Christian Chefs Fellowship - Devotional Articles

There is a great disconnection going on in the world! It has started with familiies...very small; with husbands and wives...and their children...and their schedules. From there, it has progressed into the corporate world of jobs and careers. Dissatisfaction has arisen (lack of growth and lack of stimulation). It has also invaded the churches (division, separation, lack of Jesus and more of self, feelings of dying and shriveling and fear of being "pruned from the vine", disassociation, abruption, separation from God due to self and obtaining man's goal instead of the divine). It has even invaded the country's political sect (no rest and resolve to a great nation's democracy -- a fissure has eurupted in the very thing that the Founding fathers obtained when pronouncing salvation/freedom in this country). It has caused cataclysmic events in the world (the very Holy Land of Jehovah) -- not even His own desired land of people will turn to Him.

IS THERE ANY WONDER WHY MANY PEOPLE FEEL SO DISCONNECTED? Is there any wonder why homes and churches and nations are in such turmoil? Even the best of homes and marriages suffer at this. We as a people and as a body of Christ and as a nation are under attack of Satan and it's the strongest it has probably ever been and all at once. It hit me LIKE A BRICK BETWEEN THE EYES, this, AND I MEAN THIS, is why I feel so out of place, out of sorts, unable to function, unable to worship, unable to submit ALL UNDER GOD'S AUTHORITY -- and leave it there.

These are some words from the thesaurus related to disconnection:
disjunction, abruption, circumcision, disengaged, disunion, division, disjointed, fissured, fractured, avulsion, ruptured, isolation, dismembered

and the list could go on. How many times I have heard these words used in reference to people's lives, in reference to their church (even my own church) and in their walks with God. It's time to fight back, to pray, to anoint, to fast, to do whatever it is that GOD CALLS YOU to do and this time TAKE HEED AND LISTEN!

I feel such a release knowing what it is that has caused this great frustration and disconnection in my life most recently. Now I know -- I am guilty. Guilty of letting Satan take residence in my life and make a mess of things, guilty of letting him steal the joy of my personal relationship with Christ, guilty of adopting an "I don't give a care" or "I won't make a difference" attitude. If Queen Ester would have adopted that attitude ("I am just a plain, adopted, Jewish female nobody") or even if Jesus had, ("how can my life make a difference?") just think of where we all would be.

Anyway, this is what I believe with all my heart and soul that is going on and I, for one, plan to make it stop here with me and my family. It's not going to go any further.

By La Vonna Sechrest

NOTE FROM SHARON CONNER:
John 6:35, 36 "Then Jesus said, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty."

Often, the holidays in the food service industry leave us very stressed -- and almost ANGRY with one of the most precious of the holidays -- Thanksgiving. Somehow each year I am faced with the challenge of retreating in my mind during the rush of work and customer service and then the family traditions to put everything in low gear and remember what and who really gives me the reason to be thankful. How many times do we get so caught up in work and rushing around to cover all the bases of life that food and drink of any sort could not satisfy the vacant cavity we all feel in our souls and hearts? I have heard myself say "I am so stressed that there is not enough food or drinks of any kind to satisfy the empty feeling I have now" because I feel so disconnected or removed from the real holiday enjoyment. So John 6:35, 36 helps me once again!

Jesus is my bread of life. I do not have to feel hungry or empty because He is living water. I do not have to thirst for things because when I ponder Him and what He has done for me and all of mankind, it refreshes my dry and parched soul. I live in the Sonoraian desert of Arizona so I can visually relate to this! When I just crawl back in the recesses of my mind and reflect on Him, I feel the presence of our Lord and He does satisfy the empty part of my soul with the bread of life and the living water. It is, of course, a choice I make and one YOU have to make -- each day and all through the year.

I just encourage every one to do this each day during the holiday season and through the year. It is a good thing to purpose to do and I think this is such a good time to challenge oneself to think about this in a manner of perhaps winning someone to God through our ability to stay focused on the reason we can be happy and really rejoice in this Thanksgiving season!

I have heard this said for many years and I will share it with you, as a good reminder to all foodservice/bakery people -- "Our lives in the stressful times are the only Bibles some folks will ever read!"

God's abundance on all at thanksgiving,
Sharon Conner

If God is speaking to your heart about these things, and you need somebody to talk with, please don't hesitate to e-mail us about your need and somebody from the Fellowship will contact you as soon as possible. If you have a prayer request or would like to start a theological discussion on this or any other topic please feel free to post it in our Message Boards.

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