we’re not all alone…

refocus on GOD’s closeness.  the problem is, when we go through trials and crises, we tend to think we’re all alone, but we’re not.  we, like the disciples, tend to forget who is with us.  so we need to remind ourselves, first of all in a crisis, what the bible says in isaiah 43.1-2 (niv),  fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name; you are mine.  when you pass through the waters I will be with you and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.  HE’s saying, “I’m with you.” 

no matter what situation you go through, GOD is with you. you never go through a crisis by yourself.  so the first thing you do is say, “i’m not by myself here.  GOD is with me, and if GOD is with me, what in the world am i worried about?  if GOD is near, there is no fear.”  GOD says, “I will never leave you, I will never forsake you, I’m with you always.”  the bible says “nothing can separate us from the love of GOD.”

the point i want to make here is that it doesn’t matter if my boat is rocking in a storm, if JESUS is in it.  i look, i remember, i refocus on GOD’s closeness.  HE is with me.

just a thought from the front porch…

you don’t need to go it alone…

we have been looking here on the porch at mary the mother of JESUS and some things she did when she heard that she was told by an angel that she was going to be the mother of JESUS.  she was overwhelmed.  she was but she did some things that helped her during this situation.  one of them was she let others help her out.

now this is the opposite of what we tend to do.  when people tend to get overwhelmed they start withdrawing from relationships.  they start pulling back.  they isolate themselves.  they say leave me alone.  i don’t want to be around anybody.  i don’t want to be near anybody.  let me cry in my beer.  let me hunker in a bunker.  i see it all the time.  people start to get a big problem in their life and they start pulling out of church.  they start pulling out of their friendships, backing away from the very thing they need the most in a crisis – other people.  they need other people.

just a thought from the front porch…

alone or with others…

if you are a true follower of CHRIST you cannot be on the sidelines or in the stands. you have to be in the game.  that is what JESUS was saying over in john 13.35 (msg),  this is how everyone will recognize that you are MY disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.

now in having better relationships there are some crossroads that each of us come to.  one crossroad is when i choose to walk alone or i choose to be with others. 

i’m just going to sit over here in church and not get involved.  i really don’t want to get close to anybody.  the last time i did that i got hurt, or i don’t really want anybody to know anything about me.  i can handle life all on my own.  that is exactly where our enemy wants us.

look at what the bible has to say about this.  ecclesiastes 4.12 (msg), by yourself you’re unprotected. with a friend you can face the worst. can you round up a third?
a three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped.

you know the early church understood the importance of standing together.  it was awesome.  to them church wasn’t a building but it was a group of people who came together to support each other, to pray for each other, to care for each other, to learn, to study, to survive, to thrive. 

acts 2.44 (niv) says, they were all together and they shared everything.  they were together. 

i hear a lot of people criticizing the people in the game who get paid so much but that’s the way it is with people who risk, they are rewarded.  and you will be rewarded if you reach out and get in touch with other people.

the first crossroad that we all face is am i going to get in touch with other people?  or am i going to keep being more and more isolated? 

just a thought from the front porch…