what you feel controls what you do…

JESUS tells a story in matthew 18 of a slave who owed his master millions of dollars and after he had pleaded with the master, the master forgave totally his debt.

how would you feel if all of a sudden you had no house payment, no car payments, no credit card payments?  how would you feel?  you would probably feel relief, joy.  and hopefully you would feel gracious to others.  i’ve just been forgiven all my debts.  i should go out and show a little grace to somebody else. 

but that’s not what this guy did in the story.  matthew 18.28-30 (tniv), but when that servant [who had just been forgiven twelve million dollars] went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denari.  he grabbed him and began to choke him.  “pay back what you owe me,” he demanded.  his fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, “be patient with me and i will pay you back,” [almost the same words he had said to the king.]  but he refused.  instead he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.

get this guy!  he’s just been forgiven a twelve million dollars debt.  he goes out and finds a guy that owes him a hundred denari.  that’s seventeen bucks.  it says he grabs him, starts making demands and he starts to choke him. 

this is kind of comical because actually in roman law you were allowed to choke somebody who owed you money.  squeeze it out of him.  by law he could do this.  and because this guy can’t pay him seventeen bucks he has him thrown into prison.

 

why in the world was this guy so harsh?  because in his heart he didn’t really believe the king had forgiven his debt. 

he says, “i know…  i heard what the guy said.  but i’m going to pay him back.  even if it starts with seventeen bucks at a time i’m going to figure out a way to pay him back.” 

here’s the point.  when we feel unforgiven we tend to be unforgiving.  when we feel ungraced we tend to be ungracious to others.

many of you are CHRISTians but you still don’t understand grace.  and in your heart you’re thinking, “i’m going to make it up to you, GOD.  i know you’ve forgiven all my sins.  i know you’ve given me eternal life in heaven.  so i’m going to make it up to you.  and i’m going to pay you back, GOD.”  and you go out and you try to earn your forgiveness and that makes you rigid and unbending. 

but HE has forgiven you!!!  accept it and believe it!!!

just a thought from the front porch…

the most forgiving is the most forgiven...

remembering how much GOD has been merciful to me helps me if i am a judgmental person.

james 2.13 (niv), mercy triumphs over judgment.

there is a principle greater than criticism.  it’s the principle of forgiveness.  the principle of mercy.  JESUS said, blessed are the merciful.

matthew 18 is the story of the unforgiving servant.  he owed $50,000 to his master.  his master forgave him.  then he went out and found the guy that owed him $5 and strangled him because he wouldn’t pay him.  when the master heard about it he took the servant and said, “if that the way you want to play the game, ok.  you’re unforgiving, it will be unforgiven for you.”

the bible says we’re to be merciful because GOD has given us so much mercy.  the reason why i have to be patient with you is because GOD is patient with me.  the reason you have to be patient with me is because GOD is patient with you.  that’s the way it goes.  none of us get what we deserve.  if we did we wouldn’t be here.  it’s all by GOD’s grace.

we take advantage of GOD’s grace.  we forget how good it is.  when you first become a CHRISTian you understand how much you’re forgiven.  it’s a thrilling experience and you’re really grateful for it.  but the longer you’re a CHRISTian, the more you take for granted.

kind of like the boss who gives everybody in the company a $350 CHRISTmas bonus.  everybody praises the boss.  the second year he decides to do it again – a second $350.  by the third CHRISTmas you’ve already spent the money and thinking what is he going to do this year?  if he didn’t give it you’d be upset.  we become conditioned to be ungrateful. 

if GOD’s been gracious with us we need to be gracious with others.  the most forgiving person is the most forgiven person.  once a person has fallen, made mistakes, realized it and faced up to it, you’re a lot more sympathetic, open and forgiving, kind and loving with other people.

just a thought from the front porch…

willing to wait for the dream…

what about the test of destruction?  what happens when it seems like the dream has been wiped out?  everything that you were building on to make this dream happen GOD knocked all the cards down.  what do you do then? 

you ask yourself the question, “am i willing to wait for the dream?”  then you ask, “how long?’  the answer is time to the test of destruction.  usually GOD’s dreams take some time to fulfill.  they’re not very often instantaneous things.  they take time to fulfill.  when it seems like there’s no possible way for this dream to happen in your life, GOD has you right where HE wants you.  that’s the very moment HE can show us it’s HIS dream done HIS way in HIS power and no other way.

if you’ve got a GOD-given dream it’s going to face tests.  guaranteed.  one of those greatest tests is really waiting for the dream. that time in between when you’ve had the dream, you’re excited about the dream, you’re building towards the dream, and the dream falls apart – waiting, waiting, waiting…

before we talk about joseph waiting for the dream in genesis 39, we’re skipping a chapter.

genesis 38 is a soap opera chapter of the bible.  it’s the story of judah’s family, a son named er who was so evil before the LORD that he was killed.  he had a wife named tamar.  according to the custom of the day the second son onan was to marry this wife and he refused to do so.  he disobeyed GOD.  he died.  judah ignored tamar.  and tamar became so upset by this that she dressed up as a prostitute and she enticed judah.  she sinned.  judah sinned.  he went for her enticement.  she got pregnant with her father-in-law’s children.  this is the bible? 

two things:  first of all, amazingly judah, the son of jacob, eventually becomes the son through whom the line of david and then JESUS come.  amazing how GOD takes and uses even our sinful world and through HIS forgiveness and grace is able to be at work.  that never ceases to amaze me.  i wouldn’t have done it that way.  i would have chosen one of those other sons.  joseph would have been a good choice.  he was doing pretty well.  but GOD chose judah. 

but there’s another thing.  while all this is happening up in israel which is supposed to be the main place of GOD’s will being done, down in egypt there’s a boy named joseph and there’s a dream being molded.  when you and i look at the world around us or even what GOD’s people are doing, it doesn’t seem like what GOD wants to happen is happening in a place. but GOD’s still at work.  down in egypt he was doing something amazing as joseph was waiting on the dream.

just a thought from the front porch…

which grace do you need right now?

2 corinthians 9.8 (niv), GOD is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

grace is the answer to all your needs. GOD says i will take care of all your needs by grace. the verse right before this one says GOD wants you to be gracious, generous, a giver. what you sow you reap. the more generous you are with others, the more you feel GOD's grace in your life.

the most important question i can ask you today is, which kind of grace do you need most in your life right now?

some of you need GOD's saving grace. you need to have your guilt removed. would you like everything you've ever done wrong to be completely forgiven and forgotten in eternal heaven? would you like to have a clear conscious? totally forgiven! it is available. you don't have to go any further. you've got GOD's gracious forgiveness on the basis of JESUS CHRIST.

if someone were to ask you, "if you were to die tonight and go to heaven and GOD asks you `why should i let you into heaven?' what would you say?" "i've been a nice guy... i went to church one sunday morning..."

maybe you've been operating under the wrong assumption for months or years... that you could earn your forgiveness, earn GOD's love, earn your way to heaven. you can't. you need to throw yourself on the grace of GOD and say, "GOD, i admit it. i could never earn my way to heaven. i've done too many things wrong to earn your forgiveness. but i want to accept your graciousness."

some of you need GOD's strengthening grace which reshapes your life. you're a CHRISTian but you've gotten off track. you're just not as close to GOD as you used to be. you have fallen away a little bit. you know that everything isn't all right. so as a result you're frustrated, defeated, under stress, there are tensions in your life. you know you're not living the way that is right. you think it's so hard to get back up to the place you used to be with GOD.

it is not hard at all. just say, "here i am, GOD." just turn around and say yes. your SPIRITual strength comes as a gift from GOD. HE'll bestow on you the power you need to make those changes.

for some of you, you need to get off the performance treadmill. you have subtlety, unconsciously, replaced your relationship with GOD for religious duties. go to church, read your bible, listen to CHRISTian radio, i do my thing and i'm bored and there is no joy. you need to get back to falling in love with the LORD again. focus on the relationship, not the rituals and rules.

just a thought from the front porch…

are you a gracious person?

once you've received grace, what do you do? the bible says that after you've humbled yourself and GOD pours HIS grace into your life HE wants you to be gracious to other people.

i peter 4 says GOD's given everybody a spiritual gift and ability by grace and HE wants you to use that to serve other people. in the phillips translation it says, GOD wants you to be a dispenser of grace.

and graciousness is in short supply in our society. most people are just flat out rude. graciousness is in short supply.

the reason why so few people are gracious is because they don't feel graced, forgiven. when you really understand how much GOD has done for you, and how much you've been forgiven and the fact you wouldn't even be alive today if it weren't for GOD, you wouldn't have your brain that gives you the ability to think, then you will be gracious.

so are you a gracious person? are you a gracious parent? do you parent by grace? do your kids get unconditional praise at home? or is everything based on performance? if they do a certain thing they get the strokes. if they don't do a certain thing then they don't the strokes. some of you have had kids and they're growing up and you just need to accept their uniqueness. some parents don't approve of their kids unless they have the same characteristics the parent does. then they'll like them. maybe GOD gave you some kids who, fortunately, aren't like you. be a gracious parent.

the other thing GOD wants you to do is to share HIS grace with other people. tell them. it's the best news in the world.

you don't have to live under a cloud of resentment and regret. you can be forgiven. if i had the cure for cancer i'd take every dime i had to let people know what it was. i have something better than a cure for cancer. the people that live right next door to you need to hear GOD's grace. share it with them this week. what a gracious GOD we have!

just a thought from the front porch…