life, happiness and approval…

no matter who rejects me, GOD never will.  psalm 27.10 (niv), even if my mother and father forsake me, the LORD will receive me.  even those who brought me into this world, even if they reject me, the LORD won't. 

some of you may still be trying to win your parents' approval. you never could get it growing up.  let me say, if your parents rejected you growing up, it wasn't your problem, it was their problem.  parents are not to reject their kids.  so it's not your problem, it's their problem.  maybe it was because they were rejected and they're just turning it on somebody else.  many of you, even as adults, are still trying to win your parents' approval in many and varied different ways.  the truth is, if you haven't got it by now you may never get it.  you probably won't. some of you have had parents who've died and there's no way they can give you their approval. 

i’d say, you won't get it but it doesn't matter.  you don't need it.  you don't need it to be happy.  it says, even if my mother and father forsake me, the LORD will receive me. your happiness does not depend on other people. 

have you been looking to other people to meet a need that only GOD can satisfy?  watch out!  you're headed for trouble.  are you looking to others to meet a need that only GOD can satisfy?  have you been living to please the wrong person?  GOD wants to be your light and your salvation.  HE knows everything about you and HE still loves you.  JESUS CHRIST paid for your sins so you can be acceptable to GOD. you can be forgiven.  i would encourage you to simplify your life by saying, “i’m going to concentrate on GOD’s approval.  that’s what counts.  i’m going to concentrate on GOD’s approval.  i want my life to be pleasing to HIM.  i want to stand at the end of my life and hear him say, well done, thou good and faithful servant.”

how do i get GOD’s approval?  there is only one way.  there are not many ways.  there is only one way the bible says to get GOD’s approval.  hebrews 11.2 says it is by faith we win GOD’s approval.  we accept HIS love and what HE’s done for us.  we trust our lives to HIM.  if you’ve never done that, would you do that right now?  would you say, “GOD, i want to switch the focus of my life starting here from living for the approval of other people – boyfriend, boss, husband, wife, family, kids, popular people, people next door – and i want to focus on YOUr approval and i want to have YOUr approval by putting my faith in YOU and trusting what JESUS CHRIST has done for me.  i want to give my life to YOU.” say that in your heart.  “yes, LORD, i want to trust YOU and commit myself to YOU.”

just a thought from the front porch…

new levels of your potential…

when GOD called me to plant a church in las vegas, HE gave me a clear vision of the style it was to be.  over the 15 years i was there, i had many, many critical comments saying we should do different things.  people out of liturgical churches say, “why don't we say the LORD’s prayer and take communion every week?” people out of charismatic churches say, “why don't we speak in tongues and have healing lines and raise our hands?”  and people from fundamentalist churches say, “why don't we have a come-to‑the-front altar call and use hymnbooks?”  if i’d listened to every advice, we would have been a mess.  we would have been a hodgepodge of everything.  you can’t please everybody.  so you just have to say, “what does GOD want us to do?”

it says in romans 8.31 (niv), if GOD is for us, who can be against us?  the lie is that i’ve got to be approved by other people in order to feel good about myself.  that's not true.  the truth is i don’t need the approval of others to be happy.  if you can grasp that truth – if GOD be for us, who can be against us – it doesn't matter, you will be released to new levels of developing your potential.  put GOD in first place; put people in their place. 

i like the prayer from lloyd ogleby:  “secure in GOD’s love, i will not surrender my self-worth to the opinions and judgments of others.  when i’m rejected, i will not retaliate.  when i’m hurt i will allow GOD to heal me.  and knowing the pain of rejection, i will seek to love those who suffer from its anguish.” 

i like the first part –  “secure in GOD’s love, i will not surrender my self-worth to the opinions and judgments of others.”  if GOD be for us, who can be against us.

just a thought from the front porch…

approval addicts…

we're in a society that produces approval addicts.  “what do other people think?”  that’s the ultimate question.  what will other people think of me?  the bible says that is a trap. 

proverbs 29.25 (niv), the fear of man will prove to be a snare.  but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.  when you worry about what other people think, you're headed for trouble. 

so how do we develop this fear of rejection?  simple.  from experience because you've been rejected.  it's that easy.  some of those hurts that you've had from people rejecting you, you've never gotten over.  you can get the fear of rejection from all directions - your marriage, your family, your parents, at school, at work, from former friends, from disappointments, from criticisms, from a look.  have you ever seen a look kill somebody?  have you ever seen a parent manipulate a kid with an eyebrow?  the fear of rejection!

and it affects every area of your life so how do you overcome it?  well for one you must put GOD in first place.

psalm 27.1 (niv), the LORD is my light and my salvation.  i will fear no one.  GOD is my light.

what does light do? 

light illuminates.  i see things more clearly.  most people are more afraid when it's dark than when it's light.  have you ever been in one of those caverns where they turn the lights out and show you total darkness?  it's not a fun feeling.  david said, when i’m confused and afraid, GOD lights my way.

light protects.  it provides security.  have you ever seen these high tech alarms where you walk on to the property and every light in the house goes on?  some of you have those spotlights, that if there's movement in your backyard, the light flips on.  light is a source of security. 

light energizes.  it lifts your mood.  it brightens your day.  have you ever been out on a cloudy day?  you were moody and low and all of sudden the sun broke through and it changed your attitude.  it lifts your spirit.  i think it's not by accident that at the darkest time of the year during the winter, when the nights are longest, we decorate our houses with bright lights. CHRISTmas. 

david's saying, “my relationship to GOD has the same three effects.  HE illuminates my life, protects my life, energizes my life.  i'm not going to be afraid.”  do you have a relationship to GOD like that?  if you don't you're probably susceptible to the fear of rejection.  maybe you're looking to somebody else to be your illumination, to make things clear for you, to be your protection, your security.  you're looking to somebody else to energize your life and lift your mood, brighten your day and provide happiness.  david says, GOD is my light.

just a thought from the front porch…