be patient with everyone…

there’s a single word that we need in all of our relationships because they’re messy, because they take time, because the people we have relationships with aren’t perfect and we’re not perfect.  that single word is found in ephesians 4.2 (tlb),  be humble and gentle be… patient.  it takes patience. 

who do we have to be patient with?  1 thessalonians 5.14 (niv) says, be patient with everyone.  everyone needs my patience because nobody’s perfect. 

i’m so grateful when GOD’s patient with me to grow.  i am so grateful in my life for the people that have been patient with me to grow.  but even in light of that is hard being patient with other people.  i want them to hurry up.  i want them to grow fast.  yet for relationships to develop it takes genuine patience.

what does that patience look like?  you’re standing at that crossroads and you wonder, “am i going to hurry this along?  or am i going to have the patience in this relationship to watch it develop, change and heal?”  what does that look like

a great verse about this is in 1 corinthians 13.7 (nlt).  here’s the decisions we’re making at that crossroads when we decide to take the long road.  love never gives up, never loses faith.  it is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance.

so there you are at that crossroads, deciding which way are we going to go?  at that crossroads, when you decide to take the long road what you’re saying is, “i’m deciding right here, right now i’m not going to give up.” 

some of you need to decide that right here, right now about a relationship with a husband, a wife, one of your kids, a friend, somebody at work.  “i’m not going to give up on that relationship with somebody in my family!  i’m going to decide right here and right now i’m not going to lose faith. 

GOD is still there.  HE is still working.  i’m going to decide right here and now, i’m not going to stop hoping.  i am deciding to take the long road, to endure with you even through the toughest circumstances.  that’s what it looks like, to have that kind of patience, to be willing to take the long road. 

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…

GOD loves to bless people who are grateful…

another key for GOD’s blessing on your life is to celebrate HIS blessing in worship

what do i mean by that? thank GOD for what HE’s already done for you. GOD loves to bless people who are grateful for what they’ve already got. GOD’s not really excited about people who are always saying, “what’s next, GOD? what are you going to bless me again?” when you’re not even pausing to thank him for what HE’s already given you.

when you do that, that’s called worship. GOD loves it when we thank him for the blessings he’s already bestowed on us. and when we thank him for what he’s given us he blesses us with even more. because he loves to bless his worshippers.

worship is far more than just a church service or music. worship is a lifestyle. it’s an attitude of gratitude where you continually thank GOD for everything in your life. that’s worship. you can worship all day. you get up in the morning: “GOD, thank you that i’m alive. YOU gave me another day.” you start taking a shower: “GOD, thank YOU for hot water.” there are some places i’ve been i’m really grateful for a hot shower. you put on your clothes: “GOD, thank YOU for the clothes YOU’ve given me.” you go downstairs and cook breakfast and say: “GOD, thank YOU for the breakfast YOU’ve given to me. YOU’ve given me food.” as you get into your car and drive to work you go, “thank YOU that i’ve got a car to drive and i’ve got a place to go to work and i live in a free country.” you live in an attitude of perpetual thanksgiving. that’s called worship.

when GOD sees you do that, HE wants to bless you more. because you’re grateful for what you’ve got, HE wants to give you more.

if you’re ungrateful why would HE want to bless that? HE doesn’t. so you celebrate the blessings that you do have through thanksgiving and through worship. so thanksgiving is to be everyday.

romans 5.11 (lb), now we rejoice [we rejoice – that’s the celebration part] in our wonderful new relationship with GOD all because of what our LORD JESUS has done for us in dying for our sins making us friends of GOD. it says JESUS CHRIST died for our sins. HE paid for our blessings with HIS life. everything you have in life, that blessing is because of JESUS. grace is free but it is not cheap. because it cost JESUS his life. JESUS said, “I never want you to forget the sacrifice that I gave for you when I died for you on the cross. I never want you to forget that everything in your life is because I paid for it with my life. all the good things.”

just a thought from the front porch…

it’s in the focus...

envy is a choice. i can choose to rejoice, or i can choose to resent. those are the options. the good news is if you learn to rejoice at GOD’s goodness to others, you’ll have a lot more to be happy about.

we all need to have the attitude of grandparents. you can brag to them, and they don’t think you’re bragging. you can say, “you wouldn’t believe what the kids did this week!” and they’d say, “that’s great!” you tell somebody else and they’d go, “but my kids…” like, “my kid was inmate of the month in prison.” they have to one-up you every time. there’s no guile in grandparents.

but eventually your grandparents die off. so we need to be grandparents to each other. and we all need a place where we not only share our hurts, but we also share our successes and everybody goes, “that is great!” when a sorrow is shared, it is cut in half. when a joy is shared, it’s doubled. that’s very important. that’s what we do in our life groups at our church or we should do.

another antidote to envy is to be grateful for what you have. instead of focusing so much on what you don’t have and what didn’t happen, be grateful for what you do have. this also has to be learned. the apostle paul wrote, i have learned to be content. it was a learning process.

so instead of complaining like these workers did about what wasn’t happening, what they didn’t get, you learn to realize that you’d have nothing without GOD, without HIS goodness and what HE’s given to you.

1 corinthians 4.7b-8a (msg) says, isn’t everything you have and everything you are sheer gifts from GOD? so what’s the point of all this comparing and competing? you already have all you need.

envy is based on a myth. the myth is i have to have more to be happy. i have to have something i don’t have now to be happy. and you get caught up in this myth and focused on everyone else. envy always looks at others and asks, “why them? but gratitude says, “why me? why did i get this? i don’t deserve what i have.” it totally flips around the perspective of our mind.

the truth is although we all struggle with envy, it’s hard to admit it. one of the reasons why is because it is such an ugly feeling toward others. when you’re envious of others, you really want them to fail. you don’t tell anyone else, but it really makes your day when they have a bad day because you feel better because they don’t have something. when you think about that, that’s pretty crazy, isn’t it?

just a thought from the front porch…