everything is working out…

we are looking in the james 5 at being patience.  so why be patient?  that is a good honest question.  for one because GOD is in control   verse 8 (niv), be patient and stand firm, because the LORD’s coming is near.

three times in this passage, james says, until the LORD’s coming…the LORD’s coming is near…the JUDGE is standing at the door.  that is the ultimate proof that GOD is in control.  nothing can stop it. 

the bible talks more about JESUS’ second coming – when HE comes back to judge the world – than it does about HIS first coming.  GOD is in control of history – “HIS story’.  HE’s got it all planned out, everything is on schedule, nothing is late, it’s all moving toward a climax.  GOD is in control.  GOD’s purpose for your life is greater than any problem you’re facing right now.  GOD is in control.

the phillips translation says verse 8 this way,  resting your hearts on the ultimate certainty.

though a situation may be out of my control, no circumstance is out of GOD’s control.  although i can’t control everything that happens in my life, GOD can so i ought to trust HIM.  because GOD is in control and everything is working out, be patient.

job persevered.  GOD’s timing is perfect, HE’s never late.  some of you are experiencing a real delay right now but GOD’s delays never thwart HIS purpose.

just a thought from the front porch…  

no attribute so comforting...

do you take advantage of the privilege of prayer? it's there and we don't even use it. instead of complaining about that boss or that job, why don't you try praying about the job? instead of worrying about your finances, why don't you try praying about your finances? you'll have a lot less to worry about. instead of giving up on your marriage, why don't you pray about your marriage? the things that are beyond your control are not beyond GOD's control.

there is no attribute that is more comforting to the CHRISTian than the attribute of GOD called HIS sovereignty. HE is in control. some of you are thinking your situation is a mess, totally falling apart and hopeless. how big do you think GOD is? HE's big enough to handle your mess! you can't unscramble an egg but you can make an omelet. GOD knows how to turn bad into good, how to bring a purpose out of the problem. don't waste your problems, give them to GOD.

when you're worried sick, you say “GOD is in control”. when you're defeated, discouraged, fallen flat on your face and feel like a total failure, say, “GOD is in control! when you're sick and flat on your back, you say, “GOD is in control!” when you're standing by the casket and wondering, “why at this time?" you say “GOD is in control!” HE's a good GOD and a great GOD. when you read the headlines about international chaos you say, “but GOD is in control!” when you face a problem that you cannot handle on your own and it's out of your control, GOD is in control.

because GOD is sovereign, HE has a right to call the shots in your life. you wouldn't even be alive if it weren't for GOD. HE has a right to call those shots. if you're not letting HIM do that you're living in rebellion and that's why life is frustrating.

the most intelligent, rational decision you will ever make is to say, “GOD, YOU are sovereign. i want to cooperate with that. i recognize that YOU have a right to call the shots in my life and i want to cooperate with that.” you will find so much fulfillment, meaning, purpose, satisfaction. you'll find your niche and all of a sudden find “this is why i was created. this is why i'm here on earth.” you're cooperating with the plan of GOD instead of fighting it. i invite you to do that today.

just a thought from the front porch…

personal and practical…

the bible says in 1 john 5.14-15 that when we pray according to GOD's will then the answers come. you pray a prayer and GOD says, “that's exactly in line with what i want to do.” when you form a partnership with GOD, GOD grants our requests. the attitude must become, “LORD, THY will be done. this is what i want, but thy will be done.” like JESUS in the garden of gethsamene, “LORD, if it be possible, let this cup pass from ME, nevertheless, THY will be done.” this is what i want, this is my desire, but THY will be
done because you know what's best.

let's apply this to your life in a practical way.

your plans. do you include GOD in your plans? which of these words best describe your attitude: presumption or cooperation? do you make your plans about what you're going to do without even consulting GOD? or do you get up in the morning and think, this is what i'll do today.

many CHRISTians are practical atheists. they live as if GOD were not in control. that's why there is so much frustration in your life. when you check in with GOD and ask, “what is your will for my life?” and you ask GOD for wisdom, then life is so much smoother and satisfying and fulfilling instead of frustrating. do you pray about your problems and plans or are you presumptuous?

some of you are saying, “one day i'm going to become a CHRISTian. i'm just waiting for the right time. someday i'm going to commit my life to CHRIST. i've got a husband/wife/brother/friend/parent/child who is a CHRISTian. one of these days i'm going to make my peace with GOD and ask forgiveness and make sure i know i'm going to heaven when i die. i'm going to settle this and really commit myself. i'm planning to do it.”

that is presumptuous! none of us have any guarantee of any tomorrow. the bible says don't boast about tomorrow, you don't know what tomorrow is going to bring. don't presume upon the future. now is the day of salvation. today is the accepted time. do it now while you know you're still here!

problems. do you look for GOD's purpose in your problems or do you throw a pity party? instead of asking “why me?” ask, “what do YOU want me to learn?” maybe you won't actually see the purpose at this point. that might come later on. maybe GOD just wants you to trust HIM, to trust HIM without question, to trust HIS goodness and graciousness and HIS control.

if you lost everything, like job, how would you respond? would you have the maturity of faith to say, the LORD gave me everything i had, and they were HIS to take away. blessed be the name of the LORD.

just a thought from the front porch…

why don’t i get everything i want when i pray?

the things that are beyond my control are not beyond GOD's control. isn't that good news? some of you say, “my kids are out of my control!” they're not out of GOD's control. “my health is out of control! i can't do anything about it.” it's not out of GOD's control. “my finances are falling apart. it's hopeless!” they're not out of GOD's control.

there is nothing beyond GOD's control. that means that in my present situation that i don't have any control – the job that i can't control the decisions that are handed down from the hierarchy. i feel like a pawn in the middle of my job. i cannot control that situation. pray about it. GOD can control it. that is the power of prayer.

some of you are thinking, “since GOD is in control and HE can do anything and He's told me to pray, so why don't i get everything i ask for?" many reasons:

1. GOD is not a genie. do you realize what a mess our world would be in if GOD answered every single prayer of every person? prayer would become a weapon. like the midas touch. it would ruin everybody. or you would become full or pride. you'd become a show off! change the colors on the american flag... like a magician. if GOD answered every prayer it would ruin us because we don't know how to handle that kind of power.

2. often times there are competing prayers. CHRISTians pray in conflict. two CHRISTians at the mets' game. one prays for the mets to win another prays for the dodgers to win. obviously GOD can't answer both of those prayers. one person prays for it to rain, another prays that it will be a sunny day. there's a conflict.

it's kind of like the pastor who was walking through the woods and a bear came up and attacked him. the bear had him in his grasp ready to tear him apart. the pastor prayed, “dear GOD, please make this bear a CHRISTian.” all of a sudden the bear let go of him, looked to heaven, crossed his paws and said, “bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies.” that's a conflicting prayer!

because we don't have total knowledge we often pray by mistake. we don't pray the right thing. we pray with a limited view. the bottom line of why GOD doesn't answer all requests is that GOD knows what's best. HE's no machine that just doles out what you ask for. HE is a good GOD and gives you what's best.

you say, “but i don't understand how this situation could be the best!” i don't either but i'm not GOD and neither are you. but we need to be able to say, “the LORD gives and the LORD takes away. blessed be the name of the LORD.” i don't understand but someday i will understand why those situations occur.

just a thought from the front porch…

your prayers can make a difference…

there was a newscaster who was on a talk show being interviewed. he and his wife are CHRISTians and they had had a premature baby. for four months after the baby was born there was a 200-1 chance that it would live. four months it hung on in an incubator. every day they thought, “is it going to die today or will it live?” he was asked, “how in the world did you handle that four months of stress not knowing from day to day if your daughter would make it?” he said, “we just kept saying to ourselves over and over, ‘GOD is in control. blessed be the name of the LORD.’”

HE gives and HE takes away and it's HIS right. HE's a good GOD. everything you have you owe to GOD. you wouldn't even be alive if GOD hadn't designed it. GOD is in control.

your problems have a purpose. and your plans have a limit. what about your prayers? because GOD is in control my prayers have an impact, they make a different.

have you ever prayed and felt you were just blowing off steam. your prayer was just bouncing off the ceiling? if GOD hears me will HE ever answer? and the devil whispers in your ear, “what a waste. who do you think you're kidding? prayer is a bunch of mumbo-jumbo. futile! worthless! unproductive! unprofitable! in vain! irrelevant! what are you doing wasting your time praying?”

because HE is sovereign then we can pray and it does make an impact. that's the basis of every miracle. GOD is in charge of everything so HE can change things. HE can overrule nature and HE can heal somebody. HE can make time last longer or make it rain or not make it rain, split the red sea, turn water into wine. HE can do anything HE wants to do.

ephesians 3.20 (lb), GOD is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of, infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes.

you can pray the greatest prayer request you can ever imagine and GOD says, “I can top that!” nothing is too hard, too big, because HE is sovereign. HE's in control. GOD says, “think of the wildest dream you can think of. that's nothing! I can go beyond that!” HIS resources are available.

listen, prayer can do whatever GOD can do. why don't we then take more advantage of it?

over twenty times in the new testament, the bible says, ask. ask, seek, knock. GOD says, “I want you to ask. I'm in charge. I'm in control. ask and I'll show you great and mighty things that you don't know. let ME blow your mind!” prayer does have an impact.

just a thought from the front porch…

why me, GOD?…

joseph is an example of how you handle it when people hurt you intentionally. joseph was his father's favorite son. all of his brothers got very jealous. they decided to sell their brother into slavery. they told their father he had been killed by a beast. they sell him into slavery and he's taken to egypt. he's sold as a slave in a man's house. the man's wife tries to seduce him. he won't give in so he's accused of rape. he's put in prison and he spends years in prison, dwindling away. i'm sure he was saying, “where is GOD in all of this? what did i do to deserve this?”

if i were joseph i'd be saying, “why me, GOD?” but he was exactly where GOD wanted him to be. GOD was in control and GOD was working through circumstances and situations. HE didn't cause it but HE allowed the brothers to sell him in to slavery. later on, joseph rose to a position of prominence in egypt and there was a great famine. because of his wisdom both egypt and israel were saved. later he came face to face with the very brothers that tried to hurt him.

genesis 50.20 (niv), one of the greatest verses in the bible. joseph says to his brothers, you intended to harm me, but GOD intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

some of you are being hurt right now by bosses, brothers, sisters, employees, by other people. they mean it for bad but GOD means it for good. there are people who are out to destroy you or maybe they don't like you and are trying to get your job. they mean it for bad but GOD is in control and HE means it for good and HE's got a purpose behind every problem.

what is the key to my response then? look past the pain and try to find GOD's purpose behind the pain. some things in life we're never going to know. why do people die at a certain time? i don't know! we all die eventually. why now? i don't know! but GOD has a plan and GOD is a good GOD. HE's in control. look past the pain.

2 corinthians 4.16-17 (ph). this is the reason why we never lose heart... these little troubles (which are really so transitory) are winning for us a permanent, glorious, and solid reward out of all proportion to our pain.

GOD says the temporary problems you are going through right now are minor compared to the reward you're going to be given on the other side for how you handled them.

in the very next verse paul says, “we don't look at the temporary problems we're going through. we keep our eyes on the eternal things, the things that really count. the things that matter.” look past the pain.

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…

is everything that happens to me GOD's will?…

because GOD is in control my problems have a purpose.

1 peter 1.6-7 (ph), at present, you may be temporarily harassed by all kinds of trials. this is no accident [please note – it is not an accident, the problems that you're facing.] it happens to prove your faith which is infinitely more valuable than gold.

peter here is saying that life is not a series of random events that have no meaning. if you are a child of GOD, nothing can come into your life without the heavenly FATHER's permission. everything that happens to you is FATHER-filtered. it's not an accident these problems that you've had.

i am not saying that everything that happens is GOD's will. it isn't. there are many things that happen in life that are not GOD's will. sin is not GOD's will. someone get's cancer – “must be GOD's will”. who said? someone's in an accident and dies – “must be GOD's will”. who said? we are to pray, THY will be done on earth as it is in heaven because GOD's will is not always done.

i'm not saying that everything is GOD's will or that HE causes everything. HE doesn't. HE doesn't cause sin. HE doesn't even cause all your problems. HE doesn't have to. you bring enough problems on yourself. and other people bring enough problems on to you. HE doesn't have to cause problems in your life.

but what i am saying is this: GOD allows – HE permits problems and then HE uses them for a greater purpose. GOD is a pro at turning bad things into good things. HE's the expert at taking problems and bringing the greater purpose out of them.

GOD could have kept paul out of prison at philippi, but HE let him go to prison. HE allowed it and as a result the jailer became a CHRISTian. GOD could have had pharaoh say yes when moses said, “let my people go” but instead HE let him say no so HE could show all of HIS miracles and the ten plagues. GOD could have kept JESUS from going to the cross, not have to have the crucifixion. but HE allowed the crucifixion so HE could do a resurrection.

GOD allows problems in your life. HE doesn't have to cause them. we cause them. we bring them on ourselves and other people cause them. don't blame GOD for all the evil in the world. HE allows it and then HE brings it into focus to help us.

just a thought from the front porch…

be flexible in your plans...

we need to be flexible in our plans.

wrong attitude: presumption. that's when i say, “i don't need GOD and i can figure it all out. i know exactly what i'm going to do.” i just assume that everything is going to go the way it's intended to go, that's presumption.

the bible says that since life is uncertain we should not presume on it. james 4.13-15 (niv), now listen, you who say “today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make money.” why, you don't even know what will happen tomorrow! instead, you ought to say, “if it is the LORD's will, we will live and do this or that.”

it's ok to make plans as long as you understand that they are tentative. a mature person makes his plans flexible. some people make plans and if anything varies in the plan they get an ulcer. mature faith is changeable. i make plans but i realize ultimately that GOD calls the shots in my life.

right attitude: cooperation. i include GOD in my goal setting. how? you pray. anything without prayer is presumption.

instead of saying, “GOD, i want you to bless what i'm doing” we should say, “GOD, help me to do what you're blessing.”

people used to write at the end of letters “dv” which stands for DEO vilente – “GOD willing.” “i'm going to come see you LORD willing. i realize that ultimately my plans may be changed.” that's the right attitude.

proverbs 16.9 (tev), we should make plans counting on GOD to direct us. that's cooperation. make plans but realize they are tentative. GOD, what do you want me to do? pray about your plans. ask him for wisdom.

since GOD is in control my plans have a limit.

just a thought from the front porch…

GOD can change our plans…

now i want us to take this idea – that GOD is in control – and look at some practical ways this applies to your life. how does it make an impact on my life that HE is in control?

well for one the bible says that since GOD is in control, my plans have a limit. they are tentative.

you've heard the phrase, “the sky's the limit” but the fact is the sky isn't the limit. GOD is. HE decides what are the limitations in your life.

proverbs 19.21 (niv), many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.

proverbs 16.1 (tev), we may make our plans, but GOD has the last word. it says, GOD has the last word.

have you discovered that things do not always go the way you planned them? at best your plans are tentative because you can't see ahead. you make plans but they really are changeable. many times GOD has a better idea.

how many of you did not marry the first person you intended to marry? the first career you intended to go into? GOD changed your plans.

when i was 21 i thought that i was suppose to marry someone other than my wife, margaret. i was engaged to someone else but GOD changed my plans. we broke up and went our separate ways and at 27 GOD brought margaret again into my life and we got married the week she turned 18. my plans were to get married at 22 but GOD's plan was 27. margaret wasn't old enough yet, when i was 22 she was 13 and GOD knows best.

i also made plans to be a very successful secure staff minister in a large church where i didn't have to worry about all of the problems of being a lead pastor, especially the matter of preaching. i wasn't ever going to preach. that was my plan but GOD changed my plans and this blog represents 20+ years of preaching and i'm glad he did.

just a thought from the front porch…

who can’t I be?..

who can GOD be that i can’t be? the answer to that is simple. no matter how much we try, no matter how much we act like it, you and i can’t be GOD.

we have been looking for the past few weeks at what is GOD really like and i want us now to look at GOD's sovereignty. read with me 1 chronicles 29.11 (lb), everything in the heavens and earth is YOUrs, o LORD, and this is YOUr kingdom. we adore YOU as being in control of everything.

now GOD's sovereignty simply means that GOD is in control. we’re not and we can’t be no matter how much we try. HE's in control of everything because HE created everything. HE's in control of nature. HE created nature. HE sustains nature. when HE wants to overrule it and do a miracle, HE can do it. it's HIS prerogative.

GOD is in control of history. the bible says everything is moving toward a focus, that there is a plan, a purpose, a climax that history is moving toward.

GOD is in control of our lives. scripture says that GOD's sovereignty decided when you were going to be born. also how long you’re going to live. the bible says GOD decided which natural abilities and gifts you were going to have. GOD gave them to you in HIS sovereignty.

now when i say things like that you might say, but bill, if GOD is in control of everything, then do i even have a choice? and that's a good question. i'm glad you asked.

and the answer is yes. you have freedom but it is limited. there are boundaries, parameters of which you cannot go beyond. because you're a human being you have freedom of choice, but it's not totally free.

it's like you were to get on an ocean liner and you were to go to china. while you're on the trip you could get on the first deck, the second deck, or the third deck. you could watch movies, sleep, eat food, play shuffleboard, swim. you could do many different things – lots of freedom on the boat but there is nothing you could do that would alter the ultimate destination of that ocean liner.

the bible says GOD gives you freedom to choose the way you want to live, the way you want to act, but once you make those choices you are no longer free of the consequences of your choices. you reap what you sow. if you do a then b is going to result in your life.

just a thought from the front porch...