Senior Management

 by Chris Jones

It’s pretty easy to sit back and complain. Think about it. How often do things just get under your skin? It’s as if there’s no limit to the offenses that trigger our frustrations (political opinions, social differences, family drama, the check out line at Wal-Mart). Our first instinct is to lob insults and accusations, supposing things would be different if we were in charge.

So tell me, how exactly would things be different? What political powers would you replace? What social changes would you trigger? What injustices would you correct? If you had a direct line, a position of influence with the heads of all the world’s major corporations and economic and political powers, how would you exercise your authority?

Can you picture it?

Now, ask yourself, what are you doing with your position in the Kingdom? We rarely stop to realize that God has placed us in Senior Management. We have direct access to the throne of God. Read Ephesians 2. To paraphrase, it says, “You used to live in sin just like the rest of the world, but God gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. He seated us with Him in the heavenly realms. Now, all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit, because of what Christ has done for us. Now, you are members of God’s family.”

WHAT!?

It doesn’t stop there. Proverbs 21:1 (NLT), reminds us that “The earthly king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord; he guides it wherever he pleases.” Furthermore, we’re told to bring our requests to God, concerning anything. (Philipians 4:6)

So, the next time you think to yourself, “something needs to be done about this,” take responsibility. God is in ultimate control, and you have His attention.

Miracle For Baby Charlotte

 by Chris Jones

There’s undeniable evidence of God, for those who’ve experienced his miraculous power, especially when it comes as an answer to our prayers. I asked my friend, JB, if I could share the testimony of her daughter’s healing. This recent miracle is just one example of God at work in her life.

JB’s baby, Charlotte, was born with what her doctor described as a tracheoesophageal fistula, an abnormal connection between the esophagus and the trachea, which results in the aspiration of fluids. This caused her to breathe in milk instead of it traveling down her esophagus to her stomach during feedings. Basically, she was drowning every time she ate. Over time, this could result in chronic fluid in her lungs.

Not willing to wait for the doctors’ suggested plan of action, JB and her husband brought their request to God.  They met that Wednesday night before service, for their Pastor and friends to lay hands on baby Charlotte, and “boldly ask the Lord for no sign of a cleft or fistula.” In prayer, Pastor claimed that no abnormalities would be found when she went into surgery.

The next day, they handed Charlotte over to the doctors, believing that the Lord had restored the structure and function of the connection between her esophagus and trachea, and that repair, therapy, feeding tubes etc. would not be a part of their lives, and that the Lord completely restored their baby girl. After some time, the doctor emerged from surgery and said, verbatim, “well, what we saw Tuesday just isn’t there! There are no abnormalities and no further repair or surgery is necessary!”

Before they left, the radiologist asked, “when you talk to the Lord again, could you ask him to help out with a few of my other patients too? You guys get good results!”

Praise the Lord for what he has done, is doing and will do through those who truly believe in him! In an instant, Charlotte was healed and able to breathe and feed without a choking or drowning sensation. Mom and Dad say she’s one happy and alert little girl.

1 John 5:14-15 says, “we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.” Praise God, that his power is at work in our lives today!

Are We Doing It Wrong?

 by Chris Jones

If there’s really power in prayer, why is it too often neglected? If there’s a promise that “prayer…has great power and produces wonderful results” (James 5:16), what keeps us from tapping into it? Has something changed about God’s promises? Are we somehow not eligible for those benefits? Have we developed a sense of futility with it all? Or, is it possible that we’re just not doing it correctly?

Paul gives us direct advice concerning our approach to prayer. In Colossians 4:2, he says, “Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart”.

Devote yourself to prayer.

You’re probably familiar with Paul urging the Thessalonians to “pray without ceasing“. Paul’s not suggesting we literally live on our knees. Rather, he’s encouraging us to stay in constant communion with the Father. Don’t miss the meaning of this beautiful word, “communion”. One dictionary defines it as “the sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings, especially when the exchange is on a mental or spiritual level”. Don’t just come to God when your back is against the wall. Take full advantage of the direct access you have to Him, in good times and bad.

Pray with an alert mind.

Can anyone successfully argue that God doesn’t deserve our full attention? Effective prayer requires engagement, free from all distractions. Find moments in your day, when you can silence everything around you, and fully engage with God. There just isn’t a substitute for spending quality time in His presence, fully aware of the privilege to have deep, intimate connection with the Father.

Pray with a thankful heart.

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation. (Psalm 100)”

I think it would be an error to believe a thankful heart “primes the pump”, somehow ingratiating us to God. Instead, a thankful heart breeds a humble spirit. Hopefully, we haven’t flipped the script, supposing God to be at our bidding, a servant to respond to our demands. He cares greatly for us, and will not refuse a broken and repentant heart (Psalm 51). Make your request known to God, understanding that He has already given us His greatest gift, in His Son, Jesus Christ.

If there’s a missing link in the story of our faith, I believe it’s the absence of the power and authority in which we should live as followers of Jesus Christ. Develop a habit of devoted, alert and thankful prayer. It’s the key to God’s unlimited provision, and will produce evidence the world cannot refuse.

Chain of Command

 by Chris Jones

There’s a general rule in any chain of command, that complaints go up.  The idea is that your concerns are best placed in the hands of those who have the power to do something about them.  Consequently, a correlation exists between the direction in which we allow our complaints to flow, and the degree to which we give individuals along those channels power over us, or at least over our problems.  There’s a certain acknowledgement that we have no better idea what to do with a problem, than to hand it over to them.  Along with it, there’s a measure of power, whether expressed or not, that we forfeit.

The greatest modern repository for such misplaced complaints is any social media outlet of one’s choosing.  I’ll spare examples, since your news and twitter feeds are likely full of them.  Many instances, however, are just complaints flowing in the wrong direction.  What’s remarkable is that those complaints don’t sound so dissimilar from those of more famous complainers who, but for one small difference, we call the greatest worshippers of all time.

Take this excerpt from Psalm 69 as an example, “…the floodwaters are up to my neck.  Deeper and deeper I sink into the mire; I can’t find a foothold.  I am in deep water, and the floods overwhelm me. I am exhausted from crying for help; my throat is parched. My eyes are swollen with weeping…”  King David was a pretty good complainer.  The difference?  He knew his complaints went up the chain of command, to the very top, in fact.  The result?  Each of his complaints evolves into praise to the only One who is in a position to do something about them.

Are your complaints flowing the right direction?  Are you unknowingly surrendering power to those who have no ability to help?  Ask yourself, “How is this working for me?”  Take a lesson from the greatest worshipper and “the man after God’s own heart”.  Let all your fears, doubts and frustrations flow to Him who is able to do so much more than you could think to ask.  Let them evolve into praise, your confession that He is able, that He has all things under His command.

Tootsie Roll: The Same Spirit

 by Chris Jones

Lesson Three

There’s an interesting fact Tootsie Roll reveals about their recipe on the Tootsie Roll website.  It says, “Leo’s recipe required the incorporation of the previous day’s (leftover) Tootsie Rolls into each newly cooked confection, a graining process that Tootsie continues to this day. As such, there’s (theoretically) a bit of Leo’s very first Tootsie Roll in every one of the sixty-four million Tootsie Rolls that Tootsie produces each day.”  According to Tootsie Roll, it’s possible that there’s a little of the original in every batch.

That’s exactly the way God designed us, to carry the same Holy Spirit as His Son, Jesus.  Unlike Tootsie Roll, however, this isn’t a diminished version or any kind of variation of the original.  Just as it says in Romans 8, “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you.”  It’s the same Spirit we read about descending on Him at His baptism and empowered Him for ministry on Earth.

It’s an amazing revelation that comes with great responsibility.  We’re confronted with the decision of whether or not to let the power of the Holy Spirit flow through our lives.  To deny that power means denying life and freedom for ourselves and everyone around us.  To live in that power means there is no limit to what God can do through us.