FLUID FAITH?

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.

If someone were to approach you on the street and ask…”how’s your faith?” what would be your response?

Would you skate around the question and say “my faith is in the Lord?” or deflect it all together with a “that’s personal” reply?

Come on it is a simple question.

Let me put it another way.

“Can you describe your faith, I know you believe in GOD, but to how would you decribe that belief?"

Now that IS a little different. I know you have "some" faith or you wouldn't get the DISPATCH. But just how is your faith?

Confident or creeky? Solid or shifting? Firm or fluid?

Perhaps your faith is rock solid on a Sunday when you are surrounded with believers and the worship music is cranking and the atmosphere is dripping with Jesus but when the music stops and life starts back up it has a tendency to waver.

That is FLUID FAITH; faith that in times of trial loses its focus on GOD and fixates instead on the problem. Fluid faith says, “I know He can, but I’m not sure He will.”

Does that describe your faith?

We must remember our faith holds the keys to blessing, joy, perseverance and patience!

Romans 5:1-3

Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. 3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.

So if someone asks us, “how’s your faith”, our answer should be, “Increasing!”

You see one of our greatest desires should be to firm up our faith so that we can live successfully, deal with challenges more effectively and walk with CHRIST more confidently!

So now maybe you are asking “how do I increase my faith?” The disciples asked the same thing in Luke so don't feel weird asking the question.

The answer is start your day "FIRMING YOUR FAITH."

I mean the "ZUMBA-ITES" are off firming and toning their bodies first thing, why shouldn't we also be firming our faith?

So here are some FIRMING THE FAITH fixes:

Before anything else align your thoughts with GOD. Open with a thank you.

Carve out time in the morning for GOD.

Grab a little devotional and set it next to the cereal or on the kitchen table. Instead of the newspaper, reach for the WORD of GOD to start your day. Perhaps a prayer post-it on the fridge. Be intentional!

Proverbs 8:32-36

“So, my dear friends, listen carefully; those who embrace these my ways are most blessed. Mark a life of discipline and live wisely; don’t squander your precious life. Blessed the man, blessed the woman, who listens to me, awake and ready for me each morning, alert and responsive as I start my day’s work. When you find me, you find life, real life, to say nothing of God’s good pleasure…

Start there and watch that FLUID FAITH firm up fast!

And then you can answer that question confidently. "How's your faith?"

"Firming up all the time!"

I love you all!

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney

EXPECTANT HOPE

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.

“What?”

“No way.”

“Come on now, you are joking.”

“Could be WHAT you say?”

“Really?”

Ever been knocked back a little from unexpected news?

Maybe the doctors crossed you up and what was a routine physical unearthed something more serious.

Maybe a routine phone call delivered some less than routine news.

Maybe with no warning today is your last at work.

All of us have experienced “the unexpected”; those little moments in life where we didn’t see it coming and quite frankly don’t have a real handle on how to react.

GOD’s expectation is for us to react HOPEFULLY. Place our hope in HIM. He has got it under control even when we don’t. We can trust in Him.

Psalm 71:5

5 For You are my hope, O Lord God. You are my trust since I was young.

Sadly we have watered down “hope” in our culture. I “hope” I win the game. I “hope” she says yes. We have dulled hope to wishful thinking. Yet HOPE for one in Christ is so much more than that! It is EXCITED.

It is a “what’s next” kind of hope not a “what if” kind of hope!

We are to…

Romans 12:12 ESV

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer

We are to be HAPPY in OUR HOPE; expectant. Our hope is not a nail-biting, gut wrenching hope. Our hope is certain and confident. Why?

Our HOPE in rooted and founded in the LORD! So our hope doesn’t titter and fret, our hope trusts and believes!

Isaiah 41:10

…fear not, for I am with you;

be not dismayed, for I am your God;

I will strengthen you, I will help you,

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Adrian Rogers puts it this way…

”Our HOPE, however, our rock-ribbed assurance, comes with glad anticipation!”

So be assured today in your hope! You will be blessed!

Psalm 146:5 ESV

Blessed is he/she…whose hope is in the Lord his God,

Have a blessed weekend…

I love you all!

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney

GRADE A HELP

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.

Give it up.

Anxiety? Give it up.

Anger? Give it up.

Animosity? Give it up.

Addiction? Give it up.

Our GOD has a “GRADE A” plan to deal with those GRADE “A” struggles.

Give them up.

1 Peter 5:6-7 NASB

…humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

GOD wants those “GRADE A” struggles like (A)nxiety. In fact GOD wants them all. Not just the "A's" but the B's through Z's too! He has the shoulders, the bandwidth, and the capacity to take them all off your hands.

Let Him.

While many of us know in our minds that God is a never-ending source of support and courage for those who call upon Him, that when we are weary He gives us strength, we often push Him to the side when the struggles come and try to go it alone. Why? Hard to figure out isn't it?

Instead when we see no hope, we need to remember His promises. When we grieve, we need to remember GOD is holding the tissue and the VISINE! When we are overwhelmed, He is asking for the pressure.

Friends, GOD will hold our hand and walk with us every day of your life if we let Him. The operative phrase in that sentence is IF WE LET HIM!

Psalm 55:22

Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.

When you have no helpers, see all your helpers in God. When you have many helpers, see God in all your helpers. When you have nothing but God, see all in God; when you have everything, see God in everything. Under all conditions, stay thy heart only on the Lord.

C. H. Spurgeon

A couple of Monday’s ago I shared a little video from Max Lucado about this “giving it up” idea. I thought it put a nice little bow on today’s thought. Maybe today is a “trash day” for you. (Watch the clip…you will see!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj8HBAw8A-Y

I love you all!

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney

YOU MATTER

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.

Last week I was listening to another Pastor deliver a message and he kept repeating the phase “YOU MATTER”.

I liked that.

Why?

Life has a way of draining the “you matters” right out of us doesn’t it?

Call customer service and they say your CALL matters but do YOU really matter? Truth is they would rather have YOU NOT call than call. (Trust me, I used to sell these services...)

Go to the deli and what do you do? Take a number. So it is your NUMBER that matters and not really YOU. The “number” is going to get the pound of ham and Swiss cheese right?

We do get reduced and diminished these days don’t we?

We have minimized ourselves to pictures on a FACEBOOK page and pop up photos on the smart phone. We text and tweet rather than meet and greet. So it pretty easy to begin to feel like WE don’t matter as much as our interactions, information and transactions do.

But the Pastor said “YOU MATTER” didn’t he? Because YOU do matter!

I matter, we all matter when it comes to GOD.

Isaiah 43:1-3

…I’ve called your name. You’re mine.

When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you.

When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down.

When you’re between a rock and a hard place,

it won’t be a dead end—

Because I am God, your personal God…

Did you hear that?

You have a PERSONAL GOD. My goodness you (me) we really DO matter to GOD!

He is THERE FOR US!

He is PROTECTING US!

He is DIRECTING US.

We matter to Him!

In fact did you see that? He knows us by name and says we are HIS! We belong to Him! Personally! Are you kidding?

Boy is that ever reassuring. In a world where each day we are being reduced to digits and digitization it is so good to know that GOD still finds us special!

1 Thessalonians 2:3

…It is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special.

You REALLY DO matter!

Have a blessed day!

I love you all!

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney

BLESS THOSE BLAHS

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.

“Woe is me.”

“What is one of those 'BIBLE-WORDS' for how I feel?"

“Downtrodden?”

“Beleaguered?”

Maybe you are akin to Job and are feeling a little like this…

Job 7:5

My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken, and become loathsome…

YIKES! Now THAT sounds awful…

I don’t think it is that bad is it?

Call it the winter blahs, the February funk or a case of the blues, all of us get a case of them from time to time. Maybe you are a little “afflicted” this morning.

Can I offer a little remedy? Can I suggest a little spiritual serum or a little elixir of exhortation?

Shake it off by serving someone else! That is right!

Feeling sorry for YOU?

Take YOU out of the equation and pour a little hope and light into a neighbor or a friend! Give a little grace. Offer a blessing!

Luke 6:38

…Give and it will be given to you. You will have more than enough. It can be pushed down and shaken together and it will still run over as it is given to you. The way you give to others is the way you will receive in return.

Far too often when the blahs set in we feed them with a good dose of self-pity and “woe is me” don’t we? Well don’t let that misery have any more company today!

Encourage yourself by encouraging another! The BIBLE promises blessing when we bless remember?

1 Peter 3:9

… Bless—that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing.

Maybe you could write a little note or text or maybe post a word of encouragement to someone. That is simple right? Grab a copy of the prayer list and on your way to work lift them up!

Jack Hyles, a great preacher, said, “There is no life so empty as a self-centered life, and there is no life so centered as a self-emptied life.”

Let that sink in. Read it again.

THAT IS AN AWESOME QUOTE. It isn’t about us, right Bri Dupree?

So if you are suffering from the symptoms of “self-sadness” or the February funk decided to stink up your morning, take this tact!

Pour out a little blessing, invest in someone and share your spirit.

Bless those blahs away!

I love you all!

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney

ENEMY OVERTIME

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.

Here recently the enemy has been working overtime in his efforts to discourage. If anyone believes he is asleep at the wheel or not fully engaged in his quest to detour, derail and destroy, then you just aren’t paying attention.

And I am just not referring to the “biggies” either; relapses, suicide attempts and successes. Sure they have dotted the landscape of late, but what I am talking about today are the subtle advances he is making.

Missed meetings.

Ignored fellowships.

Lost focus.

Busyness and apathy.

Those are some real FREEDOM cripplers in their own right.

Yet that is how the enemy works, subtly and dangerously. I will wager I have quoted this passage 20 times in the last week and a half.

1 Peter 5:8

…be careful! The devil is your enemy, and he goes around like a roaring lion looking for someone to attack and eat.

So I felt it important at the start of a new week and a new month of DISPATCH’s to encourage and remind us about his efforts and to take just a second to get ready!

1 Peter 1:13-16

So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear… Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing…As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness…

What we believe has a direct impact on our response to life so we must decide daily to trust that God is looking out for us, that He is deeply invested in what happens to us and the pressures and attacks we are facing!

Psalm 33:14

…From where he sits he overlooks all us earth-dwellers. He has shaped each person in turn; now he watches everything we do.

We need to remember that the enemy roaming around constantly offering suggestions, alternatives and enticements designed to trip us up and lead us off of God’s path for this day and future days.

Yet if we resolve to be OBEDIENT to GOD, to allowing HIS WAY and HIS LEADING to shape each day, we will be able to fend off the enticements and the distractions and remain in holiness just as Peter promised!

So today, tune out the distractions and the dangerous enticements and listen to GOD. For if we...

Proverbs 8:32

…listen carefully; those who embrace MY ways are MOST BLESSED...

I love you all!

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney

DAYLIGHT

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it yourpriority 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.

Dark places.

Dank valleys.

Stormy seasons.

Fear-filled days.

We have all had them.

Times in life where the darkness is so oppressive that it feels like it is swallowing us, times when the swirl and swale of challenge after challenge is beating relentlessly against our fortitude, times of cold dank and tireless seasons that just seemingly linger and hang on with no respite.

We have all had them.

And sadly for some they serve to overwhelm.

I spent last night at an old Lutheran church in Oakwood strangely surrounded by many friends and companions who have spent a good share of time in the dank and in the dark. We were all there to pay our final respects to Angie.

For Angie, the “dark” won. For Angie the storm was too great, the waves to engulfing and life pulled her down and kept her there. We lost a good friend in Angie. She will be missed and remembered for a long time.

But she is not lost. I WHOLEHEARTEDLY believe that.

And while her story is a tragic one, those of us waking up on this first day of February must move on and be resolute.

Remembering and believing that darkness does give way to light. Dank places do warm. Storms pass and seasons change.

2 Corinthians 4

16-18 So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.

I can’t begin to know what you may be facing today. Maybe there is a storm brewing for you at work. Maybe you are just tired. Maybe you feel hopeless. Maybe you are not sure if you can get through one more day.

Friend you may be down but you are certainly not out!

Not today.

Not ever!

Micah 7:8

I’m down, but I’m not out.

I’m sitting in the dark right now,

but God is my light.…He’s on my side and is going to get me out of this.

He’ll turn on the lights and show me his ways.

I’ll see the whole picture and how right he is.

Take this truth to heart my friends.

As dawn breaks today, so does GOD incredible hope for you. GOD’s light is ready to bathe over and wash away the darkness, to warm the dankness, to break through the clouds and rain and immerse you in HIS hope!

So step into it today. Feel it. Embrace it!

1 Thessalonians 5:8

Walk out into the daylight sober, dressed up in faith, love, and the hope of salvation.

Hope is there!

I love you all!

Have a blessed weekend.

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney