Are You Making A Difference?

Beloved, We are right on the cusp of the first major holiday of this season, Thanksgiving. I know that many are making preparations and we got the wonderful word yesterday about Brother Gilbert Moore providing those delicious Thanksgiving greens on Saturday. Although we will have to make some adjustments for COVID-19 this season, we have our routines and our rhythms of life that we follow that can become almost mechanical in execution. We know what we are going to do when we get up. We know what we are going to do when we start on our way. We know what we are going to do throughout our day. We know what we are going to do when the day ends. We know what we are going to do when we lay down to rest. Beloved, if we always know what we are going to do, then what difference are we making when we go about doing all that we do? For all of our living, are we truly living or are we just existing? I guess, the question is, are you making a difference? As a child of the Most High God, you are supposed to. When you get up in the morning, every breath should be a breath of expectation that God has filled this day with hope of a brighter day. When you get started on your way, it should be with the knowledge that the Holy Spirit is there to lead and guide you. When you start following your plan for the day, you should always be on the look out for how God is doing something different in this day that has never been done before. When the day ends, you should be able to look back and see the myriad of ways that God showed up in your life and blessed you throughout. And, when you lay down from all that you have done, you should do so with the confidence that the God who watched over you throughout the day is the same God who will watch over you throughout the night. And, when you live out your life in that way, you will be making a difference because most of the people in the world do not live that way. And, when you live differently, you should expect for things to be different in your life. In the 17th chapter of the Book of Acts, when the Apostle Paul and Silas were in Thessalonica, they lived out their authentic Christian lives. Some people were attracted to the light within them. They made a difference. Some people hated them for who they were and what they represented. They made a difference. Some people watched, looked, and listened with interest. They made a difference. In making a difference, the world where they existed yielded to the power and authority of God they represented which so resonated in their world that when they showed up, in Acts 17:6, some of the Jews said, "These people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also." Beloved, they were not turning the world upside down. The world was upside down already. They were, for the cause of Christ, turning the upside down world, right side up. They were making a difference. Beloved, the call on our lives, for the cause of Christ, is the same. We are supposed to be helping to turn this upside down world, right side up. We are supposed to make a difference. Be careful if life is too routine. Your life could be upside down. Be careful if everything is too predictable. Your life could be upside down. Be careful if you know what is always going to happen. Your life could be upside down. For, when you live into the life that God has called you into, your life will be anything but routine, predictable, and the same. Your life will become an adventure, exciting, and surprising. Your life will become different and you will make a difference in your life and the lives of those around you. What a word to be spoken over you at the end of your days. You made a difference. Beloved, we will be seeking God at Noonday prayer because we want to make a difference. We will be listening to the radio broadcast at 3pm on The Light radio station because we want to make a difference. And, we will be on the Zoom connection for HOPE Wednesday this evening at 6:30pm because we want to make a difference. Does that we include you? Are you making a difference? Join and connect with us and you will. And, as you embrace your difference-making self, remember that God loves you and I love you too. Be blessed, Rev. Cain