PAUSE THAT REFRESHES

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.

“The pause that refreshes”.

Are you old enough to remember that one? No?

It was the slogan for who?

That is right!

Coca Cola.

Tough day at work? Have a Coke!

Long day at school? Have a Coke!

Need a break from life? Have a Coke!

Take the pause and be refreshed was the idea. I do find this a little ironic because earlier in its lifecycle Coke was laced with cocaine. Not my idea of a pause or a refreshment, but I digress.

We all need to pause from time to time and “be refreshed”. And while an ice cold Coca Cola will hit the spot on a hot summer day or after a tense day slinging hash or making cash, I want to encourage you to seek another “refreshment” today.

How about a little "JESUS and a smile" for a change?

Our relationship with Jesus Christ releases the rivers of God’s Spirit so that we are refreshed and revitalized daily.

Paul paused and penned…

2 Corinthians 4:16

Our physical body is becoming older and weaker, but our spirit inside us is made new every day.

Busyness, pressures, requests and to do lists are “drainers” for sure and I am as guilty as anyone of allowing the “draining” to dominate without refueling and refreshing.

But GOD knows our frailty and that is why He encourages us to take “pauses that refresh”; to make them a priority lest we run the risk of burnout.

“It is important that we take time out for ourselves—for relaxation, for refreshment.”

Ruth Bell Graham

Now I don’t believe Ruth is encouraging us to be “selfish or self-centered”, but rather to be aware of our own limitations and when we need rest, to do just that, rest and allow the SPIRIT to refuel.

Need to take a walk?

Maybe curl up with some good reading?

As I write this entry Beth is refreshing with yoga.

Maybe it is a round of golf or a hike in the woods.

It doesn’t matter as much as “how” you refresh as it is “that”you refresh your mind and spirit frequently.

Do you need a little pause to refresh?

Can I suggest this "pause that refreshes"?

Matthew 11:28

Come to Me, all of you who work and have heavy loads. I will give you rest.

I love you all…

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney

PRIORITY

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.

There it is right in front of you.

No not you’re English muffin or your delicious breakfast bar. And no it is not that 4^th cup of coffee you are caressing.

Look again.

It’s your day.

Maybe you have a little calendar of events swirling around in your head or if you are like me, you have it all logged in a GOOGLE calendar color coded and parsed down to 30 minute intervals.

However you have it mapped, your day is likely impatient and it wants to get going even if you hit the snooze, tried to delay the inevitable or rolled back over and covered your head in a feeble attempt to make it go away.

Face it, the day is here and the day is ready to go.

How will you approach it?

Well first remember that…

Psalm 118:24

This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be happy today!

That is always a good start!

Then ask Jesus to prioritize it for you.

I am serious. Let Jesus have a look at what you have planned and give Him reign to set or reset the course for today.

Romans 13:13-14

We can’t afford to waste a minute, must not squander these precious daylight hours in frivolity and indulgence…Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about!

DRESS YOURSELF in CHRIST! Let Christ have today.

In other words let’s make serving, emulating and imitating CHRIST the priority today!

Why you say?

WHY NOT?

When we make the Lord’s priorities our priorities, we will receive His abundance and His peace. When we make Jesus the priority partner for today’s course of action, He will lead us along the proper path: His path. When we allow Christ to reign over our heart and our day, He will honor us with spiritual blessings that are simply too numerous to count.

Truth is when “DRESS IN CHRIST” and make HIM priority, every other priority will fall into place.

Matthew 6:33 (NCV)

33 Seek first God’s kingdom and what God wants. Then all your other needs will be met as well.

So, as we prepare for this day ahead, let’s make emulating Jesus the priority.

How about a quick prayer to help?

“Dear Jesus, I want to be like you today. In all I say, all I plan, and all I attempt to accomplish and do, may I look to you and allow you to guide and set my course. You are my priority. Help me to live like it. I trust you with this day.”

Amen”

I love you all!

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney

AS YOU ARE

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 was standing in back of the stage last night listening to Debbie sing this little lyric.

“He's not mad at you

He's not disappointed

His grace is greater still,

than all of your wrong choices

He is full of mercy and he is ever kind

Hear his invitation, His arms are open wide

You can come as you are,

with all your broken pieces

And all your shameful scars

The pain you hold in your heart,

bring it all to Jesus

You can come as you are

Louder than the voice that whispers your unworthy

Hear the sound of love,

that tells a different story

Shattering your darkness and pushing through the lies

How tenderly he calls you,

His arms are open wide

You can come as you are,

with all your broken pieces

And all your shameful scars

The pain you hold in your heart,

bring it all to Jesus

You can come as you are”

Tells a beautiful story doesn’t it?

It did for me last night.

It does for me today.

I am so grateful that GOD still loves me and is still willing to let me be used in spite of all of my scar tissue, my lies, my unworthiness and my myriad of pitiful choices. I don't quite understand it, but I needed to hear that amazing truth last night and to be honest again this morning from His word.

Ephesians 2

In the past you were spiritually dead because of your sins and the things you did against God. Yes, in the past your lives were full of those sins. You lived the way the world lives, following the ruler of the evil powers that are above the earth. That same spirit is now working in those who refuse to obey God. In the past all of us lived like that, trying to please our sinful selves. We did all the things our bodies and minds wanted. Like everyone else in the world, we deserved to suffer God’s anger just because of the way we were. But God is rich in mercy, and he loved us very much. We were spiritually dead because of all we had done against him. But he gave us new life together with Christ. (You have been saved by God’s grace.) Yes, it is because we are a part of Christ Jesus that God raised us from death and seated us together with him in the heavenly places. God did this so that his kindness to us who belong to Christ Jesus would clearly show for all time to come the amazing richness of his grace.

Maybe you too have been feeling “less than worthy” lately. Maybe the mistakes have been piling up. Maybe the scars have you feeling ugly and "unpresentable".

Take heart today!

GOD loves ALL of you; IN SPITE of you in fact. So don’t fear Him. Instead, be willing to bring all of it and ALL OF YOU to Jesus. His arms are open, His heart is willing.

Grace is waiting.

Just come as you are.

God loves you that way.

I love you all…

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney

"MOMENTS"

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 used to be all about the “chase”.

Chasing the gold ring of the six figure gig, chasing my platinum status on Delta, chasing the President’s club and the all expenses paid gigs to Cancun and the like.

And as I have mentioned in some previous DISPATCH entries, I loved the “chase”.

What was funny though is once I caught “it”; whatever I was chasing there was never much “THERE” there. Do you follow me?

What I am trying to say is that often when the chase was over, the payoff sure didn’t measure up to the hype. Oh the perks were cool; the recognition slick and the first class cabin had its benefits. Yet compared with yesterday’s “moment” no “chase” can hold a candle.

Here is what I am talking about.

These days I try to “chase” less and enjoy “moments” more.

You see, yesterday was Father’s day and around 5 o’clock my family all jumped in Hillary’s car and went down to the Eakle Soccer fields to play soccer.

Now if you know my current condition you are laughing right now.

You are picturing my chubbiness and stubbiness trying to recapture my past glory on the pitch and I am sure that is giving you a chuckle. And to be honest it should. No one will be mistaking me for David Beckham anytime soon on or off the pitch.

But what was so neat was there we all were laughing and kicking the ball around; struggling to keep our feet. We had a “ball” with that soccer ball.

We were all having a simple “moment”.

No“chasing” was required.

GOD has blessed me these days with a great appreciation for the “moments”.

Seeing Hillary’s smile. Watching Sammie with a ball on her feet. Hearing Ian’s infectious giggle. Laughing while our dachshund little legs are trying to keep up with us as we ran around.

All of them “moments” to treasure.

It made me remember this passage.

Matthew 6:34

Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now

And what GOD was doing yesterday was blessing me and I was paying attention.

He was expressing His love for me by letting me experience the “moment”; a Father’s day with 3 healthy kids, a goofy and troublesome pooch and their loving mom.

But that is what GOD does…

Psalm 116:7

…God has showered you with blessings.

Soul, you’ve been rescued from death;

Eye, you’ve been rescued from tears;

GOD wants to shower these kinds of blessings, these “moments” on all of us. Our job is to stop “chasing” the world long enough to pause and appreciate them!

Proverbs 10:22

God’s blessing makes life rich; nothing we do can improve on God.

So can I encourage you today?

Don’t allow yourself to become so consumed with the “chase” that you miss the “moment”that GOD has for you today. If you do, GOD will send a blessing I am sure.

He did for me.

I love you all…

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney

"DADNESS"

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.

One of the things that GOD has restored during my journey in recovery is my “dadness”.

Mind you during the 10 or so years of insanity that was the addiction, I had plenty of “badness” and not much “dadness”.

Author and Bible teacher Kay Arthur says, "Sin will take you further than you ever want to go." She is right. My sin took me so far from my kids it’s scary to think about these days.

But GOD, like only GOD can do, has turned my “badness into dadness”. He does things like that you know.

Isaiah 61:3

…he will give a crown of beauty for ashes...

And while I am no beauty by any means, I had turned my life into a huge pile of ash and GOD made something awesome from it. So I am thankful for the word and promise of GOD and so grateful GOD has allowed me to be a “dad” again. I will be honest I like the job.

There is joy in my relationships with my kids today. We talk. We laugh. We cry.

And while there are still many scars from the “dark time”, (that is what we call the addiction these days) they are healing; day by day, week by week, year by year.

GOD has demonstrated His wondrous restoration power in my life and my “dadness”. In fact, I have a few “extra”kids these days that call me dad. The more the merrier! I dig being dad.

This Sunday will be my 4^th Father’s Day sober and I am looking forward to it! That in itself is only by the grace of GOD.

But that is what GOD does when we return to Him. He restores those things that were lost. Even Father's Days.

Joel 2:25

Lord says, “I will give you back what you lost…

Ask yourself today.

Is there something in your life that needs restoring? Are there some relationships that could use some renovation? Is there a little badness in your life that could use a turn-around or a change?

Come back to GOD.

If he can turn my badness into "dadness", He surely will restore the broken things in your life if you make a change and ask Him. That is what GOD does.

Psalm 40:2-3

…he inclined to me and heard my cry.

He drew me up from the pit of destruction,

out of the miry bog,

and set my feet upon a rock,

making my steps secure.

He put a new song in my mouth…

Still not convinced?

Isaiah 59:11-12

...The Lord will always lead you. He will meet the needs of your soul in the dry times and give strength to your body. You will be like a garden that has enough water, like a well of water that never dries up. 12 And your cities which were destroyed long ago will be built again.

How about now?

He did it for me. He will for you too.

Have a blessed and Happy Father’s Day.

And before I forget,

THANKS BE TO GOD MY FATHER for restoring me to“dadness” again!

I love you all…

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney

"GET AWAY DAYS"

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 have days when you feel like you might need a DOUBLE DOSE of forgiveness and grace? Why a double dose? Because “the day just got away” from you?

You know what I mean right?

Those days when you get to the end and take a quick look back and realize you could have “done the day” a little better, a little cleaner, a little more Godly. You know, those days when the enemy gets the best of you and you drift off course or spend some time catering to some “less than honorable” activities?

I really loathe those days; those days spent losing ground to the enemy. Don’t you?

Another thing I don’t particularly care for is the conviction of the Holy Spirit that comes with such days. It is unpleasant. But I must say I am GRATEFUL for it. I am glad GOD promised to make me more sensitive to my sinfulness even if it hurts.

Hebrews 12:11

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

The trouble is that the enemy wants me and you to feel discouraged, dirty and destroyed by those bad days. He wants the discipline to JUST HURT not help. He wants us discouraged rather than convicted. That is why he fills our head with lies like:

“GOD can’t forgive you for that.”

“GOD is weary with your nonsense.”

“GOD just gave up.”

Yet the truth is GOD’s faithfulness supersedes our sinfulness. Without question or debate as the song so eloquent puts it, GOD’s grace is greater than all our sin.

Hebrews 8:12

For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.

So I want to offer some TRUTH to remember when “the day gets away”from you and the enemy starts in with the lies.

“Great is our sinfulness … but great is GOD’s faithfulness!”

“We may grow weary … but God is tireless.”

“We may want to give up … but God never will.”

“We may have bad days … but GOD is always good.”

“We may run hot or cold … but God is always steady and perfect.”

“We may disappoint ourselves … but God is incapable of disappointment.”

"We may fail a thousand times … but God cannot fail, not even once. Not yesterday, not today, not ever."

I love the truth! It is so FREEING! I think I might have read that somewhere...!

Perhaps you are like me and had a day “get away” from you recently. Don’t be discouraged! Instead invest your energies and focus on the truth!

Today WILL BE a better day!

James 1:12

Blessed is the man/woman who remains steadfast…

I love you all!

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney