often it doesn’t make sense…

psalm 138.8 says (nlt), the LORD will work out HIS plans for my life.  you need to know this about GOD’s plan.

GOD’s plan is often more painful.  sometimes it’s harder, it’s difficult and often it doesn’t make sense.  it certainly didn’t make sense to mary who had just found out that GOD wanted her to be the mother of HIS SON.  the plan GOD had for mary’s life was much more difficult and harder than the one she had.  can you imagine the difficulty of facing the gossip that she did as an unmarried mother who claimed that GOD was the father?  ruthless criticism, i can imagine. 

then when she was pregnant she had to travel on a donkey a long journey to bethlehem the day before her delivery.  would any of you mothers like to confirm that that would probably be hard?  on the day before delivery take a donkey ride over a bumpy road many miles, taking two or three days, obviously that would be very hard.  then you’re going to deliver your first baby without your mother, without a midwife, without hospital or doctors.  you’re going to deliver that baby by yourself as a thirteen-year-old girl in a stable with donkeys and cows surrounding you.  that would be hard.  i’m sure mary must have thought a thousand times, “why, GOD?  why does this have to be so hard?  i’ve surrendered to your plan.  why does it have to be so hard?” 

GOD was fulfilling a promise HE had made thousands of years before when HE had said the MESSIAH will be born in bethlehem. 

from mary’s point of view this thing kind of came up suddenly.  it looked like she was being ambushed by GOD.  that GOD said, “out of all the little peasant girls in the world I’m going to pick you, mary, in nazareth and you’re going to be the vehicle that i use to come into the world to bless the world.”  to mary it looked like a complete surprise, spontaneous.  but, no.  GOD had planned this before the earth was formed.  as you read the bible you see all the genealogies had been traced back all the way to adam that the MESSIAH would be born in the lineage of david.  this was no accident.  GOD had planned what was going to happen to mary thousands if not millions of years before. 

nothing in your life is an accident.  nothing.  there is a purpose behind every problem.  it doesn’t ever surprise GOD.  HE knew everything that was going to happen in your life before it happened.  even the bad.  HE doesn’t cause the bad.  there’s enough in the world to cause itself.  but HE takes bad and even brings good out of it.  did GOD bring good out of the cross?  i guess so!!  did bad happen to HIS SON?  yes!  did he stop it?  no. 

so GOD’s plan for your life is going to be often harder.

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...

it has value in our lives...

problems are purposeful.  they have a purpose.  pain can be productive.  pressure produces.  suffering can accomplish something.  it has value in our lives.  what value? 

for one - problems purify my faith. 

james 1.3a (niv), you know that the testing of your faith…   he uses the word testing as in testing gold and silver.  you would heat it up very hot until the impurities – the dross – was burned off.  job said, he has tested me through the refining fire and i have come out as pure gold.  the first things trials do is test our faith.  they purify us.

CHRISTians are like tea bags.  you don’t know what’s inside of them until you drop them in hot water and then you know.  your faith develops when you don’t feel like doing what’s right.  it purifies your faith.  CHRISTians are like steel; when they’re tested they come out stronger.

another one - problems fortify our patience.

verse 3b (niv), the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  he’s talking about staying power.  not a passive patience but staying power, endurance.  the ability to keep on, keeping on, the ability to hang in there.  the greek here is literally “the ability to stay under pressure.” 

we don’t like pressure and we do everything we can to avoid it.  we run from it, take drugs, gamble, drink alcohol, go to disneyland, anything to get away from pressure but GOD uses problems in our lives to teach us how to handle pressure, how to never give up.

how does GOD teach us patience?  by everything going your way?  no.  GOD teaches you patience in traffic jams, in grocery lines, the waiting periods in life. 

we live in a comfort and convenient society.  everybody wants it now.  if i can’t have it now, forget it.  endurance today, is a rare quality.  lombardi said, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.”

just a thought from the front porch…

you can get in on that plan…

if i were to go out on the street and ask the average person this question, “what on earth am i here for?” they’d say, “i have no idea.”  i grow up, i go to school, i get a job, i make money, i retire, i die.  is that it?  is that all there is to life?  what on earth am i here for?

the bible makes it very clear that you’re not here by accident, that there is a purpose and a plan for your life.  even before you were born, GOD planned what you were going to do.  HE has a purpose for you.  you can get in on that plan or you can get outside of it.  HE won't force it on you.

ephesians 2.10 (niv), we are GOD’s workmanship, created in CHRIST JESUS to do good works which GOD prepared in advance for us to do.  GOD created us to do good works. 

the word in the bible for good works is called ministry or service.  ministry does not mean something a pastor does.  the bible says all of us are called to ministry.  it just means we’re to do good works. we’re to serve GOD, we’re to serve others.  GOD planned each of us to do this.  if you’re not doing it you're out of GOD’s plan.

JESUS told a story in matthew 25 of the talents and in it HE gives some life principles. 

one is the principle of ownership.  everything i have belongs to GOD.  i don't own anything.  the bible says, the earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof.  we just get to use it for 50, 60, 70 years and then we pass it on to somebody else.  it’s really kind of a rental. 

i’ve never seen a hearse with a u-haul behind it.  you didn’t bring it into the world, you’re not going to take it out of the world, you just get to use it while you’re here.  none of it really belongs to you, it belongs to GOD.  many things are being perverted but all that’s in the world belongs to GOD.  and GOD has entrusted us with property like the story of this man in matthew 25. 

just a thought from the front porch…

how to get started…

there are a lot of people who ignore GOD’s purpose for life.  they run after fame, they run after money.  they’ll be disappointed in the end because those things are so little compared to GOD’s purpose and how long it lasts.  but there are a lot of people who do that. 

there are a lot more people who instead of ignoring GOD’s purpose try to fit GOD’s purpose into their life.  you take your life, it’s filled with stuff.  it’s busy.  there’s lots of activity.  it’s already filled to the brim.  and you take a “little” thing like GOD’s purpose and you try to fit it into your life.  you try to cram it in as hard as you can and stuff starts spilling out all over the place.  it’s a mess!  it doesn’t work. 

so what do you do?  you say maybe later.  you still go to church but you take GOD’s purpose and say, “i’m going to put it over here.  maybe after the kids are gone… maybe after i’m retired…”  GOD says, “don’t try to fit my purpose into your life.  let me fit your life around my purpose.  start with my purpose and then watch how everything else fits in.”  JESUS said it this way, if you’ll seek first GOD’s kingdom and GOD’s righteousness all the other things will be added as well”  just start with that.  clear the desks and start with GOD’s purpose.  then watch what HE does.  it’s what HE made you to live for.  not to ignore HIS purpose.  not to try to make HIS purpose fit into your life.  but to live for his purpose in your life. 

that’s a big thing.  living for GOD’s purpose.  that’s huge.  how do you get your arms around that?  how do you get started?

psalm 31.15 (msg), hour by hour i place my days in your hands.  that’s the only way to do it – step by step, hour by hour, day by day.  that’s how you get your arms around GOD’s purpose in your life.

some of you are feeling “i think i’ve missed it.  i think i’ve missed GOD’s purpose for my life.  the mistakes i’ve made.  the times i’ve said no.  the opportunity is that i’ve passed up.  i’ve missed GOD’s purpose.”  you may be feeling some massive regret right now.  psalm 18.20 (msg), GOD made my life complete when i placed all the pieces before HIM.  even if you feel like your life is in pieces and there’s nothing left, GOD still has a purpose for you.  you bring whatever is there to HIM.  watch how HE brings purpose in your life.  it is never too late to get on track with GOD’s purpose in your life.  GOD’s purpose centers on GOD’s SON. 

ephesians 1.10 (tev) tells us. this plan, this purpose which GOD will complete when the time is right is to bring all of creation together – everything in heaven and on earth – with JESUS CHRIST as the head HIS purpose centers on HIS SON.  that means that if i center my life on JESUS CHRIST, i’ll be in GOD’s purpose for my life.  that’s as simply as i can say it.  it can sound very complicated but if i’ll center my life on getting to know JESUS CHRIST, if i’ll center my life on what HE directs in HIS word, the guidance that HE gives to me, if i’ll center my life on being with other people who are trying to do the same thing, i will be in the center of GOD’s purpose for my life.

just a thought from the front porch…

to live out GOD’s purpose…

you can have the greatest attitude and perspective in the world.  you can have the perfect plan for managing your time.  but if you’ve got the wrong purpose you’re headed in the wrong direction.  what’s the use of that? 

if i start to run a race and i start running in the wrong direction the faster i run the further than i’m getting from my goal.  some of you have been doing that.  running as fast as you can, working as hard as you can but there’s this sneaky feeling in the back of your mind – “i’m getting further and further from where i want to be in life.”  so what do we do when we feel that way?  we run faster!  hoping that somehow more energy is going to make it work. 

i invite you to just stop, stop the running for a moment to think, “am i going in the right direction?  maybe what i need is to turn around and start running in a different direction – the direction of GOD’s purpose.  GOD’s purpose is the purpose that’s going to last.

how do i know that i’m going in the right direction?  proverbs 19.21 (msg) talks about that, we humans keep brainstorming options and plans.  but GOD’s purpose prevails.  we’ve got lots of ideas.  some of you have an idea a day – some of you have an idea a minute, a second.  some of our ideas are going to work out and some of them aren’t.  but GOD’s purpose will always prevail.  so i can hook my life to GOD’s purpose, i’m going to hook my life to something that is going to last.  that’s the purpose that you and i were made to live for.  maybe the most important tool in time management is the single question, “GOD, what do you want me to do with my life today?”

have you ever seen the movie chariots of fire?  it’s about the olympic champion eric little who, as a believer in CHRIST, decided that he would run the race with GOD’s purpose in mind.  he eventually became a missionary to china – gave his life to the mission field in china.  but in that race that he ran and won in the olympics there is that famous phrase “GOD made me for a purpose but HE also made me fast and when i run i feel HIS pleasure.”  there’s a person who enjoyed GOD’s purpose in his life. 

that’s what i want.  i want to discover GOD’s purpose for my life, figure it out, run that race as hard as i can and then there’s the cheering crowd.  there’s my family there, my friends there, my rivals there, the entire nation – the entire world watching to cheer this moment when i live out GOD’s purpose for my life.

just a thought from the front porch…

you blew it? big deal!…

let GOD give you a new purpose and a new direction for your life. 1 kings 19.15 (niv), the LORD came to elijah and said, “go back the way you came and go to the desert of damascus and when you get there here's what I want you to do.” HE said, “i want you to anoint ... this king, that king.” GOD gave him a new assignment. HE put him back to work.

the quickest way to defeat depression is to quit sitting around in self-pity, get your eyes off yourself and start looking at the needs of other people. get involved in their lives and get a ministry where you are giving out and GOD is giving to you. when you're looking at yourself, you're going to get discouraged. JESUS said, “lose your life to find it.” get involved in helping others.

GOD gave elijah a new job. HE said, “i'm not through with you and the job that I’m giving you is going to help people.” when you're depressed we think, “how can GOD ever use me? i am such a failure. i keep blowing it. i keep making mistakes. i discourage myself. i disappoint myself. surely i must be disappointing to GOD.”

listen. you can never disappoint GOD. why? because disappointment can only happen when somebody expects you to do something else. the fact is, GOD knows everything about you. the bible says, HE knows we're human. HE made us. the psalms says, “HE knows our frame. it is dust.” HE knows what makes us tick.

let GOD give you a new purpose and a new direction. HE's not through with you. so you blew it? big deal! GOD will pick you up and start you over. one mistake does not make you useless the rest of your life.

just a thought from the front porch…

all things work together for good...

GOD never makes a mistake. HE even takes the mistakes you make and weaves them into HIS plan for HIS purpose. nothing comes into my life by accident. GOD never makes a mistake. everything fits into HIS plan.

romans 8.28 (niv), and we know that in all things GOD works for the good of those who love HIM, who have been called according to his purpose. no wonder CHRISTians can be positive. that verse would make an optimist out of anybody. all things work together for good for those who love GOD! what a tremendous concept.

fact: GOD has a purpose behind my problems. that helps me to be positive. HE has a purpose behind every problem that i face.

notice what it does not say. it does not say that all things are good. there's a lot of bad in the world. it does say that all things work out the way i want them to. it does not say that everything will have a happy ending on this side of eternity.

it says, and we know. we don't hope, we don't wish, we don't desire, we don't think, we don't imagine. we have absolute confidence. we know!

what do we know? we know that all things work together for good for those who love GOD. all things. what does all things include? does that include losing your job? does that include an illness? does that include a divorce? does that include a miscarriage? all things work together!

and notice it doesn't say, all things by themselves are good. it says they work together, they're inter-related. individually there are many bad things that come into our lives. but they work together. they're inter-related. we must look at the whole picture.

like the illustration of the needlepoint. if you look on the back side of the needlepoint it's a jumble of garbled twine and string. you turn it over and you see the grand design. it's the perspective that you're looking at it that makes the difference. all things work together for good. that makes it a life without miscalculation. GOD never makes a mistake. and HE even takes the mistakes in my life and turns them around.

just a thought from the front porch…

keep focused on HIS plan…

another antidote to envy is to keep focused on the plan GOD has for your life. don’t get distracted by what’s going on in other people’s lives. center in on GOD’s will for your life.

there’s a simple phrase in this story that the owner says to those who were grumbling and griping and who didn’t get what they deserved, matthew 20.14 (Gw), take your money now and go. he’s basically saying to those who are complaining who can’t get past this, he’s basically looking them in the eye and saying, “get a life! it’s time to move on now. it’s time to go to the next step in your life. quit having a pity party. just get over it!”

sometimes we get so stuck in the past. some of you are still envying the person who got to be prom king or queen. you’re really stuck back here a long ways. and GOD is saying, “get a life! move on.” you get so stuck on what you didn’t get and why it didn’t happen and i deserved that and they didn’t deserve that, you get so stuck on that, you can’t see GOD’s plan for your life. HE still has an incredible plan for your life right now, today. why should you let what they got keep you from GOD’s plan for your life? and HE has an incredible plan for your life.

hebrews 12.1 (lb) says, let us run with patience the particular race that GOD has set before us. note the word, particular. that means the personal race, the race that is only for you. it’s unlike HIS plan for anyone else. this plan that GOD has for your life individually is a plan that HE had before you were even born. that’s how great this plan is.

psalm 139.15 (lb) says, you saw me before i was born and scheduled every day of my life before i began to breathe. GOD has shaped you. HE has made you for a unique purpose. one of the reasons for a church is to help you discover the unique purpose that GOD has for your life, the particular race that HE wants you to run.

and once you begin to discover that, how GOD wants your life to be lived out differently than everybody else’s, you don’t have to envy anyone anymore. you just have to realize you just have to be the particular person GOD has made me to be. you’re released from the tyranny of always having to be best all the time. you just have to be the best you can be, the person GOD made you to be.

when you get focused like this on GOD’s particular race for you to run, you really don’t have time to envy anyone. you’re so caught up in what HE wants you to do. you can’t be bothered with envy because you’re living your life for an audience of one. for HIM. for the particular race HE has for you.

just a thought from the front porch…

He hasn’t caused but HE has permitted…

because GOD is in control my plans have a limit and my problems have a purpose. now if that is true, and it is, then how should i respond to my problems knowing that every problem has a purpose behind it and that GOD hasn't caused it but has permitted it for a reason?

let's look at an example: job. job was the wealthiest man in the world and he lost it all overnight. he went bankrupt and all of his family was killed except his nagging wife. then he got a dreaded disease and he's miserable. even satan couldn't get at job without GOD's permission. satan had to come to GOD and say, “can i do this to job” and GOD said, “you can do this and no more.”

satan cannot even get at your life without GOD's permission. there are not two GOD's of equal authority. satan is a creature like anything else. there is only one GOD and even satan has to do what GOD says. HE only allows him here for a short period of time to produce a race of tested individuals and then he will be destroyed. if you lost everything the way job did, how would you respond?

job 1.21 (lb), the LORD gave me everything i had, and they were HIS to take away [please note: they were HIS to take away]. blessed be the name of the LORD. job says, everything i have comes from GOD anyway. HE gave it to me, HE can take it all away. it is HIS right.

now the end of the story is that GOD later restored everything the devil had taken away, twice as much. job was twice as wealthy, twice as many kids.

GOD is in control. if he wants to turn off a faucet HE can turn it on elsewhere. you lose a job. big deal! GOD can give you another one. bankrupt? big deal! GOD can turn it around because HE is in control. you say “blessed be the name of the LORD. HE is in control.” HE is a good GOD and knows what HE's doing.

just a thought from the front porch…

why do our plans change so much?...

GOD's purpose for my life will never change. no matter what happens to you, in you, through you it will never, never change. isaiah 14.24 (niv), the LORD almighty has sworn, “surely as I have planned it, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand.

GOD is at work in human history. history is really HIS-story. GOD's story. what is the world coming to? it's coming to the very climax that GOD has planned from the very beginning. i'm not sure what all that involves. i don't know all what the future holds but i do know who holds the future. it is a coming to a planned climax. the bible says nobody knows. even the SON OF MAN doesn't know, only the FATHER WHO is in heaven.

if someone ever comes up to you and gives you a date that the world will end, you'll know that's not going to happen. that's not the date. the bible says, no man knows the day or hour. fortunately, i'm on the winning side. that's good news. it is inevitable that we're going to end up on the winning side.

psalm 33.11 (tev), HIS plans endure forever; HIS purposes last eternally.

do your plans ever change? how often do they change? why do your plans change so much? two reasons: because you don't have the perspective or foresight to know everything that's going to happen. maybe now you know what you didn't used to know. now that you know something different your plans have changed. that's one reason.

the other reason your plans change is maybe you don't have the power to implement the changes you had intended to do. ran out of time, money, energy, effort – whatever. so your plans change.

now since GOD is omniscient – GOD knows everything – and since HE's omnipotent – GOD has all power – HIS plans never have to change.

1 samuel 15.29 (tev), GOD is not a human being. HE does not change HIS mind.

are there some times in the bible that say GOD changed his mind? yes. but it wasn't GOD who changed, it was the people who changed.

GOD told ninevah, “if you don't repent, i'm going to destroy the city.” HE didn't destroy the city. GOD changed HIS mind because they repented. GOD never changes HIS will, but HE does will a change.

just a thought from the front porch…

GOD believes in you...

another basis for confidence is in philippians 1.6 (niv), being confident of this that HE who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of JESUS CHRIST.

maybe some of you feel like you've given up the faith. you were raised in church but you've given up on GOD. but GOD's never given up on you.

at easter we talk a lot about believing in GOD. have you ever realized that GOD believes in you? HE believed in you enough to send JESUS CHRIST to die on the cross for you to make a difference, to find a purpose for your life.

it doesn't matter why you think you came to the front porch today. the fact is GOD brought you here so HE could say one thing to you: you matter to ME. there is more to life than just making money, retiring and dying. there's a lot more to life. GOD brought you here so HE could say, “you matter to me.” JESUS loves you this much.

some of you say, “i felt close to GOD in the past, but i've drifted away.” but regardless of your background, whether you have a protestant background, catholic background, jewish background, mormon background, buddhist background, nothing background... GOD wants to say to you at easter time, “you matter to me! and i really care about you.” regardless of your situation, no matter where you are in relationship to GOD, this is what GOD wants to say to you.

isaiah 54.7 (tev), GOD says, “with deep love i will take you back.”

that's why GOD brought you here today. HE wants to say to you, “i'll take you back. you matter to me.” and nobody's ever going to love you as much as GOD does. JESUS CHRIST died on the cross to prove it.

my number one goal in the ministry is to introduce people to JESUS CHRIST and help them grow SPIRITually. but my second greatest goal next to that is to raise the self-esteem of everybody i come in contact with. i just want to be an encourager.

i see most people down deep inside, really don't like themselves. that is a SPIRITual problem. it's a SPIRITual issue. confidence is a SPIRITual problem. you've got to start with the right foundation. the right foundation is you were meant to know GOD. you were meant to be loved by GOD and to love HIM. i'm not talking about religion. i'm talking about a relationship, a relationship to GOD where you come into contact with the ONE who made you. you begin to understand that HE put you on this earth, not just to take up space, not just to breathe, grow old, die, and leave everything to your kids. as rick warren says, HE has a purpose for your life.

just a thought from the front porch…