GOD has not promised…

2 corinthians 1.9-10 (niv), but this happened so we might not rely on ourselves but on GOD who raises the dead!  HE has delivered us...HE will deliver us ... (and) we have set our hope that HE will continue to deliver us.

so how does GOD deliver us?

HE uses circumstantial deliverance, personal deliverance and the ultimate deliverance, heaven. 

GOD has not promised to remove all of your pain in this world.  GOD has not promised to solve every one of your problems in the way you want them to be solved.  GOD has not promised to keep all of your loved ones alive for the rest of your life.  they will die.  there is pain in the world.  there is sorrow. 

GOD has not promised that everything is going to work out the way you want it to.  this is not heaven; it’s earth.  because we are on earth, there is pain and sorrow and suffering. 

the ultimate deliverance will be one day in heaven where there will be no pain, no sorrow, no suffering, no heartache anymore.  the world hopes for the best but JESUS is your best hope. 

when you think “it’s not happening” you need to realize there is a word for deliverance in the bible.  that word is salvation.  salvation means deliverance.  JESUS is your SAVIOR, your DELIVERER.  if you are saved it means you are delivered.  the ultimate deliverance is heaven.

there is only one way to get to heaven.  JESUS said, i am the way, the truth and the life.  no one comes to the FATHER but by me.  when you’re at a dead-end, JESUS can take that hopeless end and turn it into an endless hope. 

are you at a dead-end?  i invite you to take that problem, that situation, and your own life and give them to JESUS CHRIST.  HE may not deliver you in the way you think, but HE will deliver you if you will trust HIM.  let him to it today.

just a thought from the front porch…

dead-end leads to deliverance…

it takes real faith in GOD to thank HIM in advance.  paul knew this.  but this happened so we might not rely on ourselves but on GOD who raises the dead!  HE has delivered us...HE will deliver us ... (and) we have set our hope that HE will continue to deliver us.  2 corinthians 1.9-10 (niv). 

the purpose of the dead-end is to teach us to trust in GOD.  why does GOD let things get so bad they are out of control, so you can realize you can’t control it?  so HE can force you to learn to trust in HIM instead of trusting on your own ingenuity and cleverness.  that’s the purpose.

what’s the promise?  HE has delivered us, HE will deliver us, and we believe HE will continue to deliver us. 

so how does GOD deliver us?

for one HE uses circumstantial deliverance. 

sometimes GOD miraculously alters the circumstance and the red sea splits.  that will happen many, many times in your life.  but it’s not going to happen all the time.  that’s just one of the ways GOD delivers – changing the circumstance.

GOD also uses personal deliverance. 

HE does not change the circumstance; HE changes you from the inside.  you get a new dream, a new vision, a new attitude, a new perspective.  GOD helps you handle the situation, which does not change but HE changes you. 

many of you have read the writings of corrie ten boom who wrote the hiding place.  when corrie was a young woman, her fiancé broke off the engagement and married somebody else.  she was devastated and she never married.  she went to her father and said, “what do you do when a love has been blocked?  when you want to give love but you can't give it?”  her father, wisely, said, “when your love is blocked, you re-channel it.” 

folks, there are a lot of people who need love in this world.  you don’t hold yourself up in a prison, build up walls, say, “i’m never going to allow anybody to hurt me, because i’m hurt.”  you re-channel the love in a new direction.

just a thought from the front porch…

according to your expectation...

in the dead-end situation you’re in right now, what are you expecting GOD to do?  some of you aren’t expecting HIM to do anything.  GOD works in your life according to your expectation.  that’s called faith. 

romans 4.20-21 (tlb), but abraham never doubted... he praised GOD for this blessing even before it happened.  he was completely sure that GOD was able to do anything he promised.

the ultimate form of faith is thanking GOD in advance for what you’re asking for.  if you wait until after it happens to thank GOD for it, that’s not faith, that’s gratitude.  gratitude is when you thank GOD for something HE’s already done.  faith is when you thank HIM for it in advance.  abraham praised GOD for the blessing even before it happened.

when you’re at a dead-end thank GOD that the answer is already on its way.  you may not see it yet, but thank HIM that it’s already on its way. 

when JESUS was in jerusalem HIS friends mary and martha sent word to HIM from bethany that HIS friend lazarus was sick.  they needed JESUS to heal him.  bethany is about six miles away and it takes JESUS three days to get there.  by the time HE gets there lazarus has gone from bad to worse – HE had died.  that’s what you call passing the deadline.  they buried him. 

now JESUS gets there and they tell HIM HE’s too late.  they said if HE had gotten there sooner HE could have healed him.  JESUS said, “I didn’t come to heal him.  I came to resurrect him”  that’s a greater miracle. 

HE tells them to roll the stone away.  then HE shouts, lazarus, come forth.  HE had to be specific.  if HE had said, “come forth” all the dead people would have come out.  HE tells them to take the grave clothes off and let him go.  when JESUS walked up to the tomb, HE did not beg HIS FATHER to make lazarus come out.  JESUS said, FATHER, i thank you that YOU’ve already heard ME.  lazarus, come forth.  that’s thanking GOD in advance and that is faith. 

just a thought from the front porch…

what faith is not..

romans 4.19-20a (niv), without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead... and sarah's womb was also dead.  yet he didn't waver with unbelief. 

abraham's 99 years old, GOD says he’s going to have a child.  there is a medical impossibility here.  they are beyond the childbearing years.  yet the bible says he faced the fact and yet didn't waver in belief. 

faith is not denying reality.   it’s not pretending you don’t have a problem.  that’s not faith, that’s denial.  faith is not saying, “i’m not in pain” when you are.  it’s not saying, “i don’t hurt” when you do.  it’s not saying, “i’m happy” when you’re really grieving inside.  that’s not faith, that’s phoniness. 

GOD says, “I want to work in your life according to faith.”  faith is facing the facts without being discouraged by them – being able to look at the problem and say, “yes that’s a problem in my life but i’m not discouraged by it, because i know GOD is greater than the problem.” 

there is a brand of CHRISTianity today that basically says, “deny all of your problems.  just have a positive confession.  name it and claim it.”  that kind of thinking did not come from JESUS.  that’s pollyanna.  pollyanna is not exactly a good theologian. 

faith is not denying reality.  faith is facing reality without being discouraged by it.  you know that GOD can change a situation.  you can build a family on faith but you can’t build it on fantasy.  you can build a business on faith but not on fantasy.  you can build a life on faith but not on fantasy. 

the key is to look beyond your circumstances.  2 corinthians 4.18 (niv),  we fix our eyes on what is unseen.  for what is seen is temporary [the problem], but what is unseen [GOD’s power] is eternal.

if you look at the world you're going to be distressed.  there are major it seems insurmountable problems in the world.  if you look within you're going to be depressed, because there are a lot of things that need changing in your life.  but if you look at JESUS CHRIST you’ll be at rest.  it all depends on what you have your eyes on. 

circumstances are like a mattress.  you get on top; you rest easy.  you get underneath; you suffocate.  when you start looking at your problem, you’re sunk.  if you look at CHRIST beyond your problem, look at your deliverer rather than the difficulty, you'll make it. 

just a thought from the front porch…

a bigger idea…

when you rely on the word of GOD you don’t panic when you hit a dead-end because you know it’s out of your control but it’s not out of GOD’s control.

a dead-end is a test of your faith.  hebrews 11.17 (tlb), while GOD was testing him, abraham still trusted in GOD and HIS promises, so he offered his son isaac.  

GOD said HE wanted abraham to sacrifice HIS son and abraham didn’t blink an eye.  he didn’t panic because he remembered what GOD can do and he relied on what GOD had promised him.  abraham actually expected GOD to raise his son back to life. 

when they were walking up the hill to make the sacrifice, abraham said to the servants, “we’ll be back.”  his son asked him “where’s the sacrifice?”  abraham said, “the LORD will provide.” 

what happens when GOD takes your most precious dream and wants you to give it up?  can you do that in faith?  you’re at a dead-end.  and GOD’s going to deliver you if you make the right answer.  abraham said he would do whatever GOD said.  GOD said, “I was just testing you.” 

romans 4.18 (jb), though it seemed abraham's hope could not be fulfilled he did become the father of many nations exactly as GOD had promised. 

some of you are at a dead-end now and it seems there is no way out.  things are never as bleak as they seem.  you’re looking at it from human viewpoint rather than from GOD’s viewpoint.  it’s all in the way you look at it.

the disciples have followed JESUS for three years and all of a sudden HE’s hanging on a cross.  and HE dies.  they were in despair and at a dead-end.  they didn’t know what to do.  from their viewpoint it seemed that their whole world had crashed down around them.  easter was only three days away and GOD had a bigger idea.  HE had a bigger plan.  GOD brings to life those things that are dead.  that’s a miracle.

just a thought from the front porch…

when your hope dies…

when you are at a dead-end rely on what GOD has said.

romans 4.18 (ph), when hope was dead within him, abraham went on hoping in faith... he relied on the word of GOD.  how do you know when hope has died in your life?  you start using the word “never”. 

i’m never going to get married.  i’m never going to graduate and finish school.  i’m never going to get well.  i’m never going to get out of debt. i’m never going to be able to let go of my past and forget all of that shame and heartache. i’m never going to be able to change.  i’m never going to become what GOD wants me to be.  i’m never going to see this situation turn around. that's when hope is dead within. 

what do you do when your hope dies?  scripture says, you keep on hoping.  when hope was dead within him, abraham went on hoping in faith.  he relied on the word of GOD. 

when you are at a dead-end you need the bible.  read it.  study it.  memorize it.  think about it.  write it down on little cards and go over it.  take the book and put it into your mind when you’re at a dead-end.  it’s full of promises.  you rely on the word and it will revive you emotionally.  nothing else is going to encourage you like the bible. 

when you rely on the word of GOD you don't panic when you hit a dead-end because you know it’s out of your control but it's not out of GOD’s control.

something more than a positive mental attitude…

some of you are at a dead-end right now.  there are certain dead-end words in life.  cancer.  divorce.  bankruptsy.  infertility.  unemployment.  death of loved-ones. 

how do you know when you’re at a dead-end?  things get out of your control and you can’t do anything about it.  you’re at a dead-end. 

well romans 4.17-20 tells about a dead-end situation in the life of abraham of the old testament and in his story we can get some insight on what i can do in my dead-end situation.

for one i remember what GOD can do.

the situation may be out of your control but it’s not out of GOD’s control.  when you face a dead-end you don’t focus on what you can’t do, you focus on what GOD can do.  verse 17 (ncv), abraham believed in GOD who gives life to the dead and who creates something out of nothing. 

it says that GOD can give life to something that’s dead.  now if HE can give life to a dead human being HE can give life to a dead career.  HE can bring life to that dead marriage.  HE can bring life to that dead dream.  HE can bring life to that financial dead-end.  HE can create something out of nothing.  GOD doesn’t need anything to work with. 

verse 17 in the living bible, abraham believed in GOD who gives life to the dead and who creates something out of nothing. 

it wasn’t just positive thinking that abraham believed in.  i recommend positive thinking because, what’s the alternative?  negative thinking and it doesn’t work.  but positive thinking is not faith.  they are two very different things.  positive thinking works fine in situations you have control over.  if you just need an attitude change i recommend positive thinking. 

now CHRISTians ought to be the most positive people in the world.  positive thinking works fine in situations you can control.  but in situations that are out of your control positive thinking is worthless.  it’s just wishful thinking.  it’s being positive but it doesn’t change the situation.  it has no power on things you can’t control.

when you face things that are out of your control you need something more than a positive mental attitude.  you need faith in GOD because HE can control it when you can’t.  most of life is beyond your control.  so you need faith far more than you need positive thinking. 

just a thought from the front porch…