the prayer is not meant for everyone…

i want to make one thing clear.  even though most of you could say the LORD’s prayer word for word without any notes, that prayer is not meant for everyone.  in fact, some of us who are here on the front porch today your greatest need in life is not to pray for daily bread.  your greatest need is to meet the BREAD OF LIFE.  if you’ve never personally crossed the line of faith and made a commitment to JESUS CHRIST, your greatest need today is not your physical need.  and far more exciting and far more satisfying than having GOD answer your prayers and meet the daily needs of your life is having GOD meet the deepest need of your life which is a spiritual need.

the bible says your body, your life on this earth will be short.  in fact the bible describes it like this, life is like a vapor.  it is here for a moment and then it is gone but your spirit will live eternally.  you will live forever.  and JESUS says, “I am the BREAD OF LIFE.  no one who comes to ME will ever be hungry again and those who believe in ME will never thirst.”

the very first step in dealing with anxiety is to enter into a personal relationship with JESUS CHRIST.  then you can begin to pray the model prayer because the very first words of the model prayer are our FATHER.  you can’t honestly begin to call GOD your father until first you have entered into a personal relationship with HIM.  if you’ve never done that i want to ask you today to do that.  i’m going to lead us in a prayer.  you don’t have to pray out loud.  you don’t have to say anything out loud.  but in your heart and mind if you’ll pray a simple prayer along with me wherever  you can make that commitment today.

let’s pray

            dear LORD, thank YOU that YOU are the source of all life.  and thank YOU that YOU love me and YOU sent YOUr SON JESUS to die for me.  and right now i accept YOUr gift of salvation.  i ask for YOUr forgiveness of my sins and i ask YOU to come into my life and to give me eternal life.  thank YOU that YOU keep YOUr promises and that YOU now live in my life.  in JESUS’ name.  amen.

just a thought from the front porch… 

the cure for anxiety…

there was this story of a couple who were getting a divorce.  the man was a ceo of a large communications company and his net worth was five billion dollars.  he was saying i don’t want to go through all the legal hassles so he said to his wife, “i’ll just give you a billion dollars to make you go away.”  and she flatly refused.  she said “i won’t settle for anything less that 2.5 billion.”  what can you buy for 2.5 billion that you can’t buy for a billion?  maybe an aircraft carrier.

it just verifies the words of proverbs 27.20 (ncv), people will never stop dying and being destroyed and they will never stop wanting more than they have. 

in many ways this simple phrase, give us this day our daily bread, in the modal prayer of JESUS, is the antidote for materialism.  it’s the cure for the anxiety of trying to keep up with everybody else around you.  it’s the medicine i need to keep me from lusting after the things of this world that really aren’t about my needs.  they’re really just about my wants. 

this whole prayer, the LORD’s prayer is about us saying to GOD, i recognize YOU as the source of providing for my needs.  and i’m here to declare my dependence upon YOU because YOU are a loving father and YOU’ll give me what i need today and YOU’ll meet my need.  but LORD help me to be content with what YOU give me.  help me to be content that YOU meet my needs.

in 1 timothy 6.6 (msg), paul says a devout life does bring wealth but it’s the rich simplicity of being yourself before GOD.  since we entered the world penniless and will leave it penniless if we have bread on the table and shoes on our feet that’s enough.

he says if you can say in this life i know GOD.  i am HIS child.  i have a relationship with HIM and i’ve got shoes on my feet and bread on my table and a roof over my head then you are rich.  and he says that is enough.  that is enough.

just a thought from the front porch… 

encouraged by GOD’s provision and care for us …

romans 8.32 (nlt), since GOD did not spare even HIS own SON but gave HIM up for us all won’t GOD who gave us CHRIST also give us everything else. 

let me ask you.  are you willing to take GOD at HIS word? 

GOD says to you, if I would send MY only SON JESUS to planet earth and allow HIM to be crucified on a cross and hang there for six hours to pay the price so that you can be in MY family. don’t you think that I’ll take care of your needs?  don’t ya think.

but do we really believe that. 

i think a lot of the anxiety we have in our lives comes from the fact that we don’t really believe that. 

the closer you get to GOD, the more you get to know HIM, the greater your confidence will be that as a loving FATHER HE’ll meet your needs.  and HE will build a track record with you that will show that HE is always faithful. 

one possible application is to set down with your family and just have a talk about GOD’s gracious provision in your life. 

one lady bought a journal that she called the "blessing book," and she started writing down the times that she had seen GOD answer her prayers and met her needs.

she said, as a family we wanted to be able to read this to our children, recount it to them, to encourage us in our faith of GOD’s provision and GOD’s care for us, to strengthen our faith in HIM.

just a thought from the front porch…

anger and anxiety…

we have been looking at the “top five” things you can do to not be easily angered and #3 is release your worries to GOD. because our worries and anxieties often take us down a road that lead us straight to anger. anger and anxiety are closely connected.

psalm 37.8 (lb) says, stop your anger. turn off your wrath. don’t fret and worry. it only leads to harm.

fretting and worrying often leads to anger and wrath in our lives because we’re anxious. it comes out in angry words.

in the movie toy story, the toy woody is angry with the toy buzz because he’s feeling some loss in his life. he’s feeling anxious about losing his place in the toy world.

when you’re filled with anger, ask yourself, “what am i worried about? what am i anxious about?” it will often help you to break through. the loving thing is to ask yourself those questions about the person you love who may be angry. what are they worried about? what are they anxious about? what’s going on?

that means that you have to admit that anger is not some other person’s responsibility, not some circumstantial responsibility. it’s my responsibility. instead of blaming others, you take responsibility for your anger in that moment. you must – i must – take responsibility for my anger. if i don’t take responsibility for my anger, no one else is going to take responsibility. if i don’t take responsibility for my anger, i’m going to live with this the rest of my life. i’m going to be a slave to it the rest of my life.

just a thought from the front porch…

do you want to feel stressed out and pressured?...

let me ask you, if you are a parent, do you want your kids to feel stressed out and pressured? no. neither does your heavenly FATHER.

the only time you're going to feel stress out and pressured is when HE's told you something to do and you don't do it. that's going to create stress in your life. that's going to create pressure – when you know the right thing to do and you keep procrastinating.

satan drives us compulsively while GOD's SPIRIT draws us compassionately, gently.

colossians 3.15 (niv), let the peace of GOD rule in your hearts...

if GOD is genuinely speaking to you and you think this idea is from GOD, it's going to bring peace to your heart if you follow it. GOD's SPIRIT produces a calm spirit.

worry and anxiety are never from GOD. never. in the bible it says, "don't worry!" we are commanded not to worry. if you get an idea that is worry, it's not from GOD! it's not.

what if? and you start worrying about it, then it's not from GOD. GOD would never give you an idea that HE's commanded you not to have. you need to look for his peace.

one pastor had this lady who every week kept coming up and saying, "GOD told me this!" and every week it was a scolding. every week it was something she was doing wrong. every week it was a hyper sensitive conscious. many of those things weren't wrong, just questionable. she was always beaten up. one day he said, "does GOD ever say anything nice to you?"

some of you have taken the voice of an unpleasable parent and put it in the form of GOD and you think all GOD does is sit around and beat you up and tell you everything you're doing wrong. you don't understand grace if you think that way. you don't understand that it's all been paid for. it's been forgiven.

you want to live for CHRIST not because GOD is constantly beating you up saying "do better". that's not the way GOD treats HIS children. HE says, "i've already forgiven your sins and you're on your way to heaven" so in gratitude, i want to live for HIM.

i want to live for JESUS because HE loves me that much. i want to do it not because HE's beating me up and making me feel bad, but i want to do it because of the peace that comes when i'm in a relationship with GOD and there's harmony between us.

just a thought from the front porch…