Thursday the 13th

2 Corinthians 4:  ⁷But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

 

You know, jars of clay are not the sturdiest things in the world. They chip, they crack, and ultimately they fall apart and become useless. As I read this scripture this morning I was reminded of a program I was watching this week about biblical discoveries. I am sure you have seen the sort of program, where the archeologists find all types of relics form the times of Christ. As I was listening to this man talk of the different things he had found on his various trips, I noticed in the background a clay jar. It was really pieces of a jar that was held together with tape. It looked like he was trying to piece it all back together, so that he might know what it looked like before, or that he might discover what it’s use was. All I could think about was what happened to the stuff that was inside of the jar? Think about it, what was in that jar when it finally broke? Was it empty? Had the owner recognized that the jar was getting old, so before it broke to pieces did he transfer the contents? Did the vessel just break spilling out the contents all over the floor? What about our vessels? We know what ours look like…. they are us; and we know the treasure that they hold; it is the spirit of the Lord. It is from here that we draw our strength, it is this contents that supplies us with the power, the drive, and the conviction to go out and profess the word of God. So what are we doing with our contents? Just like all clay vessels ours too will become old and brittle. It will crack, chip, and start to leak. We might work very hard to patch and mend our vessels, but in the end, like all things of this world, our vessels will become useless. How full will your vessel be when it’s usefulness runs out? Funny thing about our vessels, it seems the more we pour out on to the world, the more that it is replenished. If our job is to empty our vessel, that is to share, and inspire the Joy of God in all of those around us, how much will be left when the jar breaks? I for one pray that on the day I expire there is just enough left in the bottom of my jar to take me into the eternal with the Lord. For that to happen, we have to get busy pouring out that love from our vessel onto the world. I can think of nothing more tragic than to have a vessel come to the end of its usefulness only to break and spill it’s entire contents out onto the floor. What a waste! So I urge everyone, work to empty your vessel everyday. Yes each morning it will be full again, but do not let a day go by without trying to empty it out. This way when we stand before the Lord, we might e able to honestly say, “Lord as you have freely given to me, I have freely given to those around me. The countless blessings that you have filled my vessel with, have been poured out daily onto others.” May the world never have to wonder what was in our vessels. They will know because we have given them some of the treasure that was in it!

 

 

God Bless,

Brian Thetford

The New Covenant Church

www.thenewcovenantchurch.com

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wed the 12th

Isaiah 46: ¹⁰ I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.

 

 

God has a plan….I know that sometimes it might not seem like it…but make no mistake about it, He has had it for quite a while now, and He shows us bits and pieces as He reveals His power and Glory through His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Now we know that God works for the good in the lives of those that love Him and have been called to His purpose (Rom 8:28), but does that mean that all of our lives will be pain free? No most certainly it does not. We go through many seasons in our lives as we navigate this plan of the Lord’s. Maybe right now in your life you are going through a hardship, maybe you are being treated unfairly, or a loved one is being treated poorly. Does that mean that you have fallen out of God’s Grace, or  that God has quit working on your behalf? Absolutely not! I have no choice but to believe that these seasons are given to us as opportunities to trust in God. God is a promise keeper, he is not a liar, and He does not make half hearted promises. These challenging times in our lives are our chance to give glory to the Lord, not just in the days of sunshine when even the flippant opportunist might sing God’s praises, but in our dark stormy days, when the light is dim, the path is rough, and the storms of life have soaked us to the bone. It is then that we have the hard choice to make, will we allow the times to drive us into hiding, looking for worldly shelter, or will we let the season drive us to our knees where we will cast our cares onto the Lord, and sing his praises as we wait for His spectacular intervention on our behalf? These are the times that will try your faith. These rough patches are the perfect opportunity to step back and let God’s power shine through the rain clouds! He is working right now to turn things in your direction, nothing hides form the sight of God, all is laid bare before His eyes. Just as His hand was on Nehemiah, Moses, David, and Paul, His hand is upon you and your family now. Let God almighty right your wrongs, allow the Lord to lead you along the path, and He will clear the hurdles, and lay ruin to those who oppose His will. His plan will stand, and He will do as He pleases. Give Him the praise give Him the faith, and He will give you the strength.

 

 

God Bless,

Brian Thetford

The New Covenant Church

www.thenewcovenantchurch.com

<))))><

 

 

 

Tuesday the 11th

Proverbs 11: ²⁴ One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. ²⁵ A generous man will prosper;  he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

 

We were standing in line waiting to rent a movie. My daughter had just won a stuffed animal out of one of those claw games where you have to snare the animal and rescue it form a sea of stuffed animals. In front of us was a little girl and her mother, there we all stood patiently waiting in line minding our own business. For no apparent reason my daughter holds out the stuffed animal and ask the little girl “ do you want it, here you can have it, I don’t need it.” Well, as you can imagine all the adults just kind of looked at each other, but right then and there my daughter taught those around us more about being a Christian than I could teach in a month of Sundays. There was no “reason” to give. There was no proclamation heralded that we should at this time freely give……it was just two kids, one seeing something that they wished they had, and the other who realized that the child would be happier than she was to have the stuffed animal……What a lesson! How much do we have that we do not really need? How much time have we selfishly held on to in front of the TV or computer? How much kindness have we withheld as if we have a limited supply that might no be replenished? How much money have we blown, that could have fed someone in need? See….the kids get it (at least more than we often do) You can’t get more, if you have no room to fit it into your life. The only logical thing to do is get rid of some stuff! Have you noticed that the tighter you hold onto something the less attractive it is? The possessions will eventually become a burden because you end up spending so much energy maintaining what you have. Try something liberating today, give something that you have (especially if it is owned in excess) away. Give up that extra 5 min to help someone out, show kindness to someone who you normally would overlook, give some extra money to someone who needs it. Do these things and see if more does not flow into your life. Is this not how our heavenly Father treats you? Do you only get blessings in your life when you deserve them? Of course not! A lot of times you are standing in line minding your own business. Make room in your life for all that the Lord has to give you. You might just find that handing the blessings out is far more enjoyable that when you get them yourself!

 

 

God Bless,

Brian Thetford

The New Covenant Church

www.thenewcovenantchurch.com

<))))><

 

 

 

Monday the 10th

Romans 12: ⁹Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.

 

Sincere love, clinging to good, devoted to one another, and putting everyone else above yourself. That is a big jagged pill to swallow this morning….. no? It sounds delightful to read, wonderful to imagine, but MAN is it hard to actually do! I know I can’t get there under my own power, I am betting that you are thinking the same. That is just another reason God gave us His Son. Who sincerely loves you? Who always clings to the good? Who is devoted to you, and puts you as an individual above all else on this planet? God; three letters, one name, but unbelievable patience, forgiveness, devotion, and love. For me, realizing this truth is my only hope for trying to display this type of behavior to others. Are there days where I wake up and feel hateful? You know it….. I know selfishness can be a hard one to overcome some days. You can tell me all day that I should do this, or I should act this way, but what drives me to my knees, what cuts me to the bone, is the times that I stop and ask how I could ever think of treating others any other way. My God, the One true living God, shows me more love than I deserve, at times when I can’t even bear to love myself. If my heavenly Father, pours out His love and blessings so undeservingly onto me, how can I even consider treating others with the same outpouring? As God loves us, may we each love those around us!

 

 

God Bless,

Brian Thetford

The New Covenant Church

www.thenewcovenantchurch.com

<))))><

 

 

 

Thursday the 6th

John 18:  ²³"If I said something wrong," Jesus replied, "testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?"

 

The truth is a hard thing to hear sometimes. We don’t like it, we don’t like the way it makes us feel, and we don’t like the way it makes us think about ourselves. So we strike out at whatever is close by, and typically it is the person who is speaking the truth. There is a couple of things to learn form this encounter that Christ had with the high priest. The truth is a concrete thing. There are not shades of the truth, there is just the truth. Everything else that we put out….we like to call it, ”sugar coating” it is just is just a diminished version of the truth. While we do that to save others feelings, there are times when we cannot sugar coat the truth because we cannot afford to have the point missed. This is how it is when it comes to our faith…..or our lack of it. The truth must be spoken, and once you do that a few times it becomes easier to do. Christ never had a problem speaking the plain and simple truth. Yes you might upset some people but it is that emotion that well evoke change. But then we have the flip side, see, we are not perfect, we will make mistakes, we will get it wrong…..and we will be called out on it. How do we handle that? Yes being a good Christian is certainly looking out for your fellow Christian, and searching for the lost, but it is also recognizing our own short comings, and not just accepting them, but working to change them.  You want to see a surprised look? The next time someone calls you out for one of your shortcomings, if it is in fact something you did, don’t defend yourself, just say “I know, I am working on that”. In short own it. Our knee jerk reaction is to strike back, to inflict pain as quickly as possible, typically at a rate of two hurts to their one! Don’t fall into that trap of the devil! It chips away at your soul, It keeps you from growing as a Christian. How will we reach our potential if we are not willing to work on half of the equation? That emotion that you understand others need to feel sometimes to bring about change, cuts both ways, and when we feel it, we should recognize it, and if it is honest criticism, then we should own it. I will be the first to tell you, it is not fun, and I will concede that it is a hard thing to do; but if we work on ourselves as hard as we work on others, we will see in the mirror a glimpse of the person that God sees when He looks at us.

 

 

God Bless,

Brian Thetford

The New Covenant Church

www.thenewcovenantchurch.com

<))))><

 

 

 

Wed the 5th

John 15: ¹⁶You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.

 

 

We are all just regular people, we are broken, and imperfect. We spend a lot of time trying to fix our cracks, and our imperfections, so that we might fit into what the world calls perfect. Yet we will never reach perfection, our perfection comes from Christ, and it is that perfection through Christ that we must strive for…..and do you know what? The Lord loves your cracks, and your imperfections. He will use your strengths and your weaknesses, that is why He chose you…and He did, He chose YOU. I am reminded of the story of a man who lived in a village that their only water came from a stream nearby. Each day, the man would put a clay pot on each end of a pole, put the pole over his shoulders, and walk down to the water to fill the jars so that he might have water for the day. Both of the jars looked the same, but the one on the right had a crack. Each day the man would fill the jars, but by the time he got back home the jar on the right was only half full. This imperfection really bothered the jar. He wanted to be perfect so that he might serve his master well. Every day he would admire the perfection in the jar that hung on the left. Finally not being able to stand it any longer he cried out to his master, “why will you not fix me?” “Why do you allow me to be broken, and only do half the job I was designed for”? To that the master replied as we come home tomorrow look not at the other jar on the pole, but onto the ground underneath you. On the trip home the cracked jar did not understand at first, so the master asked, do you see all of the flowers along your side of the path on the way home? It is because of your imperfection that these flowers are here. You see, I do not need two full jars of water, and because of your imperfection, you have helped bring life where there was none before, I fill you with life giving water, and that life passes out through you onto the world. I did not choose you in spite of your imperfection…..I chose you because of your imperfection.

Each of us are that cracked pot. God is using us now, and we do not even realize it. Imagine the things we could accomplish if instead of trying to be perfect in the eyes of the world, we paid attention to where the Lord was using us. He chose each of us for our unique qualities that only we have. Do not be in such a hurry to fix what you think might be broken, it might be the very thing that the world around you needs to live. We want more, we want better, we want bigger, but we already have what we NEED. Let us use that to our masters pleasure. We will never be perfect, but we are perfect in Christ. 

 

 

God Bless,

Brian Thetford

The New Covenant Church

www.thenewcovenantchurch.com

<))))><

 

 

 

 

God Bless,

Brian Thetford

The New Covenant Church

www.thenewcovenantchurch.com

<))))><

 

 

 

Monday the 3rd

1 Corinthians 10: ¹²So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!

 

I was asked this weekend if I knew I was going to heaven. My answer was, today….yes. If we go today, I am going. Of course the next  question was what do you mean? Something might happen that would change that? Yes, something could happen that would change that. Am I saying that God will withdraw His  love? Never, nothing can separate us from God’s love….but we can choose not to accept it. We can become so sure of ourselves that we forget who we are and where we come from. I think of the Sanhedrin, and Pharisees, all of the “holy Men” of Christ’s day. Were they not sure of themselves? They had become so involved in their religion, they lost their faith. That is my fear, and that is why I will always answer that question the same….today yes….you see today I know that I am nothing without Christ. Today I know I am a recovering sinner. Today I remember just how lost I was, and how sinful my life was. Everyday is a struggle. The sin addiction is a tough one indeed, and much like a drug addict the battle is fought one day at a time. This warning was not for the people new to the faith. No it was for those that knew the word, had heard the truth spoken, and were living the new life with Christ. This warning still applies today. It is easy to become so sure of yourself that you become what you despised. The gossip, the people who are more than happy to condemn you while forgetting about themselves….these are the modern day Pharisees. These are people who have fallen, and do not even realize it.  Yes we can all fall, we can all transgress, but let us be aware, let us be present, let us never allow ourselves to become so sure of ourselves that we don’t realize the ground is no longer under us. So yes, today I am good, but tomorrow the sun will rise again, and the struggle will resume. Stand firm, don’t fall.

 

 

God Bless,

Brian Thetford

The New Covenant Church

www.thenewcovenantchurch.com

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