Journey Church

Crisis Moment

Mike Chandler — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 01:55:25 +0000

A couple of weeks before the ball dropped in Times Square our family was hit with a crisis. On December 13th Debbie was diagnosed with cancer. You want to talk about rockin’ your world. When someone so close to you has that happen, it turns your world upside down. After the initial shock we began talking about what all this might mean. One night when Debbie and I were talking about what was happening and how this is one thing in our lives we can’t control. She and I began to wonder what our life lesson from this might be and has this come upon us for us to see something we haven’t fully surrendered to Jesus.

A few days after that conversation, on January 1st I picked up My Utmost For His Highest and I was blown away by what it said . . . “But before we choose to follow God’s will, a crisis must develop in our lives. This happens because we tend to be unresponsive to God’s gentler nudges. He brings us to the place where He asks us to be our utmost for Him and we begin to debate. He then providentially produces a crisis where we have to decide— for or against. That moment becomes a great crossroads in our lives. If a crisis has come to you on any front, surrender your will to Jesus absolutely and irrevocably.”

When I read that it was like a word directly to us for our situation. We have been hit with a crisis and now we am on a intense search through my life to see what we might need to surrender. While we are walking this journey one step at a time, we are praying for complete healing and feel confident God has answered our prayer.

One other morning I woke up and grabbed my Bible and had Psalm 30 on my heart. I turned in God’s Word and it said, “O LORD my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.” (Psalm 30:2) That word “healed” jumped off the page at me for Debbie’s situation. God has a plan, His grace is sufficient, His love is awesome and I know He has heard and answered our prayer!

Fragile

Mike Chandler — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 22:27:17 +0000

Reading through the pages of the Bible, you will find many “colorful” characters to say the least. The Bible is packed with many people who have multiple character flaws. God chose not to hide anything from us. He laid it all on the line for all of us to see so we would understand we are all usable to God. Left to ourselves we are simple, fragile, weak, and insignficant “jars of clay.” (2 Corinthians 4:7) But with the power of God working in us we are transformed so we can “show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7) The next time you feel like GOD can’t use you, just remember what all of these characters were like before the power of God transformed them . . . Noah was a drunk, Abraham was too old, Isaac was a daydreamer, Jacob was a liar, Leah was ugly, Joseph was abused, Moses had a stuttering problem, Gideon was afraid, Samson had long hair and was a womanizer. Rahab was a prostitute, Jeremiah and Timothy were too young, David had an affair and was a murderer, Elijah was suicidal, Isaiah preached naked, Jonah ran from God, Naomi was a widow, Job went bankrupt, Peter denied Christ, the Disciples fell asleep while praying, Martha worried about everything, the Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once, Zaccheus was too small, Paul was too religious, Timothy had an ulcer, and Lazarus was dead!

All these people were transformed by the power of God and used mightily in His Kingdom. We can identify with the revealed weaknesses of these characters and hopefully we can identify with the power of God being revealed in and through them. God’s Word (the Bible) is His complete revelation to us today but just imagine . . . if the Bible were being written today and we read your story what would your life say about the power of God?

Within ourselves all of us are weak, but with the power of God working through us we are strong. “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:10)

Breaking Free

Mike Chandler — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 02:10:07 +0000

In Matthew 8 Jesus is in the boat with His disciples crossing over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Along the way they encounter a massive storm. The word used is “seismos” which is where we get our word for seismograph used to measure earthquakes. It was an extremely violent storm; so violent that it was threatening to sink their ship. Even though some of them were experienced fishermen, this storm was enough to shake them up. Jesus has fallen asleep and in their panic they go to wake Jesus up. Jesus gets up and rebukes them for their doubt and little faith.

Tough circumstances can and do strike with little to no warning and sometimes with enough force to shake us up. When we face these tough circumstances, remember these important life principles from Matthew 8.

Jesus has our lives all planned out- He told the disciples to go to the other side.
Storms “tough circumstances” never catch Jesus off guard- Jesus in His omniscience knew the storm before a cloud was seen or a drop was felt.
Even though we might not “feel” Him, Jesus is always there; even in the midst of our storm “touch circumstance.”- Jesus is omnipresent: everywhere at all times.
Tough circumstances come in two different forms: trials and consequences. Consequences are caused by sin and require repentance. Trials are allowed by God to teach us something.
We must persevere through tough circumstances: A nail must stay under the hammer to reach its goal; a diamond must stay under the chisel to become the precious jewel it is; gold must endure the fire to be refined.

Where are you? Have you just come through a tough circumstance? Are you in one right now? Is there one just around the corner? Whatever your current state, stay close to Jesus. You will always find yourself in one of these three situations!

All But Forgotten

Mike Chandler — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 19:43:14 +0000

Recently I have been reading Forgotten God by Francis Chan. One of his statements about the Holy Spirit work in our lives was, “It seems like this is mostly head knowledge to us, and that we have not owned it. It has not really made much of a difference in our lives, to the degree that if we woke up tomorrow and discovered that it is not true the Holy Spirit lives inside of us, most likely our lives wouldn’t look much different.” (Forgotten God, p. 34-35). I have pondered that statement in my own life for the past couple days wondering if I am living a “Holy Spirit powered life” or could my life exist without His working in my life? I wonder how much of my life is based on habit and personal ability and how much is dependent on the Holy Spirit?

When I am driving down the interstate I love to put my car on cruise control. It removes the pressure of staying within the speed limit but it also can cause me to get comfortable and not be as alert to what is happening on the road. Sometimes I will have to take it off so I can be more engaged in driving and stay more focused on what is happening around me. I wonder if I am guilty of applying the “spiritual cruise control” and over time I fail to involve the Holy Spirit in my daily decisions and actions. Many times in life what I need is not more head knowledge of the Holy Spirit but more experiential knowledge of His presence.

Is the Holy Spirit active and working in your life? Do you need to take the cruise control off your life and let the Spirit take over? As we ponder these and other questions, read Acts 2 and how the Spirit worked in the lives of the early Christians. They knew Him intimately and He worked powerfully in and through them!

No Excuse

Mike Chandler — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 18:31:32 +0000

I have noticed when there are conversations about the end times, the question that seems to always surface is, “What about those people who have never heard?” I think for us there is other very important question, “What about those of us who have heard?” Living where we live and knowing what we know we have no excuse. There is little if anything we can plead ignorance on when it comes to Jesus and His gospel. Living where we live in the “Bible belt” (that belt has loosened quite a few notches over the years) we know what to do but so often choose not to do it. We will all be held accountable for what we know and what we did with what we know.

Paul talks about what his desires in Philippians 3. “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” He has made very clear his desire and then he says, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect but I press on to make it my own . . .” (Philippians 3:12) His goal is huge, his ambitions are great and he knows he hasn’t arrived yet but he is pursuing them with everything in him. He is relentless in his pursuit to achieve these big goals but in the meantime he makes it clear that not only are we held accountable for what we are aiming for in the future but for what we are doing in the present. “Only let us hold true to what we have attained.” (Philippians 3:16)

We might not have achieved what we want to yet but there are certain things we have achieved (have knowledge of) that we need to put into practice. What things should you be doing that you have been neglecting? “So whoever know the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” (James 4:17) Always strive to know more but always put into practice in the present what you already know!

Unless

Mike Chandler — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 20:23:17 +0000

We just finished our World Changers missions experience in Tabor City, NC. We had an incredible week. Our groups finished working on 21 homes, shared the gospel 119 times and recorded 3 salvation experiences. Throughout the week we were studying on the theme of UNLESS. Every night it was this idea . . . Unless God is _______, we are _______. One of the verses was “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” (Psalm 127:1). When you think about it, that word “unless” means so much. Everything is meaningless without God! Unless God is leading and unless God is involved in what we are doing, we are just wasting our time. Our lives mean nothing and have no impact unless God is in charge! What are you involved in right now? Is it your idea or God’s idea? Is God leading or are you taking the lead? What are you doing right now that could not happen unless God does it? Francis Chan has said, “But God doesn’t call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn’t come through.” Realize the power of “unless” today. Live your life totally dependent on God’s leadership and provision.

Lasting Impression

Mike Chandler — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 01:59:19 +0000

Just this morning I came across a saying that got my attention. It was, “Our expression will always make a lasting impression!” What we think, say and do and how we think it, say it and do it will always make a lasting impression on people. How we respond to people will either draw people to Christ or push them away from Christ. Skepticism is rampant in our society today. People who are far from Christ are intently looking to see if there is a discrepancy in what we say and what we do. Jesus made it clear the true indication of belief and the best witness to give a non-believer is a spirit of love among believers. “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35). The indicator of a real disciple is love. So often in the church believers have talked a good talk about love but not done a good job at acting out love. The challenge before the church today is to act out love towards one another and extend that love to non-believers. For too long we have tried to give out what we are not willing to live. Love . . . . let’s live it and give it!

Religion vs. Relationship

Mike Chandler — Mon, 02 May 2011 20:21:38 +0000

Religion is all about “Jesus and stuff” and the stuff ends up being clutter that prevents us from seeing the real truths that Jesus wants us to understand. Jesus is not about religion but is all about a relationship. Several years ago, I came across a phrase that said, “Rules without relationship leads to rebellion.” It was talking about parenting issues but it applies to our faith as well. It is a fact that God has given us rules to live by. Among all God’s attributes is the attribute of justice. God has clearly defined in His Word rules/laws for us to live by such as The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20).

In order for us to understand and apply these rules we must be in relationship with Jesus. We must live with a right balance between law and grace. Always remembering God’s commandments but choosing to view them through the lens of grace. A working definition of grace is “God giving us what we don’t deserve.” Understanding that should motivate us to live a life of gratitude. To know we are blessed even when we don’t deserve should encourage us to serve Jesus everyday and all the time. Galatians 2:20-21 says, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.”

Love Is A Verb

Mike Chandler — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 17:13:46 +0000

1 Corinthians 13 is commonly known as the “love chapter”. We hear this read most often at weddings and people love it because of its poetic flow. It is probably the most familiar and most quoted passage on love in the world. But familiarity can bring complacency! We have to be very careful that we don’t get so familiar with it that it loses its meaning for us. This chapter has a lot to say to us about how to approach our relationships, especially with our spouse, children and family.

Within this chapter there are 15 descriptive words about love. Sometimes these are seen as nouns but when you look at the meanings, they are verbs (action words). Love is one those things that must be caught and taught. It has to be acted out for it to be seen and understood. All these words in 1 Corinthians 13 (patient, kind, not rude, does not envy, not irritable, not resentful, etc.) are the antithesis of selfishness. Real love looks at the needs of others before our own needs. It is self less and self giving.

We love because we are love. We choose to give love because we have been given love. John 15:13 says, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” We owed a debt we could not pay and Jesus willingly paid a debt He didn’t owe. He gave us love when we were unloving and didn’t deserve it. If he had waited to go to the cross until we were loving and deserved it, the cross would still be empty.

Give love . . . share love! You have been freely given love so give love freely to everybody around you!

Forgive and . . . .

Mike Chandler — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 00:46:47 +0000

We’ve all heard people say it . . . “I will forgive but I will never forget!” I know what that statement means but it isn’t right. Beyond IBM, Dell, Gateway and yes, even MAC our minds are the greatest computers ever invented. The storage capacity of our minds is massive and we have images from past events that will be there forever. But when we make that statement what we are really saying is we’re not willing to forgive. Ideally we will never truly forget. But if we sincerely forgive the person then at the precise moment we recall the hurt, we can instantaneously cancel it out by recalling the moment we chose to forgive.

Why should we forgive when we have been hurt so bad? Our pain is nothing compared to Jesus’ pain on the cross while paying for the forgiveness of our sins. There is a song that goes something like this, “He paid a debt He did not owe, I owed a debt I could not pay.” When you and I accept Jesus as Savior, our sin is put into His account and His righteousness is put into our account. All of this is totally unmerited and undeserved but given all the same. The main reason we have a problem with forgiveness is when we have been wronged, we don’t feel like it is merited or deserved. And that is true as well. It isn’t deserved but neither is the forgiveness we receive from Jesus for our sins. What if you checked your online bank accounts tomorrow and there was an anonymous deposit into your account for $1,000,000.00? How would you feel about that? How would you respond to that? Would you be a hoarder or choose to bless someone else? That’s forgiveness!

We have been blessed in an unbelievable way with forgiveness from Jesus. Rather than choosing to bless others who hurt us with forgiveness, so often we choose to only give what they deserve. Jesus didn’t deserve our sin put upon Him, He didn’t deserve to go the cross but He chose to do it anyway. In Matthew 18, Peter asked a question of Jesus about how many times we should forgive people who hurt us. He really was asking, “When is enough really enough?” Jesus said there is no limit. He went on to tell them a story about a King (God) and an evil servant (us). Jesus immediately started talking about the “Kingdom of heaven.” Peter was talking about issues right now and Jesus let him know there is no way to separate here and now from the Kingdom of heaven. What we do here and now is to be a reflection of heaven. We must approach every situation (even when we are wrongfully accused or hurt) with a heavenly mind. Out of gratitude for how much we have been forgiven we must always forgive others.

Forgiveness brings freedom and holding a grudge brings bondage. It has been said that to forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you. Ephesians 4:32 says, ^“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”