Photo "Old Time Religion" taken by Dalyn Woodard copyright Eclectic Imagery.
ULM
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Rising Above Discouragement
Wednesday evening, February 26, 2014, Dalyn Woodard delivered a message at NCF on how to handle hard times and what to do when we get discouraged. The sermon, "Rising Above Discouragement" is about 42 minutes in length. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen.. May God bless and keep you.
Photo "Old Time Religion" taken by Dalyn Woodard copyright Eclectic Imagery.
Photo "Old Time Religion" taken by Dalyn Woodard copyright Eclectic Imagery.
Running Out Of Gas
Wednesday evening, February 19, 2014, Dalyn Woodard delivered a message at NCF on how to refuel when we run dry. The sermon, "Running Out Of Gas" is about 27 minutes in length. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen. May God bless and keep you.
Photo "Old Time Religion" taken by Dalyn Woodard copyright Eclectic Imagery.
Photo "Old Time Religion" taken by Dalyn Woodard copyright Eclectic Imagery.
Keeping Dreams Alive
Wednesday, January 22, 2014 Dalyn Woodard delivered a message at NCF on dealing with the dreams we have and that God has given us in the face of life's circumstances. The sermon, "Keeping Dreams Alive" is about 40 minutes in length. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen. May God bless and keep you.
Photo "Old Time Religion" taken by Dalyn Woodard copyright Eclectic Imagery.
Photo "Old Time Religion" taken by Dalyn Woodard copyright Eclectic Imagery.
Critical Thinking
Wednesday evening, January 8, 2014 Dalyn Woodard delivered a message at NCF on dealing with a critical spirit. The sermon, "Critical Thinking" is about 21 minutes in length. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen. May God bless and keep you.
Photo "Old Time Religion" taken by Dalyn Woodard copyright Eclectic Imagery.
Photo "Old Time Religion" taken by Dalyn Woodard copyright Eclectic Imagery.
Monday, January 6, 2014
Out With The Old
In order for change to take place and for us to become effective spiritually, we must let go of our past and embrace our future. God doesn't want us to be burdened by the weight of our past. That is why His forgiveness is by grace and not works so that we don't even have the burden of earning it. That's why the scriptures tell us that He has removed our sins from us as far as the East is from the West. That's why there are repeated instructions to release the past and press forward to the goal.
Because of the grace and power of God, our future is not determined by our past. God doesn't want our vision of the future to be limited by the shadow of the past. God's desire for us is that we walk free of the past in the present peace and power that comes from faith and trust in Him. God's vision of our future is so much more and better than we could ever dream on our own.
Forgetting and forgiveness go hand in hand, whether it is forgiving ourselves or others. When we forgive, we must forget. Now obviously forgiveness doesn't erase memory. Some hurts and mistakes may not ever be truly forgotten, but to forget can also mean to choose not to bring something to mind. We can choose to forsake what is behind, refusing to dwell and meditate on the past, and that is just as much forgetting as being unable to recall something.
Forgiving our past and choosing to think instead on what is good and true, especially about what we have been taught and the things of God is the key that opens the door to freedom from the past and to the promises and blessings of God.
The past is a chain the enemy uses to keep us shackled to misery, defeat, and spiritual ineffectiveness. God has made all things new though, and that includes the future. We forget the past in that we stop looking at it in the negative way that causes it to be a weapon we wield against ourselves, but that past doesn't disappear. It, like our future, is transformed by God. The past becomes a tool to give us victory and to help others instead of a chain to keep us bound. It becomes the word of our testimony that coupled with the blood of Christ brings us the power to overcome our spiritual enemies.
Paul had to release his past identity as Saul, a persecutor of Christians, in order for him to move forward in the ministry to which God called him. But when it would be beneficial he brought up what happened so that the change that had taken place would testify to all of God's love and power and grace. That is what can happen with our past as well. When we come into relationship with God, we receive a new identity in Him, through Him. We are no longer who we once were. So we are no longer a result of our past but a new creature, God’s mercy and grace are new every day.
It's God's will that we remember what He has done for us, the forgiveness, grace and mercy He has showered on us and to focus on the miraculous transformation of caterpillar to butterfly rather than on the life and diet of the caterpillar. God chooses not to remember our sins. Hebrews 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. If God no longer holds our past against us, neither should we.
Because of the grace and power of God, our future is not determined by our past. God doesn't want our vision of the future to be limited by the shadow of the past. God's desire for us is that we walk free of the past in the present peace and power that comes from faith and trust in Him. God's vision of our future is so much more and better than we could ever dream on our own.
Forgetting and forgiveness go hand in hand, whether it is forgiving ourselves or others. When we forgive, we must forget. Now obviously forgiveness doesn't erase memory. Some hurts and mistakes may not ever be truly forgotten, but to forget can also mean to choose not to bring something to mind. We can choose to forsake what is behind, refusing to dwell and meditate on the past, and that is just as much forgetting as being unable to recall something.
Forgiving our past and choosing to think instead on what is good and true, especially about what we have been taught and the things of God is the key that opens the door to freedom from the past and to the promises and blessings of God.
Not that I have already reached the goal or am already fully mature, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.
- Philippians 3:12-14
The past is a chain the enemy uses to keep us shackled to misery, defeat, and spiritual ineffectiveness. God has made all things new though, and that includes the future. We forget the past in that we stop looking at it in the negative way that causes it to be a weapon we wield against ourselves, but that past doesn't disappear. It, like our future, is transformed by God. The past becomes a tool to give us victory and to help others instead of a chain to keep us bound. It becomes the word of our testimony that coupled with the blood of Christ brings us the power to overcome our spiritual enemies.
Paul had to release his past identity as Saul, a persecutor of Christians, in order for him to move forward in the ministry to which God called him. But when it would be beneficial he brought up what happened so that the change that had taken place would testify to all of God's love and power and grace. That is what can happen with our past as well. When we come into relationship with God, we receive a new identity in Him, through Him. We are no longer who we once were. So we are no longer a result of our past but a new creature, God’s mercy and grace are new every day.
And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.
-1 Timothy 1:12-16
It's God's will that we remember what He has done for us, the forgiveness, grace and mercy He has showered on us and to focus on the miraculous transformation of caterpillar to butterfly rather than on the life and diet of the caterpillar. God chooses not to remember our sins. Hebrews 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. If God no longer holds our past against us, neither should we.
Friday, January 3, 2014
Defrosting The Heart
I drove Leah to work this morning, as I often do. I failed to warm up the truck before we left, as I also often do, so it took most of the trip before the heater began blowing warm air. I drove huddled in on myself against the cold. As I began to hurt from keeping my muscles tense too long, I pictured myself from the outside, looking smaller than I actually am, curled in on myself and shrunken from the cold.
The cold makes us small. This is also true when the winter is within. When our hearts grow cold, cold toward God, toward others, towards life, our souls shrivel, and we shrink in on ourselves. A body bent against the cold wind bears the same form as a body carrying a heavy burden, as though the cold has weight. Unforgiveness tears through the heart like a savage north wind, pounding us in on ourselves, keeping us burdened down, huddled in the misery of our frozen heart. It isn't the subject of our unforgiveness that suffers. We who refuse to forgive and embrace the warmth of love and grace towards those that have wronged us, or those who we perceive have hurt us, are the ones who suffer from the cold, the ones who slowly freeze to death.
In order to make the request found in the Lord's prayer that God forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us we have to first acknowledge our need to be forgiven. I don't need a one time wiping clean of the slate but a continual washing. As I walk in relationship with God, turning my will and life over to Him, and practicing the spiritual principles I have learned in every area of my life, selfishness and sin loosens its hold over me. But there is still sin and areas of selfishness that have power in my life and need to be taken seriously.
I must face this problem. I have to see the areas where I have lived as though there is no God, or if there is a God, that He has no control or part in that area of my life. Where have I acted as though I am in control of my own will and life? Where have I attempted to gain what I want or to meet my own needs with my own power and without regarding God's will for my life or how my actions will effect others? Where have I been selfish and self-centered?
In parables Jesus made it clear that we can not be one who is forgiven so much and yet refuses to give mercy and forgive those who owe us. I have heard it said that as we pray the Lord's Prayer the word as is like an equals sign. We are praying to God and asking Him to forgive us in the same way and manner that we forgive others. If we are to acknowledge God's love for us and ask Him to forgive us where we have missed the mark and fallen short of the goal, we must extend this grace and forgiveness to everyone who may have injured us in any way regardless of intent, regardless of whether they did something or failed to do something, regardless of if they even acknowledge or accept that they have wronged us and need to be forgiven.
Jesus didn't teach us to say forgive me and I will try to forgive them, I will at some point forgive, I will pretend to forgive. He taught us to pray forgive me as I forgive them. I can not request or demand my release for guilt while holding onto my right to hold another accountable for his or her guilt. I have to rid myself of all resentment and condemnation of others and of myself. If God has forgiven me, what right do I have to continue to flog and punish myself for the past?
Forgiveness is not just something for me to receive. It must also be offered. Even so, going back to the equals idea of the clause, and this is important, there is no way that we can earn forgiveness by anything we do, not even by forgiving others. We can not earn forgiveness credits by forgiving any number of others, great, small or total. Forgiveness is by God's grace through Christ, not by any merit we have. But unforgiveness can block God's blessing in our lives.
There are actually two Greek words used here. Forgive us our sins uses the common Greek noun hamartia, meaning sin, miss the mark. In the next phrase, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us, the word sin translates the Greek verb opheilo, meaning owe, be indebted. We've all met people who feel that everyone owes them something; those who hold a grudge are something like that. I know that I am guilty of having lived with that attitude, and I highly suspect that all of us have felt this way. They nurse a hurt, a slight, a sin until it separates them from the person, and from God Himself.
I have seen many people who wonder why they aren't experiencing God's fullness. I have been one of those people. At the bottom of this feeling is a root of bitterness, resentment and unforgiveness toward someone or something who has hurt them deeply. The key to freedom is forgiveness. Setting others free means setting myself free. Holding resentment against someone chains me to that person. It gives them power and control over areas of my life, and limits me. I am no longer free when I am unable to forgive. Why would I want to attach myself for life to the people who have done me the most harm? Why would I let them have power over how I feel and act? Instead of belonging to God, instead of turning my will and my life over to the God who loves and cares about me, I have now given part of my life, if not all of it, and my will, how I will act and react and feel, over to the care of people who have already proven themselves, at the least, unable to properly care for me at all times and, at worst, are actively trying to hurt me. It's like hiring a bodyguard that I know is either incompetent or has been paid way more to see me dead.
But how do I do it? How do I forgive the unforgivable? The pain and hurt and injustice that has shredded and nearly killed me and in which I have used the anger I have over it to fuel my very being for years until I am used up and shriveled in on myself unable to stay warm...how do I let that go? The key is willingness. I don't have to at first figure out how to break the glue that binds resentment to my heart, but I only have to be willing to have that glue broken. Willingness to forgive is actually the biggest part of what we have to do.
We can pray and declare to God that we fully and completely forgive the person who has harmed us. We declare the matter released and let go. The case against this person is closed forever, just as the case against me is closed because of the grace of God. We cast the burden of resentment upon Christ to carry it or let if go as He wills, but we will no longer carry it ourselves. We declare the person free of the debt to us and us free of the bondage of holding their debt against them. Then thank God for forgiveness and freedom and move on.
When the person or incident comes to mind and brings pain or anger once more, we simply remind ourselves that they are forgiven by us and by God, as we are. This is a closed case, and there is no need to reopen or reexamine it. Then we pray a prayer of blessing on the person. Pray everything for them that we want for ourselves. We show love. Wash, rinse repeat as necessary. How long will this take? Who knows. It varies. But if we do it faithfully, the resentment, the feeling again of hurt and anger, the unforgiveness trying to rise from the dead will occur less and less until the matter is gone from our heart and mind forever. The freedom and peace that will come to take the place of resentment is well worth the price of releasing our right to be mad. The warmth of loving as we are called to love will thaw our cold hearts, and we will find that not only can we walk tall, but the love of God will radiate from us and warm those around us who are still hunched and hurting from the cold.
The cold makes us small. This is also true when the winter is within. When our hearts grow cold, cold toward God, toward others, towards life, our souls shrivel, and we shrink in on ourselves. A body bent against the cold wind bears the same form as a body carrying a heavy burden, as though the cold has weight. Unforgiveness tears through the heart like a savage north wind, pounding us in on ourselves, keeping us burdened down, huddled in the misery of our frozen heart. It isn't the subject of our unforgiveness that suffers. We who refuse to forgive and embrace the warmth of love and grace towards those that have wronged us, or those who we perceive have hurt us, are the ones who suffer from the cold, the ones who slowly freeze to death.
In order to make the request found in the Lord's prayer that God forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us we have to first acknowledge our need to be forgiven. I don't need a one time wiping clean of the slate but a continual washing. As I walk in relationship with God, turning my will and life over to Him, and practicing the spiritual principles I have learned in every area of my life, selfishness and sin loosens its hold over me. But there is still sin and areas of selfishness that have power in my life and need to be taken seriously.
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word has no place in our lives. My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But is anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense - Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
- I John 1:8-2:2
I must face this problem. I have to see the areas where I have lived as though there is no God, or if there is a God, that He has no control or part in that area of my life. Where have I acted as though I am in control of my own will and life? Where have I attempted to gain what I want or to meet my own needs with my own power and without regarding God's will for my life or how my actions will effect others? Where have I been selfish and self-centered?
In parables Jesus made it clear that we can not be one who is forgiven so much and yet refuses to give mercy and forgive those who owe us. I have heard it said that as we pray the Lord's Prayer the word as is like an equals sign. We are praying to God and asking Him to forgive us in the same way and manner that we forgive others. If we are to acknowledge God's love for us and ask Him to forgive us where we have missed the mark and fallen short of the goal, we must extend this grace and forgiveness to everyone who may have injured us in any way regardless of intent, regardless of whether they did something or failed to do something, regardless of if they even acknowledge or accept that they have wronged us and need to be forgiven.
Jesus didn't teach us to say forgive me and I will try to forgive them, I will at some point forgive, I will pretend to forgive. He taught us to pray forgive me as I forgive them. I can not request or demand my release for guilt while holding onto my right to hold another accountable for his or her guilt. I have to rid myself of all resentment and condemnation of others and of myself. If God has forgiven me, what right do I have to continue to flog and punish myself for the past?
Forgiveness is not just something for me to receive. It must also be offered. Even so, going back to the equals idea of the clause, and this is important, there is no way that we can earn forgiveness by anything we do, not even by forgiving others. We can not earn forgiveness credits by forgiving any number of others, great, small or total. Forgiveness is by God's grace through Christ, not by any merit we have. But unforgiveness can block God's blessing in our lives.
There are actually two Greek words used here. Forgive us our sins uses the common Greek noun hamartia, meaning sin, miss the mark. In the next phrase, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us, the word sin translates the Greek verb opheilo, meaning owe, be indebted. We've all met people who feel that everyone owes them something; those who hold a grudge are something like that. I know that I am guilty of having lived with that attitude, and I highly suspect that all of us have felt this way. They nurse a hurt, a slight, a sin until it separates them from the person, and from God Himself.
I have seen many people who wonder why they aren't experiencing God's fullness. I have been one of those people. At the bottom of this feeling is a root of bitterness, resentment and unforgiveness toward someone or something who has hurt them deeply. The key to freedom is forgiveness. Setting others free means setting myself free. Holding resentment against someone chains me to that person. It gives them power and control over areas of my life, and limits me. I am no longer free when I am unable to forgive. Why would I want to attach myself for life to the people who have done me the most harm? Why would I let them have power over how I feel and act? Instead of belonging to God, instead of turning my will and my life over to the God who loves and cares about me, I have now given part of my life, if not all of it, and my will, how I will act and react and feel, over to the care of people who have already proven themselves, at the least, unable to properly care for me at all times and, at worst, are actively trying to hurt me. It's like hiring a bodyguard that I know is either incompetent or has been paid way more to see me dead.
But how do I do it? How do I forgive the unforgivable? The pain and hurt and injustice that has shredded and nearly killed me and in which I have used the anger I have over it to fuel my very being for years until I am used up and shriveled in on myself unable to stay warm...how do I let that go? The key is willingness. I don't have to at first figure out how to break the glue that binds resentment to my heart, but I only have to be willing to have that glue broken. Willingness to forgive is actually the biggest part of what we have to do.
We can pray and declare to God that we fully and completely forgive the person who has harmed us. We declare the matter released and let go. The case against this person is closed forever, just as the case against me is closed because of the grace of God. We cast the burden of resentment upon Christ to carry it or let if go as He wills, but we will no longer carry it ourselves. We declare the person free of the debt to us and us free of the bondage of holding their debt against them. Then thank God for forgiveness and freedom and move on.
When the person or incident comes to mind and brings pain or anger once more, we simply remind ourselves that they are forgiven by us and by God, as we are. This is a closed case, and there is no need to reopen or reexamine it. Then we pray a prayer of blessing on the person. Pray everything for them that we want for ourselves. We show love. Wash, rinse repeat as necessary. How long will this take? Who knows. It varies. But if we do it faithfully, the resentment, the feeling again of hurt and anger, the unforgiveness trying to rise from the dead will occur less and less until the matter is gone from our heart and mind forever. The freedom and peace that will come to take the place of resentment is well worth the price of releasing our right to be mad. The warmth of loving as we are called to love will thaw our cold hearts, and we will find that not only can we walk tall, but the love of God will radiate from us and warm those around us who are still hunched and hurting from the cold.
Monday, July 15, 2013
Holding Nothing Back
I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!
- Mark 9:24b
God desires relationship with us so much that He sacrificed everything to make that happen. He pursues us with a passion, but He also wants us to pursue Him. At times He seems so elusive, so hidden. Sometimes it feels like He wants us to hunt for Him without immediate success, to weary ourselves with the pursuit, miss the signs and come away empty handed at times, but to somehow in the seemingly unsuccessful times come to know the nature of God a little better. Belief and unbelief mix together to drive us to search even greater, remembering, even in the midst of doubt sparked in feeling unsuccessful in our search for God, that we are promised to find when we seek.
In the story that the opening quote from Mark comes from, a man brought his possessed son to some of Jesus' disciples and asked them to heal the boy. They couldn't. Jesus learned of the situation and told them to bring the boy to Him. The father begged Jesus to help his son.
I have sometimes wondered what that man must have been thinking and feeling. The Bible doesn't tell us. We know from the text that He had enough hope and faith to take the boy to the disciples. All around the area people were being healed and restored. He may not have known what to think of it, but He believed the stories enough to see if they could be true for Him as well. He himself confessed that He believed in Jesus, but in the same breath he admitted fears, doubts and unbelief. We aren't told exactly what the unbelief consisted of, but maybe it was something along the lines of: Is this healing really possible? Is this Jesus really all they say He is? His disciples couldn't help, can He really do this? What am I going to do if this doesn't work?
In response to the plea Jesus told the father that He could heal the boy if the father believed because anything is possible with belief. The father immediately cried out to Jesus, I do believe but help me overcome my unbelief! (NLT)
Even as he proclaimed his faith, the father humbly recognized his vulnerability, his weakness and doesn't try to hide the truth of his fear and doubt from Jesus. Jesus told him that he needed to believe and instead of trying to hide what might cause failure in his search for a solution, for an encounter with God, the father brought his belief and his unbelief to Jesus.
When we hold nothing back, even our doubts and questions and fear, from the Son of Compassion, He responds to us. We, like the father in Mark, do not need to control or overcome our unbelief as much as we need to make ourselves vulnerable by honestly trusting all of us, even what seems lacking, to the care of Jesus. And as we do this time and time again, we will discover that Jesus will never betray our vulnerability and will never fail us.
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