Pastor Mary Haley

Everyone would like to think he or she have a corner on truth, but that is only possible when we connect with Jesus because truth is a person.  The way we gain truth is through a personal and loving relationship with Christ, as well as in community with others who have a connection to Christ.  Truth is revealed and shared in the love of Christ.  Do you know the truth?  Do you know someone whose life testifies to the truth?  People who know the truth are great examples of love.

We all bring a biased filter to our thinking, so it is difficult to remain free in our perception of the truth.  That is why it is so important to spend time in the Scriptures, because it helps us remove that biased filter to find the loving reality of God.  Remember the Word of God is alive; living and revealing truth.  I want you to really think for a minute about the people around you.  Does someone come to mind who models “selfless” love? These folks are not perfect by any stretch–we all need grace–but, the motive of these folks is to apply the Word to every day life and give the love of God to others.  Truth is love that is “other” focused. Christ came to connect and save others not himself.  Take time, today, to thank the people around you who seek to live in the truth of God’s love.  He or she are role models of the truth and, therefore, treasures in your life.  Pick up the phone, drop them an email, or send them a note and tell them how grateful you are for the truth he or she models for you.

Anne Graham Lotz said it this way, “Only Jesus Christ is the truth for everyone who has ever been born into the human race, regardless of culture, age, nationality, generation, heritage, gender, color, or language.”  Truth–Jesus–is love that is universal.  Live and proclaim the truth of God’s love in Christ! 

A recent reading in the book of Psalm was a great reminder to me of the importance of praise.  I am not talking about the praise of mankind that we share building up one another.  Rather, I am talking about the expressions of our lips that should bubble over and articulate the amazing goodness of God in every moment.  What are your lips saying?

We chat with others about many things every day; but let’s not allow that chatter to replace the praise of God that should continually spring forth from our lips.  God is good; our faces should reflect that glorious truth operating in our lives.  We are loved, healed, and restored through our connection to Christ. Our words should be filled with thanksgiving; the world needs to know our immense gratitude.  It takes courage to tell others about our Source from whom all blessings flow; the Living Hope and focus of our eternal praise. 

The advice of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, a famous preacher and theologian, to all Christians was to “Wash your face every morning in a bath of praise.”  Share your praise of God with others.  Our faces–countenance–and our words must be bathed everyday in the praise of God.  We were created to bring glory and honor to the Most High.  Christians, courageous ones, are praisers.  Did you wash your face this morning? 

“Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness.  Let the whole world know what he has done.  Sing to him; yes, sing his praises.  Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds.  Exult in his holy name; rejoice, you who worship the Lord.”   Psalm 105:1-3   

John Wesley, a courageous and famous 18th century preacher and theologian, was passionate “fiery” for God.  Sometimes he turned religious people off with his passion for God; he wasn’t allowed to preach in some organized churches because of that passion.  Wesley believed that Christians should give themselves wholly to God; God should “own” us.  Are you owned by God?

If God is our source and delight, His love will permeate our being.  That passion cannot be shut up within us; it must be released.  Have you ever watched a pressure cooker?  That little weight on the top just dances with excitement from the building energy and power within the pot. That’s the excitement we should have as containers of God’s love.  We will be passionately looking for ways to love and serve God (by loving others) when He possesses all of us.  May our prayer be to yield more and more of ourselves each day to the holy work of Christ–Anointed love–in us.  Courageous spirits know our goal is to become more like Jesus; live for God’s glory.  Give yourself over to God’s love; allow Him to “own” you.  Here is a famous Wesley prayer for you to ponder:

Lord, I am no longer my own, but Yours. Put me to what You will, rank me with whom You will.  Let be employed by You or laid aside for You, exalted for you or brought low by You.  Let me have all things, let me have nothing, I freely and heartily yield all things to your pleasure and disposal.  And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father Son, and Holy Spirit, You are mine and I am Yours. So be it.  Amen.

Did you know that Jesus offended people?  He offended the religious leaders, his neighbors, his family, and friends.  Oh, and get this, He did it without apology. The reason Jesus offended others is because he was unwilling to compromise the truth of God’s heart.   Jesus says, “Blessed is he who is not offended because of me” (Luke 7:23).

Did you know as a follower of Jesus, if you seek to obey the Spirit of God you will offend people?  We better pull out that courageous spirit!   If we are committed to the will of God; we will not be able to fulfill the agendas of humans.  A tension is created.  It is why Jesus suffered; because he would not compromise.  Unfortunately, some people feel they have an “in” with God; religious people like the Pharisees Jesus encountered.   He loved the religious leaders enough to tell them the truth when they were wrong; they crucified him.  Offended.  When the truth of Christ in us pops out, the real motives of others start surfacing.  People don’t like to look bad; but Jesus sets them up by the power of truth, anyway.  He wants to save them.  I guess we need to ask ourselves, “Are we no compromising disciples?”  Don’t be afraid of speaking the truth Christ places within you and sends you to say.  Take a deep breath and obey; don’t grieve the Spirit.  It’s not worth the compromise. 

Jesus modeled a courageous spirit; He was always moving forward in His ministry of doing “good.”  As followers of Jesus, we are seeds of “good” potential.  Sometimes God will take us out of a certain location, because the soil is not conducive for our “good” potential.  In other words, we may not be able to fulfill the “good” God has placed within us in that location; location and spiritual temperature matters when it comes to the work of Christ. Everything needs to be aligned with God for the seeds to produce.  It may be necessary to leave some comforts in order to follow Jesus in doing “good.” If you spend time in the Word of God, you will notice Jesus was seemingly always moving locations; coming and going.  The Master was making good moves…

Jesus was moving from place to place and meeting new people as He flourished in His purpose to do good; salvation is change and if we want to be instruments in the hands of a holy God we will need to move to influence and bring change. It may be necessary for us to go to others to do good as they may not come to us.  It is really a picture of outreach; reaching out to people in other environments to do good.  As we follow Jesus, this might mean a change in attitudes, jobs, friends, geographic locations, ministry, etc.  God desires for us to flourish in Christ; burst forth with much fruit of “good” (John 15).  Only God knows what is needed in our lives for us, as seeds, to produce the good that Jesus desires to do through us in the power of the Spirit.  If we are not moving forward, chances are we are not in step with the “good” moves of the Master.  It is better if we don’t get too settled in life; otherwise the Spirit might come and unsettle us to encourage the production of every “good” thing.  When Jesus calls you to make some “good” moves what will be your answer?

“Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?  Then said I, Here am I; send me.” Isaiah 6:8

What comes to your mind when I say the word “worship?”  Do you picture a gathering of people in a religious building?  Perhaps you think of a style of service or maybe your thoughts move to music?  Just what does the word “worship” conjure up for you?

A courageous spirit understands worship to be ascribing worth and value to the Most High God.  In fact, the word “worth” is the root of worship.  That means worship calls for us to make a decision, with our lives, as to God’s worth.  God gave His Son’s life; so that we could give our lives back to Him. One for all; all for One.  In this one act of love, God was saying “you are worth my life; am I worth yours?”  

It takes courage to worship God with our lives.  We would rather worship by singing a few songs, reading some Scripture, listening to a sermon, and praying; than to actually turn our lives over to God by making Jesus, Lord.  God is always changing and shaking things up inviting us to make a stronger “connection to Christ,” and it would take a courageous spirit to surrender in true worship.  But, that is exactly what Jesus is calling us to do; courageously connect in worship.  He wants all of us; He wants us to give Him every nook and cranny of our being. God calls it worship!  If we are going to be courageous worshipers, we need the power of the Spirit and a surrendered heart that is willing to bow to the Word of the Lord.

“Because He is your Lord, worship Him.”  Psalm 45:11

I love it when things are fair, don’t you?  I mean I seem to be “wired” for things to go right all the time.  Jesus said, however, as long as we live in the world we can expect difficulties; a certain amount of persecution.  As courageous Christians, how will we respond to the unfair situations and circumstances in life?  It certainly will take us leaving our human perspective and reaching for a divine perspective, because just accepting the unfair things in life seems to go against our created “soul grain.”

During difficult and unfair times, we need to remember that we serve an all-knowing God; He knows what is going on in our lives.  We serve a God of justice.  Our call is to live honestly before the Lord and our “neighbors.”  When we honor that call we probably limit many difficulties right there.  What about the other times, however, when we are seeking to live righteously in Christ and situations still get very unfair?  We then need to maintain a courageous spirit when responding to the trial.  Let’s look at some valuable insight from God’s Word for times such as these (I Peter 3:14-17):

1.  I know it’s hard, but God wants us to look at ourselves as being blessed at these times.  “But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed” (I Peter 3:14a).

2.  Our response is to be filled with faith; cast down fear.  “And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled” (I Peter 3:14b).

3.  We must claim the blood of Jesus and make Christ Lord over the situation.  “But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts” (I Peter 3:15a).

4.  Witness to our hope in Christ’s salvation. “Always be ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence” (I Peter 3:15b).

5.  Make sure we have a clear conscience.  “And keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame” (I Peter 3:16).

Peter goes on to say that it is “…better if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong (I Peter 3:17).  We were created to live courageously for the glory of God.  Let’s press on no matter what tries to come against us. 

Do you have a tendency to worry about things?  Many people use the word “worry” as a descriptive in conversations.  A friend might say, “I’m just worried about such and such…”  Do your thoughts venture toward concerns for things still ahead?  If so, Jesus has an answer for you.

“So I tell you, don’t worry about everyday life–whether you have enough food, drink, and clothes.  Doesn’t life consist of more than food and clothing?  Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.  Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”  Matthew 6:25, 32-33

A courageous spirit does not spend a lot of time worrying about things that are still ahead; worry robs our energy.  It isn’t a fruitful use of our time; it’s passive and keeps us from accomplishing things that really need our attention.  Besides, worry can make us physically ill and that translate in my practical thinking that if I don’t worry I will probably live longer.  We try to control and take on too much.  God cares about the details of our days.  Oswald Chambers said it this way, “It is not only wrong to worry, it is unbelief; worrying means we do not believe that God can look after the practical details of our lives, and it is never anything but those details that worry us.”  I wonder if the reason we worry is because we have left God and His wisdom out of the picture.  Hmmm…

We need to be good stewards of our resources and plan for the future; plan wisely.  Carelessness in our stewardship can be avoided.  God has placed people all around us with wisdom and resources who can help us prepare for the days ahead.  So, do your part and plan for tomorrow, but don’t worry.  Make a wise choice to have a courageous spirit; choose not to worry and live a full life, today.  Today is a gift from God, so rejoice and be exceedingly glad!

Our level of courage will determine whether or not we “live big.”  Most people say they want to courageously walk through new doors of opportunity and embrace change, but few will ever make the decision to do so.  Change is frightening.  Safety calls to us and tries to keep us from the bigger and deeper life God has prepared for those who love Him.  God rewards our faith-filled lives; a desire for safety tries to stand in the way of our faith.

God has big plans for us; those dreams fill our hearts and thoughts.  It’s all God-breathed and it comes with our Hope–Jesus.  Our faith must be confidently placed in God’s love and character.  We have to apply our faith in courageous ways in order to live out these big plans from God.  Don’t allow fear or the desire for safety to stand in your way.  When you know God is leading you to step out to embrace the new; use your faith and “live big” in Christ.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord.  “They are plans for good and not for disaster to give you a future and a hope.”  Jeremiah 29:11  “And it is impossible to please God without faith.  Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.”  Hebrews 11:6

Billy Graham once said, “Courage is contagious!  When a brave man (woman) takes a stand, the spines of others are stiffened.”  As we get around other people who are busy listening to God and living for the truth of His love, our backbones grow in strength.  Truth, God’s Spirit, flowing courageously from others is inspiring.  I guess each of us better ask ourselves, “Is my courage contagious?”

If we are not courageously thinking and acting upon our convictions about God’s love and principles, then we may be stifling or even grieving the inspiration of the Spirit. Our spirits were created to be fueled and empowered by the Holy Spirit.  Therefore, our spirits must be producing the Holy fruit (love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, thoughtfulness, and self-control…Galatians 5:22) that spills forth and reveals courageous and confident living in God’s love for all.   It takes great courage to release the fruit of the Spirit in this world.  You know what I’m talking about.  It takes great courage to choose to love some folks.  It takes great courage to remain peaceful when all hell is coming against our lives.  Our courage is not based upon our strength; it is based upon the powerful truth of the Spirit. That makes us responsible to get into agreement with the Spirit, doesn’t it?  So, let’s stiffen our backbones and be courageous and contagious in this world.  “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”  2 Timothy 1:7