one of the greatest barriers to inner peace…

one of the greatest barriers to inner peace…

we’re going to continue in our series as we’re going phrase by phrase through the LORD’s prayer.  we are looking at how to have inner peace in this stress filled world that we live in.

now one of the greatest barriers to inner peace without a doubt is guilt.  millions of people are tortured by guilt.  they are stuck in the past.  they are a slave to regrets, a slave to shame, a slave to things they can’t get out of their mind.  they don’t know how to get out of the past so that they can get on with their life in the present and get into the future.  you cannot have peace of mind and guilt at the same time. 

the thing about guilt is it is a uniquely human emotion.  we share a lot of emotions with animals.  animals have fear.  animals have anger.  animals can express joy and happiness.  animals can even express sadness.  but only human beings have guilt.  no dog ever feels a guilty conscious because no dog is made in the image of GOD. 

you were created with a soul and you were given a conscious and you know the difference between right and wrong.  so this is uniquely human emotion. 

it’s also universal.  everybody feels guilt at different times of their life because we’ve all blown it.  we’ve all made mistakes.  nobody’s perfect.  nobody bats 1000.  so everybody has to deal with this issue in their lives on a continual basis. 

the problem is guilt is an incredibly destructive emotion.  it is probably the number one cause of low self-esteem.  it is probably the number one cause of depression.  and it’s probably the number one cause of anxiety.  when you are filled with guilt and you’re trying to keep something a secret in your life that you’re ashamed of it curses all kinds of emotional difficulties in your life. 

most of all though guilt is a warning light.  it is a warning light that says something is wrong in my life and i need to get it corrected.  that’s the reason GOD allows it.  it’s a corrective warning light.  it’s not something that’s supposed to stay on in your life.  it’s a warning light.  you correct what’s wrong and then you get on with your life.

just a thought from the front porch… 

takes the initiative…

we are looking in the the 2^nd chapter of james about what real faith is.  real faith is not just something you say. real faith is not just something you feel.  it’s more than emotions.

a lot of people confuse emotions and sentiments with faith.  you can be emotionally moved and never act on it.  you can go to church and get a quiver in your liver, goose bumps but it never makes any difference.

james gives here an illustration.  james 2.15& 16 (niv), suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.  if one of you says to him, “go, i wish you well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?

there was this peanuts cartoon.  charlie brown and linus are inside all bundled up and snoopy is out in the cold shivering in front of his dog food bowl.  and charlie and linus are having a discussion on how sad it is that snoopy is hungry and cold.  “he’s cold and hungry.  we ought to do something about it.”  so they walk outside and say to snoopy, “be of good cheer, snoopy.”

do you know where charles schultz got that idea?  from this verse.  what good is it if you see someone in need and you say, “i feel for you!”  he is saying it’s more than words.  it’s more than just feelings.

let’s say on sunday after church, i walk outside and you’re getting in your car and you happen to slam eight fingers in your car door and you’re standing there in agony with blood on your fingers.  if i walk up and say, “i feel for you!”  is that any help?

real faith is more than just sympathy and feeling emotions.  you give assistance.  you do something about it.  you act on it.  real faith takes the initiative.  a real believer has real faith and it’s practical.  it gets involved with people. 

now he’s talking about CHRISTians here. (this is the only time in scripture that CHRISTian women are called sisters.)  when you become a part of GOD’s family you have some family responsibilities.  a real believer will care about other believers. 

just a thought from the front porch…

three ways indecision makes you unstable…

james 1.8 (tniv), they are double-minded and unstable in all they do. 

sometimes you’ve got to make a decision.  being double-minded is devastating, debilitating.  it makes you unstable.  the word is translated, “confused” in many parts of the bible.  it’s used to describe a drunk who’s staggering, reeling, unstable in all his ways.  he’s saying, “if you can’t make up your mind it produces an unstable lifestyle.  all you ways will be unstable, in constant turmoil.

three ways indecision makes you unstable:

1.  unstable emotions.  unstable emotions.  it is a strain when you can’t decide.  you worry and strain, you’re confused.  you can’t sleep and can’t eat.  you wonder, “did i do the right thing?”  it creates emotional instability in your life when you can’t make up your mind.

this guy goes to a psychiatrist.  the psychiatrist says, “are you indecisive?”  guy says, “yes and no.”  “what do you mean by that?”  “well, i used to be but now i’m not sure.”

williams james said, “the most miserable person in the world is the person who is habitually indecisive.”  it causes emotions.

2.  unstable relationships.  lack of commitment destroys marriages.  when you can’t decide, do i want in or do i want out?  i can’t get on with it, i can’t get out of it, i can’t get with it.  what am i going to do?  instability in relationships.  when you’re a parent and say one thing then you say another thing.  we give double messages to our kids.  it causes instability. 

listen, many times it takes more energy deciding than it does to do it.  once you do it, it’s a snap, but the key is deciding.

3.  unstable spiritual life.  verse 7 (tniv), those who doubt should not think they will receive anything from the LORD.

it blocks your prayers.  indecision keeps GOD from giving you and keeps you from receiving what GOD has to offer. 

some of you say, “why doesn’t GOD answer my prayers?”  maybe you’re not specific enough.  maybe you’ve never decided what it is you want and you don’t have a clear-cut goal.

being double-minded can lead to a double life.  a spiritual schizophrenia, dr jekyll/mr. hyde.  in the book pilgrim’s progress it talks about a man named mr. face-both-ways.  that’s when you want to do your will and GOD’s will at the same time.  when you know what’s right but you go the wrong way.  when you’re trying to live for two people.  on sunday you sing onward CHRISTian soldiers and the next day you-re awol.  being double-minded produces instability in all of your ways.  it produces an unstable lifestyle.

just a thought from the front porch…

emotional scaring and doubts…

a way doubts can enter into our emotions is through emotional scaring that has taken place in our past. for instance, you may have suffered abuse from a parent when you were a child. or a dad may have walked out on your family or your parents may have gone through a divorce. or maybe a spouse left you. and when you go through that kind of abandonment very often that kind of experience can lead to chronic doubts in your life toward GOD. uncertainties that are deep down inside. you’re just waiting for GOD to let you down like your dad did or your mom did or your spouse did.

if you go through history and look at the lives of the most famous atheists who’ve ever lived – karl marx, sigmund freund, bertrand russell, madelyn murray o’hare, nitche, camu – you look at their lives – every single one of them either had a father who died when they were young or who abandoned them when they were young or they had a horrible relationship with their dad. every single one.

for most people that kind of experience doesn’t lead them to atheism, but it creates barriers between them and GOD. why? because they may have such anger toward their earthly fathers deep down inside that it’s very hard to even consider the possibility of a HEAVENLY FATHER that they would want to know. or they may be feeling like, “if i put my trust in GOD, i'm going to end up being abandoned just like my dad abandoned me through death or divorce or whatever.”

emotions can create barriers between us and GOD whether we’re aware of them or not.

just a thought from the front porch…