the only thing CHRISTianity exempts you from…

another fact about crises is they are impartial.  they happen to both good people and to bad people.  crises happen to believers as well as unbelievers. 

matthew 5.45 (niv), HE sends the rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  that means CHRISTians are not exempt. 

the only thing CHRISTianity exempts you from is hell.  you’re going to have the same problems everybody else does, you just have a different source of power to deal with them.  you will experience as a believer, defeats, depression, discouragements, disappointments, diseases.  the only thing CHRISTianity exempts you from is hell.  what GOD gives you is the power to overcome those problems. 

some people imply that if you get saved, if you give your life to CHRIST, you’ll never have any more problems.  that’s just not true.  you’re living proof of that!  so am i.  no matter how committed you are you’re going to have problems. 

so might say, “if you're in a crisis, you must have disobeyed GOD.”  that’s not necessarily true either.  it is true that a lot of problems we bring on ourselves when we disobey GOD.  but some problems come in spite of the fact that you’re doing the right thing.  JESUS told the disciples to get into the boat and they obeyed and they sailed right into a storm.  they were obedient and experienced a crisis.

just a thought from the front porch..

one at a time…

the future, when you think about it, can really be overwhelming. it can get you down when you realize how it’s coming in at you. GOD designed the future to come at our lives in bite sized portions.  it comes in 24-hour segments, one day at a time.  it’s like the hour glass.  you flip it upside down and the sand goes through, but only one grain at a time.  that’s the way GOD intends for us to deal with our problems – one at a time.

you deal with one and then the next one comes along to deal with. [did you hear about the grandfather clock that had a nervous breakdown?  they took it to a psychiatrist and the grandfather clock said, “i have to tick-tock twice a second.  that’s 120 times a minute, 172,800 times a day, over 62 million times a year!  i can’t face it.  i’ll crack up.”  the psychiatrist said, “simple.  just worry about one tick at a time.”]

that’s the way GOD intended for us to live.  don’t worry.  it’s unreasonable, it’s unnatural, it’s unhelpful, it’s unnecessary, it’s unCHRISTian.  HE says, “i didn’t make you to be a worrywart.  instead, put ME first in every area of your life. live one day at a time.”

just a thought from the front porch…

two days to never worry about…

another step to overcome worry is to live one day at a time.

matthew 6.34 (niv), therefore do not worry about tomorrow. tomorrow will worry about itself.  everyday has enough trouble of its own.   JESUS says don’t open your umbrella before it starts raining.  don’t start worrying before you get there. don’t cross the bridge until you get to it. 

every week there are two days you should never worry about: yesterday and tomorrow.  concentrate on today.  what JESUS is saying is don’t worry about the future until you’ve learned to successfully manage the present.  today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. 

why should i live one day at a time?  two reasons:

1.  in worrying about tomorrow and tomorrow’s problems, i miss today’s blessings.  i’m so caught up in what’s going to happen tomorrow, i can’t enjoy today.

2.  you cannot solve tomorrow’s problems with today’s resources.  GOD has made our lives that we’re to live on a day by day basis.  that doesn’t mean you don’t plan.  you should plan for tomorrow.  JESUS advised it.  you plan for tomorrow, but you have to live in today.  you cannot live in tomorrow.  don’t worry about it because today’s resources are not sufficient for tomorrow’s problems.  GOD gives you just enough grace, just enough power for now. 

remember when they got manna in the old testament?  GOD gave it to them one day at a time.  HE said they couldn’t store it up because HE wanted them to trust HIM on a moment by moment basis.

the bible does not say, “give us this day our weekly bread.”  it says, give us this day our daily bread.  what you need for today will be sufficient for today.  when you get to the problem tomorrow, GOD will give you the power for the problem tomorrow. HE’s not going to give you the power today for tomorrow’s problems.  don’t worry about them.  otherwise, you’re working on a situation that GOD doesn’t give you the power to work on.

it's ok to plan for tomorrow.  GOD wants you to plan.  in proverbs HE shows that HE wants us to plan and set goals, dream dreams, set objectives and move toward them.  but you don’t worry about tomorrow’s problems.  you live one day at a time.

just a thought from the front porch…  

CHRISTians have two significant differences…

you might ask, does following CHRIST exempt you from temptation?  the answer is no.  of course not.  in fact you’re probably going to be more tempted once you become a believer because you’ve got a big bull’s eye on you and satan hates your guts.  he wants to take you down.

of course you’re going to be tempted.  so if you ever hear some CHRISTian say, “i just thank GOD i haven’t been tempted in twenty-five years.”  it’s just not true.  you’re going to be tempted the rest of your life. 

followers of CHRIST – that’s you and me – we have the exact same problems, same hurts, same fears, same difficulties, same sins, same failures as everybody else in the world.  we just have two significant differences.  one, we realize that because JESUS CHRIST died on the cross for my sins and i can come to HIM and HE will forgive me of any sin that i have done.  so salvation and GOD’s grace in my life means i’ve been forgiven.  that’s a big advantage.  a big advantage!  i have been forgiven.

the second thing i have is, i’ve got a church family.  in a church family i can find other people who say, we’re with you.  we’re going to hang in there with you.  we’re going to be with you.  the church is not a hotel for saints where they dress up for dress parade.  it’s a hospital for sinners.  people who say i want to grow.  GOD says that’s the kind of people i want.

now the most common temptations without a doubt are sexual temptations.  why?  i don’t know if you’ve figured this out or not but everybody is either a man or a woman.  so as a result sexual temptations are the most common temptations. 

not everybody is tempted to do drugs, smoke weed, not everybody is tempted to go get drunk and drive drunk.  but everybody is either a man or a woman.  and satan tries to get those drives and those desires – good GODly drives –perverted, misused or abused.  yet it is the one area of temptation that people least like to talk about. 

i love that line that says you’ve never gone too far for GOD’s grace.

just a thought from the front porch…

some reasons why we have problems…

why do we have so many problems in the world?  here are some reasons why we have problems in our lives:

1.  a fallen world.                                                                                     

in a nutshell, adam choked.  adam blew it.  he sinned.  sin entered the world and we live in an imperfect world ever since so because sin is in the world people do things that are wrong and you suffer as the result.  other people cause problems that you didn’t cause.  that’s one of the main causes of problems.

2.  you have an enemy.  his name is satan.                                                  

and satan wants to mess your life up.  he wants to destroy you.  he wants to make you ineffective as a child of GOD.  so you not only have the world working after you, you’ve got the devil after you too.

3.  your own poor decisions.                                                                  

you make a lot of dumb decisions, dumb choices and so do i.  most of the problems i bring on myself. 

if you’ve got your own poor decision making and you’ve got the devil and you’ve got the fallen world it’s no wonder.  that’s enough problems to keep you going the rest of your life but let me give you a fourth.

4.  sometimes problems are nobody’s fault.  sometimes GOD just allows them for a different reason. 

one time JESUS was walking down the street and HIS disciples saw a man who was born blind.  the disciples said, “LORD, this guy was born blind.  who did something wrong?  was it his parents who did wrong, who sinned?  or did he sin?”

and that’s such a contemporary approach to problems.  today when you get a problem you say it was either caused by my parents or by me.  it’s either blame your parents or blame yourself. 

so they said, who caused this problem, my parents or me?  and JESUS said, john 9.3 (niv), neither… this happened so that the works of GOD might be displayed in him.

sometimes you’re going to have problems that aren’t caused by the sin of others, aren’t caused by your own sin and aren’t caused by the devil.  you’re going to have problems because GOD let them in your life so that GOD’s power could be displayed in your life.

just a thought from the front porch… 

when problems are unexplainable…

sometimes you go out and in all sincerity you pray, you work, you think you’re on the right thing and you go out and do what you think GOD wants you to do and it flat out bombs!  what do you do with that?  don’t worry.  it’s all a part of GOD’s plan and HE’s moving you to where HE wants to take you.

so when problems are unexplainable, i trust in GOD’s care.  i trust in HIS care that if HE guides me HE is going to provide for me.  HE is going to take care of me. 

the bible says this in isaiah 26.3 (ncv), you, LORD, give true peace to those who depend on YOU because they trust YOU.

listen, your life is never going to be problem free.  it is a reality of life.  it’s always something!  if it’s not one thing it’s another. 

your life is like a big aircraft carrier and the problems are like planes out there circling, lined up, waiting to land.  you have about ten or twelve or twenty or thirty planes waiting to land on your deck right now.  so just about the time you get one in and you get that problem solved number two plane moves up to number one position and number three moves up to number two. 

the moment you get number two landed, number three is now number one.  and the rest of your life you’re going to have one problem after another after another.  you have to learn how to have peace in spite of your problems and in spite of conflict. 

if you’re only at peace when you’re on vacation you’re going to have peace very little in your life.  you have to learn to trust GOD’s care even when you have problems.

just a thought from the front porch…

some have problems when it comes to prayer…

matthew 6.9-13 (niv), our FATHER in heaven, hallowed be YOUr name, YOUr kingdom come, YOUr will be done on earth as it is in heaven. give us today our daily bread. forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. for YOUrs is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. amen.

now, customarily in a church this is called the LORD’s prayer.  really it ought to be called the student’s prayer because HE intended it for HIS students  –  for you and me.

now I believe that most of us have problems when it comes to prayer.  we have a “who” problem.  we get confused about the nature of the person to whom we’re praying.  people think about GOD being angry with them or disappointed in them.  this “who” problem can keep us from mastering prayer.

then there’s a “where” problem.  where is GOD located?  often, people think of GOD as being very far away, they think about prayer as something that we have to do to try to get HIS attention because HE’s distant. and the “where” problem keeps us from prayer.

then there’s a “what” problem.  we’re not always sure what we ought to pray about when we do get around to praying.  we’re not sure what GOD might be interested in or what good it does to ask.

these are real basic problems–a who problem, a where problem, and a what problem. so at the start of this prayer, we’re going to look here on the front porch at what JESUS has to say about these three problems  –  who prayer addresses, where HE is, and what we pray about.

just a thought from the front porch…

why is this happening?...

james says we need patience especially when problems are unexplainable.  the classic example he gives is in james 5.11 (msg), you’ve heard, of course, of job's staying power.

the giants and patriots are playing this sunday in the football super bowl but job played in the super bowl of suffering.  he won the championship.  he was the wealthiest man that ever lived.  he had everything going for him.  in a two-day period, everything fell apart.  he went bankrupt, his children were murdered, he got an incurable, deadly disease that was very painful.  you think you’ve got problems, he had a rough day!  he lost his family, his friends, his finances.  he was suffering materially, physically, socially – every kind of way. 

then one day his wife comes to him and says, “job, just curse GOD and die!”  now that’s a support system!  GOD allowed the devil to take away everything in his life except a nagging wife.  the worst part of job’s suffering was that he had absolutely no idea why it was happening.  for 37 chapters in the book of job, GOD doesn’t even talk to him and tell him why it’s happening.  there was no apparent reason for his misfortune.  of all people, job had the privilege to say, “why me?”

life is not fair!  that is true.  GOD never said it would be fair.  a lot of things in life just don’t make sense.  maybe we’ll never understand on this side of heaven.  job didn’t understand.  in all of those unexplained problems, job maintained his faith.  sometimes we just can’t figure out our problem.

when circumstances are uncontrollable, when people are unchangeable, and when problems are unexplainable you really need patience. 

just a thought from the front porch…

an area every one of us has to deal with..

look at this poem, “the wrecking crew”

i stood on the street of a busy town

watching men tearing a building down

with ho heave ho and a lusty yell

they swung a beam and a side wall fell

i asked the foreman of the crew

“are those men as skilled

as those you’d hire if you’d wanted to build?”

“ah, no, no indeed,

just common laborers are all i need

i can tear down as much in a day or two

as would take skilled men a year to do.”

and then i thought as i went my way

just which of these two roles am i trying to play?

have i walked life’s road with care,

measuring each deed with rule and square?

or am i one of those who roam the town

content with the labor of tearing down?

this is an area every one of us has to deal with – a critical attitude, being judgmental.  if you want to find some fault in somebody, you can.  everybody is imperfect.  it’s all in what you decide to look at.  if you choose to make friends in life one of the things you have to do is overlook their faults.  love the good parts in them and overlook the bad parts.  if you want to have a successful marriage, you have to learn to stop criticizing and questioning your mate's motives.  look at the good parts in their life.

listen, this matter of judging is one of the most common problems.  james says it’s really playing GOD.  only GOD has the right to judge, evaluate and criticize someone.  HE’s got all the facts.  HE’s impartial.  we’re not.  it’s not our place.  it will be a liberating experience when you realize that GOD has not called you to judge other people but HE’s called you to be accountable to HIM.

would you pray a prayer like this in your heart, “LORD, help me to quit playing GOD.  help me this week to not be critical and judgmental, to watch my mouth and not gossip and pass on damaging information, but to build up others and to share only those things that encourage and lift up.  LORD, thank YOU for YOUr grace in my life.  thank YOU that YOU don’t give me what i deserve but YOU give me what i need.  help me to do that with others, to pass on to them what they need.  i pray this in JESUS’ name.  amen”

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…

GOD specializes in impossible…

some of you will have a major decision to make this week.  the reason you don’t have wisdom is because you are looking at the problem and not the LORD.  “this giant problem.  how will i solve it?  i’m backed into a corner.  it’s impossible!” 

GOD specializes in impossible.  get your eyes off of the problem, the circumstance and get your eyes on the LORD.  if you have your eyes on the problem, you’re going to sink!  you must believe and not doubt.

james 1.6 (tev), whoever doubts is like a wave in the sea that is driven and blown about by the wind. a lot of CHRISTians are like corks in the ocean, blown around, back and forth.  they are victims of their circumstance.  some of you are blown away right now because you haven’t been asking for wisdom.  eventually you pray but it’s as the last resort.   that ought to be your first option.

hebrews 11.6 (niv), and without faith it is impossible to GOD.  anyone who comes to HIM must believe that HE exists and HE rewards those who earnestly seek HIM.

if you want to receive anything from GOD you’ve got to believe in advance you’re going to get it.  that's faith. 

just a thought from the front porch…

there will be rewards…

some of you are going through some tough times right now.  it’s pretty hard.  GOD cares.  HE cares about you very much.  GOD sees everything you’re going through.  HE’s got your number!  the very hairs of your head are numbered.  HE knows exactly where you are.  HE hasn’t lost your number!  HE cares.

GOD has the power to do something about that problem.  HE could change it in a snap.  HE’s a miracle working GOD.  so why doesn’t HE?  because there is a greater purpose.

the greater purpose is what HE wants to do in you.  GOD is more interested in building your character than in making life comfortable and once you’ve learned those qualities, HE may be free then to remove that situation.  but there are some things in life we’re never going to be free from on this side of heaven.  they are thorns of the flesh.  we will deal with them and carry them.  nothing comes into your life without the FATHER’s permission.

there is a fantastic promise in james 1.12 (niv), blessed is the man who perseveres under trial because when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life that GOD has promised to those who love him.

GOD says there will be a reward.  i don't think when we get to heaven the rewards will go to the pastors, and evangelists and the billy grahams.  i think the rewards will go to the people who quietly put up with difficult situations and developed the character of JESUS CHRIST in their life.  he says, there will be a crown of life.  cast all your cares upon HIM.

just a thought from the front porch…

relax, trust, co-operate...

relax.  trust GOD to know what’s best for your life.  co-operate with HIS purpose so you don’t short circuit the process.  that’s what’s called faith.  james 1.6 (niv), when he asks he must believe and not doubt.  relax.  let GOD work.

letter to a pastor:

dear pastor, “it has amazed me how the LORD has moved in my life in the past two years.  i’ve always known about the LORD and went to church but when i lost my mother in the past two years things changed.  watching someone i love and respected and being eaten away by cancer so quickly i kept asking that one question, “why?”  but strange things happened.  GOD took over in my life.  so many things happened to change my life even through such adversity and sadness.  then four months later the man i had loved for six years ended our relationship but GOD was there, again giving me wisdom and strength and protection.  then i had to overcome a drinking problem and i did.  it’s been one year and two weeks that the LORD has kept me from drinking.  HE moved in again at that point and saved me from myself.  since then i’m trusting HIM more and more each day and it is so exciting.  yes, there are still problems and sometimes deep depression but HE is there.  i know now that if i choose i can trust HIM.  do you know what that has done for me?  each day is a growing experience for me with HIM.  i know GOD sent me to this church to hear your teaching.  i wish and hope the LORD will make me grow so i can help others in the hard times and help them to know HIM.”

my heart breaks when i think about some of the heartache and pain many of you feel.  there are some of you that are going to be in GOD’s hall of fame.  you have maintained a sweet spirit in the odds of incredible pressure – things that people did to you, that people did about you, situations you have been living with.  it’s not always easy to have a joyful heart in the middle of problems.

even when you want to have a joyful attitude it’s still difficult.  that’s why you need to pray for two things: wisdom to understand the trial and faith to endure the trial.  you need them both.  james says you need wisdom to know what’s going on and faith to hang in there and never, never give up.  you’re never a failure until you quit.

GOD says the devil wants to use problems to defeat you but GOD wants to use problems to develop you.  which will it be?

just a thought from the front porch…

ask “what”, not “why”…

another way that james tells us how to handle our problems is by request.  pray.  of all times to pray, pray when you've got problems. 

what do you pray about?  james 1.5 (tniv), if any of you lack wisdom, you should ask GOD who gives generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to him.  you ought to pray for wisdom when you’re in the middle of problems.

why should i pray for wisdom?  so you won’t waste the opportunity to grow.   if you don’t learn it this time there will be one more lap around the desert!  GOD will give you another opportunity.  learn from the problem.  we become overwhelmed when we don’t understand what GOD’s doing.  pray for wisdom to understand the problem.  request.

there is no situation of life that you can’t learn from if you have the right attitude.  don’t ask “why?” ask “what?”  why is to purify your faith, fortify your patience, sanctify your character.  but ask, “what do you want to teach me in this problem, LORD?  what do you want me to learn?  what characteristics can i develop?”

just a thought from the front porch…

break or make…

you choose to rejoice in the situation.  psalm 34.1 (nkjv), i will bless the LORD at all times.  HIS praise shall continually be in my mouth.  even when i don’t feel like it, even when things aren’t going right.

listen.  problems do not automatically produce blessings.  for some people, problems destroy them.  you will either be bitter or better.  the difference between bitter and better is the letter “i”.  i make the difference – my attitude.  problems break some people, make some people brittle, it's how you choose to respond.  choose to rejoice.

here, from strange and unusual events of 1982 from the encyclopedia yearbook:

brian hise had more than his share of bad luck in july.  his apartment in provo, utah became flooded from a broken pipe in the upstairs apartment.  the manager told him to go out and rent a water vacuum.  that’s when he discovered that his car had a flat tire.  he changed it and went inside again and called a friend for help.  from the electric shock he got from the phone, he inadvertently ripped the instrument from the wall.  before he could leave the apartment a second time a neighbor had to kick the door down because water damage had jammed it tight.  while all this was going on, someone stole hise’s car.  but it was almost out of gas so he found the car a few blocks away, but had to push it to a gas station where he filled the tank.  that evening hise attended a military ceremony at his university.  he injured himself severely when he somehow sat on his bayonet which had been tossed in the front seat of the car.  doctors were able to stitch up the wound but no one was able to resuscitate four of his canaries who were crushed to death from falling plaster.  after hise slipped on the wet carpet and badly injured his tailbone, he said he wondered if “GOD wanted me dead but kept missing.”

that’s what i call a good attitude!

Just a thought from the front porch…

how to handle your problems…

a good question now is how do i handle my problems  well james says in 1.2 (niv)  rejoice, rejoice. consider it pure joy whenever you face trials.

now don’t misunderstand what he is saying.  he’s not saying, “fake it.  put on a plastic smile, pretend to be polyanna.”  GOD never asks you to deny reality.  HE doesn’t mean some kind of psychological pump up based on nothing.

HE’s also not talking about masochism.  “good, i get to suffer!  i just love to suffer.  i feel so SPIRITual when i feel bad.”  HE’s not talking about having a martyr complex.  we don’t rejoice for the problem, we rejoice in the problem.  we don’t thank GOD for the situation.  why would i thank GOD for evil?  but i thank GOD in the situation.

one of the most misunderstood verses in the bible is 1 thessalonians 5.18 (nkjv), in everything give thanks; for this is the will of GOD in CHRIST JESUS for you.  if you really want to know the will of GOD in your life it’s simple.  in everything give thanks.  it does not say, “for everything give thanks.”  why would i thank GOD for giving me leukemia?  “thank you GOD for that accident…  thank you for that war…   thank you that i lost my father.”  no!  what kind of GOD do you think HE is?

it says, in everything give thanks.  why?  what it means is that we can thank GOD because we know that he can even take the bad in our lives and turn it around and bring good out of it.  i don’t care where your problems came from.  you may have caused them yourself or the devil may have caused them.  they may be problems that society has brought on you but it doesn’t really matter the source of your problem.  GOD can use them for your growth and HIS glory.

now what makes the difference?  it is your attitude.  it says, “consider it pure joy.”  look at the word consider, it means a deliberate look at.  it means to evaluate, to make up your mind once and for all.  while i’m living in the present, i look to the forward benefit of this problem.  consideration is a choice.  although i cannot control the circumstances that happened to me in life, i can control how i will respond to them.

victor frankl, the jewish psychologist who spent time in the nazi concentration camp in germany said, “they stripped me naked.  they took everything – my wedding ring, watch and i stood there naked and all of the sudden i realized at that moment that although they could take everything away from me – my wife, my family, my possessions – they couldn’t take away my freedom to choose how i was going to respond.”

just a thought from the front porch…  

we made it and GOD can use it…

we made it through hurricane irene.  no damage to us and our electricity was only out for 8 hours. 

romans 8.28 (21^stkjv), we know that all things work together for good (not all things are good but they work together for good.) to those who love GOD, to those who are the called according to HIS purpose   the secret of romans 8.28 is 8.29, for whom HE foreknew, HE also predestined to be conformed to the image of HIS SON.  why do all things work together for good?  in order to make me like CHRIST.

GOD wants to teach you about the fruits of the SPIRIT.  how does HE do that?  by putting us in the exact opposite situation.

if GOD wants to teach you love, HE puts you around unlovely people.  if HE wants to teach you joy, HE puts you in times of tragedy and sadness so you will learn joy in the situation.  peace?  GOD puts you around chaos.  the dinner’s burning, the telephone rings, the cat grabs the dog, the kid’s diper is dirty – that’s where you learn peace.  it’s easy to be peaceful laying on the beach at tahiti.  anybody can do that.  patience?  through times of waiting.

ephesians says, we are GOD’s workmanship – GOD wants to make a masterpiece out of you.  HE wants us to be mature, complete, not lacking anything.  that is the picture of JESUS CHRIST.  that’s what HE wants you to be like.

just a thought from the front porch…

character and comfort…

another purpose of problems is they sanctify my character.  they make me like JESUS.  they help me mature.  they help me grow. 

james 1.3-4 (niv), the testing of your faith produces perseverance…so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 

that is GOD’s long-range goal.  HIS ultimate purpose is maturity.  GOD wants you to grow up.  HE wants you to mature and in this CHRISTian life, character is the bottom line. 

there are so many CHRISTians who have absolutely no idea of GOD’s agenda in their life.  they don’t know what’s happening and as a result they are overwhelmed by their problems.  GOD’s number one purpose in your life is to make you like JESUS CHRIST.  GOD is much more interested in building my character than in making me comfortable.  if GOD is going to make me like JESUS, HE’s going to take me through the things that JESUS went through.

there were times that JESUS was lonely, fatigued, tempted to be depressed and discouraged.  the bible says there are two ways that GOD makes us like JESUS.

-through the word of GOD.  john 17.17 (niv), sanctify them by the truth.  YOUr word is truth.  james 1:22-25, “HIS word makes us like JESUS.”  it builds our character, matures us but even if you read the bible two hours a day, how many hours of your life are you not reading GOD’s word?  GOD demands even more the second way.

-through the circumstances of life.  here’s where james hits it right on the head. 

so many CHRISTians say, “everything was going great when i first became a believer.  then all of these problems came.  maybe GOD doesn’t love me.  maybe i’m not a CHRISTian.  maybe i’m not really saved.  maybe i’ve missed the boat.’  no, you are exactly where GOD wants you to be.  you’re in HIS character course.  HE’s making you like JESUS.

just a thought from the front porch...

they are predictable and many kinds…

james 1. 2 (niv), consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  rejoicing when your facing trials or problems is not just positive thinking but it is based some facts of life.

here’s one… problems are unpredictable.

james says, whenever you face trials.  the word face in greek is “peripipto.”  it literally means “to fall into unexpectedly.”  it is the same word used in the story of the good samaritan where the man fell among thieves – it was unexpected.

trials are not planned.  we seldom can anticipate the problems we’re going to experience in life.  that’s probably good because if we could anticipate them we’d run the other way and we wouldn’t get the benefit from them.

we are facing a hurricane this weekend here on long island.  it is unplanned and unpredictable – we least expected it to come to new york.  that’s what makes a problem a problem.  often it’s inconvenient when you fall into it. 

here is another one… problems of many kinds.

they come in all shapes and sizes.  one thing about problems: you don’t get bored with them; there are a wide variety of them. 

now the word in greek for many kinds is literally “multi colored.”  have you ever tried to match paint?  there are problems of many shades and varieties. 

they vary in intensity, they vary in variety, they vary in duration.  some are minor inconveniences.  some are major crises.  we have all kinds and shapes of problems.  they come in more than 31 flavors.  some problems are custom made for you.

here is a sign:  “into every life rain must fall, but this is ridiculous.”  an earthquake and a hurricane on long island in the same week?  lots of varieties in our life.

just a thought from the front porch..

your attitude and your understanding…

now when you read a letter you normally figure that the guy is going to warm up and ease into his subject.  he or she is going to have a few preliminaries, opening remarks, and then move into the message.  but james drops a bomb in verse 2.  he announces who he is and then in verse 2 (niv) he says, consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.

how would you like a letter like that?  “this is a letter from me…do you have problems?  be happy.”  right out front.  bam.  do you have problems?  be happy.  and i’m sure your reaction would be like mine, “what in the world are you talking about?  there is no way i can be happy. you don’t know my situation.  you don’t know my problems.” but that is the way he starts.  but i like that.  he gets right to the point.

now the key is the phrase, found in verse 2 (niv), because you know.  consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

your attitude is determined by your understanding.  rejoicing is not just positive thinking but it is based on the facts of life and james tells us first of all that problems are inescapable.

scripture doesn’t say, “if you encounter problems consider it joy” but whenever you face trials – count on it, you are going to have problems.  if you don’t have problems, check your pulse.  it is a fact of life.

JESUS said, in the world you will have tribulation.  peter said, don't be surprised when you have problems.  count on it.  problems are not an elective in life.  they are a required course.  you don’t get out of them by saying you don’t want any problems.  nobody is immune to them.

scott peck’s book the road less traveled… the first sentence is “life is difficult.”  it is.  it is inevitable that you will have problems in life.

just a thought from the front porch…