Breath of Fresh Air

In Dennis Gillett's book "The Genius of Discipleship" (the Joy chapter) - he wrote -

The proposal is...
that joy transcends adverse circumstances and may even transform them!

Allow God to transform YOU today!

There is a peace that passes all understanding in the truth.

I have seen it in others, and in myself.

I have had some rather difficult times lately, and in thinking and meditating on the word of God, and in praying about those difficulties, there is a peace that comes over me that passes all understanding.

Sister Anna, I really appreciate your words - I think the peace that we can show others is a true preaching tool - preaching by our actions, like Abraham, declaring that "these things don't weigh me down - I'm looking for a better life in God's Kingdom!!" I loved your breath of fresh air!

This idea came from a friend, Joy Knight, I am just passing it along.
Happiness is dependent by "happenings"...Too many people are just trying to be happy.
On the contrary, Joy is the quiet, confident assurance of God's love and work in our lives that no matter what He will be there.

Neh. 8:10 ...for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

Phil. 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: again I say, Rejoice.

Phil. 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

I had an interesting thought last night: the Bible is truly a "self-contained breathing apparatus."

*Our sensitiveness to sin
depends on our nearness to God!*

"Draw nigh unto Him"

The LORD is in control of the happenings in this world. More importantly for us, He is in control of our lives in the sense He is aware of our needs and will provide for us what we need. He works in marvelous ways - mysterious ways even. Who would have thought, prior to the crucifixion, that nailing the Son of God to a tree so that He could be a willing sacrifice would be the key to salvation for mankind? If we will trust in Him, He is faithful to give us exactly what we need, no matter how out-of-the-ordinary it may seem...

I recently came about your website and found some things within to be intriguing. Please tell me your definition of "love" and your resources/references used to define it.

Love is defined well in I Corinthians 13. The theme: it is always giving up yourself. Or even more...God is Love, and He gave His Son! Parents can hardly imagine such a sacrifice. The Beatles were certainly not the first to come up with the fact that "all you need is love!"

My dear brothers and sisters, Stand Firm! Let nothing move you!
(Read 1 Corinthians 15:51-58)
 Verse 58 is the Bible School theme verse this year. The one we will repeat every morning or sing. The verse that will be hanging on the banners, and on the walls. The verse that will be on the bookmarks and the stickers in the bookstore.
 Bible School! We look forward to it for so much more than the theme verse. Many of us remember what we looked forward to when we were kids. The tree, the pool, the crushes, the mischief.
 As adults, we look forward to the wonderful classes that inspire us and help grow in understanding about the content of the bible. Our spiritual lives are given another jolt of energy and reaffirmation. Many of us enjoy the recreation! It is the week in the year where we have unlimited food prepared for us and cleaned up after us There is singing, etc.
 For me and maybe you, one of the most important parts of the week is seeing specific loved ones who we have made connections with and building on those pre-existing friendships. We reconnect with loved ones who are struggling along in their walk like we are. We meet new people and we build support systems.
 It is easier for us to be spiritual, trusting, loving, etc during that week at bible school. It is perhaps a small taste of what the Kingdom will be like.
 When we are away from bible school there are days and months when we are tempted and fail miserably.
 Maybe some of us are experiencing one of these moments right now. A time when thinking about God and acting on his behalf is not at the forefront of our minds and actions.
 We ALL have had these times, where sin was all around us and we are TEMPTED!
 The church in Corinth was having these times of struggle.
 Like today, there were many temptations in Corinth and quite possibly tougher temptations because of this ancient societies positive view towards religious prostitution.
 Corinth contained at least 12 temples. One of the most infamous was the temple dedicated to Aphrodite, the goddess of love, whose worshipers practiced religious prostitution. At one time there were over 1000 sacred prostitutes serving her temple. So widely known did the immorality of Corinth become that the Greek verb “to Corinthinize” came to mean, “to practice sexual immorality”.
 And this is the setting of the Corinthian Church.
 Paul writes about all the issues that needed attention. Some of these problems included immaturity, instability, divisions, jealousy, envy, law-suites, marital difficulties, sexual immorality and misuse of gifts.
 I am sure that we all have struggled with one of the issues discussed in Paul’s letter. to the Corinthians. Or maybe you are struggling with something Paul does not address in this book.
 The question is what do we do when we have trials? Who do we rely on? Who do we talk too?
 Are we hearing from that person about the good news coming to us from the resurrection of Jesus, that this power of sin is broken. That we are no longer helpless. That we are no longer unable to change.
 Sometimes we are troubled by an unending struggle we feel within to try to be different, but we cannot find the way. Maybe it is a vicious temper, or a lustful mind, which turns everything into sexual fantasies, or a bitter spirit, which views the actions of others in a suspicious light.
 Whatever the struggle, how do we get free from those terrible feelings, especially the guilt that comes over us because of them?
 Well, the good news is that there is a way. Sin's power has been broken. We have been given a way to say No! Even when we fail there is a way of relief so that we can have the failure cleansed and put away and it no longer needs to haunt us.
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:57 RSV)
 I want you to notice that Paul speaks in the present tense. It is not past, who gave us the victory. It is thanks be to God who keeps on giving us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
 I do not know anything that means more to me as a Christian than the fact that every day I can lay hold of the grace of Jesus Christ. He is not a distant Savior who lived twenty centuries ago. He is alive, and I meet with him every day. When I find myself having failed, faltered, and sinned, I come again and receive from him the cleansing that he has won for me on the cross. My sins are washed away anew. I am forgiven once again, and given a clean slate to start over again from that moment. That gives me new power to say No! to all the evil temptations in my life.
 We do rely on Jesus but it is also important to rely on spiritual people in our lives.
 So who is the one that encourages you, who you lean on?
 Who is your Paul?
 Or maybe it is your turn to be the one like Paul that listens, advises and then encourages, saying Therefore, my beloved brethren, (1 Corinthians 15:58a RSV)
 So when we struggle, look at the struggle as an opportunity for us to receive a ministry in which a dear friend witnesses, helps to changed our lives, helps to bring again a heart at peace, and reaffirms the experience of the radiant joy of fellowship with a living Lord.
 And if you are the one who notices someone in need, do not turn your back. Here is an opportunity for you to have a ministry in which you witness, you demonstrate the possibilities of a changed life, a heart at peace, the radiant joy of fellowship with a living Lord and a living brother or sister. Use this opportunity to let love pour out of your heart to those who, like you, have struggled and lost frequently in the rat race of life.
 That is what God sends us out to do as Christians. He has given us a work, not that we might make notable achievements that men applaud and make a name for ourselves.
 God looks for how are we behaving towards others? God looks for how we show a loving spirit, a gracious forgiving attitude, a willingness to return good for evil, an ability to speak a word of release to those who are prisoners of their own habits, to set free those who are oppressed by wrong, hateful attitudes, and to bind up the brokenhearted.
 That is the work of the Lord. That is why God gives us contact with others. That is why we have been given the ecclesia. That is why God has given us our work.
 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:58 RSV)
 Something has already happened to us who know Jesus. Maybe you have lost touch with him right now and the opportunity is here again to say, Lord Jesus, risen Lord, come into my life again. Change me. Give me release from my sins; set me free from my evil past and begin to heal my present with your radiant love.
 When we do this there is guaranteed to us, that there is coming a day when we shall all be changed. On that day, what God has been working out in secret among us, will become radiantly visible to all. Paul calls it the day of "the manifestation of the sons of God," (Romans 8:19).
 Remember what will happen on that day! WE WILL BE CHANGED! In a flash, in a twinkle of an eye, at the last trumpet. The trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised, and we will be changed.
 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
 However our Lord has not returned yet. We are all still here in our sinful mortal bodies.
 So as we go off to bible school in a few weeks, remember when you are speaking to people that they might be reaching out for you to be a support to them. Listen to them and offer an opportunity to be a support.
 If you are struggling, do not be ashamed to confess and have a meaningful conversation with a brother or sister.
 Build those loving trusting relationships that you may only have with a few people.
 Build those relationships like the one Paul exemplifies as he writes to the Corinthians so it becomes easier to STAND FIRM, and LET NOTHING MOVE
much love, mat