God's Counsel for Monday morning

 

As I thought and prayed at the start of this new week,  the Spirit impressed me with the importance of choosing the direction of my thoughts.

Do you know that you can direct your thoughts?  We cannot let our minds meander down the pathways where the World, the Flesh, or the Devil invite us to go. If we let the troubles of the world that we live in set the tone of our thoughts, we will most likely become anxious or angry given the chaotic situations of life. If we listen to the whining of the sinful nature that begs for indulgence, we will become slaves to the appetites of our bodies. If we listen to the whispers of demons, we will be doubtful, insecure, and without hope!  

What’s the option?  Tune into the Spirit of the Living God! 
The Psalm advises us to "Exult in his holy name; O worshipers of the Lord, rejoice! Search for the Lord and for his strength, and keep on searching." (Psalm 105:3-4, NLT)  Right now, pray a sentence prayer with me:  “Lord, I thank You for the gifts You have prepared for me today. Amen.”

I closed the sermon at church yesterday with a familiar passage. "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you." (Philippians 4:4-9, NIV)

First,  determine where you will go to find joy.  “Rejoice IN THE LORD always.”
Will you look for it in success, in a meal of fine food, or in fantasies of another place?  The Word tells us to celebrate our relationship with the Lord!  Remind yourself, “I am God’s kid! He’s a good God.”  Look up, past the problems, beyond the disappointment, higher – and sing a song that extols the wonder of our God.

Second, tame that urge to take control.  “Let your gentleness be evident to all.”
Another version tells us to be “moderate.”  God’s tells us we should seek to be equitable, fair-minded, not quick to judge others. Conventional wisdom is that we need to ‘kick butts, power up, and make things happen’ when faced with challenges.  My natural response to life’s challenges is too often one that only increases stress when I attempt to force solutions on others or press them to act as I think best.  When I am not gentle, Jerry replaces Jesus and results are never for His glory.

This is not an appeal to indifference. But, what a difference it makes for us and others if we are gentle like Jesus, if we start a hard conversation with “Tell me about …” rather than “You better do this now!”

Third, let prayer shape your thoughts.  “By prayer present your requests to God.” 
Make your concerns His concern, He cares for YOU. He will give wisdom, He will guide. Best of all, He promises that if we will pray He will  steady our minds and hearts with a gift of peace that guards us from the fear that will rob us of rest.

Fourth, choose to think the best, not the worst.  “Whatever pure, lovely, admirable, excellent praiseworthy  - think about such things.”

So of that difficult person at work, you can declare him a fool in your thoughts and create an adversary, or you can think of him as person in need of help and pray God’s grace in his life. Which creates the better outcome?  That hard reality that is part of your life right now can be something you whine about to anyone who will listen or you can go to God and ask Him for strength to carry the weight. Which choice will leave you in a better place by this evening?

God’s Spirit reminds us that we have a choice.  We can exercise faith and expect better things, see the best, and seek out the excellent.  Does this mean we cannot be honest in our evaluations? Not at all.  Are we forbidden from speaking truthfully about gaps and flaws? No.   Even then, we can destroy or build. We can help or hinder. We can encourage shared success.

Set the tone for a better life this Monday morning.  “Rejoice in the Lord.”  Sin and evil oppose the good of God, all the time.  Sickness comes. Heartbreak is inevitable. Friends fail us. Businesses take the hit of down economies. Temptation will roar from the shadows of your mind. Satan will prowl on the perimeter, looking for an opening to attack.  But, through Christ Jesus, we are ‘more than conquerors.’

Here is that passage again, this time from The Message, a contemporary paraphrase of the Bible.

"Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute! Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

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. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies." (Philippians 4:4-9, The Message)

Come on, Christian, let’s do it, for Christ’s sake!

____________

Good God Almighty
(sing along, find joy in this happy praise)

I can't count the times
I've called Your name some broken night
And You showed up and patched me up
Like You do every time
I get amnesia I forget that You keep coming around
Yeah ain't no way You'll ever let me down

 

Good God Almighty
I hope You'll find me
Praising Your Name no matter what comes
'Cause I know where I'd be
Without Your mercy
So I keep praising Your name at the top of my lungs

 

Tell me is He good (He's good)
Tell me is He God (He's God)
He is Good God Almighty

 

You say Your love goes on forever
That Your mercy never stops
So why would I assume
You'd be somebody that You're not
Like sun in the morning
I know You're gonna be there every day
So what on earth could make me be afraid

 

Praise Him in the morning
Praise Him in the noon time
Praise Him when the sun goes down
Love Him in the morning
Love Him in the noon time
Love Him when the sun goes down

 

Jesus in the morning
Jesus in the noon time
Jesus when the sun goes down
Jesus in the morning
Jesus in the noon time
Jesus when the sun goes down

 

Ben Glover | David Crowder | Jeff Sojka
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Become rich in your thoughts

Someone donated several old Bibles to the church yesterday.  I could see that one of them had notes tucked between the pages. I curiously flipped through the old Bible and in addition to the notes I found three $2 bills. I chuckled as I wondered which most people would value most – the money or the Words in the Book? 

The Bible shaped the world I know. The Word has had a profound effect on America since her founding days. Even Thomas Jefferson, who was a skeptic that rejected the supernatural stories of the Scripture, regularly read from the Gospels every day. Mark Noll writes that “at least until sometime in the late nineteenth century or early in the twentieth, the Bible existed as the most coherent, the most widely respected, and the most powerful of those means by which American ordered their daily existence and made sense of the universe in which they lived.”

Do you know the Scriptures?
Does the revelation of God in those pages shape your life?Is your life enriched by the Truth of God’s revelation of Himself?

Each morning, I open the Word to read - sometimes only a verse, other times a whole story, or an entire book. These CoffeeBreak reflections generally are expressions of those meditations. My mind returns to what I read through the day and I invite the Word to inform my choices, as I draw on the lessons and principles of the Bible. Some passages yield more treasure than others!  I live with a worldview shaped by the Scripture which forms my thoughts. The Bible is a source of guidance that helps me choose my way when I am faced with two roads.

The Psalmist asks – “How can a young man keep his way pure?” Then, he answers –
“By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Praise be to you, O LORD; teach me your decrees." (Psalm 119:9-12, NIV)

The Bible, when properly read and studied, will transform us. When read often and with prayer for understanding from the Holy Spirit the Word will reach deep into our thought processes and speak to our daily conduct.  

Let me caution you about an approach to the Bible that is foolish, superstitious even. Some people open their Bible and find a single verse, drawn out of context, to justify an action or thought. That's called 'proof texting!' It can lead to bizarre conclusions. Some study the Bible with a purely literary point of view. It is true that thoughtful study of the historical context and literary forms of the text can be interesting and enlightening. But, simply knowing the Book as one might study other great literature misses the power of the inspired Word.  

Thankfully, God gives us His Spirit to help us to understand the Bible.  If we open it prayerfully, ready to learn, He will teach us. One does not have to be an intellectual or have a degree in ancient Semitic languages to be enriched by the Word. Yes, there is a necessary place for scholarly study, for comparing our interpretation of passages with the understandings of others.  But we must never allow ourselves to be convinced that the Bible is beyond our ability to read and comprehend especially given the modern language translations that make the text more accessible.

There is a blessing that keeps many Believers from the Scripture. What is it?  There are thousands of Christian books available which cause many to read much about the Bible, without ever reading the Bible itself.  Others are content to hear a Sunday sermon from the Word (Oh, God help us to fill our pulpits with the Word!). Having help to understand what is written in the sacred Text is a blessing, but each of us needs to interact with the Word ourselves when possible.

Dr. Timothy Johnson in his book, Finding God In The Questions, relates how he was looking for Jesus Christ, even though he had been a Christian Believer for years. He went back to reading the Gospels carefully and found that the Jesus he discovered again in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John was a Man far removed from the pictures and concepts presented in many books and even sermons he had heard in church buildings. He found a new wonder over the "surprising teachings" of Jesus.

Believer, get the Scripture into your mind and heart. Make reading of the Bible text itself a daily practice. Don't be discouraged if you don't find a sparkling gem of new understanding on the first day. Don't try to read too much. Don't go for the hard passages first. Instead, pray for the Spirit to be at work, and then sit down to read.

If you're new to Bible reading, start with Luke's story of Jesus' ministry.
Break away some mornings to read a Psalm, aloud, if possible.
Read the story of the first generation of Christians told in Acts.
Learn the majesty of our faith in Christ Jesus from Paul’s letter to the Romans.

Get a modern translation (or two) of the Scripture: one like the New International Version (NIV) or the New Living Translation (NLT) that will eliminate the road blocks inherent in English that is 4 centuries old.

When you read a passage that defies a ready understanding or application, allow for some ambiguity! After all, the Bible is not a textbook, it is a revelation of the Almighty, Eternal God!

Here’s a word from the Word.   “There’s nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another — showing us truth, exposing our rebellion,   correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.”  (2 Timothy 3:15-17, The Message)

By the way, there is a great app that is free for your smartphone or tablet. YouVersion™ will let you access many different translations of the Bible without charge. It will provide daily reading guides. If you’re not a good reader, many of the texts come with a voice option that will read the text to you aloud as you follow along.  I highly recommend it to you for Scripture intake.

_______________

Ancient Words

Holy words long preserved
For our walk in this world
They resound with God's own heart
O let the ancient words impart

Words of life words of hope
Give us strength help us cope
In this world where'er we roam
Ancient words will guide us home

Ancient words ever true
Changing me changing you
We have come with open hearts
O let the ancient words impart

Holy words of our faith
Handed down to this age
Came to us through sacrifice
O heed the faithful words of Christ

Martyr's blood stains each page
They have died for this faith
Hear them cry through the years
Heed these words and hold them dear

We have come with open hearts
O let the ancient words impart
O let the ancient words impart

 

Lynn DeShazo © 2001 Integrity's Hosanna! Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing (Integrity Music, David C Cook))

CCLI License # 810055

 

Get real!

 On my kitchen table there is a bowl of apples. More than once a guest in my home has reached out and picked one up only to realize they are not real. They look authentic, even close up, but they are just decorative. They serve no fruitful purpose!  Let me ask a pointed question – are you a real Christian?  I invite you to think about spiritual reality, becoming a fruitful Believer.

I drove past a local orchard and stopped along the road to look over the trees covered in white blossoms, the promise of fruit to come. The farmer has done his work, pruning, clearing away the underbrush, but it is the LIFE in the trees that will ultimately bring on the apples and pears that are the purpose of that place.  My untrained eye could not discern what kind of trees they are, right now. In a few months the fruit hanging from the branches will be irrefutable evidence if they are pear, peach, or apple trees.

 Are you a fruitful Christian?  

Jesus’ words are full of hope and promise.  “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned for greater fruitfulness by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful apart from me. “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:1-5, NLT)

IF we are intimately connected to Him, by faith, and ‘remain’ (abide) in Him consistently, the life that flows from Him will cause fruit to grow in us. What kind of fruit? "When the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." (Galatians 5:22-23, NLT)  We need not stress, strain, or just try to ‘act like a Christian.’  Christ makes us alive and life shows, the development of character and faith coming into evidence from the inside out.

Ah friend, we do not grow into the likeness of Jesus with mental gimmicks, by adopting a self-improvement program, or even through working at being religious. Oh, yes we may be morally upright, manage to avoid grosser sins, but the nourishing fruit of the Spirit’s life does not flourish from human efforts.  In ourselves the best we can manage is an imitation, real looking on the surface perhaps, but without the nature of true fruit!  People can spot the difference between a ‘religious person’ and one who is alive in the Spirit as surely as I am able to determine if an apple is a plastic imitation or the real thing in a moment’s time.  In our present world, with so much chaos and uncertainty, I want, more than anything, to be a person who bears the real evidence of Christ’s life, filled with spiritual fruit.

So I will ‘remain’ in Him, opening my mind and heart to Him, through out the day.  Yes, we will find ourselves pulled from that place near His heart, tempted, tested, and depleted in spirit. But, there is renewal when we recenter ourselves in His loving grace.

Meditate on these words of promise, dear Believer.  "For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God," (Colossians 1:9-10, NIV)  That’s reality!

___________

Since Jesus Came Into My Heart

What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought
Since Jesus came into my heart
I have light in my soul for which long I had sought
Since Jesus came into my heart

 

Since Jesus came into my heart
Since Jesus came into my heart
Floods of joy o'er my soul
Like the sea billows roll
Since Jesus came into my heart

 

I'm possessed of a hope that is steadfast and sure
Since Jesus came into my heart
And no dark clouds of doubt now my pathway obscure
Since Jesus came into my heart

 

I shall go there to dwell in that city I know
Since Jesus came into my heart
And I'm happy so happy as onward I go
Since Jesus came into my heart

 

Rufus H. McDaniel

© Words: Public Domain

 

When Life Disappoints

 

We all have expectations. That vacation we planned for a year will be the best ever, we hope. Sometimes reservations get cancelled, weather intervenes, plans get shuffled – and we experience disappointment!  People can delight us and they can disappoint us, too, when they change into a person we no longer recognize, or walk away without explanation. It happens all the time. Life is a mixture of delight and disappointment.  Are you wrestling with missed expectations, struggling to stay faithful to the Lord even as you are living in a plot you never anticipated for yourself? 

 I never thought I’d be alone but the Lord allowed my wife of 41 years to step into His Presence 5 years ago and rewrote the script of life for me.  As I prepare to step away from the leadership of the local church after a lifetime of pastoral ministry, I pray that I will find new and fulfilling ways to serve Him and others. But, there is the real possibility that the road ahead has curves and hills I have not anticipated, too.

So, how do we deal with missed expectations and disappointment?

Many allow themselves to turn inward and become bitter.  

Who has not known someone who is miserable, sour in spirit?  Tragically, bitterness can grow to overtake all of life.  [Hebrews 12:15 (NKJV)] speaks of a "root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled."  Have you turned into one of those people who can't find a nice thing to say about anyone, cynical, withdrawn, and toxic to be around?

Emotionally and spiritually healthy people learn acceptance.
The Serenity Prayer includes this line - “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.”  Acceptance is not passive, it is not resignation to fate, it is not cowardly!  It is a lot of hard work, a willingness to set aside Self and to learn to live with a less than desirable situation.  A Christian has God’s help in this work. That person is able to ask His strength to take life as it is, not as it was ‘supposed’ to be.  With faith, we can accept who we are, where we are, and the people with whom we live and find new opportunities in the unforeseen circumstances of life.

If we insist that the only path to joy is living a life that matches our expectations we are acting like a child. If we convince ourselves that people will always be good or act in ways that are noble, we are simply naive. A measure of our maturity is the ability to deal with people as they are, discerning the good and the bad in others and in ourselves, and acting appropriately. Accepting people become loving people.

Then, too, there is true joy to be discovered in honest acceptance of ourselves. None of us is all that we hoped to be in some way or another. We all fail, despite our best intentions. God equips us in various ways by His Spirit and when we know who we are and what we do best for Him, we find a wonderful centered peace in which to live.

Forgiveness is an important tool in dealing with disappointment, too.  

Forgiveness - does that mean we sweep away the other person's offense as though what was done is without importance? We model our forgiveness on God’s forgiveness. Our sins broke His heart, offended His majesty, and earned us judgment. But He, at great expense to Himself, offered to forgive us and to create a path to reconciliation with Him for each one of us. His forgiveness is not partial nor conditional. 

The Psalm celebrates His grace. "The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us." (Psalm 103:8-12, NIV)

We can know great inner peace IF we will forgive others in that way. We need not excuse offense or write off the wrong. Instead, by faith, we take that person’s actions to God and surrender judgment to Him, even as we choose to release the debt we feel is owed to us to Him. "Impossible," you say?  No, friend, it isn't. Hard, yes - impossible, no.

Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Matthew 18:21 (NKJV) Since the Law of Moses only required 3 instances of forgiveness thought he was being big-hearted to offer to forgive seven times! But you remember the Lord's response, don't you? Jesus replied, “Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven."

 Finally, in faith we choose to keep hope alive!

There is one hope that will never disappoint – the hope of Glory! The day of the defeat of evil is coming with the revelation of the King. Oh, how I look forward to that day, when sin's power over us is completely destroyed, when disappointment is wiped away. Won't it be a great day? So, I live in hope. "Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will give us later." (Romans 8:18, NLT)  "And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies he has promised us. Now that we are saved, we eagerly look forward to this freedom. For if you already have something, you don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t have yet, we must wait patiently and confidently." (Romans 8:23-25, NLT)

Disappointed?  It’s just fine to feel broken, but never allow yourself to become bitter!

Here is a word from the Word.

“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’” (Matthew 6:9-13, NIV)

In those words we find the hope that defeats disappointment!

_______________

All My Hope

I've been held by the Savior
I've felt fire from above
I've been down to the river
I ain't the same a prodigal returned

 

All my hope is in Jesus
Thank God that yesterday's gone
(Yes) All my sins are forgiven
(Oh I've) I've been washed by the blood
(Come on and sing)

 

I'm no stranger to prison
I've worn shackles and chains
But I've been freed and forgiven
And I'm not going back I'll never be the same
That's why I sing

 

There's a kind of thing that just breaks a man
Break him down to his knees
God I've been broken more than a time or two
Yes Lord then He picked me up and showed me
What it means to be a man
Come on and sing

 

David Crowder | Ed Cash

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