i know it's a cliche but this easter can be the first day of the rest of your life. JESUS CHRIST wants to give you the power to start over and to keep going. that's an outside power source HE wants to give you. i realize that some of you are barely hanging on. some of you your career is going down the tubes, your health is going down the tubes, your marriage is cracking up. you feel like chucking it all. you really don't have too much confidence. it may be because of fatigue – you're just worn out. it may be because of failure. it may be because of fear. i challenge you to let JESUS CHRIST light up your life, let HIM put hope in you.
listen, you really do matter to GOD. HE really does care about you. there's more to life than just getting up, going to work, come home, watch tv, go to bed, get up in the morning, go to work, come home, watch tv, go to bed ... and go to a party on the weekends.
i don't know why you are reading this today. but i do know this, regardless of the fear or the failure or the fatigue or the frustration or the other things that tend to discourage you, GOD has an encouraging word for you today. HE wants to say, "I am with you and I will give you the power to start over and begin a brand new life. not just turn over a new leaf – a brand new life. everything you've ever done wrong could be forgiven, forgotten and start over – just like being born again.
that phrase is used in the bible. some don’t understand that term. but it just means to start over, get a new lease on life. you can have a clear conscious. HE'll not only give you the power to start over, HE will give you the power to keep going. when you feel like hanging it up, throwing in the towel, walking out, HE will give you the power to keep on keeping on. for some of you, the tide in your life is out right now. it may be out but the tide always comes back in. GOD will help you through this.
would you pray a simple prayer in your heart today? you don't have to say it aloud. GOD will hear you. HE knows your heart. HE knows the very thoughts going across your mind. this is between you and GOD. this is the most important decision you'll ever make. would you say, "GOD, i'm not really sure i know YOU or not. but i want to. i want to put my trust in YOU. JESUS CHRIST, i don't understand it all but as much as i know how i ask YOU to come into my life."
you don't have to have all your questions answered to make a simple statement like that. i still have questions. but i'm growing and learning. say, "JESUS CHRIST, as much as i know how, i ask YOU to come into my life. i ask you to forgive all the things i've done wrong. i ask you to help me start over with a clean slate. because YOU are alive today, i ask YOU to give me the power not only to start over but to keep going and to go in the right direction. i want to believe in YOU and trust in YOU. help me to understand it more."
if you prayed that prayer i believe GOD heard you. it's that simple. JESUS made it so simple nobody could say it was too hard to understand. today, if you really meant that in your heart it can be the turning point, a new hope, a new life.
FATHER, thank you for easter. thank you for the difference it makes in our lives. thank you, that the basis for confidence is not all these things the world puts up but it comes from knowing you and knowing that you have a purpose for our lives and that you have a power for our lives too. we pray this in JESUS' name. amen.
just a thought from the front…
Showing posts with label easter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label easter. Show all posts
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Saturday, April 3, 2010
GOD believes in you...
another basis for confidence is in philippians 1.6 (niv), being confident of this that HE who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of JESUS CHRIST.
maybe some of you feel like you've given up the faith. you were raised in church but you've given up on GOD. but GOD's never given up on you.
at easter we talk a lot about believing in GOD. have you ever realized that GOD believes in you? HE believed in you enough to send JESUS CHRIST to die on the cross for you to make a difference, to find a purpose for your life.
it doesn't matter why you think you came to the front porch today. the fact is GOD brought you here so HE could say one thing to you: you matter to ME. there is more to life than just making money, retiring and dying. there's a lot more to life. GOD brought you here so HE could say, “you matter to me.” JESUS loves you this much.
some of you say, “i felt close to GOD in the past, but i've drifted away.” but regardless of your background, whether you have a protestant background, catholic background, jewish background, mormon background, buddhist background, nothing background... GOD wants to say to you at easter time, “you matter to me! and i really care about you.” regardless of your situation, no matter where you are in relationship to GOD, this is what GOD wants to say to you.
isaiah 54.7 (tev), GOD says, “with deep love i will take you back.”
that's why GOD brought you here today. HE wants to say to you, “i'll take you back. you matter to me.” and nobody's ever going to love you as much as GOD does. JESUS CHRIST died on the cross to prove it.
my number one goal in the ministry is to introduce people to JESUS CHRIST and help them grow SPIRITually. but my second greatest goal next to that is to raise the self-esteem of everybody i come in contact with. i just want to be an encourager.
i see most people down deep inside, really don't like themselves. that is a SPIRITual problem. it's a SPIRITual issue. confidence is a SPIRITual problem. you've got to start with the right foundation. the right foundation is you were meant to know GOD. you were meant to be loved by GOD and to love HIM. i'm not talking about religion. i'm talking about a relationship, a relationship to GOD where you come into contact with the ONE who made you. you begin to understand that HE put you on this earth, not just to take up space, not just to breathe, grow old, die, and leave everything to your kids. as rick warren says, HE has a purpose for your life.
just a thought from the front porch…
maybe some of you feel like you've given up the faith. you were raised in church but you've given up on GOD. but GOD's never given up on you.
at easter we talk a lot about believing in GOD. have you ever realized that GOD believes in you? HE believed in you enough to send JESUS CHRIST to die on the cross for you to make a difference, to find a purpose for your life.
it doesn't matter why you think you came to the front porch today. the fact is GOD brought you here so HE could say one thing to you: you matter to ME. there is more to life than just making money, retiring and dying. there's a lot more to life. GOD brought you here so HE could say, “you matter to me.” JESUS loves you this much.
some of you say, “i felt close to GOD in the past, but i've drifted away.” but regardless of your background, whether you have a protestant background, catholic background, jewish background, mormon background, buddhist background, nothing background... GOD wants to say to you at easter time, “you matter to me! and i really care about you.” regardless of your situation, no matter where you are in relationship to GOD, this is what GOD wants to say to you.
isaiah 54.7 (tev), GOD says, “with deep love i will take you back.”
that's why GOD brought you here today. HE wants to say to you, “i'll take you back. you matter to me.” and nobody's ever going to love you as much as GOD does. JESUS CHRIST died on the cross to prove it.
my number one goal in the ministry is to introduce people to JESUS CHRIST and help them grow SPIRITually. but my second greatest goal next to that is to raise the self-esteem of everybody i come in contact with. i just want to be an encourager.
i see most people down deep inside, really don't like themselves. that is a SPIRITual problem. it's a SPIRITual issue. confidence is a SPIRITual problem. you've got to start with the right foundation. the right foundation is you were meant to know GOD. you were meant to be loved by GOD and to love HIM. i'm not talking about religion. i'm talking about a relationship, a relationship to GOD where you come into contact with the ONE who made you. you begin to understand that HE put you on this earth, not just to take up space, not just to breathe, grow old, die, and leave everything to your kids. as rick warren says, HE has a purpose for your life.
just a thought from the front porch…
Friday, April 2, 2010
the power to keep going…
GOD says, forget the past, focus on the future. your past is past. it's water under the bridge. you can't bring it back. everyone of us have skeletons in our closet and we say, “i wish... what if... if only... i wish i could change that...”
the good news of easter is when JESUS CHRIST came back to life HE shows up with the disciples and HIS very presence gave them the energy, the power to start over. they went from the bottom of the pile to now billions of people are CHRISTians because of 11 men. obviously something happened. what happened was GOD's presence gave them power to start over.
and GOD's power gives me the confidence to keep going. after you start in the right direction, you need power to continue.
everybody wants power. notice all the books on power, how to dress for power, how to eat for power, how to shower with power.
ephesians 1.19 (phillips), how tremendous is the power available to us who believe in GOD. that power is the same divine energy which was demonstrated in CHRIST when HE was raised from the dead.
HE says two things in this verse.
1. the resurrection which billions of CHRISTians are going to celebrate on sunday all around the world, demonstrated how powerful GOD is. JESUS CHRIST resurrected HIMself from the dead.
2. and that same power is available to us.
if GOD can raise JESUS from the dead, then HE can handle any problem i give him. there is no problem too big. and HE specializes in hopeless cases.
but you say, "you don't know my finances." GOD does. "you don't know my health problem... how my marriage is that far away from divorce…what my kids are into." GOD does. and HE specializes in hopeless cases. that's the message of easter. that's the power of easter.
just a thought from the front porch…
the good news of easter is when JESUS CHRIST came back to life HE shows up with the disciples and HIS very presence gave them the energy, the power to start over. they went from the bottom of the pile to now billions of people are CHRISTians because of 11 men. obviously something happened. what happened was GOD's presence gave them power to start over.
and GOD's power gives me the confidence to keep going. after you start in the right direction, you need power to continue.
everybody wants power. notice all the books on power, how to dress for power, how to eat for power, how to shower with power.
ephesians 1.19 (phillips), how tremendous is the power available to us who believe in GOD. that power is the same divine energy which was demonstrated in CHRIST when HE was raised from the dead.
HE says two things in this verse.
1. the resurrection which billions of CHRISTians are going to celebrate on sunday all around the world, demonstrated how powerful GOD is. JESUS CHRIST resurrected HIMself from the dead.
2. and that same power is available to us.
if GOD can raise JESUS from the dead, then HE can handle any problem i give him. there is no problem too big. and HE specializes in hopeless cases.
but you say, "you don't know my finances." GOD does. "you don't know my health problem... how my marriage is that far away from divorce…what my kids are into." GOD does. and HE specializes in hopeless cases. that's the message of easter. that's the power of easter.
just a thought from the front porch…
Thursday, April 1, 2010
you messed up your life...
nehemiah 2.18 (niv), let us start rebuilding.
have you ever been half way through a project and wanted to start over? have you ever been half way through a career and wanted to start over? have you ever been halfway through a marriage? halfway through a life and wanted to start over?
i went though a three year jerk time in my life. i seemed to mess it all up, my relationship with GOD, my relationship with my wife, my opportunity as a minister but i remember the day i turned the corner. i had left the ministry and i was selling insurance in indianapolis, indiana and we went to a church there one sunday and we filled out a welcome card. i was at work on monday and the pastor of that large church called and asked margaret my wife about me. he said, "GOD seemed to let him know that i was hurting and he wanted to know my story." GOD brought that awesome man into my life to help me start over. and here i am today.
listen, your heavenly FATHER wants to say to you. "you messed up your life? ok. you can start over and this time I'm going to help you." GOD wants to help you. that's the good news of easter.
isaiah 43.19 (tev), GOD says, do not dwell on what happened long ago. watch the new thing I'm going to do in your life.
GOD specializes in new beginnings. that's what easter is all about. starting over. HE wants to do something fresh in your life. HE wants to start a new beginning.
there was lady whose husband died. as a widow, she had put on her husband's tombstone, "the light of my life has gone out." five years later she fell in love again and married a fellow and didn't know what to do about the tombstone. she went back and had put underneath it, "i've struck a new match."
it's never too late to start over. failure is never final unless you let it be. you're never a failure until you give up. GOD says, "i didn't bring you up on the front porch for nothing! I brought you hear to say, ‘there is hope!’”
just a thought from the front porch...
have you ever been half way through a project and wanted to start over? have you ever been half way through a career and wanted to start over? have you ever been halfway through a marriage? halfway through a life and wanted to start over?
i went though a three year jerk time in my life. i seemed to mess it all up, my relationship with GOD, my relationship with my wife, my opportunity as a minister but i remember the day i turned the corner. i had left the ministry and i was selling insurance in indianapolis, indiana and we went to a church there one sunday and we filled out a welcome card. i was at work on monday and the pastor of that large church called and asked margaret my wife about me. he said, "GOD seemed to let him know that i was hurting and he wanted to know my story." GOD brought that awesome man into my life to help me start over. and here i am today.
listen, your heavenly FATHER wants to say to you. "you messed up your life? ok. you can start over and this time I'm going to help you." GOD wants to help you. that's the good news of easter.
isaiah 43.19 (tev), GOD says, do not dwell on what happened long ago. watch the new thing I'm going to do in your life.
GOD specializes in new beginnings. that's what easter is all about. starting over. HE wants to do something fresh in your life. HE wants to start a new beginning.
there was lady whose husband died. as a widow, she had put on her husband's tombstone, "the light of my life has gone out." five years later she fell in love again and married a fellow and didn't know what to do about the tombstone. she went back and had put underneath it, "i've struck a new match."
it's never too late to start over. failure is never final unless you let it be. you're never a failure until you give up. GOD says, "i didn't bring you up on the front porch for nothing! I brought you hear to say, ‘there is hope!’”
just a thought from the front porch...
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
do you feel you are a failure?...
fatigue robs you of confidence and so does failure. matthew 26.56 (niv), all the disciples deserted JESUS and fled. these guys felt like a group of losers.
peter denied him. now they're having a pity party. they're second-guessing themselves. they're saying, “what went wrong?” JESUS was supposed to be the messiah and now HE's dead. why me? who cares? what now?
how do you handle failure? listen, if at first you don't succeed ... you're normal! welcome to the human race. life has its setbacks. murphy was an optimist. somebody said, "just about the time i think i'm going to make ends meet, somebody moves the ends."
another one is fear. fear robs you of confidence and that's the greatest one.
john 20.19 (lb), the disciples were meeting locked behind closed doors in fear of the jewish leaders. they were in fear. they had seen what happened to JESUS. and they weren't too excited about what might happen to their own lives.
do you ever play the “what if?” game? what if i fail? what if i never get married? what if i get cancer? what if somebody recognizes me in k-mart? the fear game!
we tend to imagine the worse. have you ever been driving one way and the h.p. makes a u-turn and starts following you? or your daughter comes home late at night from a date with a big grin on her face?
what do you worry about the most? the greatest worry is the fear of death. that's what easter is all about.
people don't want to talk about death. it's the last taboo. invite some people home for coffee and say, “let's talk about death” and watch what happens.
but hebrews 2.15 (cev) says that HE (JESUS) also died to rescue all of us who live each day in fear of dying.
what you're afraid of is the fear of the unknown. you can get to know GOD. that's what easter is all about. you don't have to be afraid of death. JESUS broke the bonds of death.
just a thought from the front porch…
peter denied him. now they're having a pity party. they're second-guessing themselves. they're saying, “what went wrong?” JESUS was supposed to be the messiah and now HE's dead. why me? who cares? what now?
how do you handle failure? listen, if at first you don't succeed ... you're normal! welcome to the human race. life has its setbacks. murphy was an optimist. somebody said, "just about the time i think i'm going to make ends meet, somebody moves the ends."
another one is fear. fear robs you of confidence and that's the greatest one.
john 20.19 (lb), the disciples were meeting locked behind closed doors in fear of the jewish leaders. they were in fear. they had seen what happened to JESUS. and they weren't too excited about what might happen to their own lives.
do you ever play the “what if?” game? what if i fail? what if i never get married? what if i get cancer? what if somebody recognizes me in k-mart? the fear game!
we tend to imagine the worse. have you ever been driving one way and the h.p. makes a u-turn and starts following you? or your daughter comes home late at night from a date with a big grin on her face?
what do you worry about the most? the greatest worry is the fear of death. that's what easter is all about.
people don't want to talk about death. it's the last taboo. invite some people home for coffee and say, “let's talk about death” and watch what happens.
but hebrews 2.15 (cev) says that HE (JESUS) also died to rescue all of us who live each day in fear of dying.
what you're afraid of is the fear of the unknown. you can get to know GOD. that's what easter is all about. you don't have to be afraid of death. JESUS broke the bonds of death.
just a thought from the front porch…
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