God Delights In You
Zephaniah 3:17 NIV
“The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in His love He will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”
Our dog has an attitude…a big attitude! She is a tiny dog, a Maltese Shih Tzu, but she doesn’t let her size define her. Her breed is known as the “friendly toy,” because they are to be good-natured and tolerant. Patches must not have been notified, because she is neither of those things. She is temperamental, moody, and quick to let you know that she runs the house.
As crabby as she is, I absolutely adore her. And my adoration only annoys her. One of my favorite things to do is wait until she is in her “napping position” on the couch. Just as she is dozing off, I crawl up to her and kiss her head. Her eyes halfway open with a glare in my direction. Her soft growl expresses her displeasure. This only encourages me to do it again. I give her more kisses and she gives louder growls. I express my love and she expresses her annoyance. A match made in heaven!
God expresses His love towards us…even when we are moody. The scripture says “He will take great delight in you.” In Hebrew, that phrase means “He displays His joy.” He is not hiding His feelings for you. God is a father who openly expresses His pleasure in you as His child.
One of the great ways He displays His pleasure is in the promise to always be with you. “The Lord your God is with you…” His presence abides with you…stays with you. Even when you feel isolated and alone, Father God is there. He has not left you.
Deuteronomy 31:6
“…the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Sometimes I can act like Patches. I can be moody and annoyed with life…trying to shut everybody out. But Father God is there, refusing to leave, and continuing to display His joy to me. And it makes me love Him more!
As we pray today, thank God for His expression of joy. Be grateful for His continual presence. He delights in you…has great joy towards you. What an incredible God we have!
God Lavishes His Love On Us
1 John 3:1 NIV
But God demonstrates His own love toward us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Coming Home Again
The Sting of Death
Reflecting On The Year…Preparing For The Future
EMOTIONAL
Is there anyone I need to forgive?
Where is the clutter in my life?
SPIRITUAL
In what spiritual areas do I want to grow in 2016?
RELATIONAL
Same question for the relationship with my children.
PHYSICAL
INTELLECTUAL
What are my reading goals for 2016?
What am I pretending NOT to know?
A Significant Word
Tonight, I want to begin by praying over Champions Church, Lord. Thank you for this couple that said that they would go. And we thank You for the willingness in their hearts, Lord, to serve You in a, in a hard place.Because God has called you to do something that’s out of the box. And He’s called you to do something that there’s really not a book telling you how to do it. And in fact, you know you’ve tried…you’ve read some of the books and you’ve followed some of the instructions, and some of them didn’t work because God has called you to do something very unique here.
And, Ben, what I want to say over you is that I had this very strong but unusual word about Champions Church. And He said, “It is going to be a church on wheels.” And I said, “Lord, I don’t know what that means?” And I saw this… and it was like this, you hear about meals on wheels, but I just saw this mobilization. I saw going here and going there. And it was a church on call. And it was a church that could readily and quickly go into places and situations where there was need. And that’s not your typical church, because typical church people just come and sit. And they sit in a building.
But God said, “No, I want this church to be mobilized.” And I even felt that He said, “I am going to give you vehicles.” And I don’t fully understand what that’s about, but its about meeting needs. And that He will provide supernaturally for you vehicles to be able to go and serve. And go into needy situations; go into, into crisis situations. Go into even traumatized situations, because you’re willing and available. And you are going to train up a battalion of people who will role up their sleeves and say, “We are willing to go at a moments notice when we’re needed. We’re willing to get in and drive and go to that need and meet that situation head on.” And bring the love of Christ, but not just words. It will also be with action and it will be with provision. And it will meet needs in situations where people are desperate.
So, Father, I declare over this church, Lord, that You are bringing Your blueprint and Your strategy. It’s very unique.
And I want to say to Ben and his wife…I want to break off you. In the past you felt that you had to fit and you had to conform. And you felt like you had to fit in somebody’s armor. And the Lord says, “You don’t have to wear Saul’s armor. You don’t have to put on, which in the past, was told that you had to wear.” I break that off of you, in the name of Jesus. And I break all the expectation, even that you’ve put on yourself. That you said, “I have to be this certain way. I have to fit this denominational model or I have to do this or that.” I break that off of you now, in the name of Jesus.
I break it off of your wife, in the name of Jesus. Where that thing tried to say, “If you’re going to be a woman in ministry, you have to do it this way and you have to do it that way. Or you have to say it this way.” I break that off of you now, in the name of Jesus.
We thank you for flexibility, and we thank you that instead of Saul’s armor, you will wear David’s armor. You will wear what fits.
And I just say, Brother Ben, just, just relax. Just relax and just fit in what God has called you to fit in. And you don’t have to fit in that armor of the past. We break it off of you now, in the name of Jesus.
Coming Home
At Christmas time, the women would pull together their small earnings and buy presents for those still living on the streets. It was a reminder to that there is still hope and there is a Savior who loves you.
The Deadly Act Of Comparison (pt. 2)
– Helen Keller
But it is good for me to draw near to God;
I have put my trust in the Lord GOD,
That I may declare all Your works. (Psalm 73:28)
The Deadly Act of Comparison (pt. 1)
I look at his shoes…
her hair…
his car…
her job…
his height…
their house…
their money.
Then I look in the mirror. And I compare.
If you are like me, you can easily get caught in the deadly act of comparison. Looking at what someone is, has, or does and then looking at my own self to see how things measure up. It is something I have done since I was a child, and too often the comparison did not fall in my favor. Feelings of not being athletic enough, smart enough, spiritual enough, funny enough, or looking good enough seemed overwhelming. The result often left me feeling as if I somehow had failed.
As an adult I still struggle with comparing myself to others. It happened this past weekend. Our church hosted a fall festival to reach out to families in our surrounding area. It was our first time to do this, and even though we faced a few hurdles, we ended up with many new families coming from the community. It was very successful and I was so proud of our team as they shared the love of Jesus. We walked away excited about what God had done.
I felt really good until I looked at social media. Yes, social media…the breeding ground for harmful comparisons. I started looking at a few other churches pastored by my friends. The results from their outreaches surpassed what we had been able to accomplish. By the act of comparison, I allowed the pleasure and joy of the night to be stolen. What started as a feeling of success, ended quickly with the feeling of defeat. Even though we reached new families for Christ, I did not get “as many” as other churches. I didn’t measure up! Instead of being excited about what God had done, I became jealous and critical. Was it wrong? Yes. Was it petty? Yes. But the feelings were still very real.
In the Bible, we read that Asaph had a similar reaction. It wasn’t because of a fall church event, but his emotions were the same. He wrote, “But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; My steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (Psalm 73:2-3). Asaph saw that evil people seemed to do very well. They were happy, healthy, and wealthy. “Their eyes bulge with abundance; they have more than heart could wish” (Psalm 73:7). The wicked seemed to have everything while Asaph seemed to have very little.
At one point Asaph writes, “When I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me…” (Psalm 73:16). The emotions were too raw and hurtful. His comparisons had caused him to become critical…to find fault with others and eventually to find fault with God. When we start finding fault with God, we become cynical. The definition of cynical is “non-believing, doubtful.” Asaph doubted God when he wrote, “Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence. For all day long I have been plagued, and chastened every morning” (Psalm 73:13-14). He wondered, “What was the point in serving God if all the blessings go to other folks?” This is where the act of comparing, if left unchecked, will eventually lead us. If I continue to compare myself to others, I will become critical. If I continue to be critical, I will become cynical.
Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” It really is! Comparison robs us of our contentment and steals our peace. It causes us to become isolated and resentful. It is a deadly act that goes all the way back to Lucifer’s fall.
But, it can be overcome…
When It Falls Through The Cracks