And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are all called to live in peace. And always be thankful. Colossians 3: 14-15
You have heard me say several times, that life is all about heart. What happens in your heart will determine how you talk, see life, and respond to your Father in heaven. Your heart determines how you perceive the cross, your sin and forgiveness, and how you pass that forgiveness on to others. It’s your choice whether your heart is controlled by the flesh or by the Spirit. The fleshly heart is full of fleshly things: desire, greed, love of power, fear of man, etc. But the Holy Spirit-driven heart will identify itself with Christ, crucify its flesh, and seek holiness (See Romans 6-8 and Acts 2).
The choice between a heart of flesh and a heart of the Spirit is ours to make and one we must make. Our spiritual growth is never an accident, it’s a choice; a heart set. And the peace that we have is directly proportionate to the rule of Christ in our hearts.
Is Jesus the Lord of our lives in a practical way? Is He the ruler of our actions, thoughts and desires? When Christ rules in your heart, then His peace protects your heart. So when hard times come they can, as we trust in Him, mature us and make us more like Jesus. There is a wonderful release of life when we choose to see Jesus as being bigger than any trial, problem, or concern we face. If we see Jesus as being bigger, we can pray and trust that God will intervene for the sake of His Kingdom. We can watch as Kingdom life is interjected into lifeless situations that otherwise might threaten to overwhelm us. We can know that God is God and Jesus is Lord. We can know that His promises are sure and absolute. We can trust Him with our lives and our eternity.
We are called to live in peace with one another. You might ask, “How?” Again the choice is ours to make. As we seek to have a Holy Spirit-driven heart, we can learn to love people as Jesus did. He loves us all, even our enemies, and died for us all. When we begin to understand that we are forgiven, we can begin to understand that Jesus did that very thing for others as well. He forgave them while they were yet sinners just as He did us. We can pray for the love of God to penetrate the hearts of our enemies and for His healing power to be manifest in their hearts and souls so that the body of Christ can be alive and connected, because we understand that it’s what Jesus desires. We are part of His body. We are corporately connected in our church, town, state, nation and world. Let’s, for Jesus’ sake, keep our hearts open to reconciliation and grace because He has reconciled with us.
As we choose to pursue hearts that are not fleshly, but Holy Spirit-driven, forgiveness and thanksgiving will be an outflow of life and we will see how great our God is. Practice thanksgiving, look for the good in situations, and rejoice. Then we will have joy and His peace will be our portion and our lives will be full of His grace and beauty.
Thankful to belong to the King!
Pastor Darrell
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Psalm 138:1
I give you thanks, O Lord, with all my heart; I will sing Your praises before the gods.
Psalm 138:1
The heart of thanksgiving is developed only when we practice. We can plan our thanksgiving ahead of time, we can makes lists, we can remind ourselves to be thankful, but it’s only a manifestation of faith when we move from the mental practice of thanksgiving to the truth of heart-felt thanksgiving. I’ve had seasons when I practiced thanksgiving because I discovered that it was sinful not to be thankful. I started by looking around me, seeing creation, the blue sky, and the green trees in many different shades, the grass beginning to grow and the flowers starting to bud. I love the joy of seeing creation. It’s so incredibly beautiful that at times I’m overwhelmed with God’s creative beauty. From there I thank God for my family: a good wife of over 42 years, 6 wonderful children and their families, and what a joy to watch them love Jesus, sing, worship, and have fun. It’s wonderful and fulfilling for me.
I’m thankful for prayer, songs of praise, hymns, and celebration. I’m thankful for all the Lord has done for me personally. I’m thankful that I got to be a farm boy who played baseball in the cow pasture. We actually used dry cow pies for bases. It was fun and most of the time we needed to wash our feet before entering the house in order to get that green stuff out from between our toes. I’m thankful for many of my schoolteachers who helped me and encouraged me in so many positive ways. I’m blessed. I’ve enjoyed my life and it’s a joy to look back and see the Lord’s goodness. With all my heart I am thankful.
When I remember being saved and discovering that Jesus loves me and died for me, when I remember that He actually likes me, I am the most thankful. He actually wants to be close to me and grow in deep relationship with me. He wants to connect with me heart to heart to be unafraid, unhindered, and uninterrupted in our relationship. I am thankful for a Creator God who wants my time, my heart, my feelings, and my input. He loves us so deeply and I rejoice in that. The issue is that we need to be sure that we don’t take Him for granted, but with the freshness of the Holy Spirit rising in our hearts we keep close to God. We need to keep talking with Him, listening to Him, reading His Word, and choosing to be anchored in it. We will come to know His voice as He knows ours. We will come to know His heart as He knows ours. Let’s be thankful for the Word because with it we are not blind and wandering through life. We are guided step by step and are reassured that God’s plans are always good to give us a future and great hope. He’s coming back and with His power we will occupy until He comes. Let’s practice thanksgiving. Let’s move from the mental exercise of thanksgiving to a deep and abiding thankfulness for our God. Let’s draw near to God as He draws near to us. Come and join me and see that the Lord is good and worthy of all praise and thanks. Open your heart. God will show you His goodness. Be still and know that He is God and He loves you and has given you resurrection life and hope forever.
Psalm 138:1
The heart of thanksgiving is developed only when we practice. We can plan our thanksgiving ahead of time, we can makes lists, we can remind ourselves to be thankful, but it’s only a manifestation of faith when we move from the mental practice of thanksgiving to the truth of heart-felt thanksgiving. I’ve had seasons when I practiced thanksgiving because I discovered that it was sinful not to be thankful. I started by looking around me, seeing creation, the blue sky, and the green trees in many different shades, the grass beginning to grow and the flowers starting to bud. I love the joy of seeing creation. It’s so incredibly beautiful that at times I’m overwhelmed with God’s creative beauty. From there I thank God for my family: a good wife of over 42 years, 6 wonderful children and their families, and what a joy to watch them love Jesus, sing, worship, and have fun. It’s wonderful and fulfilling for me.
I’m thankful for prayer, songs of praise, hymns, and celebration. I’m thankful for all the Lord has done for me personally. I’m thankful that I got to be a farm boy who played baseball in the cow pasture. We actually used dry cow pies for bases. It was fun and most of the time we needed to wash our feet before entering the house in order to get that green stuff out from between our toes. I’m thankful for many of my schoolteachers who helped me and encouraged me in so many positive ways. I’m blessed. I’ve enjoyed my life and it’s a joy to look back and see the Lord’s goodness. With all my heart I am thankful.
When I remember being saved and discovering that Jesus loves me and died for me, when I remember that He actually likes me, I am the most thankful. He actually wants to be close to me and grow in deep relationship with me. He wants to connect with me heart to heart to be unafraid, unhindered, and uninterrupted in our relationship. I am thankful for a Creator God who wants my time, my heart, my feelings, and my input. He loves us so deeply and I rejoice in that. The issue is that we need to be sure that we don’t take Him for granted, but with the freshness of the Holy Spirit rising in our hearts we keep close to God. We need to keep talking with Him, listening to Him, reading His Word, and choosing to be anchored in it. We will come to know His voice as He knows ours. We will come to know His heart as He knows ours. Let’s be thankful for the Word because with it we are not blind and wandering through life. We are guided step by step and are reassured that God’s plans are always good to give us a future and great hope. He’s coming back and with His power we will occupy until He comes. Let’s practice thanksgiving. Let’s move from the mental exercise of thanksgiving to a deep and abiding thankfulness for our God. Let’s draw near to God as He draws near to us. Come and join me and see that the Lord is good and worthy of all praise and thanks. Open your heart. God will show you His goodness. Be still and know that He is God and He loves you and has given you resurrection life and hope forever.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Be happy [in your faith] and rejoice and be glad-hearted continually (always); be unceasing in prayer [praying perseveringly]; Thank [God] in everything [no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ Jesus [the Revealer and Mediator of that will]. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Over the years I’ve met a lot of believers that were never joyful, their lives have been hard, disappointing, and incredibly stressful. However, I always meet people that have gone through things that have been more extreme than I’ve experienced or have seen others go through. Jesus is a good example. He’s gone through the worst of all human experiences: abandonment, abuse, rejection, and despair. And all of these were to the extreme. He’s our example, He’s our source, and He’s our joy.
According to this scripture reference, we have three heart responses that we can make in our intimate relationship with the Lord:
1. Joy is always available to us. It’s one of the fruits of the Spirit. We can endure anything by the grace of God and still be joyful. We have the joy of our salvation, joy of knowing God is bigger, and joy because our sufferings on earth will grow incredibly dim in the light of eternity. Our joy is locked in and abundant. The Spirit who gives joy lives inside of us. When pain comes, we still have the joy of salvation, of eternity and of His grace.
2. Prayer is deep communication between the Father and myself, through Jesus Christ. It’s a touch of eternity right here and now. God has given us the keys of His Kingdom, and a commission, and the authority to fulfill His call. When we live in constant, close, intimate relationship with God, we will talk with the Lord about everything like talking to a close friend on a walk or over coffee. Praying all the time might seem extreme until we realize that prayer is only the sharing of our needs, thoughts, and feelings with Father God. He loves us and cares deeply for us and for our needs. Walking in the truth and growing in the reality of our relationship will make us a people that always pray about everything all the time.
3. Thanksgiving is learning to be thankful in all things and for all things. There are times when this can be very difficult. Some things hurt, are unpleasant and just plain hard, but if we’re thankful, we express our confidence that God is bigger still. No matter what we go through, God is big enough to use it for our good and to receive glory from it. Praise God for His goodness. Is God big enough to turn your sorrow to joy and take your brokenness and make you whole? Can He really forgive your sins? Yes. God is good, He is bigger than we are, more powerful than we can imagine, He did create the world and all that’s in it, and He loves you and me. What a wonderful God! Let’s live it to the full.
Be happy [in your faith] and rejoice and be glad-hearted continually (always); be unceasing in prayer [praying perseveringly]; Thank [God] in everything [no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ Jesus [the Revealer and Mediator of that will]. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Over the years I’ve met a lot of believers that were never joyful, their lives have been hard, disappointing, and incredibly stressful. However, I always meet people that have gone through things that have been more extreme than I’ve experienced or have seen others go through. Jesus is a good example. He’s gone through the worst of all human experiences: abandonment, abuse, rejection, and despair. And all of these were to the extreme. He’s our example, He’s our source, and He’s our joy.
According to this scripture reference, we have three heart responses that we can make in our intimate relationship with the Lord:
1. Joy is always available to us. It’s one of the fruits of the Spirit. We can endure anything by the grace of God and still be joyful. We have the joy of our salvation, joy of knowing God is bigger, and joy because our sufferings on earth will grow incredibly dim in the light of eternity. Our joy is locked in and abundant. The Spirit who gives joy lives inside of us. When pain comes, we still have the joy of salvation, of eternity and of His grace.
2. Prayer is deep communication between the Father and myself, through Jesus Christ. It’s a touch of eternity right here and now. God has given us the keys of His Kingdom, and a commission, and the authority to fulfill His call. When we live in constant, close, intimate relationship with God, we will talk with the Lord about everything like talking to a close friend on a walk or over coffee. Praying all the time might seem extreme until we realize that prayer is only the sharing of our needs, thoughts, and feelings with Father God. He loves us and cares deeply for us and for our needs. Walking in the truth and growing in the reality of our relationship will make us a people that always pray about everything all the time.
3. Thanksgiving is learning to be thankful in all things and for all things. There are times when this can be very difficult. Some things hurt, are unpleasant and just plain hard, but if we’re thankful, we express our confidence that God is bigger still. No matter what we go through, God is big enough to use it for our good and to receive glory from it. Praise God for His goodness. Is God big enough to turn your sorrow to joy and take your brokenness and make you whole? Can He really forgive your sins? Yes. God is good, He is bigger than we are, more powerful than we can imagine, He did create the world and all that’s in it, and He loves you and me. What a wonderful God! Let’s live it to the full.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
