OLD HABITS

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.

Old habits die hard don’t they?

Do you ever find yourself slipping back into them from time to time?

I know I do; especially when the pressure is on.

John Climacus says it this way…

“Just as iron, even without willing it, is drawn by a magnet, so is a slave to bad habits dragged about by them.”

I retreat instead of trusting GOD.I“react” rather than “being still and listening”. I cater to “me” in unhealthy ways (sweet way of saying I sin). I allow my fuse to shorten and my temper to surface. I have plenty more, but in other words I allow my flesh take the lead and that is something I should never consider following. They were “bad” old habits before and nothing has changed to suddenly make them better regardless of the circumstances.

I was sitting with a beautiful but beaten down young lady at the TREE yesterday.She was a second generation“addict”.Daddy was an alcoholic. She had tried and used just about everything under the sun to get high and sadly now her son had put out his shingle in the METH business.

But she is doing well.She is embracing recovery! I was proud of her resolve! And while she mourns the loss of her daddy to alcohol and laments her adult son’s choices, she realizes that going back to her “old habits” in order to HANDLE her PRESENT PAIN is a failed and doomed strategy!

There is an old truism. “You make your habits, and then your habits make you.”

And for us in recovery, those “old habits” just about did us in. Praise GOD He gives us the grace to put those old ones away and develop new habits will bring us closer to HIM!

Ephesians 4:22-24

...put away the old person you used to be. Have nothing to do with your old sinful life. It was sinful because of being fooled into following bad desires. 23 Let your minds and hearts be made new. 24 You must become a new person and be God-like. Then you will be made right with God and have a true holy life.

If you sincerely desire to improve your spiritual health, you must honestly examine the habits that make up the fabric of your day. And you must abandon those habits that are displeasing to God and replace them with NEW GOD PLEASING HABITS!

GOD WILL HELP!

Titus 2:12

God’s readiness to give and forgive is now public. Salvation’s available for everyone! We’re being shown how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, and how to take on a God-filled, God-honoring life. This new life is starting right now, and is whetting our appetites for the glorious day when our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, appears. He offered himself as a sacrifice to free us from a dark, rebellious life into this good, pure life, making us a people he can be proud of, energetic in goodness.

If you trust God, and if you keep asking for His help, He can transform you AND your habits. If you sincerely ask Him, God will help you defeat the harmful habits that continue to vex you; especially when the pressure is on or when life starts winning!

“You will never change your life until you change something you do daily.”

John Maxwell

Let's start some new habits today!

Have a blessed weekend!

I love you all!

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney

Pastor GDelaney

FACELIFTS FALL

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.

“I am just frustrated.” "I’m not getting anywhere." “Roadblocks! That is all I experience. Roadblocks, roadblocks, roadblocks!” “GOD must have it in for me!” “I can’t get no traction let alone satisfaction.”

Frustration is well…frustrating. (insert silly smiley face here).

But it can be debilitating if left unchecked. It can lead to depression, apathy, and worse yet, to giving up. While at the TREE yesterday the air was thick with “frustration”. A missed deadline due to a car accident resulted in homelessness for a family. An employer's decision to guard against new pending insurance changes resulted in cut hours and now rent was an impossibility for a single mom. A neglectful landlord forced a little girl and her even "littler" girl to find a new place to live with little warning. That was just before the second cup of coffee. I could go on, but you are getting my drift.

We all have seasons of frustration in life. What we must guard against is them graduating from seasons into years.

When frustrated we blame. We sulk. We get really really angry. Some of us even act out in frustration about frustration. But like all many trials in life, in order to deal with it, we have to get to the ROOT of it! Frustration is rooted in one of three things.

Not being happy with that person in the mirror. We feel like we are lacking.

The past. Maybe it is some old “stuff” that keeps dogging us or that we can’t let go.

Or we are “out of frame” when it comes to GOD’s will for us. That will create frustration for sure. Don't think so? Think again...

Galatians 5

...It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time…all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved...You could easily tag frustration on the end of that verse.

Unfortunately we continue to try to deal with frustration by trying to deal with our external circumstances instead of these "root causes". We say things like, “I wouldn’t be frustrated if this changed or that changed”. Changing the "outside" becomes the perceived solution. But those solutions will only lead to more frustration. Bigger is not always better. Grass is not always greener. Sparkles fade, cars rust, houses age, and facelifts fall.

Dealing with frustration is an INSIDE job because it is an INSIDE problem!

When frustrations surface instead of wishing things were better or shaking our fist at the antagonist, go to the WORD and ask GOD for the strength and wisdom to deal and cope with the SOURCE OF FRUSTRATION! And yes that may mean asking GOD to help YOU deal with YOU!

But GOD will provide the answer! GOD will provide the wisdom. GOD will provide the tools to cope! GOD promises to help in all aspects!

Isaiah 41:10 ESV

…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.

Psalm 34:18

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

Joshua 1:9

…don’t get discouraged. God, your God, is with you every step you take.”

So if you are experiencing a little frustration this morning (ask Beth, we were just 6 minutes ago), give IT (the source) to GOD; (which is what I am doing right now) and allow Him to strengthen, education and assist you and remember...

Philippians 4:13

...we can do all things through him who strengthens us...

I love you all!

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney

TIDBIT OF TRUST

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.

Yesterday was the first of what I think will be a string of upcoming Tuesday’s at the REFUGE Induction Center. I won’t go into who or what the REFUGE is, you folks know them. (http://www.mensliveschanged.org/). But rarely do I walk away from a Tuesday up there in Grove City without taking away a little nugget of truth. I think I am going to start calling them Tommy Thompson’s Tidbits of Truth. (What do you think Tom? I know a little too cheesy.)

But yesterday’s “tidbit” dealt with something that I have been struggling with and something that many of the folks I intercect are struggling with.

“Letting GOD have it”. In other words, “Stop trying to control everything!”

We flippantly pray to GOD and say “Thy WILL be done” only to set the terms and conditions for GOD, give Him the list of procedures in order to accomplish our tasks as well as let Him know how HIS “WILL” for us will be measured.

That is nutty isn’t it?

Truth is, while we are often miserable due to things being out of our control; things like the opinions of others, the responses of others, the decisions of others, we grunt and strain to bring them into alignment or into our frame of control.

How silly. GOD is in control. GOD has ultimate say on all matters. Why can’t we allow Him to have it? Why not let Him have it? Why not let Him lead and direct our path?

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust the Lord with all your heart, and don’t depend on your own understanding. Remember the Lord in all you do, and he will give you success.

To me that sounds like He can be trusted with those things we can’t seem to getting into frame or under control. That sounds like things will be more successful if we do doesn’t it?

But boy oh boy we don’t like giving up the reigns. We make excuses; we rationalize our decisions that clearly supersede good counsel or GODLY teaching. We fake ourselves out into saying we are surrendering to the WILL of GOD when all the while we are just justifying what we want by lacing it with some convenient “Jesus talk”. Come on admit it!

I will!

Maybe today is as good as any to ask ourselves the tough question.

WHO DO YOU TRUST? Yourself or GOD?

GOD is alive and well and intimately invested in us. He even placed a 24/7 helper and advocate to keep things under control if we will let Him.

John 14:26

The Helper is the Holy Spirit. The Father will send Him in My place. He will teach you everything and help you remember everything I have told you.

Why not TRUST HIM?

God is truth and He is always faithful has all power and is in control of every situation. We can't say that about others can we?

Job 12:10

In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.

Why NOT LET HIM HAVE control then?

Bottom line: God can be trusted; we can't.

How about we give up the fantasy that we are “in control”; that we can manipulate this world we are navigating and instead take that Proverbs 3 tact to heart. Let’s rely upon GOD for everything.

Psalm 19:7

The revelation of God is whole and pulls our lives together.

The signposts of God are clear and point out the right road.

The life-maps of God are right, showing the way to joy.

The directions of God are plain and easy on the eyes.

God’s reputation is twenty-four-carat gold, with a lifetime guarantee.

The decisions of God are accurate down to the nth degree.

Why not trust Him?

I love you all!

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney

WORKS IF YOU WORK IT?

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.

I went to my first AA meeting in a long time the other night. It is funny when I go these days. Those that know me immediately start to wonder if I fell off the wagon and was back for a 24 hour token. And while that is NEVER out of the realm of possibility, I actually went to support my good friend C.B. He was receiving a 10 year token. In the AA world a 10 year token is a BIG DEAL.

But as I sat in the back and just observed the meeting, a meeting by the way that had several 24 hour token recipients, I remembered just how challenging this journey of recovery really is and I was most grateful for my 5 years and the decade for my brother. And as with every meeting, a volunteer is called upon to read “HOW IT WORKS”.

For those who have never been to a meeting, “HOW IT WORKS” is a reading of encouragement to the fellowship that validates the effectiveness of the path of AA. It then dovetails into the 12 steps of AA. It is the BIG BOOK authors charge to the ALCOHOLIC that AA “works” if you “work” it!

But that got me to thinking a little. Sometimes we get caught up with the “work it” attitude where it doesn’t belong.

I believe many of us try to “work it” when it comes to our relationship with Jesus. If I “work” at the mission kitchen GOD will see and I will get another gold star. If I “work” in the nursery, Jesus will see I love kids as much as He does and that will get His attention. If I volunteer a lot, that will keep my salvation intact.

To be honest, many of us fall into the trap that believes our relationship with God is about OUR performance rather than HIS grace. We slip into believing GOD’s grace only “works if we work it”. We feel that if we've performed "well" then God will notice us more. If we haven't done so well, our expectations are reduced accordingly and we are duped to thinking our grace is in jeopardy.

As a result we live by works and sweat rather than by freedom and grace. In other words, we forget we are saved by grace and try to live by performance. We get roped into believing that GOD’S grace “doesn’t work” unless we “work it”. That ever happen to you?

That is why I have to check my motivation daily.

Am I doing this work for GOD to accept me? Or because I am accepted I do this work?

There is a big difference!

When we live and work for God we do so because we are already accepted and have been equipped to do HIS WORK!

Ephesians 2:10

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Not the other way around!

Jesus has saved me (and you too if you have accepted Him) and because of that I WANT to work my recovery. Because of that I want to honor Him with my time and energy. Because of that I want to do “WORK IT”. (Whatever it is!)

Truth is we could never do enough “working” to earn the favor and grace of GOD. Only CHRIST was capable of that miraculous feat. Instead, GOD will continue to WORK and BLESS our lives as we WORK in gratitude for HIS grace!

Matthew 5:6

Great blessings belong to those who want to do right more than anything else. God will fully satisfy them.

So let's get to "work"!

I love you all!

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney

TAKE THE STEP

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.

This past weekend I attended the Inaugural graduation ceremony for the Masters of Nursing Students at Cedarville University. Now that my wife is firmly ensconced in the world of academia this will be just the first of many of these types of things in the future I am sure.

And as with all graduations and commencements, there were lots of speeches and “thank you’s” delivered but one little recurring theme struck me.

To be on that stage, to be either giving or receiving recognition, each individual took a “step of faith”.

The student required a “step of faith” to move forward toward this degree. The professors took their “step of faith” sometime prior with an eye to teaching the next generation and now in faith they were entrusting this new class to carry the legacy and represent the school with distinction.

And while these are “big steps of faith”, many of us make little ones all the time. Trusting the McDonald’s team to safely prepare your McWhatever is a step of faith. Trusting that assembly line team in charge of the brakes on the car to have done their job effectively and safely requires a step of faith.

Yet often we are presented with more thought provoking "steps of faith”.

Should I take this new job? Should I move across the country? Should I marry this person?

And quite often God calls us into something we just can’t see or we just don’t understand what is drawing us in; asking us to make a step of faith.

GOD wants us to trust Him and step into the unknown. He sets goals for us that are beyond our knowledge, experience, and control. And if you are like me, not “having control” is enough to paralyze me and keep me from trying.

But if IT were something we could know, then it wouldn’t be a matter of faith. And GOD is all about the faith!

Hebrews 11:1-2

…faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.

Sadly many of us can’t take that first step. We freeze before we enroll. We doubt our abilities to teach or lead. We stare at the mountain and convince ourselves it can’t be moved. We look at the problem and believe it has no solution.

And as a result many of us miss out on the celebrations and graduations, the journeys and the accomplishments because we never took that step; that first most important step.

So ask yourself today, are you willing like Beth’s students to step out and follow the Lord’s leading, even when you don’t know where He’s leading you? Are you willing to face the problem before you have a solution?

God knows where that first step will take you. GOD has placed that burning in your heart and mind for what it will bring to you and for you. GOD has called you to something amazing. That is a promise.

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans for well-being and not for trouble, to give you a future and a hope.

Is today the day for you to take your next step of faith?

Then take it!

I love you all!

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney

JUST PRAY

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.

I have some dear friends who are going through some very serious and painful things. Things like loss of income, severe physical challenge and hurt, even losing a child to illness.

They are in crisis.

Emotions are running rampant. Confusion and chaos have replaced order. There is desperation in their communication. They are perplexed, aching and baffled. They are subdued and on the verge of submerged. All they are seeing and experiencing is calamity and upheaval.

At their "wits end" is putting it too mildly.

They need direction, soothing, and answers.

I know we have all been there too. Maybe not the "same circumstances", but times when all is crashing down around us; when crisis has replaced calm and affliction has a run. Yet GOD reminds us in those times that even when we don’t know what to do or what to pray to still try. He says try because He has a plan. He knows that the Holy Spirit will handle what we can't.

Romans 8:26-27

...God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans...

GOD hears and responds to a heart that is burdened. He promises.

1 Peter 3:12

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer…

So pray.

But GOD also encourages us to NOT WALK alone in the trouble. The prayers of fellow believers will encourage and strengthen our spirits. If you have never heard another person calling out your name before God, let me tell you it is a very powerful experience. I learned after I woke up in Miami Valley Hospital that there were over 30 church bodies praying for me. That was truly amazing. I couldn't help myself at all but others stepped in with their sighs, groans, and cries.

Prayer avails much my friends. Don’t discount its impact. I am not writing this today without the prayers of others.

James 5:16

The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results...

Maybe it is your turn today. Maybe you are like me and someone you know is in deep need of prayer. Perhaps that someone is you. Perhaps you are at the end of all you know how to do for them or yourself.

Don’t go further. Don’t try one more “thing”.

Stop.

Pray…

James 1:5

If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help

I love you all!

Have a BLESSED weekend!

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney

SLIDING EXPECTATIONS

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.

Ever find yourself getting a little “salty” from “sliding expectations”?

What do I mean you ask?

Let me try to explain it.

Have you had a time when you prayed and prayed for GOD to move in your life? A time when you cried out to GOD, “THY WILL BE DONE” or “GOD fix this situation or provide relief to this crisis and I will be forever grateful.” Then GOD shows up, provides hope or deliverance and instead of gratitude you question HIS decision because it missed your expectation?

Then you end up discontented with the outcome or the answer to that prayer?

Are you following me?

Try it this way.

We pray and pray for something to change and it does. But it doesn’t change quite the way “we would have changed it” and we get frustrated or even salty with GOD’s choice.

You ever do that or is it only me?

I know I have to be very careful when it comes to "sliding expectations". They do get the best of me from time to time.

I will give you an example or two.

I prayed for the LORD to heal me in the hospital. He did. But now I will find myself questioning why He chose not to heal my hands and feet a little more thoroughly so I could play golf better. Instead of being grateful to just be alive and playing golf, my "expections slide" to wanting to be Tiger or something!

You feeling me?

Or that I prayed and prayed for my little girl Samantha to be restored mentally and to maybe play soccer again and now instead of being happy she is healthy and back on the field I find myself questioning her playing time and utilization.

See that "sliding expectation"? You following me now?

What if instead of “sliding expectations” I called it discontentment?

Now is that a word that sometimes applies to you too?

The Bible addresses that word this way…

Philippians 2:14

Do all things without grumbling…

In others words, don’t be discontent.

But it is easy to get a little "grumbly" or a little discontent when our prayer answers “don’t quite live up to OUR expectations.” But that is a pretty silly attitude when we remember what the “TRUTH IS”.

Romans 8:28

We know that God makes all things work together for the good of those who love Him...

How can we be discontent when GOD promised it to be “all good”? How can we think our expectations trump GOD's goodness?

Therefore we need to guard against "sliding expectations". (especially me!)

We must strive for contentment and remember the goodness of GOD at all times! And when we feel that "slide" coming on we must remember the words of Paul before discontentment seeps into our psyche.

Philippians 4:11

…I have learned to be satisfied with the things I have and with everything that happens.

Be blessed today…

I love you all!

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney