Pastor Mary Haley

February 15, 2019

1 Peter 1:17 The Message (MSG)

It has been said confession is good for the soul.  So, I must make a confession to you today; essentially, I am a neat-nut for clean spaces. I like things clean and in order in my environments.  I will also confess to you that I cannot always achieve my desired goal of neatness, because life “stuff,” as well as  the “goodies” others leave clutter my many spaces.  lol…By the way, asking for help with the clean up is not always fruitful. To be honest, some people do not even see the mess. I try not to feel frustrated by the clutter, but I do work at sorting, organizing, and pitching until I am more satisfied.

Do you know Father God sent the Spirit to help us bring order and holy neatness to our lives? We know we cannot bring holiness or clean living to our own lives, so we ask for the Lord to help us.  Unfortunately, even though we ask him many times for help, we keep living sloppy lives that he cannot tolerate. He wants to clean house.  So, let’s open our lives up to our loving Father and ask him to do the work of sorting our thoughts, organizing our priorities, and pitching smelly baggage we are carrying from years gone by.  The Lord only has good in mind for us.  May we all pray, “Come and clean up my spiritual house, Lord Jesus!”  

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February 14, 2019

1 John 4:7-10 The Message (MSG)

Love is a focus for many, today; it is Valentine’s Day. The card industry will certainly prosper today. Cards will be exchanged between people expressing feelings and emotions. John usually makes me a Valentine card and I have saved most of them over the forty-one years of our marriage. I love my husband, our sons and daughter-in-loves, our sweet puppy Gracie, our whole extended family, our amazing friends, our spiritual family, and…all of God’s creation. Yet, the greatest focus of my love story begins with the One who extends pure agape to me; Jesus the Anointed One.  

The highest form of love is agape: the selfless and sacrificial love that God has for human beings and the love human beings were created to return to God and share with others. I cannot even truly love the people in my life well apart from being loved by My Lord. So, I challenge you to begin your day with the Lord who perfectly and sacrificially loves you, and then love him in return. Please do not leave the greatest Love out of your day; spend time with the Lord.

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February 13, 2019

Luke 5:27-32 The Message (MSG)

Jesus spent his energy wisely when it came to ministering to people. For those who knew they needed the healing touch of a Savior, Jesus made himself completely available to them. He spent time with them; he wanted something better for them and they knew it. The people who rejected Christ, were those who felt they had a corner on God’s favor; they worked on outside appearances and managed a form of godliness, but inside they were dark and lawless when it came to the rule and authority of God.  

In our passage today, Jesus further upsets the religious leaders with his heart for bringing salvation to crooks and sinners. In our lesson, Levi is one such man; a crooked tax collector. Levi knows he is not living as a man made in the image of God. So, he opens himself up to the Savior who promises to change him inside and out. He is changed through a connection to Christ and he cannot wait to introduce Jesus to others. So, who were the real outsiders—the sick ones—in the lesson? The answer is “everyone!” Every human being needs to make Jesus Lord by giving Him authority over his or her life.  Inside change is where it begins.

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February 11, 2019

Luke 11:24-28 Good News Translation (GNT)

Every human being must embrace the spiritual cure God offers in Christ Jesus if we are going to be spiritually healthy and well.  We cannot reform ourselves and it last; only the Spirit can bring lasting results.  We must allow God to do the transforming of our souls and continue forward by obeying the Word of God.  The Word then guards our hearts as we stay fixed and immoveable; devoted to pleasing God with our lives.  So, be filled with the Holy Spirit, obey the Word, and you will never give evil an opening into your life. 

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February 8, 2019

Acts 9:26-31 Good News Translation (GNT)

The Holy Spirit is the Agent of God’s goodness to bring change and peace into our lives and into the world.  When we invite Christ to be the Lord of our lives and the Holy Spirit indwells our hearts, we are not the same, anymore.  We are immediately changed inwardly; we inherit the Seed of the Kingdom of God.  From that moment on, the Holy Spirit seeks to permeate our whole being; transform our outward person to make it consistent with our spiritually reborn inward person.  That holy synchronicity of our spirit, body, and souls (mind, will, emotions) enables us to be powerful witnesses for the Kingdom of God.  Our lives are the evidence of God’s good work for peace or wholeness.

When our lives take a strong personal change, it may be a challenge for others to keep up.  They may doubt the sincerity of our new devotion to the work of the Spirit.  What we leave behind may be a direct contradiction of what we say we are becoming.  Such is the case with Saul.  In spite of the disciples’ fear and suspicion, God’s goodness is evident in Saul.  His old life as a Christian persecutor has been crucified.   Barnabas, filled with the Spirit, is used by the Lord to position Saul to speak goodness into the lives of others and bring them into a greater measure of peace or wholeness with God.

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February 7, 2019

Acts 9:19-25

On the road to Damascus, Saul’s journey to arrest Christians takes a momentary detour.  Light encircles him, he falls off his horse to the earth, and hears a voice address him by saying his name twice (meaning pay attention).  Who is speaking?  The voice identifies himself as Jesus and asks Saul, “Why are you persecuting me?” In this moment, Saul realizes even though he thought he was doing the will of God by stomping out the sparks of Christianity he was actually opposing the One True God. 

The experience leaves Saul blinded by the Light.  In his own strength and ability he is helpless and weak.  But God wants to be his strength; so, God sends Ananias (a disciple) to lay hands on Saul and pray for him to receive the Holy Spirit so he may have spiritual sight.

We can all find ourselves detoured in life and blinded from the Truth.  Pleasing God may be our desire, but as humans we see dimly.  We must remain humble and welcome God to bring Light to anything wayward within us. This experience changes Saul.  He proceeds to preach Christ with passion and determination.  He knows Christ is real; he knows Christ is Messiah.  Now, Saul will be on the other end of persecution.  Yet, God will deliver him again and again to continue preaching Truth. Never give up sharing about Jesus; God is with you, too. 

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February 6, 2019

Psalm 56:8-13 The Message

I am not sure why this is the case, but for many who seek God, we seem to first make a journey to see if God is trustworthy with our hearts.  Fear tries to come in and halt our devotion and our trust, but if we stay the course we begin to look over our lives and realize that God has always been on our side working all things for our good.  When we finally trust God with all our hearts, we can take a deep breath and stroll through life with him knowing it is going to be all right.  Not everything in life will be pleasant or even welcomed, but we are making the journey with God so our hearts can be at leisure or rest.  It’s a picture of the Sabbath life.

David understood trusting God was THE essential step.  Being fearful of anything this world has to offer is ridiculous, because God has us covered.  So, no more tossing and turning; instead walk in the sunlit fields of life with Father God.

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February 5, 2019

Psalm 138:1-3 The Message (MSG)

I love to say, “Thank you!”  When people are thoughtful and kind, it fills my soul with joy to express gratitude.  Appreciation blesses the giver and it blesses the receiver.  Does saying, “Thank you” to others come easy to you?  Does it graciously roll off your tongue?  If you understand how God feels about a grateful heart, you will make expressing gratitude to those around you a part of your daily practice. 

Expressing gratitude for the faithfulness of God should be part of our daily prayers.  God is so very good to us; always providing and sharing blessings with his children.  Every good and perfect gift comes from him.  So, start your day with “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you…(you get the idea).

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February 4, 2019

1 Corinthians 2:10-16

There is a great deal I do not know or understand about life. Sometimes I sit back and just shake my head until it rattles.  However, because of Scripture, I know some of the most important things that affect the foundation of my understanding; I am grateful for that wisdom. I know I am loved by a holy and amazing Father.  He is my Creator and Source of life.  He desires only good things for me; He delights in blessing me.  Everything I have just shared about myself, is also true about you. God loves you and has a great plan for your life. This plan is something God desires to do in you in order to help others around you.  You hold the message someone else needs to hear.

In order to experience all God has for us, we must surrender to the work of the Spirit, because our “unspiritual self” cannot understand divine Wisdom.  Humanity gets lost in the maze of the mind and struggles to understand spiritual things.  Scriptures teaches we actually have “no capacity” to receive the things of the Spirit (1 Cor 2:14).  However, Jesus set the “no capacity—no room in the Inn thing” on its heels and made a way for us to be spiritually alive. Now, we have access to all God is doing in us; wisdom makes all the difference in the world. Dive deep into the depths of God and live His plan.

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February 1, 2019

Acts 19:1-4 The Message (MSG)

In our passage today, the Apostle Paul is visiting those who claim to be “disciples.”  As he observes their lives and listens to their words, Paul notices something lacking in these Ephesians.  He comes to them with a question about the Holy Spirit.  Think about this situation.  These disciples are more than likely teaching others about the need for repentance before God and to honor Him as Lord; this is the message of John the Baptist.  It is a good and sound message.  But, Paul knows this level of understanding is only the beginning in the story of God’s love and work of Christ Jesus for salvation.  The Holy Spirit is where we find the power for Kingdom living.

God wants to get down inside humanity—each individual led by the Spirit—not just invite people to be baptized and make a mental ascent to honor God’s authority.  He wants to save us from our sin and it takes the work of the Holy Spirit to accomplish this in our lives.  We are spiritual train wrecks without the impartation of the Spirit of Truth.  We will make up our own truth if the Spirit doesn’t guide our lives; actually, we will try to control others to live by our truth.  If we are going to be saved from sin and death, the Spirit must wash us and walk with us into Christ’s righteousness and wholeness.  This is the Good News! 

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