BETTER TOGETHER

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.

Alder once remarked, 

“One of the most important things you can do on this earth is to let people know they are not alone.” 

And along the same thought, The Gaither Vocal Band recently released a song with this little lyric…

Better together, stronger each day

Better together, in every way

Different people, but so much the same

Sisters and brothers, from every land

Loving each other, we reach out our hands

Divided we fall, united we stand

We’re better together

We are BETTER together!

And as I have travel around meeting with churches, pastoral and lay leaders, and para-ministries, I am constantly re-emphasizing the importance of “better-togetherness”!

This was again true late last night as I was sitting and sharing with some dear friends from Springfield Ohio.  Their effort is called the CELEBRATING RECOVERY HOUSE and from the early reports this ministry has endless potential and possibility!

https://www.facebook.com/Celebrating-Recovery-House-186213055158952/

But they had ‘hit a little roadblock’.  While they had “some” support from the local churches, they were at a loss as to how to encourage them to CONNECT to the WORK; how they could encourage the CHURCH to CONNECT to those they were called to serve.

They wanted to be BETTER TOGETHER!

PRAY for this important work please?

Yet, I can’t say it enough! 

This togetherness is crucial, helpful and changing! 

And let me let you in on a little secret.  The connections that are made will not JUST change the one we are called to serve or the one hampered in isolation, NO!  

It will POSITIVELY and RADICALLY change the one who has chosen to wade into the space to serve, share and connect!

Trust me on that!

be like-minded and show sympathy, love, compassion, and humility to and for each other— not paying back evil with evil or insult with insult, but repaying the bad with a blessing. It was this you were called to do, so that you might inherit a blessing.

1 Peter 3:8-9 (V) 

Connecting to and blessing others WILL result in us being BETTER TOGETHER!  

We must as Alder suggests let people know they are not alone!

So today, TOGETHER lets:

…welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Romans 15:7 ESV

…not neglect to show hospitality to strangers...Hebrews 13:2 ESV

Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 1 Peter 4:9 ESV

And remember my friends…

“Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone - we find it with another.”  - Merton

And we find IT BETTER when we seek IT TOGETHER!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APKh5HULzdM

I love you all…

OPPORTUNITIES for HOPE

TOGETHER

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.

Psalm 133:1(NIV)

How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live TOGETHER…

I was offered a rare treat yesterday.  Beth, Ian, and I went over to a long-time partner church, Riverside Nazarene, to worship with our son-in-law (that still seems weird to say).  Alex was a part of their praise and worship team yesterday.

Riverside Nazarene is a satellite of Xenia Nazarene Pastored by a dear friend and powerful COMMUNITY advocate, Mark Atherton. 

Like I said, Riverside has been a partner in our recovery church framework for some time.  They offer Celebrate Recovery on Wednesdays as well as passionately SERVE their community with meals, food, a safe-haven, and judge-free acceptance for the addicted and seeking.

And yesterday as their Pastor Jason opened the day with this passage from Psalms and exhorted the IMPORTANCE of community and as Pastor Mac shared a heart-felt message as to the roles and importance of friends, I was reminded of this little quote.

“Imagine how our own families, let alone the world, would change if we vowed to keep faith with one another, strengthen one another, look for and accentuate the virtues in one another, and speak graciously concerning one another. Imagine the cumulative effect if we treated each other with respect and acceptance, if we willingly provided support. Such interactions practiced on a small scale would surely have a rippling effect throughout our homes and communities and, eventually, society at large.” - Gordon

In other words, what if we EMBRACED COMMUNITY?

Pastor Mac made an interesting observation in his talk.  He said, “How do we often most severely punish our most egregious offenders?  We place them in solitary confinement.”

Think about that.

When we are INTENTIONALLY disconnected, we suffer.  We ALL need companionship.  This has been true from the beginning.

The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.

Genesis 2:18 (NIV)

If you have been a faithful reader of the OFH, then you have seen me share this quote from one of the foremost authorities in the United States on the opiate epidemic we are facing…

Opiate addiction not only promotes isolation it makes it preferable. Heroin’s isolation needs community response – Sam Quinones

This isn’t exclusive to the addicted, no, we all need community. 

Period.

So here is your task for today. 

Who will you provide some “community” for today?

Is there a widow that could use a visit or a phone call?

What about that one you haven’t seen at church in a few weeks?  Maybe they need a cup of coffee & a little community?

Or do you need to pull yourself from the isolation and find a place to connect? 

Reach out to me, I will do my best to connect you!

Remember, community is GOOD and PLEASANT!

We have all known loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community. – Day

We become human only in the company of other human beings.  And this involves both opening our hearts and giving voice to our deepest convictions. ...When we shrink from the world, our souls shrink, too. – Loeb

So have a blessed day TOGETHER!

I love you all…

OPPORTUNITIES for HOPE

WILL LIVE IN

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.

 

God has said, “I will live in them and will walk among them. I will be their God 

2 Corinthians 6:16 (NLV)

 

Let that soak in for a second believers!

I (GOD) will live IN THEM…

 

That is you!

Residing in you at this very moment, as you read this, is your Heavenly Father.  No incantations needed.  No conjuring required.  No invitation. 

He is here with me and He is there with you!

 

And while that can be quite reassuring when the chips are down or struggles are in play, it can be a little disconcerting as well when our “walk” or “following” is out of frame or not quite up to snuff.

 

But I think what PAUL wanted us to sense was the former and not fear the latter.  

To be assured that…

...your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." – Deuteronomy 31:6 (NIV)

 

So now being reminded that GOD is living within you and walking with you today, how will that change things?

 

Will you lean on His leading?

What about the tough decisions?

What about when the traffic is snarled or the colleague gets the promotion?

What about when the client is misrepresenting what you said and decides to put you on TWITTER and FACEBOOK blast?

 

Remember:

GOD is with you!

GOD is walking beside you!

He wasn’t blindsided.

He has set the standard for response.

 

I will be quick to admit, it doesn’t take much distraction to cause me to forget the ever-presence of GOD in my life.  I find myself thinking about things and maybe even doing things that if I recalled His nearness wouldn’t “be great”; in fact, would be pretty counter to Christ.

 

That is why today I want to encourage us all to focus on the amazing intimacy of GOD.  That He, through Paul, has committed to deep intimacy with us and passion for us.

 

That is such an encouragement!

That is truly remarkable!

We should treasure it! 

Embrace it! Dare I say be quick to leverage it! 

That sort of intentional intimacy is INVALUABLE!!

 

“Just as teenagers can live in the same house as their parents, yet choose not to live “close” to them in partnership, so we can choose to be children of God, yet live very distant from God in our hearts. On the other hand, we can choose to have the closest partnership with Him, in which we know what He thinks, believes, and acts and what is important to Him. In this place of intimacy, we also discover just how close He wants to be with us.” - Dedmon

 

So, my dear friends, the weekend is in front of us.  Don’t limit your intimate time with the Father to those “goosebumpy” moments in worship or hold them for Sunday.

Instead GREET GOD with a hearty welcome today. 

Ask Him to traverse with you!

And you will discover a Father who loves to just “be with” you!

 

“God’s love is steady and relentless. It is unchanging and unconditional. It is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. God’s love is agape love, the kind of love that says, “I’m going to stay true to you until the end of time, no matter what you do, no matter how I feel, no matter how strained our relationship becomes. I will never leave you nor forsake you. You are mine, and I am yours, and our relationship is an eternal one.” 

― Jimmy Evans

 

I love you all…

OPPORTUNITIES for HOPE