’s where the action is. - Colossians 3:2 (MSG)

Change.

I am not a fan.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am not so tied to traditions and routine that I don’t adapt or enjoy experiencing new things.  I will be the first to venture in to a new diner or scout out a new bakery when I am on the road. I mean I woke up this morning to a “new look”, a change, in my OS on my computer that somehow happened magically overnight and I didn’t freak.

Yet big changes due tend to cause some nail-biting and a little stomach churning.  I don’t think I am unique in that.  All of us like stability and the norm.  I love nothing more than “the routine” of our little dachshund when I come home. He jumps once and then rolls on his back for his belly rubbing greeting. 

A routine like that never gets stale.

But the truth of the matter as much as we like for things to remain “normal” and stable, our world is anything but stable or normal most days.  Things can and do turn on a dime.  What we thought was a sure thing or a long-term solution sometimes isn’t and we must adapt, endure and “change with the change”.

That is why I like the little wisdom from Lucado this morning.

He implicitly reminds is that change is inevitable, but GOD is immovable.  He implicitly reminds us that even in the face of seeming rejection, GOD never leaves, never FORSAKES and always accepts!  (Deuteronomy 31:6)

I am facing some “more change” in my life right now.

Since I emerged from addiction in 2008, things have never STOPPED changing and evolving.  GOD keeps “altering the action”.  

Just when I think things will be stable for a second, the game changes.

It is uncomfortable and occasionally disconcerting.

But without fail, with each change GOD has grown me and stretched me; He has blessed me and intersected me.  

So there is no reason to believe that won’t continue. 

But the process of settling into the next season is ANYTHING BUT.

That is why Max’s words resonate today.

I can endure this latest change because of GOD’s PERMANENCE. 

(I the LORD do not change – Malachi 3:6 NIV)

And if He is not changing and has proven faithful through the myriad of changes since 2008, then I can trust Him that these latest changes are NECESSARY for what is NEXT for me; that there is something to be learned and relationships to be made.

For in spite of all the changes in venue, all of the amazing start-ups and hand offs, GOD has never once made a change that has deterred me from ‘the call’ He pressed on me in ’08, the call to seek and serve the addicted.

So no "shuffling" for me today.  

In fact, I have been invited to Cincinnati today to become part of a new group of leaders with their eyes and hearts on Christ.

Sounds like some “good action”.  We will see where it goes…

What about you?

Going through some changes that have you unsettled?

Are you feeling a little unstable?  Pressured?

Remember GOD’s PERMANENCE and faithfulness

(2 Timothy 2:13)

Remember even when you FEEL or have been REJECTED, you aren’t.

(Jeremiah 31:3)

GOD is waiting to LIFT YOUR HEAD and EYES to HIM

(Psalm 3:3)

Focus your attention on Him and not the change.  

Trust Him that the change has purpose, that He can be trusted and embrace the action!

Really, there was only one sensible thing to do.

Stay the course. Pray it through, day by day, minute by minute. The Lord has an answer and it (WILL) surely come. - Hanna

I love you all…

Opportunities for Hope (Champions Charge)