That is what you were

 Humans do some awful things, don’t they? A story on 60 Minutes about the impoverished nation of Yemen was heartbreaking.  War has brought starvation to thousands. A UN official said that unless there is a break in the fighting a whole generation will die from starvation and childhood diseases for which there is no medicine available.  Cruel men trick young women into sex slavery where they are used to serve the pleasures of those who are rich. Recent headlines about powerful men exploiting women to satisfy their lust disgust me.  Hate, cruelty, selfishness – yes, I recognize the reality of sin’s dark impulses that tempt me, too.  I want to be different… and I am!

This Thanksgiving, I rejoice in a glorious truth - that I am free from the sins that once were my master!  Are you liberated? The Word catalogs sin and declares of those in Christ - ‘that is what you were.’  Those who are alive in the Spirit through faith in Christ Jesus can speak of depravity in the past tense. Paul urged the Corinthian Christian who were refusing to grow in holiness to take their birthright.   "Don’t you realize that this is not the way to live? Unjust people who don’t care about God will not be joining in his kingdom. Those who use and abuse each other, use and abuse sex, use and abuse the earth and everything in it, don’t qualify as citizens in God’s kingdom. A number of you know from experience what I’m talking about, for not so long ago you were on that list. Since then, you’ve been cleaned up and given a fresh start by Jesus, our Master, our Messiah, and by our God present in us, the Spirit." (1 Corinthians 6:9-11, The Message)

Yes, we rejoice that because our Liberator has come, we now can choose to live nobly, to serve God, and to defeat dark depravity.  “Jerry, I am tempted and I fail,” you may be objecting. Yes, we do, but not because we are without choice!  The struggle remains but unlike those B.C. days, we are now free to choose the right, the good, the holy. The Word’s Truth says  

"You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. ... But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. … we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory." (Romans 8:9-17, NIV)

Grasp this. You and I, in Christ, are now servants of God, with an obligation to live by the power of the Spirit. What a difference that will make! All the church work and religious liturgy in the world cannot replace the amazing joy of sharing in God’s glory, released from shame and guilt to live freely.  

In the century that followed Jesus’ time here on the earth, Christians traveled to the far corners of the depraved, cruel, ugly world that was the Roman Empire. They met prostitution, slavery, injustice, and poverty with acts of love. They served the least, the lost, the broken, the powerless.  The Spirit working through them brought light and life, hope and joy, to millions.  They were known for their compassion.  Were they applauded and admired? Not by those in power!  The sinful recognized the threat of the Gospel of Christ and killed Christians by the thousands in a vain attempt to put out the Light. But, history testifies to the power of the Jesus message.  Christians who were free to serve changed the world.

Christian, our world waits for the beautiful message of freedom from sin.  
Let’s not just tell, let’s show the way to be free to love, free to serve, free from slavery to sin, Self, and Satan.

Will you reach out to our Abba, take your freedom, and then pray for the power to live in a way that you bring liberty and life to others? 

Like Jesus you will encounter evil and those enslaved will hate you just as they hated Him.
But remember, “if we share in His suffering… we will also share in His glory.”   Let’s go change the world, one life at a time.

Here is a word from the Word …  "So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law." (Galatians 5:1, NLT)  "For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love." (Galatians 5:13, NLT)  "So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves." (Galatians 5:16, NLT)  "But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!" (Galatians 5:22-23, NLT)

Oh, the glorious freedom of the children of God.

_________________

I'm Free

So long I had searched for life's meaning

Enslaved by the world and my greed

Then the door of my prison was opened by love

For the ransom was paid I was freed

I'm free from the guilt that I carried

From the dull empty life I'm set free

For when I met Jesus He made me complete

He forgot the foolish man I used to be

I'm free from the fear of tomorrow

I'm free from the guilt of the past

For I've traded my shackles

For a glorious song

I'm free praise the Lord free at last

Gloria Gaither | William J. Gaither

© 1968 William J. Gaither, Inc. (Admin. by Gaither Copyright Management)

CCLI License # 810055

CoffeeBreak will be back online on Monday, 11/27.  
Happy Thanksgiving.
If you are local to Washington, NJ  you are invited to Faith Discovery Church for Thanksgiving Eve celebration.

FaithDiscovery.com

A sure way to be unhappy

I enjoy Facebook – probably too much. The social media site keeps me connected with friends and family, lets me enjoy photos and stories from people I have known through the years. I see some who are apparently enjoying an amazing life – trips to far-flung places with the love of their life, bodies that are fit and beautiful, smiles all around.  I am ashamed to admit that occasionally, I find myself slipping into envy wondering why I do not have their experience. Then, I remember that Facebook allows people to craft an image, to show only the good stuff. I also choose to be thankful for them and for my life which allows me to reset to a place of contentment. Envy is a common sin, so prevalent that God chose to include a prohibition of it in the Decalogue:  “You must not covet … “   Wanting our neighbor’s life is a sure way to be unhappy and robs us of God’s peace!

Think about this-  

Do you desire the Lord’s approval above all else?
Will you let His path for you today be a source of praise and delight, or will you ‘dance for the applause of the crowd?’

Paul knew the pressure of social approval. There were other preachers around him who were gaining crowds, taking the more difficult parts of the Message out of their sermons to please people. They boasted of their spiritual visions, speaking with eloquence.  And, people ate it up.  Paul’s message was one that called for commitment to a path of discipleship, leaving no room for ‘self.’  His reason for his single-minded devotion comes through these words. "Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ." (Galatians 1:10, NIV)

Comparing ourselves to others has another downside, too. It makes us into judges. Jesus forbade that. “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged." (Matthew 7:1-2, NLT)  Let’s say you have been disciplined and lost a lot of weight. You may be tempted to look around and see others who are overweight and who are dealing with health problems. If you are given to comparison, you are going to judge them.  “Why don’t they stop eating all that junk? Why don’t they take charge of their life? They’re so weak.”   And in that judgment, you turn into a mean person and happiness is stolen from you.

The way to joy is found in pleasing God;  looking up, not around. Comparison is not even reasonable. None of us has exactly the same experiences, backgrounds, or advantages. We cannot hope to replicate the life of anyone else nor should we expect anyone to replicate ours. The Bible is abundantly clear that God knows and loves each one of us as unique persons.  God’s grace finds us in our sin and is sufficient to lead us to a place where we can be who He wants us to be.  You are not valuable because your body is some ‘ideal’ size, because you drive a certain car, or because live in a home straight out of Good Housekeeping.  God does not love you more if your job enjoys social prestige.

Are  you comparing? Are you trying hard to achieve some ideal based on another’s life? Are you craving the approval and applause of friends?  You will be unhappy! Thankfulness will elude you because those goals are a mirage, always out there on the horizon: shimmering, beautiful, and elusive.

Here is wisdom from the Word, a sure way to be joyful thankful.  Read it, believe it, and – by God’s grace – live it.  "Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse ... I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am." (Philippians 4:8,12-13, The Message)

Choose to be thankful.

Change your life to meet God’s call.

Be thankful.

Contentment will be your blessing.

____________

Give Thanks

Give thanks with a grateful heart

Give thanks to the Holy One

Give thanks because He's given

Jesus Christ His Son

And now let the weak say I am strong

Let the poor say I am rich

Because of what the Lord has done for us

Give thanks

Henry Smith

© 1978 Integrity's Hosanna! Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing (Integrity Music [DC Cook]))

CCLI License # 810055

Look beyond life’s scorecard

My eyes closed to rest last night and as is my custom I reviewed the day prayerfully – the wins, the losses, the encounters, my response to the Spirit. Thanks came easily as I remembered ministry, worship, joys of shared prayers and songs of another Lord’s Day. Though I have a life that is full of good, I confess that not every evening prayer is like that. There are nights when that phrase, sacrifice of praise, comes into focus as I struggle to let go of those areas where I feel lack, where it feels like I have lost. Oh, yes, sometimes my inclination is to beg and complain more than to offer thanks for the day.

Ann Voskamp wrote a book on gratitude, One Thousand Gifts.  She takes an old message and makes it fresh urging a new awareness of a life of thanks. Ann is not just asking us to be polite, to ‘mind our manners’ so to speak. She tells us that gratitude is at the heart of a life that honors and enjoys the richest gifts of God. Ann does not write out of life that has been perfectly whole, that has known smooth sailing from the beginning. She has lived with brokenness, struggling with experiences that could have left her embittered. But, in response to God’s call, she chose to offer one thousand gifts! She writes “Gratitude for the seemingly insignificant—a seed—this plants the giant miracle.”  “...life change comes when we receive life with thanks and ask for nothing to change.” I love her focus, not just on thanks for good outcomes and sunny days, but on the very Person of God.

This Thanksgiving week, some of us will look back over a year when we got that job we wanted, when our kids made the Dean’s list, when our marriage sparkled with romance and intimacy and words of gratefulness will spring quickly from our lips, as they should! Some of us will remember a year of disappointment, our best efforts met with apparent failure, our walk with Christ less a thing of joy than a hard choice of obedience.  But, will we look past our experience to give thanks to Him for Who He is?

Paul wrote to the believers in Corinth encouraging them to a generous life, reminding them of the importance of planting seeds, of taking a view that sees beyond the moment to anticipate a ‘harvest of righteousness.’ He speaks of the grace of God that has changed their lives and says this:   “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15 NIV)

As we begin this Thanksgiving week, will you actually give thanks: authentic, heart-felt, God-honoring thanks? Pause to look deeper than the ‘score card’ of your life – the wins and the losses – to the Person of God. Perhaps your praise will be offered with tears or maybe it may be full of laughter.  Both are common to our human experience, but God is worthy of our thanks regardless. He is not just a good God when life is good.  Ann offers this encouragement to thankfulness. “How my eyes see, perspective, is my key to enter into His gates. I can only do so with thanksgiving. If my inner eye has God seeping up through all things, then can't I give thanks for anything? And if I can give thanks for the good things, the hard things, the absolute everything, I can enter the gates to glory. Living in His presence is fullness of joy- and seeing shows the way in.”

Tell your Father of your thanks –

for His love shown in Christ,

for His patience in times of apathy or disobedience,

for His infusion of the Spirit’s’ life in a culture of death,

for the eternal Unchanging Nature that is not affected by the fads and fashions.

And as you focus on HIM, my prayer is that thanks will overflow.  Here is the word from the Word. "But I do more than thank. I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength! " (Ephesians 1:17-19, The Message)

__________

Great is Thy Faithfulness,
O God, my Father,

There is no shadow of turning with Thee.

Thou changest not, Thy  Compassions they fail not!

As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

 “Great is Thy faithfulness!”
 “Great is Thy faithfulness!”

 Morning by morning new mercies I see;

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—

    “Great is Thy faithfulness,” Lord, unto me!