From: The Pastor’s Heart
To: You
Title: “Automatic Withdrawal”
When I was back home in Colorado, I watched my sister-in-law pay one of her utility bills.
She wrote a check, tore it from her check book, stuffed it into an envelope, sealed the
envelope, placed a stamp on it, and finally put it into the mailbox. It dawned on me that it
had been a very long time since I paid a bill like that. For years now I’ve been the fellow
who loves the fact that I can not only pay my bills electronically, but all of my regular bills
are handled directly through the automatic withdrawal system. I get text notifications
when money leaves my account to pay a bill and this morning I received that text.
I begin wondering if I’m allowing the Lord to receive a similar text message about the
things He expects from me or am I forcing Him to have to go to heaven’s mailbox and see
if I paid what I owe. God is not only appreciative of our adoration, praise, and offerings of
thanks, but He is worthy of receiving it each and every day. There are some things that we
should do not because we feel like it or even because we’re led by the Spirit to do it, but
simply because it’s the right thing to do.
Jesus said, “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know
the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Christ taught the disciples and He’s teaching
us today that an important element of our relationship with the Father is our devotion to
regiment. It is of the utmost necessity that you and I are committed to a schedule of giving
God the best of ourselves each and every day no matter what. The heart of a believer is
motivated by his or her love to the creator but we are also measured by the frequency of
which we express that love. An ‘every now and then’ attitude is not in line with what God
expects nor does it come close to what He’s entitled to.
The worship atmosphere, in many of our churches, is charged to a certain level contingent
upon how the participants feel, but that’s a sad indictment on the body of Christ. There
shouldn’t be a move to honor God based upon how we feel about life at any given time
because the mere fact that we still have life is all the motivation we need. When we inhale
and exhale we do so without thinking about it because it must happen automatically in
order for us to live. Our approach to acknowledging and glorifying God should be the
same no matter what we’re facing.
Today I hope that you will check your spiritual bank status and if not in place, set up some
automatic withdrawal accounts where God can count on getting a high praise from you
each and everyday, not just on a Sunday morning. No more stuffing envelopes.
EVERYTHING WE DO MOVING FORWARD WILL BE INTENTIONAL AND DRIVEN WITH
PURPOSE TO REPRESENT THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN THE BEST POSSIBLE LIGHT!
NOTHING WILL BE DONE WITH ENERGY LESS THAN OUR BEST AND EFFORT BELOW
OUR MAXIMUM POTENTIAL.
OUR SERVICE IS LOCAL, BUT OUR REACH IS GLOBAL – SO WE CANNOT REDUCE OUR
PRESENTATION DOWN TO WHAT’S CONVENIENT, BUT RATHER WE MUST RAISE IT TO
THAT WHICH IS EXPLOSIVE!
Get ready for major change that’s coming systematically, intellectually, purposefully, and
professionally. Nothing we do moving forward will be done haphazardly, sloppily, poorly,
or carnally.
We Are the LIGHT!
Sincerely,
Pastor J.E. Chandler, Sr.
(CEO/Pastor of MLCM)
