WEDNESDAY'S WORD - WEARY - 09/26/18 Sadell Bradley New Life Covenant Cincinnati

"Then Jesus said, come to me all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you. Let me teach  you because I am humble (meek) and gentle (lowly) at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy to bear, and My burden is light."   Jesus - Matthew 11:28-30, NLT    WEARINESS is real. It is feeling or showing tiredness, especially as a result of excessive exertion or lack of sleep. Have you ever been worn out, exhausted? Jesus exposed some of the reasons. We're carrying burdens we weren't meant to deal with alone. Sometimes weariness is a result of pride - an attempt to gain satisfaction by striving for our own achievements or possessions. Our schedules are way too tight, and we leave no room for rest or the real remedy, time in God's presence. We also become weary when we are not meek: quiet, gentle and submissive. Our internal and external atmospheres are too loud. We neither practice silence nor solitude, and we rebel against the LORD. Weariness comes from engaging in physical, mental, verbal, emotional and spiritual conflicts. We feel we must speak up and retaliate for every wrong. In our insecurities and fears of getting hurt, we fight, resist, take flight, repress feelings, or become hard, harsh or pressing in our demeanor. In all of these, we flee from the ways of the Master, and it literally wears us out. Jesus says, "Come to Me," instead.    Paul encouraged us, "And let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." (Gal. 6:9) We grow tired while doing good things, helping others, and living the right way - particularly if we have not yet seen the reward of our service. He also instructed us to lay aside every weight and sin that so easily entangles and besets us, and run with patience the race set before us; looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who endured the cross and despised its shame and now sits at God's right hand. "Consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds."  (Hebrews 12:1-3) Contending with sin and grappling with the weights and distractions of life can slow us down. The weariness we feel in our bodies is really mental fatigue.      The good news is that by coming to God in repentance, times of refreshing will come from the presence of the LORD (Acts 3:19) In the presence of the LORD is the fullness of joy and at His right hand there are pleasures forevermore." (Psalm 16:9) That joy of the LORD is our strength for the journey, (Nehemiah 8:10) There is a rest that remains for the people of God. It is ceasing from our own striving/labors and trusting by faith that God has control of our lives and futures. (Heb 4:1-9) Charles Stanley said, "We can be tired, weary and emotionally distraught, but after spending time alone with God, we find that He injects into our bodies energy, power and strength."  Come to Him today and be at rest.     Join us for LIFT Service  TOMORROW NIGHT 7:00 PM The Great Room Annex Wyoming Presbyterian 225 Wyoming Ave. Cincinnati OH 45215 mynewlifetoday.com

Join us SUNDAYS 9:30AM Class 11:00 AM Worship Service 225 Wyoming Ave. Cincinnati OH 45215 mynewlifetoday.com

WEDNESDAY'S WORD - AMASS - Sadell Bradley - 09/11/18 - New Life Covenant Cincinnati

 

"Let no one profess to trust God, and yet lay up for future wants, otherwise the LORD will first send him to the hoard he has amassed before he can answer the prayer for more." - George Muller 

 

I had an interesting discussion about money and giving. Most clergy have heard someone say they will give more to the church when they hit the lottery or have a windfall. Of course, if you don't give when you have little...you probably won't when you have much. (Luke 16:10) I recall former pastors speaking about 'filthy lucre' and debating whether or not they would receive tainted funds for God's purposes. Since money itself is amoral, it would seem that the issue would be the motive of the heart of the one who is transacting business. Paul's familiar statement in 1 Timothy 6:10 is that the love of money is the root of all evil, which some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Whether to receive blemished money or goods seems quite the conundrum.  

 

"Whoever increases wealth by taking interest or profit from the poor amasses it for another, who will be kind to the poor." (Proverbs 28:8) That's not a frequently quoted proverb is it? You've probably heard this one, "A good person leaves an inheritance for their children's children, but a sinner's wealth is stored up for the righteous." (Proverbs 13:22) What would happen if we actually believed these verses? How would our expectations change? What would we think about so called...'dirty money?' What if we looked at the wealth AMASSED - gathered together or accumulated in large amounts over a period of time by unjust people as ultimately belonging to Christ followers to be used for Kingdom purposes? 

 

George Muller, quoted above, was an English evangelist who cared for 10,024 orphans during his lifetime. Muller established 117 schools which offered Christian education to more than 120,000 children. Muller is renowned for his faith for God's supply.  He did not use government funds, nor did he solicit or receive a salary. He was in constant prayer for the LORD to touch the hearts of people to make provisions for the orphans. He raised the equivalent of hundreds of millions of dollars. Miraculously, at each time of need, funds would be made available from some source. I wonder what the transfer of wealth would look like if we had this faith conviction?  

Join us SUNDAYS 9:30AM Class 11:00 AM Worship Service 225 Wyoming Ave. Cincinnati OH 45215 mynewlifetoday.com

WEDNESDAY'S WORD - DECEIT - Sadell Bradley - New Life Covenant Cincinnati

"In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act." - Unknown     Nowadays it's hard to find forthright, honest and truth-telling people. University of Massachusetts psychologist Ronald Feldman did a study that showed that 60% of people will lie an average of 2-3 times in a 10 minute conversation. It's not surprising that Noel Coward exclaimed, "It is discouraging how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit." DECEIT- is the action or practice of deceiving someone by concealing or misrepresenting the truth. Deceive means to cause someone to believe something that is not true, typically in order to gain some personal advantage; to give a mistaken impression; to catch, ensnare or cheat.    When the disciple Nathanael heard about Jesus, he asked, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Nathanael told it like it was and wasn't pulling any punches. This was refreshing to Jesus, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit," Christ proclaimed. (John 1:46-47) It is difficult to be a person of integrity without guile, but that's what we should be aiming for. There are enough sly and cunning tricksters in the world.       What's the difference between lying and deception? Lying is telling someone something that is not accurate. Deception is much broader. It is causing someone to believe something false as the truth. Deception can take many forms. Lying is just one manner by which an individual can be deceived. Deception can be concealment (omissions in speech, or physical), propaganda, distractions, etc. Deception is not always intentional. A person can even be self-deceived due to the reception of wrong information or rumor. Though lying and deceiving go together, they are not synonymous. (differencebetween.com)   Because deceit is not always intentional, we have to be on our guard to tell, hear and seek the truth. Ephesians 4:15 states that speaking the truth in love is a sign of maturity.  It's easy to spin accounts of what happened to benefit ourselves. There are three sides to every story, your side, my side and the truth. Proverbs 26:24 warns us that "Enemies disguise themselves with their lips, but they harbor deceit." "Shonuff! you say," --but sometimes the enemy is IN-A-ME.  Stumbling occurs over little white lies, shadings and hyperbolic statements. Our insecurities make us want to present our best selves to the world - but deceit is not a good look. That's why Paul told the church at Ephesus, "Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body." (Ephesians 4:25) After your next 10-minute conversation ask yourself...How many times did I just lie, deceive, withhold or embellish parts of the truth to spare myself, or to make myself look better or be right? Selah.

Join us SUNDAYS 9:30AM Class 11:00 AM Worship Service 225 Wyoming Ave. Cincinnati OH 45215 mynewlifetoday.com