one thing that will work when you can’t change something…

now there’s only one thing that will work when you can’t change something and that is this – acceptance.  i must accept GOD’s will in my life.  YOUr kingdom come, YOUr will be done.

now understand that not everything that happens in you life is GOD’s will.  i’m not saying that.  but you say,  “GOD, i want YOUr will in my life when there’s things out of my control and i can’t change them.”

now the apostle paul understood this.  in philippians 4.11 (ncv) he says this, i’ve learned to be satisfied with the things that i have and with everything that happens. 

how many of you can say, i’ve learned to be satisfied with everything that happens?  i couldn’t raise my hand on that one.  paul is saying, “i have learned to be content, to be satisfied with the things i have and everything that happens.”

verses 12 & 13 (ncv), i know how to live when i am poor and i know how to live when i have plenty.  i have learned the secret of being happy at any time in everything that happens… i can do all things through CHRIST because HE gives me strength.

notice the amazing thing about this verse, paul wrote it when he was in prison.  he’s in rome, chained to a guard in a dungeon and he’s saying, i’ve learned how to be happy no matter what’s going on in my life.  he couldn’t change his circumstance but he said i’ve learned to be content. 

just a thought from the front porch…

accept, appreciate, affirm everybody…

so how do your treat people, especially in the church?

first of all accept everybody.  accept everybody.

then appreciate everybody.  appreciate everybody.

this goes a little bit further than acceptance.  philippians 2.3-5 (niv), do nothing from selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also the interests of others.  accept everybody.  find something you can like, not just accept.  tell them so.

with some people this may require a little creativity.  you may have to look a little while.  maybe you just need to value them for their uniqueness.  like baskin robbins – 31 flavors.  what if the people in your church were all vanilla?  what a boring church that would be!  GOD has 31 flavors of personality and more than that.

affirm everybody.  affirm everybody.

one of the things that i really miss about my dad who is now in heaven is the fact that he was my greatest cheerleader.  he believed in me, he encouraged me, he always was there to give me a lift.

can you imagine what it would be like if your church was full of cheerleaders?  everybody would be given a lift whenever possible.  1 thessalonians 5.11 (niv), encourage one another and build each other up.

when people stumble, don’t criticize, sympathize.  be an encourager, not a complainer, not a condemner, a critical person, a judger. 

you can encourage people just by smiling at them.  put yourself on a committee of one to greet each other with a smile.  you really don’t know what that will mean to someone who may really be having a tough time.  don’t just do it to those you know but also to those you don’t know.  let them know you care by a welcome handshake and a smile.

just a thought from the front porch…

accept everybody…

james in the second chapter of his nt book deal with people in the church and their showing favoritism.it’s unCHRISTian, it’s unreasonable, it’s unloving to show favoritism – to be a snob.  so how do your treat people?

first of all accept everybody.  accept everybody.

have you ever been in a church of spiritual snobs?  we got it and you don't.  do you know why people have a hard time accepting others?  it's because they confuse acceptance with approval.  there is a big difference between acceptance and approval.

you can accept somebody without approving of his lifestyle.  he may be doing something totally contrary to the word of GOD, but you can accept him as a person without approving of the sin they are involved in.

romans 15.7 (niv), accept one another just as CHRIST accepted you.  that’s a start – acceptance.

some religious people are not going to like heaven because it’s not exclusive enough.  if we can’t learn to get along together here on earth, what makes us think we’ll get along together in heaven?  accept everybody.

just a thought from the front porch…

your acceptance makes the difference…

i love what emily kingsley says about disappointment and handling disappointment when your kids don’t turn out the way you thought they ought to turn out – particularly a handicapped child. but this has far more implication than just for parents.

she says, “i’m often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability. to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it and to imagine how it would feel. it’s like this:

when you’re going to have a baby, it’s like planning a fabulous vacation to italy. you buy a bunch of guidebooks and make your wonderful plans. you’re going to see the coliseum, the cistene chapel, the gondolas. you may learn some handy phrases in italian and it’s all very exciting. after several months of preparation and anticipation, the day finally arrives. you pack your bags and off you go to italy. several hours later, the plane lands. the stewardess comes in and says, “welcome to holland.” “holland?” you say. “i signed up for italy. i’m supposed to be in italy. all my life i’ve dreamed of going to italy.” but there’s been a change in the flight plans and they’ve landed in holland and there you must stay.

the important thing to remember is they haven’t taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place filled with pestilence, famine and disease. it’s just a different place. so you must go out and buy new guidebooks and you must learn a whole new language and you must meet a whole new group of people that you would never have met before. it’s just a different place.

it’s slower paced than italy and it’s less flashy than italy. but after you’ve been there for a while and you catch your breath, you begin to look around and you begin to notice that holland has windmills. and holland has tulips. and holland even has rembrandts. but everyone you know is busy coming and going from italy and bragging about what a wonderful time they’ve had there. and for the rest of your life you’ll say, ‘yes, that’s where i was supposed to go. at least that’s what i had planned.’ and the pain of that experience will never, ever, ever go away. the loss of that dream is a very significant loss. but, if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn’t get to italy, you may never be free to enjoy that very special, very lovely thing about holland.”

that principle applies to a lot more than just being disappointed in a child. some of you on your wedding day stood at the altar and you thought you were going to italy. am i right? and you thought, “i am going to italy!” and today you think you went to bangladesh! and if the truth were known there’s some massive disappointment. you hide it. you put on the smiley face. but things haven’t turned out the way you intended them to be, the picture book story, fairy tale ending, happily ever after.

this is a people test! are you going to handle disappointment by complaining and griping and crying and grieving and worrying. or are you going to accept that GOD knows what’s best, that GOD loves you and knows what you need more than you do, and that even the disappointments in your life have a positive purpose whether you understand it or not. it’s a test. are you going to trust GOD with the things that disappoint your life?

isaiah 49.23b (ncv) says, anyone who trusts in ME will not be disappointed.

just a thought from the front porch…