faith based tenacity…

if you want to receive GOD-given dreams, wisdom, humility and tenacity are going to be a part of your life. 

i’m sure there were people in pharaoh’s court when joseph was raised to the top leader in all of egypt who said, “look at this!  this young guy!  an overnight success!  i’ve worked all my life in pharaoh’s court and never got anything like that.”  an overnight success!

genesis 37.2 is the account of joseph.  joseph as a young man of 17.  now skip to genesis 41 and let’s see how old he is in genesis 41.46.  thirty.  thirteen years between the dream and the fulfillment of the dream.  is that an overnight success?  it’s a pretty long night!

some of you are in the middle of a pretty long night.  GOD gave joseph the dream and during every bit of that long night, GOD was faithfully working to accomplish that dream. 

joseph was a failure who knew how to succeed in a success.  he knew that because of GOD’s grace he would never truly fail.  joseph was the kind of guy who always seemed to land on his faith!  wherever you put him.  whether you put him in a slave’s household or you put him in prison or you put him here in pharaoh’s household, he always lands on his faith.  he had that kind of tenacity.  faith based tenacity.

just a thought from the front porch…

failure and faith…

on the front porch we have looked at some of the characters in the first book of the bible genesis.  we have looked at adam and eve, noah, abraham and now we are going to look at jacob.

now as we go through his story and look at what happened, many of you are going to recognize yourselves.  more of you are going to recognize your husband or wife, you’re going to see your kids.  you’re going to see people at work.  but i want you especially to look for yourself.  and as you see yourself in this story, some of it might look a little depressing at first, a little discouraging but stick with me till the end of the story to see what GOD does in the life of this man named jacob.

jacob’s name means “schemer, deceiver”.  it’s all there in the name.  his whole life is expressed in his name.  here’s this guy, jacob, who cheated his brother for the birthright, one of the most important things in that day.  he cheated his brother for a blessing.  he cheated for land.  he always had a way of getting into things and he always seemed to come out on top. 

somebody has said of jacob that he was the kind of guy if you followed him into a revolving door he’d come out ahead of you somehow.  have you ever known somebody like that?  maybe you are somebody like that.  we’d call jacob an upwardly mobile patriarch who would step on anybody on his way to the top.  

but this is one of those cases where i’ve got to let you know the end of the story before we start the story.  the end of the story is told to us over in the new testament in hebrews 11.  this is called the faith chapter, which might give you a clue to the end of the story. 

hebrews 11.21 (niv), by faith jacob, when he was dying blessed each of joseph's sons and worshipped as he leaned on top of his staff.  here’s a man who ended well.  here’s a man who at the very end of his life, the bible says of his life – by faith, faith.

now as we look at jacob’s life it looks like the definition of failure.  he fails in his relationships.  he failed with his family.  his plans kept caving in.  if you want a definition of failure, jacob would qualify.  but in hebrews 11, he’s commended for his faith.  i like that!

don’t you ever feel like a failure sometimes?  well here’s a man whose life was filled with failures but in the end the bible defines his life with the word “faith, by faith”. 

just a thought from the front porch…

overcoming your fear of failing...

motivation.  why do we play it safe?  why don't we use the talents that GOD has given us?  the answer is fear.  fear keeps me from using my talents.  matthew 25. 25 (niv), i was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground.  afraid and hid are satan’s favorite tactics.  “i could never do that.  i’m not qualified.  i have this fear of failure.” 

remember in school when the teacher would ask a question and you’d think, “i think i know it, but i don’t want to raise my hand because if i give the wrong answer i’m going to look dumb” so you didn’t raise your hand.  self-consciousness.  it’s fear that keeps us from using our talent.  you say, “i failed in the past so i’ll never try again.”  it doesn’t matter where you’ve been.  it matters what direction your feet are headed right now. 

peter and judas were two disciples.  they both committed the same sin.  they both denied CHRIST.  one of them went out, got depressed, and committed suicide.  the other went out, repented of it and said, “i want to start over” and fifty days after peter’s biggest sin, GOD used him on the day of pentecost to preach and 3,000 people were brought into the family of GOD on the day the church was born.  fifty days after peter’s greatest failure he has his greatest success.  he kept on going. 

1954 opening day of baseball season.  milwaukee braves playing the cincinnati reds.  two rookies were in that game.  the first was a guy named jim greengrass.  he got up to bat four times and hit four doubles.  four for four, an incredible start to a career.  but nobody remembers him.  another guy started his career that day.  he went 0-4.  he struck out all four times in the first game.  hank aaron had a slow start.  but who do we remember? 

never let the fear of striking out keep you from taking a swing. you keep on going.  you say, “what will other people think?” don't worry about what other people think! 

the bible says, the fear of man is a snare.  it's a trap.  often we excuse ourselves by pointing to other people saying, “he/she’s more talented. they’ve got all the ability.  if only i had ability like so and so.  if only i had the education/looks like so and so i’d serve GOD.”  no, you wouldn’t because you’re not using what you’ve got.

the point is:  just because i can’t do the spectacular that doesn’t excuse me to do nothing.  one day i’m going to stand before GOD and HE’s going to say, “what did you do with your life?  what on earth did you think you were there for?  I had a plan, I had some things for you to do.  it’s called a ministry. and I made you just right for it.”

just a thought from the front porch…

feelings or facts…

the prophet elijah in 1 kings 19 in the ot got depressed because he played some mental games that everyone of us play when we get depressed.

his first mental game he played was he focused on his feelings rather than the facts. that always happens when we're depressed. we focus on how we feel rather than reality.

elijah felt like a failure. because of one little incident, he got afraid and ran. then he started condemning himself. “i'm such a coward. what am i doing running.” he felt like a failure so he said, “i must be a failure.” that's called emotional reasoning and it's wrong. it's the idea of “i feel it so it must be true.”

the truth is that feelings are not facts. they are highly unreliable.

i don't always feel close to GOD and you don't either. that doesn't mean i'm far away from HIM. i don't always feel like a CHRISTian, but i am one. feelings lie! when you focus on your feelings rather than the facts you're going to get in trouble.

secular psychology says the key to health is to get your feelings out in the open. become aware. vent your feelings. get them out. but that's not enough. feelings are not always true. the bible says don’t get in touch with your feelings, but get in touch with the truth. it's the truth that sets you free.

some of you are depressed right now because you're living by your feelings instead of the promises of GOD. you say, “i feel overwhelmed and i feel hopeless, therefore the problem must be impossible to solve,” but that's illogical. you may say, “i feel like GOD is far away, therefore HE must be mad at me.” not true. maybe you're saying, “i feel inadequate, therefore i must be worthless.” that's not true. don't focus on your feelings. focus on the facts. the bible says in john 8.32 (niv), the truth sets you free.

just a thought from the front porch…

a day of release, relief and freedom…

let me pray for you… “dear FATHER, i know without a doubt that there are people who are suffering under an intense load of guilt and shame and regret from personal failures. i don’t even have to mention them and it’s already pulsating in their brain. for some, it’s been eating away at them for years. let this day be their day of release and relief and the freedom that comes from understanding and accepting the grace of YOUr SON, JESUS CHRIST.”

i’d like to encourage you to talk to GOD. say something like, “dear GOD, i know you know everything about me. YOU know the failures in my life big and small. and YOU already know the things that i’m ashamed of. YOU know my regrets, my sins, my mistakes, my bad habits, the things that i’ve said and done and the failures i feel bad about. i know YOU want to teach me and motivate me and help me grow through what i’ve done and what i’ve gone through. i’m giving YOU all the pieces. i admit that i need YOUr forgiveness and i ask YOU to forgive me right now. clean the slate. JESUS CHRIST, i don’t understand it, but i thank YOU for dying for my sins on the cross so i can be forgiven. i want to commit my life to YOU. i want to follow YOU as best i know how. thank YOU for forgiving my failures instantly and completely and repeatedly and freely. help me to feel forgiven and learn to forgive myself and learn to offer that forgiveness to others. i want to spend the rest of my life living in YOUr grace and i want YOU to use my failures to help others. help me to know YOUr purpose for my life, YOUr plan for my life and my place in this world.”

if you sincerely prayed this prayer and meant it, in the name of JESUS CHRIST, you are forgiven. you are forgiven!

just a thought from the front porch…

your greatest contribution in this world…

colossians 2.14 (ncv), GOD canceled our debt, which listed all the rules we failed to follow. HE took away the record with its rules and nailed it to the cross. when JESUS CHRIST died for you on the cross, HE paid for every failure you’re ever going to commit – the ones you did yesterday, the ones today and the ones tomorrow.

the CHRISTian life is not a failure-free life. it’s a life of grace. we are all trophies of grace. i am a trophy of grace. everybody is a trophy of grace. that’s the bottom line. if you are a believer, your primary witness to the world may be how you handle failure because people are watching you. the unbelievers out there are watching you. and CHRISTians have failures just like non-CHRISTians do. the issue is what we do with them. other people are watching: do you rely on the grace of GOD? how do you handle the inevitable failures that come into your life? that’s whole lot better than fake perfection. that doesn’t work.

the bible is full of examples of failures that GOD used in significant ways. abraham failed with his wife. isaac and noah failed with their kids. moses failed to control his anger and killed a guy. david had a moral failure, committed adultery, and then had her husband murdered. thank GOD that he uses failures.

if GOD only used perfect people, what would get done in this world? nothing. because there are no perfect people. none. if there are no perfect people, then GOD has to use imperfect people and GOD uses failures. that is called grace.

the fact is our greatest life messages, your greatest life message, your greatest contribution, your greatest significant input into this world will be in the area of your failure if you give it to GOD. let HIM transform it, teach you, motivate you, cultivate you through it and grow. if you’re willing to be honest about it, GOD will use it to help other people.

i don’t care what failure you’ve gone through. i don’t care which one you’re going through right now. it hasn’t changed GOD’s purpose for your life. GOD still has a plan for your life. GOD still has a purpose for your life. and GOD still has a place for you in this world.

just a thought from the front porch…

a tremendous realization...

let’s review the basics:

1) there is nothing that you can do that will ever make GOD love you more than HE does right now already. nothing.

2) there is nothing you can ever do that will ever make GOD love you any less than HE already does right now. you can’t make HIM love you less because HIS love is based on who HE is – a loving GOD.

every one of you – every one of us – have an area of habitual failure. that’s the sin you keep stumbling over. it’s that habit. it may be your temper. it may be your words. it may be lust. it may be impatience. a million different things. but it’s an area that you just keep stumbling over. so here’s what happens:

when you blow it and you fail in that area, you come to GOD and say, “GOD, i’m so sorry. please forgive me.” and GOD says, “of course I forgives you.” if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all sin. 1 john 1.9 (niv)

then the next day you go out and blow it again. you come back: “GOD, i did it again. i’m sorry. i need forgiveness. i need cleansing. and i need your power to change.” GOD says “ok.”

on the third day, you’re starting to get a little nervous. you’re coming back with the same sin. “i’m really sorry.” and GOD says, “i forgive you.” ten minutes later you do it again. now you’re really embarrassed. i hate to come back to GOD. you tend to even stop asking for forgiveness because it’s the same thing over and over. you think GOD’s sitting up in heaven saying, “the same ones? can’t you think of any new sins to do? you’ve got the same old sin over and over. how boring!” and you say, “how can i ask GOD to forgive me?

i keep falling and falling in this same area.” you sometimes even stop asking for forgiveness because you don’t think you’re ever going to change.

two things about that area of habitual sin:

1) GOD never gets tired of forgiving you. HE will forgive you fifteen hundred times a day if you were SPIRITually sensitive enough to ask. GOD does not get tired of forgiving you for the same sin over and over. it is GOD’s nature to be forgiving.

2) if you’re really serious about changing an area of habitual failure, here’s the key: you’ve got to find someone who will hold you accountable. you say, “anything but that! i don’t want to tell anybody about that.” that’s why you can’t change. the bible says, GOD gives grace to the humble. your pride is keeping you from changing. you can’t figure it out. if you could, you would have changed ten years ago and you haven’t. it’s still there. as long as you think, “me and JESUS. i’m going to figure it all out and i don’t need anybody to tell me what it’s all about,” you’re not going to change.

just a thought from the front porch…

HE isn't surprised when you fail…

what do you do when you fail? you remember everybody fails, you realize it’s not fatal, you recognize the benefits and you relax in GOD’s grace.

GOD isn’t surprised when you fail. HE knew it was going to happen. in fact, HE expects it and even if you do fail, GOD doesn’t stop loving you. that’s called grace. psalm 103.14 (tev), GOD knows what we’re made of. HE remembers that we are dust.

GOD knows how you’re wired up. HE knows you’re just a human being. HE knows your frailties. HE doesn’t expect you to be perfect. because HE knows what you’re made of. HE doesn’t stop loving you when you blow it and HE doesn’t stop loving you when you fail.

now this is a hard concept for some of you to get because you grew up in performance driven homes. many of you were taught that if you succeeded that meant, “i’m valuable. i’m worthwhile. i’m significant.” but when you failed that meant, “i’m worthless. i’m invaluable and not significant.” you were taught that your worth was based on your performance, that what you are was based on what you do.

and that is a lie! it’s not true. your value as a person has nothing to do with your performance. GOD says, “i love you – period!” GOD’s love for you isn’t dependent upon what you do. it’s dependent upon who HE is. it’s not based on your performance. it’s based on HIS character. GOD says you are worthwhile simply because HE made you and HE doesn’t make junk.

if you think you have to be perfect in order for GOD to love you, you have missed the central message of the bible. you’ve missed the whole thing if you think you have to work for GOD to smile at you. the point is, GOD says “i love you, unconditionally.”

just a thought from the front porch…

if you respond in the right way…

another benefit of failure GOD uses it to cultivate me. it can actually cultivate my character, can help me grow in my character. romans 5.3-4 (lb), we can rejoice when we run into problems and trials for we know that they are good for us. they develop strength of character.

it says we can rejoice. now is that your typical reaction when you’re in pain? i doubt it. when you’re at the point of failure you don’t usually rejoice. it says, we can rejoice when we run into problems and trials for we know… what do we know? it’s what we know that makes us be able to rejoice. it’s not the problems that we rejoice over, it’s what we know that we rejoice over. we rejoice over the fact that GOD uses problems to cultivate our character. failure has a way of softening our hearts. it makes us sensitive to others. it makes us less judgmental. it makes us more sympathetic.

if you had an unbroken string of successes, if you never failed in life, if everything you did turned to gold, if every game you played you won, if the career you had always succeeded, if every investment you made, made millions of dollars, you had the midas touch, do you realize how difficult you would be to live with? you would be a pompous person. you would have an ego a mile wide. you would have so much pride, so much arrogance, ego in your life you would be impossible to live with. so GOD just makes sure all of us have a little bit of failure in our lives so we’re not so arrogant. GOD says, “i can use it to cultivate you.”

failure in your life does not automatically grow character. just because you have problems doesn’t automatically mean you’ll grow character. you only grow in character if you respond in the right way.

i know a lot of people who have been through problem after problem and they’re still jerks. they’ve had crisis after crisis, failure after failure, and they’re still idiots. why? they’ve never responded in the right way. they haven’t responded in the way GOD wanted them to so GOD couldn’t use it to educate them, motivate them, and cultivate them.

just a thought from the front porch…

GOD's redirecting you…

GOD uses failure to educate me and HE uses failure to motivate me. you’ve heard it said that we don’t usually change when we see the light; we change when we feel the heat. proverbs 20.30 (tev), sometimes it takes a painful situation to make us change our ways.

sometimes GOD has to use a little pain to get us to change, to steer us in a new direction. remember elijah and his great SPIRITual experience and a victory over the whole nation of israel. then he runs off to the other side of the desert. GOD takes him to a little stream HE’s provided, a brook in the middle of the desert and HE’s given him food and water and everything’s going great. he’s sitting over on his pity-pot having a great time. the water gave him refreshment on a daily basis. then the bible all of a sudden says this line, one day the brook dried up. i’m sure elijah’s going, “GOD! i’m still here. in the desert! remember me? YOU were giving me water but now the brook has dried up. why did the brook dry up?” and GOD says, “because I don’t want you at the brook any more. I’ve got things for you to do. this is not a vacation for the rest of your life.” so the brook dries up to motivate him to move on, to get back into action.

question: has the brook ever dried up in your life? have you had a financial brook that was doing great and all of a sudden, bam! there’s nothing in it anymore. and the financial brook dried up. or you’ve got great emotions. you’re feeling great. you’re feeling high and close to the LORD and all of a sudden one day, bam! the emotions dry up. what happened? you had a career brook and it dries up. you had a friendship and all of a sudden it dries up. what happened there?

maybe GOD’s trying to redirect you. maybe GOD’s trying to tell you to make a change in the way you’re doing your finances, a change in the way you’re doing your career, a change in the way you’re relating to that person. you correct that and the brook starts to flow again.

just a thought from the front porch…

the benefits of failure…

we also need to recognize the benefits of failure. are there any? we usually think of failure as a negative experience. but wise people (like the kind in proverbs) learn from failure. wise people use failure to their advantage. wise people make the most of failure. they learn from it, they grow from it. they use it as a stepping stone.

did you know that one of GOD’s primary tools in making you the kind of person HE wants you to be is failure. failure is one of the primary tools GOD uses in your life to mold you, shape you, develop your character. we rarely learn anything from success. rarely. when we succeed we immediately think, “it’s just because of my sheer natural talent.” we don’t figure out why we succeeded. we seem to feel, "i just instantly knew how to do it.” we rarely learn from our successes.

but we can learn from our failures. and GOD uses those in our lives for multiple benefits.

how? there are many ways, but one way that GOD uses failure is to educate you. mistakes are a learning process. you figure out what doesn’t work and eventually when you figure out enough things that don’t work you’re going to figure out what does. some things we only learn through failure. it’s just trial and error. eventually we find something that works and we run with it.

psalm 119.71 (mes), my troubles turned out all for the best. they forced me to learn from GOD’s textbook. GOD’s textbook is the bible.

isn’t it typical that often our bible sets on our desk gathering dust but when the crisis comes, when the heat’s on, when the winds arise, we get out the bible and start looking for truth and instruction and comfort and support and encouragement. GOD says, “sometimes I have to use failure to get you into this book so you’ll start looking and seeing that it’s a textbook that I want to teach you.”

just a thought from the front porch…

some famous failures…

some famous failures…

george washington lost two thirds of the battles he fought, yet he’s the founder of our nation.

napoleon graduated 42nd in a class of 43. then he went out and conquered europe. maybe grades don’t matter that much. what matters is your determination, your persistence and your willingness to make something of yourself.

babe ruth hit 714 home runs during his career but he also struck out 1330 times. nobody talks about that. he struck out almost twice as many times as he hit home runs. yet he once said, “never let the fear of striking out keep you from taking a swing at the ball.”

english author john creasy received 753 rejection slips from publishers who wouldn’t publish his books. but at the same time he published 564 books in his lifetime. he wouldn’t let rejection stop him. if someone didn’t like it, he’d try somewhere else.

r. p. macy, the guy who founded macy’s department store, failed seven times at retailing – seven bankruptcies before he started macy’s, which was obviously a big success.

if at first you don’t succeed, big deal! welcome to the human race. it’s usually the second, third, fourth time you actually get it right. you are never a failure until you give up. the bible tells us, remember that everybody fails and realize it’s not fatal.

just a thought from the front porch…

the best way to get rid of failure…

how do you reduce or eliminate this fear of failure that’s so prevalent in our lives? the best way to get rid of the fear of failure is to redefine failure.

listen, failure is not failing to reach your dreams. failure is not having a dream.

failure is not setting a goal and missing it. people do this all the time. it doesn’t mater. it just gives you something to shoot for. failure is not having a goal.

failure is not falling down. everybody falls down. failure is refusing to get back up.

let me redefine failure for you: failure is refusing to try again. it’s saying, “i blew it. i tried out for baseball but i didn’t hit the ball on the first swing so i give up. i tried out for the sport, but i didn’t get it right, right off the bat so i’m going to give up.”

how did you learn to ride a bike? you got on it, fell off. you got on it, you fell off…. finally you got on it and stayed on it for five seconds, then ten seconds. but if you keep giving up when every time you try something and initially you don’t have success, you’re never going to succeed in anything. failure is refusing to try again.

the first time i preached, i did a horrible job. now to be honest at 18 i decided because i didn't do very well then i wasn't suppose to be a preacher so for the next 19 years i did everything but preach but finally at age 37 i realized that was what i suppose to do and so you are reading the results of 25 years of preaching. i wish that i had realized that just because you fail doesn’t mean you give up, it doesn't mean that's not what you're suppose to do. no you get up and go back the next day and try it again. that’s called practice.

just a thought from the front porch…

failure isn’t fatal…

another thing to do when you fail is to realize it’s not fatal. failure isn’t fatal.

we over exaggerate the effects of failure. we blow it out of proportion. it’s not the end of the world. it’s not going to kill you. you’re not going to die from it.

the fear of failure is far more damaging to your life than failure is. with failure – you fail, you pick yourself up and you go on. the fear of failure – you can let that haunt you for years and years. the fear of failure is actually worse than failure in what it does to your life.

studies show that the more talented you are, the more you tend to fear failure. you’ve got a lot to loose.

have you ever known the answer to a question but you were afraid to raise your hand because you might not be right? proverbs 24.16 (tev), no matter how often an honest man falls, he always gets up again. i like this verse because it says even good guys make mistakes, even the righteous stumble.

everybody falls. we all have belly flops in our lives. the difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is not that successful people never fail. they do. they fail as much if not more than failures. what is the difference between a failure and a success in life?

successful people simply get up and keep on going. successful people simple don’t quit when they blow it. successful people are persistent, determined, diligent. they have endurance. successful people keep on going after they’ve fallen. they learn from those failures. a righteous man falls but he rises again. an oak tree is simply a little nut that refused to give its ground. how do you get to be a success in life? outlast your critics. keep on plowing.

and paul understood this. 2 corinthians 4.8-9 (niv), we’re hard pressed on every side but we’re not crushed. we’re perplexed but not in despair. we’re persecuted but we’re not abandoned. we’re struck down but we’re not destroyed. phillips paraphrase says, like a boxer, i’m knocked down but i’m not knocked out.

everybody fails. but it’s not failure. successful people simply get up again and keep on going. successful people are simply ordinary people with an extra ordinary amount of determination. they keep going.

you’re never a failure until you quit. you’re never a failure until you give up and as long as you keep trying you’re not a failure.

just a thought from the front porch…

you are not the only one…

so what do you do when you fail? well for one remember that everybody fails.

you made mistakes? welcome to the human race. it just means you’re alive. the bible says in james 3.2 (niv), we all stumble in many ways. we’re all living proof of this verse. people often say, “i want to do this, but what if i fail?” i want to say, “what do you mean, `if’?” failure is a part of life. failure is the pathway to success. you’re going to fail. the bible tells us, we all stumble in many ways.

let’s review the facts of life:
1. you have failed many, many times in your life already.
2. right now you are failing in some areas of your life.
3. you’re going to fail many, many times in the future.

ecclesiastes 7.20 (tev), there is no one on earth who does what is right all the time and never makes a mistake. nobody’s perfect. the closest you’re ever going to get to perfection is in a job interview. when you’re describing yourself, or handing them your resume about yourself, that’s the best you’re ever going to be.

even the superstars fail. in nba basketball, players miss, on the average, 50% of their shots. in professional baseball, an outstanding batting average is 300 which means seven out of ten times when you get up to bat, you walk back to the dugout. you strike out more than you get on base. those are the superstars. those are the ones who get paid the multi-million dollar contracts. everybody fails.

romans 3.23 (nlt) says, for everyone has sinned; we all fall short of GOD’s glorious standard. when you let go of the image of being perfect, the fear of failure will lose its grip on your life. the bible tells us that everybody fails.

just a thought from bill’s front porch…

the fear of failure…

in america, we hate losers and we love winners. we canonize champions, we adore achievers. we worship winners, and we sanctify the successful. the royalty in america are the rich and famous. and everybody wants to be a success and nobody wants to be a failure.

and this puts enormous stress on our society because failure is a part of life. yet nobody wants to be called or considered a failure. failure in america is considered the unpardonable sin. it’s the one thing you don’t want to be labeled as – a failure.

so as a result, we fear failure. what will other people think? will anybody love me? will i be considered worthless? the fear of failure is a pretty universal fear. and it causes enormous stress in our lives.

the fear of failure can cause you to be indecisive – you’re worried about what choice to make. what if i make the wrong choice? so you can’t decide.

the fear of failure can cause you to be a workaholic – you work and overwork, trying to keep up, trying to get ahead, trying to stay ahead.

you see, nobodies life goal is to fail.” everybody wants to succeed. everybody has this fear that they might not. but the fact of life is, failure is a part of life.

just some beginning thoughts from the front porch…

the power of easter…

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…

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...

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…