let’s review…

we are about done here on the front porch with this subject of fighting and arguments but first let’s review.

james 4.10 (niv), humble yourself before the LORD and HE will lift you up.

GOD doesn’t want to keep you down on the ground.  the way to honor is humility.  if you want to be honored by your husband/wife/the LORD, it means humility.  coming and saying, “GOD i give up.  i can’t do it on my own.  i need your power to resist the devil when he says, ‘live for yourself.’”  i grow closer to GOD and spend time with HIM and i’m willing to ask forgiveness.

which of these desires causes the most conflict in your life?  maybe it’s the desire to have and you’re so busy out there making a living that you forget to make a life.  hustling, day in and day out, to make a buck but your relationships are falling apart. 

maybe it’s a desire to feel good.  “i have my rights.”  that’s something the devil likes to say an awful lot but that’s the exact opposite the scripture is saying, think about other people, not just yourself.  what are their needs?  but i’d really rather think about what i need right now than what my family needs

how about the desire to be?  do you find it difficult to admit it when you're wrong?  that’s going to cause conflict.  do you find your schedule pushing out time for the LORD?  then re-evaluate your schedule.  make time for the things that are important.

in the first three verses of this chapter, four times it says you’re unsatisfied –“you want but you don’t get”, “you strive for but you can’t have”.  you’re unsatisfied.  many people in life are unsatisfied with the way they are living.  the secret of satisfaction is in JESUS CHRIST.  give yourself to HIM and find your needs met in HIM rather than other people.  HE will never let you down.

just a thought from the front porch…,

a pretest before the final exam…

let me ask a very serious question – a pretest before the final exam.  one day GOD is going to ask you, “what did you do with what i gave you?”  GOD is going to do an audit on your life one day.  what’s the bottom line going to show?  when HE says, “what did you do with the talent i gave you?” what are you going to say?  “i made a lot of money and i had a lot of fun and i developed a reputation among other people in the community.”  so what?  wrong answer!  it doesn't count. 

GOD's going to look at you straight in the eyes and say, “did it ever occur to you, that i might have given you your talent, your freedom, your ability, all the things I’ve given you, that I meant for you to not just use it all on yourself?  did it ever occur to you that maybe I made you for a purpose greater than just to retire?  did it ever occur to you that maybe I wanted to use you to bless other people?” 

george gallup did a study a few years back all across america and asked 40 questions to discover the spiritual commitment level of america. he compared the lifestyles of spiritually committed people with uncommitted individuals.  after he had done this all over america he classed 19 million americans (there are 250 million of us) as spiritually committed.  he said these are the results of the spiritually committed lifestyle.

1) they are far more happy and much more satisfied with their lot in life than anybody else. 

2) their divorce rate is far lower and their families are far stronger than the population in general.

3) they tend to be more tolerant of persons of different races and religions than persons who are less spiritually committed.

           

4) they are far more involved in service activities and put a high priority on improving society.

there are benefits.  all that you're looking for, you're looking in the wrong places for it.  it comes through ministry, giving your life in service. 

are you a spiritually committed person?  what's your level of commitment? 

if you haven't committed your life to CHRIST, that's the first step.  open your life to CHRIST.  say, “JESUS CHRIST, i want to be in your plan.  you made me for a purpose.”  if you’ve done that, find a church family and commit to it.  once you've found a church family, get committed to the disciplines for spiritual growth. 

my challenge to you is very specific.  what's the next level of commitment you need to make?  what's the next step GOD wants you to take? 

just a thought from the front porch…

paradise is not continuous leisure...

i think paul felt that at the end of his life when he said i finished the fight, i've run the race, i've fought the good fight, i've finished my course. paul is saying, i have that warm feeling of satisfaction, that i did the best i could.

i think that is the way JESUS felt on the cross. when HIS final words were, it is finished. now HE didn't say, I am finished, HE said, it is finished. big difference. because HE wasn't finished. HE said, it is finished. what? salvation's plan. what? all that GOD had sent him to earth to do. i think that was a shout of victory. it's finished!!! i've done it!!! i've done exactly what GOD had wanted me to do and there is that warm sense of accomplishment that comes.

you see, people are happiest when they are striving for something worthwhile and meaningful in life. that's when they are happiest.

you notice back there in the garden of eden, it said that GOD gave them something to do there in paradise.

folks, paradise is not continuous leisure. there was work even in paradise.

i want to tell you that the most pathetic and most board people in the world are people who have nothing but leisure. they are board to death.

some people say, man if i could just quit work and go sit down on laguna beach and just sit and soak and tan and you'd last about a month and a half if you had nothing more than to just sit on a beach. some of you wouldn't last two weeks.

the fact is that GOD says there are emotional benefits to working. it builds self-respect in your life.

just a thought from the front porch…