difficulties, despair, and the right response…

difficulties cause us to despair.  acts 17.20 (niv), we finally gave up all hope of being saved. 

fourteen days in total darkness on this ship in a storm, don't know where they’re going, they’re being beat up, tossed back and forth.  they’ve given up their cargo, their tackle, their food.  finally they give up hope.  that’s the last thing to go.  hope. 

but they’d forgotten one thing:  even in a storm GOD is in control.  HE hasn’t left you.  you may not feel HIM.  if you feel far from GOD, guess who moved?  HE hasn't left you.  HE’s with you in that storm.  HE’ll help you through it.  GOD is testing you to see if you’ll trust HIM. 

so what is the right response to difficulty?  if you're not in it now, you're going to go through it. 

first of all if you brought it on yourself, admit it.  stop blaming other people.  stop making excuses.  face the problem and say, i brought this on myself. 

if you've got a problem with drugs, admit it.  if you've got a problem with alcohol, admit it.  if you've got a problem with your temper, you admit it.  if you've a problem with your mouth, admit it. 

the bible says in proverbs 28.13 (tlb), a man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful.  but if he confesses and forsakes them, he gets another chance. 

accept responsibility.  what are you pretending is not a problem?  first admit when you are the problem and turn the light on and you won't be afraid anymore. 

just a thought from the front porch…

you have everything to gain…

if you've never opened up your life to CHRIST i encourage you to do so today. 1 john 5.11-12 (ph) real life is to be found only in GOD's SON. anyone who has CHRIST has this life but if he doesn't have CHRIST, then he does not possess this life at all. you have everything to gain. don't wait. some of you have been thinking about making your decision for months, for years. don't put it off any longer.

review: are you bothered by regrets? do you have things in your past that you feel guilty about, wish you hadn't done, regret? you feel condemned and you condemn yourself. as a result, you're pretty condemning of other people. you say, i wish i could get rid of this guilt and get a clear conscious. JESUS CHRIST offers you a life without condemnation.

would you like to break free of the things that bind you up? those bad habits, those situations, those things that tend to control you and you tend to respond in a way that you wish you could change, you wish you could be different. JESUS CHRIST offers you life without domination. the more you give yourself to HIM, the more freedom you find.

are you facing a situation right now and you think it's hopeless? it's not going to work out. JESUS CHRIST offers you a life without desperation. HE says, “there's hope!”

are you confused by the problems that you are having and you think it doesn't make sense, you don't know why it's happening, what's going on? GOD says, “i have a purpose behind those problems. and i'm working them into the grand design.” maybe HE just wants to get your attention. and he saying, wake up! HE can take the mistakes that we have made and somehow bring a positive benefit out of them by weaving them into HIS overall plan.

what are you afraid of? are you afraid of failure? are you afraid of dying? are you afraid of the future? are you afraid of what other people think? GOD wants to give you a life without intimidation that says, ”i don't fear. if GOD's on my side, what does it matter!”

HE wants to give you the kind of life where you have a continual relationship with him that can never be destroyed. are you worried that your needs won't be met? put your life in the hands of JESUS CHRIST. the good, the bad, every part of it and HE will assume responsibility for your needs.

GOD loves you so much. you can't even imagine how much HE loves you. HE is for you! and HE made you to love you, the bible says. HE has a plan for your life. the more you put your life into His plan, the better it gets.

just a thought from the front porch…

life is not easy…

GOD has made it possible to live a life without desperation.

henry david thoreau said, “most people live lives of quiet desperation.” they're overwhelmed, discouraged. life is not easy. life is tough. GOD has not promised a stress free, problem free life for believers.

however CHRISTians do have a hope that helps us keep on going.

romans 8.18 (niv), our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. paul says here, i know how the story's going to end. there's going to be rewards. sure i'm going through tough times right now but i've read the last chapter in the book and i'm going to win in the end. the fact of life as a CHRISTian is i have a hope to hold onto even in my problems, even with things going wrong, even when things fall apart. i have a hope that unbelievers don't have.

there are two things that give us hope. romans 8.23 says someday you're going to get a new body. isn't that good news? and in verse 26 he says that the SPIRIT prays for us when we're going through trials so we have a hope.

we live a life without condemnation, without domination, without desperation.

just a thought from the front porch…

where is GOD when you hit bottom?

ephesians 3.17-18 (niv), i pray that you will grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of CHRIST.

GOD's love is wide enough to include everybody…GOD's love is long enough to last forever…GOD's love is high enough to be everywhere.

and GOD's love is deep enough to meet my needs

psalm 40.11 (lb), my only hope is YOUR love for my problems are too big for me to solve and are piled higher than my head.

do you feel, i'm going under for the last time? i'm about to sink! the fact is GOD's love is not shallow. it's profound. no matter what problem you have, HIS love is deeper than that problem.

some of you are in deep despair, deep trouble, under deep stress, you've got deep problems, emotional problems, physical problems, financial problems. GOD's love is deeper still.

corrie ten boom and betsy ten boom were CHRISTians who lived in the netherlands. during the war they hid jews in their home to protect them from the nazis. and when they were discovered, not only were the jews taken to the concentration camp but corrie and betsy were taken to the concentration camp too and they spent their lives there during the war. corrie came out alive. but her sister was killed.

at one point in the movie where they had seen one atrocity after another, corrie says to betsy, “this place is the pit of hell!” betsy says, “there is no pit so deep that GOD's love is not deeper.”

some of you in the last few weeks and the last few months have possibly hit bottom. maybe financially and you think, “i am going broke!" or you've hit bottom emotionally or your marriage has hit bottom or you're having health problems and your health has hit bottom and you're frustrated and you think, “i am going under.” where is GOD when you hit bottom?

deuteronomy 33.27 (niv), the eternal GOD is your refuge and underneath you are HIS everlasting arms. notice it says, underneath you.

when you hit bottom guess who's underneath the bottom? GOD is. drop into HIS arms of love. let HIM catch you and support you when you have nowhere else to go.

just a thought from the front porch…