CHRIST'S PERSPECTIVE

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. 

Excerpts from Colossians 3 (MSG)

So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. 

Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. 

See things from his perspective....dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. 

Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. 

Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. 

And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. 

None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. 

Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. 

Give it plenty of room in your lives. 

Instruct and direct one another using good common sense... 

Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.

GOOD practical counsel for today don’t you think?

Pursue today in a CHRIST-LIKE manner!

Be compassionate, kind, humble and disciplined.  Don’t let anger or a short-temper derail the day!  Embrace a forgiving spirit a loving temperament.  Allow PEACE to dictate rather than chaos. Take a back seat to lift others to the forefront.

Yet what I love most about this little instruction from Paul is his encouragement to LET THE WORD, GOD’s WORD, be the guide!

Give it “ROOM” he says. And that is not just in your intellect as you make decisions but in your heart as you deal with those "feeling" matters as well!

And one last takeaway is that whatever WE DO today we do it with a spirit and attitude of GRATEFULNESS!

Seems simple enough huh?

Go back and re-read it once more! 

For: 

“When we are securely rooted in personal intimacy with the source of life (CHRIST), it will be possible to remain flexible without being relativistic, convinced without being rigid, willing to confront without being offensive, gentle and forgiving without being soft, and true witnesses without being manipulative.”

Henri J.M. Nouwen

So, let’s let the LOVE of CHRIST have the run of our "house" today! 

Amen?

Have a blessed day!

I love you all!

OPPORTUNITIES for HOPE

OPEN THE DOOR

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.

Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in…you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God. – Ephesians 3:17-19 (MSG)

The simple question is will you open the door today?

Jesus said:

Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I’ll come right in and sit down to supper with you. Conquerors will sit alongside me at the head table – Revelation 3:20-21 (MSG)

I guess the better question is WHY WOULDN’T we open the door?

I was reminded of this scripture yesterday as our local Pastor Mark shared it in service and I am grateful he refreshed it for me.  I often quote the passage that follows it, Ephesians 3:20; just did during a Saturday event with some new friends from Tabernacle Baptist on Dayton’s West Side in fact, but I often neglect those PROCEEDING promises; miss that PROCEEDING POWER!

Just by opening the door WE can:

Experience the EXTRAVAGANT dimensions of GOD’S LOVE!

Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God's love encompasses us completely. ... He loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken. – Uchtdorf

Just by opening the door we can experience Jesus in supernatural ways as Pastor Mark surmised.  That this love will not just fill us, but STRETCH us to experience LIFE and LOVE on a new plane, in a new dimension!

And once Jesus enters our door, once He takes His place at the table of our hearts and spirits, He calls us CONQUERERS!  

Why? 

Because that is PROMISE of HIS love for us, this extravagant love!!

…we have complete victory through God, who has shown his love for us. Yes, I am sure that nothing can separate us from God’s love—not death, life, angels, or ruling spirits. I am sure that nothing now, nothing in the future, no powers, nothing above us or nothing below us—nothing in the whole created world—will ever be able to separate us from the love God has shown us in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39 (ERV)

So, let me ask ONE more time.

Are you ready to open the door today?

Why wouldn't you?

Who Is Like The Lord        

Who Is Like The Lord Israel & New Breed, Who Is Like The Lord from "it's A New Season"

Have a blessed day!

I love you all!

OPPORTUNITIES for HOPE

 

NOT CONTAGIOUS

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.

In a contagious world, we learn to keep our distance. If we get too close to those who are suffering, we might get infected by their pain. It may not be convenient or comfortable. But only when you get close enough to catch their hurt will they be close enough to catch your love. - John Ortberg

How convicting is that little nugget from one of my favorites, Ortberg?

I was serving with the Attorney General’s team yesterday all the way down in Scioto County Ohio.  If you don’t know where that is, it is almost Kentucky.  I was in Portsmouth to be more specific.  It was a beautiful drive from an earlier meeting in West Chester, but once I pulled into Portsmouth, you could almost “sense the suffering”.

If you are not familiar with “DREAMLAND” (http://www.samquinones.com/books/dreamland) it is a book written by Sam Quinones that chronicles and documents the journey to the opiate epidemic in Ohio, the same epidemic that thankfully our President took some further action to help quell just yesterday. 

But in Sam’s book he speaks specifically about the devastation of community in Portsmouth.  And it had been a few years since I had been down that way and now armed with this new perspective it was clear that just from a cursory glimpse this little town and region was hurting.

That was confirmed as we sat with 20 or so community leaders to discuss ways we could restore community and hope.  Of those leaders many were from local churches who were SEEKING ways to engage, seeking ways to connect, looking for ways to help.

And while it was just one meeting on one day in October, as I prayed the meeting to a close, I am confident that yesterday was a great first step to turning the tide. For in that room were some supremely gifted and compassionate folks who were ready to DO as ORTBERG suggests, allow LOVE to COLLIDE with the CHALLENGE; to get CLOSE enough to make a difference! 

This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other. John 13:35 (MSG)

While in Columbus this week with some members of the Catholic DIOCESES, a student shared some notes from an interview that he had with a mom who had lost her daughter to overdose and now had custody of her granddaughter. 

He shared how her life was CHANGED by a fella named PASTOR SAM. 

Pastor SAM knew nothing about overdoses.  He wasn’t a drug counselor.  He really didn’t have a lot of solutions.  Yet HE GOT CLOSE to this mom.  Texts of concern, frequent phone calls, occasional visits, and coffee chats.  

And what happened?

Mom’s hope is being restored.

Sam’s LOVE pressed its way past the challenge and this mom felt valued. 

Her life, as she remarked, was FOREVER changed by Sam.

Easy to see where I am going today right?

Those who are suffering around us are FAR from CONTAGIOUS. They need someone to “catch” some of their hurt and experience a little love.

Is that someone you?

I hope so.

Without a sense of caring, there can be no sense of community.

Anthony J. D'Angelo

Have a blessed WEEKEND!

I love you all!

OPPORTUNITIES for HOPE