Tuesday the 30th

Act 17:27  that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,

 

In the hope that they might feel their way, the KJV reads to "feel after" The Bishops bible from 1568 reads "that perhaps they might have felt and found Him". The Greek word used to capture that phrase is:  psēlaphaō that is, verify by contact; figuratively to search for: - feel after, handle, touch.

To feel after God, to search Him out through the sense of touch…..We have all been in the dark. The power has gone out, the lights get turned off, or it is so dark at night that you just can't see. What is the first thing you start looking for? Light. You have to find the light, your body craves it, your eyes strain for it, and your hands search out the surroundings looking for the flashlight, the switch, or the door knob. I went down into a cave once on a tour. When the group was well into the earth, they asked us to stand still, and they turned out the lights. It was the darkest I have ever seen…or I guess I should say have not seen. All I could think, was please turn the lights on, thanks! When the lights came back up, the tour guide pointed to the ceiling. You could see black circles of stained limestone. The guide explained that is where the original people who found the cave came down and their candles burnt the roof of the cave. Sometimes the candles would go out. Sometimes the people would get lost in the cave, and with no light they would wander in the darkness. If they were lucky enough to be found, it was not uncommon for the people to have gone insane. Driven insane by the darkness…… How dark is it in your world? Has your candle gone out, and you are wandering in the darkness? I know I feel that was sometimes. And it is this scripture that comes to mind. Feel your way towards God, and find him. You have to find the light, your body craves it. That empty feeling you get sometimes…..it is your body crying out to be filled with the love, and peace of God. Your eyes strain to see God in everything around you…..and if your eyes are opened, and you allow yourself to see, you too will find that He is not far form each one of us.  The Lord is always close by, it is just that our world is so dark, that we have to reach our hands out and feel our way to Him. If you will do that, if you will search for Him, feel for Him, you will find Him, and your world will be washed in the Light. We all venture into caves every now and then….and every now and then our candles do go out. Feel your way, search for him, and choose to never live in the darkness again!

 

 

God Bless,

Brian Thetford

<((((><

 

www.thenewcovenantchurch.com

 

www.theworkweekwithchrist.blogspot.com

 

Monday the 29th

Luke 8:24  And they went and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!" And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm.

 

1Cointhians 14:33  For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints,

 

When I read these passages I am reminded that the Lord works in a setting of peace and order, and we live in anything but. I am also reminded that when we find ourselves in chaos, or in troubled times, all we need to do is call out for the Lord. He will bring the peace that is needed. Christ will provide the calm. How often each day do we find ourselves in a situation where the world seems out of control….or more to the point out of our control. It is those times that serve to remind us that we never really had control in the first place. It is during those times that we can see that God does not deal in confusion God provides peace. So how do we get that, how do we lock on to that peace? I am convinced that it takes a lifetime to develop, but I can tell you this, a good place to start is with the Lord riding in your boat! You can start by calling on the Lord daily, not just when the storms start to brew. You can grab a part of that peace by simply asking for it. You can remove the confusion in your life by getting God into it. God is not a God of confusion, no matter how hard the devil tries to make Him out to be. God is perfect peace.  The storm does not have to get worse before it gets better, Christ will intervene on your behalf, and there will be a calm. You ,as so often in life, have to choose. Who is in control? Who is directing your steps? What type of environment do you want to live in; confusion, or peace, a storm, or a calm? Your life is yours to live, God will not force you to live for Him…..but when the storms get to rough, and the confusion becomes a roar…it is then you will realize, how could anyone want to live without Him?

 

 

God Bless,

Brian Thetford

<((((><

 

www.thenewcovenantchurch.com

 

www.theworkweekwithchrist.blogspot.com

 

Happy Thanksgiving

Colossians 3: 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving! Family, friends, my job, my house, my health….there are a ton of things that I could list here, and it would fill the page. However the one thing I am most thankful for is my salvation. Thanksgiving is not celebrated in Ireland, or in Britain. Head over to the USSR and you will miss out on Turkey today. Today is America's holiday. It was started because a group of people set out to worship God, and build a country on their terms. After hardship, and struggle…... Through hunger, sickness, and even death, this group of people finding themselves victorious and alive, gathered a feast to give thanks to God for their good fortune. It was a celebration to say thank you God for seeing us through. Let us not lose that very important point today. God has blessed this country; He has blessed each one of us. His hand of protection, and love hold us, and keep us. So today as we are hugging family and friends, as we gather to eat too much,
watch some football, and gear up for a shopping spree tomorrow, let us remember that small group of Americans the ones who never quit, the ones who never gave up, the ones who knew that God is a loving God, and in an outpouring of joy, and a show of gratitude they gathered to be thankful, thankful for their lives, thankful for their family, and thankful for the fact that God will always provide the way.

So Happy Thanksgiving, and thank you God for your faithfulness, your love, and the gift of your Son. Many of us have been going through our own tough times, let us give thanks to God for pulling us through!

God Bless,
Brian Thetford
<((((><

www.thenewcovenantchurch.com

www.theworkweekwithchrist.blogspot.com

Monday the 22nd

James 1: Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

 

The one who does not change like the shifting shadows, the one who holds true.  Time does not change God. I have spent a lot of time thinking about time here lately. A quick glance at my calendar reminds me that time is no friend of mine. I have much in my life, but if I lack two things, it would be time, and money. One I can change, the other is constant. So as I think of the busy schedules that we all must keep, the sacrifices that we must make, it leaves me wondering how much do we change? How often are we like those shifting shadows? Trying to elude time, and manipulate our schedule. What do we drop, what do we add on? What can we squeeze in, and what gets pushed out? How we respond to this, will tell us exactly how much we will change, and if that change will be beneficial, or damaging. God does not change, yet if anyone has a busy schedule it must be God right? So how does He do it all without changing who He is on a daily basis? Well I am convinced God does not run His life out of a day planner. He starts with one goal each day, Show the world His love, and then He works from there. As a result He does not get bogged down, He does not run out of time (as if that could happen, what is a day to God) He does not change. We could learn a lot from that simple process. What is the goal that you start each day off with? Could you imagine that goal being to show the world the Love of God? Oh wait, that is supposed to be our goal….right? How often though does that goal get pushed aside, as we cram so much into our day, that love is the last thing that we show? I talked to a friend (and actually I have heard many people say it) “I can’t sleep at night because of all of the things I have to do running through my head”, or “as soon as I wake up in the morning, I am already stressed about how much I have to get done.” In this busy world, we are leaving off the main goal, and getting focused on all of the items on our check list. As a result we do often change, sometimes for the better, but sometimes for the worse. We should write at the top of each page of our planners LOVE. Not For one day, but at the top of everyday, whatever else we can get in that day, great, but make sure it is filled with love. That is how we too can remain unchanging, giving off the light, and the love of the Lord. Instead of changing like the shifting shadows, let us strive to fill our day with love, and cast the shadows away forever.

 

 

God Bless,

Brian Thetford

<((((><

 

www.thenewcovenantchurch.com

 

www.theworkweekwithchrist.blogspot.com

 

Heads up

Most of you that have been with me for a while know that once or twice a year I will take a week off to really reflect, and focus on my personal relationship with the Lord. That is what I will be doing this week. I will be back and running strong on Monday.

 

God Bless,

Brian Thetford

<((((><

 

www.thenewcovenantchurch.com

 

www.theworkweekwithchrist.blogspot.com

 

Thursday the 11th

Romans 5: ⁷ Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

 

It is no secret Christ did die for our sins, He defeated death for our salvation. Because of that we receive the grace of God daily, not because we deserve it, as much as because He loves us.  There is another group of people, they too will lay their life down, As Paul says in the scripture it is rare for anyone to die for righteous person, yet this group pledges their life for the righteous, and the unrighteous, they protect us all and just as Christ died to cover our sin, this group of men and women will give their very life to cover our freedom. They will live in holes they dug in the ground, they will go into place most want to run out of, they will push back their own fears so that they might calm yours, they will go without, so that we might have more than we need. They are the men and women of our armed forces. They stand on walls, they go sleepless nights on borders, they patrol the darkness, so that we might live in the light. They are often brushed aside, taken for granted, and forgotten about. Today is Veterans day, make sure you give them your thanks. Many serving today on the other side of the world will never see our faces, or shake our hands. We will never meet them at a party, or a company mixer. Yet they are there. It is because of them, and all of those just like them that came before, that we enjoy this Country.  It is from the sacrifice of every man and woman that have worn, and do wear our country’s uniform that we have so many freedoms to enjoy today.  Today is the day to remember these fine men and women. Christ gave us our salvation, and it is the American Soldier that gives us the freedom to worship God today. 

 

 

The Soldier

I WAS THAT WHICH OTHERS DID NOT WANT TO BE.

 

I WENT WHERE OTHERS FEARED TO GO, AND DID WHAT OTHERS

FAILED TO DO.

I ASKED NOTHING FROM THOSE WHO GAVE NOTHING, AND
RELUCTANTLY ACCEPTED THE THOUGHT OF ETERNAL LONELINESS . . .
SHOULD I FAIL.

I HAVE SEEN THE FACE OF TERROR; FELT THE STINGING COLD OF FEAR;

 

AND ENJOYED THE SWEET TASTE OF A MOMENT’S LOVE.

 

I HAVE CRIED, PAINED, AND HOPED . . . BUT MOST OF ALL, I HAVE

 

LIVED TIMES OTHERS WOULD SAY WERE BEST FORGOTTEN.

 

AT LEAST SOMEDAY I WILL BE ABLE TO SAY THAT I WAS PROUD OF

 

WHAT I WAS . . . A SOLDIER.

George L. Skypeck

 

Vietnam Veteran

 

 

God Bless,

Brian Thetford

<((((><

 

www.thenewcovenantchurch.com

 

www.theworkweekwithchrist.blogspot.com

 

Wednesday the 10th

Proverbs 16: ³ Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.

 

Commit to the Lord whatever you do. This scripture is fairly straight forward, it seems easy enough. However what we tend to do is commit our plan to the Lord so He can establish our will. Lord, let me get this raise, Lord let me get this promotion, Lord let my relationships work out. The scripture reads commit what we do, not what we want. That is the cycle that is so hard to break. I have heard many people form lay people up to Pastors tell folks, “if that is what you want then pray for it.” We do each other a disservice when we give that advice. We don’t pray for it, we pray about it. We don’t demand that God fulfill our dreams, we ask that our dreams align with the will of God. I bring this up because I hear time and time again “why would God not give me this” or “why would God not allow this to happen” It becomes a huge stumbling block to many people’s faith. As a result they start to feel that they are serving a God that does not care about their happiness. God does not see what man sees. We see the outside, God looks to the inside. He does care about you, He does love you, however, we are here to serve Him, not the other way around. If you want your plans to be become established, if you want to move form the phase of dreaming about things happening, to the dream building phase, you have to commit, not what you want, but what you do to the Lord. God is the planner, we are the labor. The Lord will give you all the building materials that you need to get His plan moving, but you have to commit that action to the Lord. As I often say. It starts as soon as you open your eyes, who are you going to live for today? Who are you going to serve? If that answer is the Lord, then expect to start breaking ground today. When we spend our time living for others, helping others, building up others, you can rest assured that God is working to establish your plans. I hear a lot of people say well I know a lot of people who commit nothing to the Lord, yet their plans are fulfilled, and established. TO that I would say, I know a lot of people who live on junk food, and they are doing ok….for now. I know a lot of people who only worry about themselves and they are doing ok…..right this second. Know that people around you will lie, they will steal, and they will commit nothing to the Lord, and they will be successful…..for a time. But the person who lives on Junk food, will learn to live with stomach pains, they will become overweight, and unhealthy. The selfish will be fine until they have to rely on others, and they will find themselves alone, unable to continue forward. Those who do not want to commit to the Lord, eventually they will need the Lord to intervene, they will need His help, and when that time comes. Like any good parent, the Lord will let those people fail. Established plans are plans that do not change, they do not falter, they do not fade. These are the plans established by God in the lives of those that commit what they do. They are the plans that are established in the lives of those who commit everything they do to the Lord. Those plans will carry you not only through this lifetime, but well into Eternity. And Eternity, is the plan we all want established.

 

 

God Bless,

Brian Thetford

<((((><

 

www.thenewcovenantchurch.com

 

www.theworkweekwithchrist.blogspot.com