WEDNESDAY'S WORD - PRIORITIES - 12/27/17 Sadell Bradley - New Life Covenant Cincinnati

"Our life is the sum total of all the decisions we make every day, and those decisions are determined by our priorities." - Pastor Myles Monroe   Mahatma Gandhi said, "Action expresses priorities." PRIORITIES - are things that are regarded or treated as more important than others. They take precedence  before others in time or rank. All of us have priorities that are reflected in our actions. We tell ourselves and each other that certain things are really important, but our true priorities are revealed in inventories of: how we handle our/God's money; how we spend our limited time, and how we deal with our relationships - even with the Lord. As we begin to peek over into 2018, let's do some soul searching on what our true priorities were in 2017. Did we finance our dreams or other things? Were our most important relationships fostered and nurtured or neglected? Was our time consumed with things that caused us to grow and build or depleted and drained by mindless entertainment and social media? We can choose 2018's priorities today! Steven Covey said, "The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities." The same holds true with money. Budgets disclose our financial priorities. You're not broke...you just prioritized something else.        If you have more than one priority, you have no priority.  The first of Ten Commandments states, "You shall have no other gods before Me," establishing that God is to be that priority. Christ explained, "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." (Matthew 6:24) He admonished His followers not to prioritize or worry about temporal things and material possessions, but to, "Seek the Kingdom of God first- above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need." (Matthew 6:33) Jesus made it clear that doing His Father's will was His priority, "I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just, because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will." (John 5:30) He reminds us, "Anyone who loves their father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me." (Matthew 10:37) Is God your #1 priority?    Priorities bring clarity in decision-making. We often struggle trying to balance everything in our lives.  We run around attempting to keep all the plates spinning. Setting proper priorities can make some of those plates drop! If everything is important, than nothing is important. Simplified priorities bring peace of mind. Pastor Rick Warren said, "Living in light of eternity changes our priorities." Do you know what your priorities are? or what you want them to be? Consider a priorities shift for 2018. Thanks for reading Wednesday's Word, I hope it's been a blessing to you!

SUNDAY Worship 11:00 AM Worship The Great Room Sunday Class 9:30 AM Youth Room Basement at Wyoming Presbyterian 225 Wyoming Ave., 45215 For information 513-212-1131

WEDNESDAY'S WORD - CAPABLE - 12/20/17 -Sadell Bradley - New Life Covenant Cincinnati

"If we did all the things we were capable of, we would literally astound ourselves."   -Thomas Edison   Nelson Mandela said, "There is no passion to be found in playing small - settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living."  CAPABLE - means having the ability, fitness, or quality necessary to do or achieve a specified thing; able to achieve efficiently whatever one has to do; competent.  Yesterday, I observed an interesting debate on social media on whether worship leaders in church should be capable singers. People gave all kinds of answers about how distracting it is when the leader can't sing, or how to assess the level and quality of their voices and 'the anointing,'  I thought a better question would be whether singers in church should be capable of worship as it's defined - devotion, honor, adoration, obedience, acknowledgement and reverence for the LORD. Capability must be determined within context.     Capability is important, but it's just the beginning. When Moses was exhausted from the duties of leading so many people, his father-in-law Jethro urged him to "select capable men from all the people -- men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain-- and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens." (Exodus 18:21) Their capabilities extended beyond leadership roles into character. Daniel and the Hebrew boys in exile in Babylon were chosen for leadership because they were, "young men without any physical defect, good-looking, suitable for instruction in all wisdom, knowledgeable, perceptive, and capable of serving in the king's palace - and to teach them the Chaldean language and literature." (Daniel 1:4) Those were human qualifications, but God knew that they were also the only ones capable of saying, "Even if we are thrown in the fiery furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us. We will never serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." (Daniel 3:17-18)     We are capable of living lives far more significant than we believe if we can see beyond what we're look at. Some of the best worship leaders would not be considered the greatest singers, but their intimacy with God transforms atmospheres and a river of the miraculous presence of God to save, heal, and deliver rushes in as they minister. Some of the most powerful leaders are not in the forefront, but behind the scenes wielding a great deal of influence with great character.  Today, you may be underestimating what you're capable of. Your attitude or conclusions  about yourself could be hindering forward momentum and future impact.  Former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz said,  "Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it."

SUNDAY Worship

11:00 AM Worship
The Great Room Sunday Class
9:30 AM Youth Room Basement
at Wyoming Presbyterian
225 Wyoming Ave., 45215
For information 513-212-1131

WEDNESDAY'S WORD - HOLDING PATTERN - 12/13/17 Sadell Bradley New Life Covenant Cincinnati

A holding pattern is a maneuver designed to delay an aircraft already in flight while keeping it in a specified airspace.  The aircraft have arrived at their destination, but cannot land yet because of traffic congestion, poor weather, or runway unavailability.  Several aircraft may fly in the same holding stack at lower speeds to save fuel, separated vertically by 1,000 feet or more.   New arrivals will be added at the top. The aircraft at the bottom of the stack will be taken out and allowed to make an approach first, and so on.  Air Traffic Control controls the whole process.

Here is a simple holding pattern, the planes are traveling basically in circles.  The new plane comes on top and follows the circular pattern.
For passengers, a holding pattern can bring anxiety and frustration.  You're scheduled to land at a certain time, now you're delayed.  You might have a connecting flight.  You've  begun the descent, are low enough to see the ground, yet you've slowed down and are going around and around!  If you dislike flying you just want to land get on the ground safely.

Sometimes in life, we're close to our desire/dream and it is as if God's hand slows us and start us circling, right when we're almost there!  Why? What is holding up?  Is there danger?  We don't know who else is held up with us (nor do we care), or what order we are in for landing. GOD, who controls both the air and the aircraft, will allow us to land at our destination when it seems best to HIM.

Zacharias the priest and his wife Elizabeth were faithful and righteous saints...but in a holding pattern.  Zacharias had prayed for a child for years.  The angel Gabriel appeared to him saying, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John." (Luke 1:13) The couple was older, and had been flying on the journey desiring offspring for so long, that Zacharias couldn't believe it was true. "How can I be sure of this? I am old and my wife is well along in years." (vs 18)  He thought it was too late...even impossible at their age. God's Word is true and His timing is perfect, though to us it seems delayed. To stop him from speaking unbelief, the Lord held Zacharias' tongue from speaking doubt, but He did not stop their appointment with destiny!  They didn't know the holding pattern and the timing of their baby's arrival was to coincide with the landing of another plane, that of Mary and Joseph, which carried John's cousin JESUS! the Messiah! the Savior of the world!

Are you in a holding pattern today? Does it seem like God is delaying you? slowing you down? Is He having you go around in circles when the destination is so close you can see it? Is He letting other planes land before yours? Trust Him to land YOU safely at YOUR destination in HIS perfect timing! 

Sunday Service at 11:00 AM

Class Youth Room 9:30 AM 

225 Wyoming Ave.  

Cincinnati OH 45215

  

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WEDNESDAY'S WORD - ALIGNMENT - Sadell Bradley 12/06/17 New Life Covenant Cincinnati

"Just as your car runs more smoothly and requires less energy to go faster and farther when the wheels are in perfect alignment, you perform better when your thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals, and values are in balance." - Brian Tracy, Author  On Sunday night, I awoke to excruciating back pain. I was writhing back and forth trying to get up to go to the bathroom, and could not stand fully nor walk easily.  I experience this periodically. In the past I had two car accidents: in one, I was side-swiped and the other, I was rear ended. Occasionally, a particular activity can 'throw my back out.' Usually, I go to the gym and walk it off, which I attempted to do at 4:00 am, but was still in pain. So I went to the Chiropractor who explained that my pelvis was rotated in such a way that my right leg was 1/2 inch shorter than my left. The strained muscles in my back were compensating for the lack of alignment in my hips. He shifted my hips back into alignment, and said I needed to strengthen my core. The shifting 'cure' made the pain even worse in the immediate, but ultimately would improve things.    ALIGNMENT is arrangement in a straight line, or in correct or appropriate relative positions.  We align wheels on cars and parts on machines. The routes of railroads are aligned, and obviously, the bones and muscles of our bodies align in mysterious ways.  ALIGNMENT is also a position of agreement or alliance. This figurative meaning is relational in context. Amos 3:3 asks, "Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction?"  Deciding to come into alignment with another is what we do when we're looking at the same thing and seeing two different answers. Someone has to say, "I'm seeing 3 here, but from your perspective it's 4, so we'll go with 4," or vice versa. Alignment resolves conflict and brings peace. Have you been out of alignment with God? Alignment requires humility. We are to align ourselves in submission to God and resist the devil (James 4:6-7)  There are also times when we must come into alignment with authorities (Rom. 13) parents, employers (Eph. 6), pastors (Heb 13:17), and eh hem...husbands (Eph 5). We can easily tell when we are out of alignment. There is spoken or unspoken disagreement, passive aggressive resistance, or even rebellion about a particular direction or viewpoint. We'd rather oppose, hinder, block or stall out the plan, than come into alignment. Often, it's because we think we're right about what we're seeing/interpreting. Saul thought He was right in persecuting Christians until Jesus confronted him. "It is hard for you to kick against the pricks," (Acts 9:5) meaning, it is hard for you to resist God's will. He continues to prod us into alignment, working in us both to will and to DO His good pleasure. (Phil 2:13) Now and then, we find it difficult to stay in alignment with ourselves! Author Shannon Adler said it this way, "When what you value and dream about doesn't match the life you are living, you have pain." Sometimes, it's excruciating. I thought the pain in my back was about my back, but it was really about my pelvis being out of line.  What is the pain in your life really about? Maybe it's time to come into alignment.

SUNDAY Worship

11:00 AM Worship
The Great Room Sunday Class
9:30 AM Youth Room Basement
at Wyoming Presbyterian
225 Wyoming Ave., 45215
For information 513-212-1131