Monday Morning 11/28/2011

Have you ever thought to yourself, “There has to be a better way” to say something or to express a thought that words just cannot seem to say the right way? That happened to me. I was thinking about Thanksgiving.

I was thinking about the holiday. It’s the last Thursday in November. Then the day after is known as “Black Friday.” It’s not called that because of the weather, or the attitude of people waiting to claw their way to the front of the line to get the after-Thanksgiving Christmas specials. It is a business term. When a business is in the “red” they are earning less than they need for a profit. When they are in the “black” they are earning profits. “Black Friday” is the day many businesses earn most of their profit for the year. I saw this posted on Facebook and I shared it yesterday at church: “Black Friday is a day people go crazy buying things we do not have just one day after giving thanks for the things we do have.” We have truly lost our Thanksgiving perspective.

Thanksgiving is not only a holiday on the last Thursday in November. It is not the “start” of the Christmas season. Giving thanks is not a one-day event. Giving thanks is a way to live. Thanksgiving becomes “Thanks-living.”

In the Bible the Apostle Paul, and many others said more than one time that we are to give thanks in ALL situations: Good, bad, planned, unexpected, joys, sorrows, tears, and a Starbucks that is closed. Do you know if you translate the word “everything” from Greek or Hebrew or Aramaic in the Bible what it means? It means “EVERYTHING!” ALL means all. Forever means FOREVER.

So this is where a “special” word comes in. I used it yesterday at church and those paying attention asked me if I had forgotten to use spell-check on my computer. The word is “THANKSGLIVING.”

THANKSGLIVING is the combination of giving thanks, living our thankfulness, and celebrating the blessings God has for each of us. How many blessings do we receive each day? The answer is ALL of them. There are more blessings than we can count but not too many so we cannot count each one. We are blessed to have blessings of life, burdens of life, and benefits of life.

THANKSGLIVING has blessings also because it changes our view of a “normal” Thanksgiving.

- It helps us focus on what God provides more than what we want or what we DO NOT have.
- It helps us focus on God’s free gift of GRACE.
- It helps us to focus on the positive results of negative things.
- It gives us hope for the future. God has something BETTER planned for us.
- If we are “living” and “giving” our “thanks” in ALL things, Our THANKSGLIVING will affect and help those around us.
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Our thanks is to be lived and thanks is to be given. Everyday should be spent in an attitude of THANKSGLIVING.

Christmas is the season of Jesus Christ. THANKSGLIVING is done in HIS name. Celebrate THANKSGLIVING every day.

Thanksgiving Morning 11/24/2011

I am in England for Thanksgiving this year where it is presently 339am. This devotion is based on a devotion that I read today.

How quickly do we forget God's blessings when bad things happen?

When we lose our jobs, do we thank God for a loving family? Do we thank God for a loving church family? This is why God created the church. Do we thank God that He has a better plan for us?

When we lose our health, do we thank God for the comfort of His Word? Do we thank God that he can use us to show others how to minister? Do we thank God that He can use us to show others how to pray for each other? Do we thank God that when we receive bad health news, that His promise of eternal life and glorified bodies has not changed one little bit? This is why Jesus needs to be Lord and Savior of your life. Trust Him.

When we lose a loved one to sin, do we thank God for His forgiveness? Sons, daughters, parents, friends, have all made mistakes and disappointed us in some way in the past. But God forgave you first. So why not forgive others? I remember an old saying: “Hate the sin. Love the sinner.” Separate the sin from the person. Forgive because we are forgiven. The sin is dead. It went to the Cross with Jesus. The Bible says that while we were still sinners Christ died for us and gave his life for us. Can’t we see past a person’s sin and see the person God created?

Sadly, our eyes can often focus on the trials of life rather than on God's blessings in life.

Matthew 6 shows us Christ's words about God taking care of His children. Jesus' simple answer was, "If I care for the smallest of birds, don't you think I will care for you?" Jesus tells us not to worry about what will come tomorrow. He tells us not to be concerned about how we will get through a difficult time. He tells us not to focus on what we think others are doing to us in their sin or how that person has hurt us by their sin. How many times did Jesus say, “Your faith has healed you? He has promised to provide for our every need.

Many Christians fail to trust God because they cannot see Him working. As human beings, we like to have a plan. We want to know what to expect. We do not like surprises in life. We like to know ahead of time how things will work out, and what will happen. For example, how many of us often peek to the end of a good book? We like to know the ending. How many of us will plan a trip down to the last minute of detail?

But when it comes to things that happen in everyday life, God often requires us to trust Him without knowing how He is going to work out the things He has planned for us. Notice that does NOT say how WE want Him to work things out in HIS plan. He requires us to place our faith in Him alone for what we need.

Do you have some need that must be met? Are you stuck worrying about how things will work out? Don't bother worrying; God already has a plan! Take time to give God your worries, and allow Him to take care of you. Remember Jesus' words, "Your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things." Thank God that He knows our needs and promises to provide for them in His time.

Monday Morning 11/21/2011

We live in a society where most times we allow others to label us by what we say and what we do. We are easily controlled by some and easily impressed by others. Likewise, we often allow others to tell us what to do and how to live. But as children of God, we need to develop a lifestyle that lines up with the Word of God.

Think about an electric lamp. By itself it is nice to look at. But it needs three things to give us light. First it needs a connection: a plug and a place to plug it in. Second, it needs some source of power: electricity. Third it needs someone who knows what to do: knowledge. If you have a plug and a cord but cannot find a place to plug it in, it won’t work. If you have the cord and you know where there is a place to plug it in, but there is no electricity, it won’t work.

So it is in our life every day. Yes this would include those days that end in the letter “Y”. Yes it would include all the days on the calendar from Monday to Sunday. We need a connection to God, our Creator, and our Salvation.

The place we find our connection to God is the Cross. What happened there changes lives. We are forgiven. We are made new. We are redeemed. Our debt is paid. When we connect with Jesus Christ, all of heaven opens up and God’s power can flow into our life. But we must make the connection.

The source of power is God: One God period. Because He is God He is ALL power, ALL knowing, ALL around us, and He loves us ALL more than we can understand. God is the source of everything. Everything begins and ends with God.

The person with knowledge is you and me. Yes, it’s YOU. Many of us have been told how to have eternal life, but we never make the connection. Maybe we know about Jesus and Eternal life, but nobody has told us how. God knows YOUR name. Jesus died for YOU.

Sometimes we set up a lamp and the cord is not long enough to reach the outlet. What can we do? We go and we find an extension cord. God has that planned for us too. In fact we don’t need to look far. Our extension cords are those people that God places in our lives for the purpose of helping us connect with the Cross. The Holy Spirit is an extension Cord. When we cannot quite connect with the Cross because of pride, because we think we cannot because of being Deaf, or because of rebellion, the Holy Spirit will show us the way to a person chosen by God to help us to connect. And the Holy Spirit will show the other person the way to get to us. That, my friends is a connection made in heaven.

And so the question is, what does your life look like when you make the connection? What does it look like without the connection? It is the difference between light and dark. It is the difference between future and past. It is the difference between gain and loss. It is the difference between heaven and hell.

You ARE forgiven. You ARE made new, You ARE redeemed. “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT)

Now you KNOW. You have the POWER. Now go and make the CONNECTION.

Monday Morning 11/14/2011

Yesterday we heard God’s preaching from James Chapter 3. James was tired of hearing people talk about his brother Jesus in a way that brought shame to Jesus. He was trying to tell people to control their tongues. He is not telling us what to say. He is telling us to think about what we say. Why? He used the word “tame” in the same way we talk about trying to tame a wild animal. We need to bring our tongues under control, teach it limits, and change its use from acting without thinking of what happens to using our “tongues” in a way that glorifies God.

Sounds easy, right? Not so much…..

The word James uses for “tongue” is the word γλῶσσα “glossa.” If one studies the word it has three meanings.

1. The physical tongue in our mouths.
2. What we use to communicate.
3. Language

We need to realize that we not only use words or Sign Language to communicate. Our “tongue” gives a “voice” to what we are thinking. Think of how we do that. Some people use their voice, some people use their hands. Is that all? No, there is also body language and facial expression. Think about it. Usually our bodies will tell others what we are thinking even before we use any words.

Again, is that all there is? Let’s go to another level. When we cannot “talk” to another person, what do we do? We use computers, laptops, cell phones, video phones, and yes even Facebook. All of these things become our “tongues” in one way or another.

Do you say one thing on Facebook to someone and then say something different on the videophone?

You see, our tongue can either burn the Kingdom of God, or it can build it. Simply by what comes out of our mouths can destroy what God is trying to accomplish in and through a ministry, or it can build it. So this morning I want to ask you, “Is your tongue productive or destructive?”

The Bible compares an untamed tongue to hell’s fire. But there is another fire. It is the burning fire of the Holy Spirit. That is the kind of fire God’s church is hungry for and desperately needs.

I have always heard that “the best way to fight fire is with fire.” So we are going to worship the Lord, and ask the Holy Spirit to burn out all the junk and restore relationships, friendships, marriages, and yes restore HIS church.

This week, focus on how God can use our “tongues” not to destroy or discourage, but to build up and encourage. In that way God is glorified.