HE IS THERE

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.

“He was there all the time.”

“Always picked the perfect time for me to go to jail.”

“There was so many times GOD stepped in.”

I have a dear friend.

She was a prostitute (she would tell you that), she was a thief, she was abused, narrowly escaped death on several occasions, was adept at fleecing unsuspecting “johns”, and in some circles was known as “Superhooker”. 

To me she is just Joyce.

I have a little nickname for her, but I will keep that unpublished.

She inspires me.

Her story of redemption from the clutches of the enemy is both jaw-dropping and awe inspiring.  If you ever need a “little confirmation” as to the “never leave you or never forsaken you nature” of GOD, call me and I will tell you a little about Joyce.

Her life and testimony embody that little lyric she shared with our FREEDOM FELLOWSHIP the other night… “He (GOD) was there all the time.”

And I share this little about Joyce today to encourage you.

GOD is there all the time my FREEDOM DISPATCH friends. 

We may run and try to hide.  We may stray and do some “less than honorable” things, but GOD doesn’t stray from us and His Word and promises remain STEADFAST even when we are not!

Psalm 118 (ESV)

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

Let those who fear the Lord say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free. The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? The Lord is on my side as my helper…

One of the things I love about Joyce’s story is her statement that GOD always knew just when to put her in jail.  It was those times in her life she was deeply vulnerable or considering checking out entirely. 

BUT GOD knew better.

And GOD knew that for “such a time as was January 26, 2015” Joyce’s story of redemption, reclamation and hope needed to be shared with a room full of recovering addicts, alcoholics and hopeless folks.  

So I believe GOD continues to keep her for just that; to remind ALL of us of the STEADFAST HOPE of GOD.

Psalm 33:18 (ESV)

Behold, the eye of the Lord is ...on those who hope in his steadfast love…

So the message today is an obvious one.

Never stop hoping.

Never stop believing.

Never believe GOD has checked out or given up on you.

HE IS THERE all the time!

 

I love you all.

Have a BLESSED WEEKEND!

Freedom Church

A LITTLE SONSHINE

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.

My work these days affords me relationship that I never would have expected or entertained in my “previous life”. When I was in the corporate world I rarely ran across folks disposed to social compassion or recovery. We were too busy trying to make "numbers" for that. But these days whether it is working with the Governor’s office on faith-based initiatives or as a part of the GREENE COUNTY RECOVERY SUPPORTS leadership team, I meet and work with some “extraordinarily”compassionate and bright people.

One such person is Roselin.

She is a southern-tinged fireball of enthusiasm, wit, and insight. She is organized, polished, informed and she loves helping people. She is all about quashing the stigma of recovery and helping people feel better about their futures and their prospects for a better tomorrow. She also never fails to teach me something new about what we do every time we are together.

 

And that brings me to this quote shared by Roselin during yesterday’s GCRC (Greene County Recovery Center) session.

 

“What does it take to eliminate the bacteria from the barnyard?

A little sunshine”.

She was talking about “transparency”. But I had never heard that before.

But my will that PREACH and “my oh my” can that apply!

 

Check this out…

1 John 1:5-9 (V)

God is pure light, undimmed by darkness of any kind. If we say we have an intimate connection with the Father but we continue stumbling around in darkness, then we are lying because we do not live according to truth. If we walk step by step in the light, where the Father is, then we are ultimately connected to each other through the sacrifice of Jesus His Son. His blood purifies us from all our sins. If we go around bragging, “We have no sin,”then we are fooling ourselves and are strangers to the truth. But if we own up to our sins, God shows that He is faithful and just by forgiving us of our sins and purifying us from the pollution of all the bad things we have done.

 

Sometimes the quickest way to eliminate the “bacteria”in our lives (our sin if you haven’t caught on) is to shed the LIGHT of CHRIST on it. In other words, GOD wants us to use HIS “SONSHINE”!

For when we do, GOD purifies us, “de-pollutes” us and connects us to HIS GRACE. He cleans up the bacteria!

 

Now I know. When we expose our sin to the light, it can be a little frightening. Our very nature is content to keep things in the dark for fear of judgment and condemnation by those around us. But GOD says we shouldn’t ever fear the light.

 

Instead it is in the light that we find healing.

It is in the light that we find cleansing.

It is in the light we find peace. It is in the light that we find restoration.

 

James 5:16 (AMP)

Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) (EXPOSE THEM TO SOME SONLIGHT) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart].

 

Maybe you are feeling a little bogged down in your“bacteria”, maybe your barnyard could use a little de-polluting. The answer is simple.

 

Get a little SONSHINE on it.

I love you all.

BE BLESSED TODAY!

Freedom Church

MEASURE OF SUCCESS

 

 

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.


3 businessmen were overheard one day comparing what success would “look like” for each of them.  The first remarked that to be invited to the OVAL OFFICE would equate to success.  The second said, “I would like to not only be invited to the OVAL OFFICE but while I was meeting with the President have the hotline ring and He would ignore it.  Then I will know I have arrived."  The third went a little further.  He said he too would love to be invited to the OVAL OFFICE and would love to have audience with the President.  However instead of just ignoring the call the President would say, “It is for you.”

Truth is we all measure success differently.

I used to believe that I would be considered successful if I got to wear a suit and cufflinks every day and had the corner office.  Then I thought success was in my title or based on the meetings I was invited to or the presentations I was asked to make.

I was wrong.

I think my wife has the best handle on measuring success.  She lives each and every day for “WELL DONE.”  In fact she has a trinket or two with L4WD on them. (Live 4 Well Done)

Matthew 5:23

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant!...Come and share your master’s happiness!’

We live in a culture that measures success via servants and swimming pools, portfolios and bank accounts, beauty, power plays, influence, red carpets, VIP rooms, and exclusive lists.  But at the end of the day true success is marked and confirmed by efforts that are blessed with “well done”. 

Period.

1 Timothy 4:7-8 (MSG)

This is the only race worth running…All that’s left now is the shouting—God’s applause! Depend on it, he’s an honest judge.

All the mahogany-table meetings you attend or VIP suites treatments don’t really matter matter much in the grand scheme.  In fact, Jesus was far more invested in SERVICE rather than worldly “SUCCESS.”

Mark 10:45

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve…

Yet maybe you look in the mirror today and wonder if you are successful.  I encourage you to focus on GOD's measures of successful day. 

Are you LOVING HIM with all your heart?

Are you serving others with joy and enthusiasm?

Are you defending Him when the pressure is on?

Are you offering HIS light when things get dark?

Stay the course today.  Live today for well done.

Then you and today will be a success.

Proverbs 16:3 (LB)

Commit your work to the Lord, then it (and you) will succeed.

I love you all

HUMP HELP

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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.

Ephesians 2:5-10 (NCV)

5 Though we were spiritually dead because of the things we did against God, he gave us new life with Christ. You have been saved by God’s grace. 6 And he raised us up with Christ and gave us a seat with him in the heavens. He did this for those in Christ Jesus 7 so that for all future time he could show the very great riches of his grace by being kind to us in Christ Jesus. 8 I mean that you have been saved by grace through believing. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God. 9 It was not the result of your own efforts, so you cannot brag about it. 10 God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us to do good works, which God planned in advance for us to live our lives doing.

Here it is WEDNESDAY, HUMP day.  The mere mention sends our minds to images of camels and some fella named Mike.  I think the camel owes a deep debt of gratitude to the folks from GEICO for resurrecting their careers.  Don't you?

Regardless here we all are perched at the top of yet another hump day.  If you are like me, Monday and Tuesday went by so fast and furious you might not have realized until I mentioned it that it WAS Wednesday.  But it is.

So take a chance from this lofty height to survey things for a second; to grab a breath and a little inspiration.  I want you to go back and read that passage from EPHESIANS I posted above real quick.

I will wait.

Your inspiration for this HUMP day is there!

Welcome back.

That is a great message for a HUMP day.

We have NEW life today!

We have GREAT GRACE today!

GOD has GIVEN US another GIFT of MERCY and OPPORTUNITY today!

And GOD has given us our assignment for today; to REPRESENT JESUS and do something “good”, PROVIDE a little "HUMP DAY HELP"!

So while you are taking that sip on your coffee and evaluating the prospects of this HUMP day or planning your descent for the rest of the week, allow those AMAZING TRUTHS and INSPIRATIONS to egg you on, to energize your steps, to keep you “humping along” as it were!

The happiest people I know are people who don't even think about being happy. They just think about being good neighbors, good people. And then happiness sort of sneaks in the back window while they are busy doing good. - Rabbi Harold Kushner

Happy HUMP day!

I love you all!

Freedom Church