one of GOD’s favorite descriptions for HIMself

one of GOD’s favorite descriptions for HIMself is rock.  HE knows that we all need something to stand on and that GOD’s greatness is that rock. 

psalm 18.31 (nlt) says it this way, who but our GOD is a solid rock.  there’s really nothing else solid like GOD that you can stand on and be secure in no matter what. 

when life is unfair GOD is our rock.  when life seems unmanageable – i don’t know where to turn next – GOD is our rock.  when things are falling apart all around me – GOD is my rock.  when i feel threatened – GOD is my rock.

i know simon and garfunkle used to sing that song a long time go i am a rock.  no they weren’t and no you’re not.  you might be a pebble, maybe a grain of sand.  we aren’t a rock but we need a rock.  we need the rock solid security of GOD’s love for us and the fact that we can stand on that love. 

psalm 31.3 (nlt), YOU are my rock and my fortress.  for the honor of YOUr name lead me out of this peril. 

one of the ways GOD honors HIS name is by leading us through and out of the difficulties of life.  he won’t always do it as quickly as you would like but HE will always lead you out of it.  and as HE does that HE’s showing himself to be the rock of security that people need in this world. 

earlier we wrote down, GOD is greater than my biggest problem, and you might be thinking, what if my biggest problem is me?  what if my biggest problem is my own heart, the struggle i have within, maybe my own insecurity, maybe my own guilt or maybe my own sense of inadequacy in this world?  what if that’s my biggest problem? 

look at this verse 1 john 3.20 in the message paraphrase, GOD is greater than our worried heart and HE knows more about us than we do ourselves. 

there are some days when i need to lean on the rock of that truth.  i need to lean on that truth when i feel insecure and wonder how i’m going to make it, i can lean on the truth that GOD is greater and HE understands me more than anyone else and says HE has a future for me.  HE has a plan for my life.  even when i don’t see the plan i can lean on the truth that GOD has a plan.  even when i feel like i don’t know if GOD can forgive me GOD says, “I know you better than you know yourself and I’ve said I can forgive you.” 

some of you right now need to lean on that truth, that the GOD who knows you better than you know yourself loves you more than anyone else.

just a thought from the front porch… 

grabgrass in the lawn of life…

one of the problems with getting older is that some of the people you admire are getting older too and some of them have even died.  one of those is charles schulz the creator of the peanuts comic strip.

one comic strip he wrote shows linus sharing with his older sister lucy a comic strip he had written. he hands her the piece of paper and asks, “lucy, would you read this and tell me if you think it's funny?”

lucy reads it, and a bit of a grin comes across her face. she looks at linus and says, “well, who wrote this?”

linus puffs out his chest and says with a big smile, “lucy, i wrote that.”   lucy then wads the paper up, tosses it to the side, and says, “well, then, i don’t think it’s very funny.”

linus picks up his crumpled comic strip, throws his security blanket over his shoulder, and says, “big sisters are the crabgrass in the lawn of life.”

we smile at that, and we relate to that, because we all have a few clumps of crabgrass in the lawn of our lives. our family members and friends have said or done hurtful things to us, too. we’ve felt the discouragement of failure, the sting of criticism, and the despair of hopelessness. sometimes our crabgrass even comes with “stickers”—thorns that pierce us to the heart day after day.

and what we human beings tend to do is get so upset over the crabgrass that we forget to give thanks for the lawn. we get so focused on our problems and our pains that we lose our sense of gratitude for the many blessings we still enjoy.

psalm 136.1 (msg), thank GOD! HE deserves your thanks. HIS love never quits.

happy thanksgiving!!!

just a thought from the front porch…

you are going to make it…

another right response to difficulty is to claim a promise. 

there are over 7000 promises in the bible that you can claim when you’re going through tough times.  acts 27.25 (niv), so keep up your courage, men, for i have faith in GOD that it will happen just as HE told me. 

GOD will keep his promises.  GOD did not say the ship will make it.  GOD said, you will make it.  HE even said the ship will crack up and fall apart. 

some of you are going through a storm right now.  your ship may not make it.  you may lose the house.  you may lose the car.  you may lose the career.  GOD has never promised to keep all of your comfortables around you.  HE did say, you will make it. 

acts 27.41-44 (niv), but the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground.  the bow stuck fast and would not move and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf.  now the soldiers’ planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping.  but the centurion wanted to spare paul’s life and kept them from carrying out their plan.  he ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land.  the rest were to get there on planks or on pieces of the ship.  in this way everyone reached land in safety. 

GOD said the ship isn’t going to make it but you are. and it began to break up in little pieces.  some of you are in a storm right now.  you’re going to have to get to shore on a broken piece.  you may have to dog paddle.  but you’re going to make it.  you may have to get there on a broken piece of the ship, but you’re going to make it.  none of us have completely whole lives.  we are all broken individuals.  but you’ll get to shore on a broken piece.  you may have a broken heart but you’ll make it.  you may have a broken home, but you’ll make it.  GOD says, “i will be with you.” 

the interesting thing about this story is that everything was falling apart in this storm except paul.  why wasn’t paul falling apart?  because his confidence was in GOD, not in the ship. 

you’re going through some storms.  if i brought the storm on my own life, i should repent – change.  i admit it and ask GOD to help me change.  if satan brought this problem in my life, i need to resist it – do a little spiritual warfare and resist what he’s trying to do to me.  if GOD brought this problem in my life, i need to just relax.  in fact, i need to relax regardless of what the source is and trust GOD.  ask GOD, “what do YOU want me to learn from this situation?”  put my confidence in HIM. 

just a thought from the front porch…

do what you can…

the right response to difficulty is to confront it.  do what you can. 

this is what paul did here in acts 27.33 & 34 (msg), with dawn about to break, paul called everyone together and proposed breakfast: “this is the fourteenth day we’ve gone without food. none of us has felt like eating! but i urge you to eat something now. you’ll need strength for the rescue ahead. you’re going to come out of this without even a scratch!”

when you get under stress, tension, in a crisis, when you’re overwhelmed by problems and think you’re going to crack up, you stop taking care of yourself.  you don’t eat right, sleep right, those physical management things you need to do.  paul says, when you’re overwhelmed with stress remember the simple stuff like eating right. 

they had been worried sick for 14 days and hadn’t eaten anything.  then he told them to do some other stuff:  they lightened the ship, they untied the rudders, cut the anchors loose, intentionally ran the ship straight ahead into the storm trying to run aground. 

that is how you get through a storm.  you don’t run from it.  you can’t go under it, over it, around it.  you go right into it.  GOD won’t take you around the storm.  HE will take you through the storm of life.  the only way to face a storm is head on.  if you turn sideways, you’re going to capsize.  GOD says “face the storm, don’t fear it. go straight on into it.” 

you never solve a problem by ignoring it.  GOD didn’t say when you go through the storm it would be easy.  HE said, “I will be with you.”  GOD didn’t say it will be easy getting through what you’re going through right now.  but HE did say, “I will be with you.”  and you are going to make it.

just a thought from the front porch…

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…

it’s always easier to cop out…

a typical thing we tend to do when we go through difficulty is found here in acts 27.18 (niv), they began to throw the cargo overboard.  in other words, we tend to discard.

here they are out in the middle of the mediterranean sea and it’s been 14 days without any sunlight.  they’ve been battered by the winds and waves back and forth and they start throwing things overboard to lighten the ship.  first they threw the cargo overboard.  then it says they threw the tackle overboard.  then the food.  they were ready to throw the prisoners overboard.  they were discarding, abandoning things they needed because the storm was so tough. 

this is a common, human reaction to difficulty.  when you get in a storm, a difficulty, a trial, when the heat gets on and the pressure comes and the stress gets unbearable, you tend to start abandoning things, values, relationships you would not normally let go of in better times. 

you hear “i’m throwing in the towel.  i’m giving up on my marriage.  i’m abandoning this relationship.  i’m out of here.  i’m checking out, chucking it all. i’m giving up on my dream to go to college, to get married, to making this marriage work.”  we start throwing out things we shouldn’t be throwing out.  values, heritage, relationships.  we start throwing things aside that we shouldn’t be throwing away.  it’s typical because we act impulsively. 

GOD says, stay with the ship.  verse 31 (niv), paul told the centurion and soldiers, “unless these men remain in the ship, you cannot be saved.”  so the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship’s lifeboats and let them fall away. 

they cut away the lifeboats to force everyone to stay with the ship.  have you done that in your marriage?  have you cut the life boats lose so there's no way out?  have you said, “divorce is not an option for us.  we're going to make this thing work.”  have you closed the escape hatch, locked it with a key and thrown away the key.  divorce is not an option.  if you haven’t, you’ll always be tempted to walk out.  if you don’t throw away the key, you’ll never develop the character GOD wants you to have.  it’s always easier to cop out than it is to develop character. 

GOD can change situations, personalities.  HE can change you.  but HE won’t if you’re always walking out the back door. 

HE says, “stay with the ship”.  don’t throw out the values you know are right and important.  don’t abandon the things you know you need in your life. 

i’ve learned from personal experience that it is never GOD’s will for me to run from a difficult situation.  if you do, you will face it again later.  GOD wants you to learn, to grow, to develop.  stay with it. 

just a thought from the front porch…