HE will help us…

i heard about this teenage boy who was fed up with all the rules of his teachers.  so he dropped out of school early… and he joined the army.  that was worse!  the sergeants were barking out orders.  he couldn’t wait to be discharged so he could settle down and be free.  so he got married. 

deep down we resist authority.  we want to be in charge.  i’ll make my own decisions, thank you very much!  but for those who have lived enough of life to swallow your pride and admit that you need some help, even if it means submitting to authority, the bible tells us that if we will submit to HIM, HE will help us.  GOD will help us live life in HIS will if we let HIM guide our decisions. 

now that may be creating a question in some of our minds.  you’re saying, “you’re telling me that one of GOD’s gifts to us is the freedom to choose.  now you’re saying submit my choices to GOD.  doesn’t that mean i’ve just given up my free will?  now i am puppet.  now i am a robot.  and GOD will just start doing HIS programming on my soul.” 

that’s not what i’m saying at all.  that’s not what the bible teaches.  the bible does say that GOD is in control, moving history to a certain and preset conclusion.  GOD is all around us and has been working through the events and people of history from the very beginning.  and all of life is like a slow coursing river winding its way towards GOD’s ultimate destination.  there is a big picture, a big overall plan and will of GOD and GOD is working things towards that plan. 

but within that plan GOD gives you and GOD gives me lots of personal freedom.  GOD doesn’t control every aspect of life.  HE didn’t control what you ate for breakfast this morning.  HE didn’t control what you decided to wear to work/play today.  let’s not blame GOD for some of that! 

let me give you an example.  let’s say i asked you to drive to austin, texas where i used to live.  i draw out a map.  i set the course.  i tell you which roads to take.  i’d tell you which exits to take, which subdivision to enter.  but during that trip you’d have all kinds of personal freedom.  you could choose what time you left for the trip, how fast you drive, when to use a turn signal, whether or not to use cruise control, when to buy gas, eat a meal or spend the night.  i would have determined the overall destination, where this trip is headed but along the way you would have made almost all the personal decisions.  good decisions would have gotten you well down the road.  poor decisions could have led to a crash of your life. 

and the difference between crashing and getting down the road is utilizing GOD’s help in making decisions.  i would contend that we need GOD’s help more in our life these days rather than less.

just a thought from the front porch… 

blessed by the bible…

when the preacher’s car broke down on a country road, he walked to a nearby roadhouse to use the phone. after calling for a tow truck, he spotted his old friend, frank, drunk and shabbily dressed at the bar. “what happened to you, frank?” asked the good reverend. “you used to be rich.” frank told a sad tale of bad investments that had led to his downfall. “go home,” the preacher said. “open your bible at random, stick your finger on the page and there will be GOD’s answer.”


some time later, the preacher bumped into frank, who was wearing a gucci suit, sporting a rolex watch and had just stepped our of a mercedes. “frank.” said the preacher, “i am glad to see things really turned around for you.” “yes, preacher, and i owe it all to you,” said frank. “i opened my bible, put my finger down on the page and there was the answer -- chapter 11.” 

in america, bibles are everywhere.  you can find them in grocery stores, bookstores, motel rooms, everywhere.  they’re available in all sizes, shapes, translations, versions, leather bound, paperback.  every year the bible out sells every other major bestseller.  last year there were 500 million bibles published in the world in 18,000 different languages.  in america we are glutted with the word of GOD on the airways, radio, tv, books, magazines.  it’s everywhere.  yet millions of people still miss the blessing of the bible. 

why?  because it’s not automatic.  the bible is a book of blessing.  it promises comfort, strength, hope, wisdom, joy, power, and purpose.  but just because you have a bible doesn’t mean you’re going to get the benefit from it. 

listen, GOD’s word is HIS love letter to you, but you need to apply it to see results.  you need to apply it, to be blessed by it!

james, being his practical self, tells us how to be blessed by the bible. 

james 1.25 (niv), but whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.the bible is called the perfect law because it's exactly what i need.  it promises freedom and it promises blessing. 

just a thought from the front porch..

HE paid the penalty…

chuck colson writes this story. “near the city of san jose in brazil is a remarkable prison facility. twenty years ago the brazilian government gave up on this prison and so they turned it over to two CHRISTians who renamed the prison and decided to build this prison based on CHRISTian principles. with only two full employees all the work is done by inmates.” chuck colson visited this prison in brazil and he said this, “i found the inmates smiling particularly the murderer who held the keys to the prison and opened the gates and let me in. wherever i went in the prison i saw men at peace. i saw clean living areas. i saw people working cheerfully. this is the power of the gospel. the walls were decorated with bible verses. then my guide escorted me to the notorious prison cell that had once been used for torture. he told me that it now houses only one inmate. as we walked down the long hall and he put the key in the lock he paused and asked, ‘chuck, are you sure you want to go in?’ ‘of course,’ i said impatiently. ‘i’ve been in isolation cells all over the world.’ slowly he swung open the massive door and i saw the solitary prisoner in that cell. it was a wooden statue carved by the inmates of JESUS hanging on the cross. my guide said softly, ‘he’s doing time for the rest of us.’”

think about that for a minute. JESUS CHRIST took your place on the cross. HE’s doing time for you so you don’t have to do time in hell. HE paid the penalty for your sin.

once you’re set free, once a prison sentence has been paid for and the doors open do you hang around the prison? no. you walk out into the light. i’m saying to you, whatever has had you imprisoned in JESUS CHRIST you can walk out of it.

some of you have been imprisoned by guilt. you can’t forget what you did. some of you have been imprisoned by resentment. you can’t forget what other have done to you and you’re still locked in the prison of bitterness and hatred and anger and resentment. or you’re locked in the prison of loneliness. or worry and anxiety and fear. or you’re locked in the prison of addiction. you can’t stop it no matter how hard you try. i want to tell you today. this power, the power of JESUS CHRIST, is there to help you to walk out of that prison and be free. GOD wants to bless your life. you receive him through CHRIST. you celebrate him through worship. i want to remind you and challenge you to never let a day go by that you don’t thank JESUS CHRIST for the cross.

just a thought from the front porch…

here is what you are free to do…

GOD put adam in a garden. then GOD gave him a command.

GOD said, “I want you to look at that tree of knowledge of good and evil. don’t eat from it.” as HE gives him this command, GOD gives us a pattern for all the commands that HE gives to us. first HE says, “you can eat of all the other trees. you’re free to do that. but don’t eat of this tree.” that’s the pattern for GOD’s commands in the scripture. HE says, “here’s what you are free to do. here’s what will make you happy. just don’t do this one thing. that will make you miserable.” and guess what we always want to do?

GOD’s not trying to keep us away from something good; HE’s trying to protect us from the hurt that HE knows comes from sin in our lives. HE says, “here’s all the things you can do. just these other things stay away from because there’s no joy there.” the more i grow as a believer, the closer i get to HIM, the more i realize that HE’s just doing it for my good.

HE gives then a command, what we’re free to do and what we’re not free to do. the things that we are free to do are the things that we’re designed to do. they are sort of GOD’s specifications for our lives.

just a thought from the front porch…

i know what’s good and what’s bad...

another area where we are created in GOD’s image is our morality.

the fact that i'm created with a moral conscience. as soon as GOD started creating things, HE started saying, “good. that’s good.” that’s a moral comment. when you say something is good or something is bad, that's a moral commentary.

GOD has made us into moral beings. because we’re created with the ability to make moral choices, that includes both freedom and responsibility.

those of you who are parents and your kids are just starting to drive, you know what i'm talking about. you’re giving them some freedom but you also have a little talk with them about responsibility. it includes both.

the fact that i'm created in GOD’s image means i know what’s good and what’s bad. i can make choices between the two. inner conscious.

and that is the key, the freedom of choice.  but then we are not free of the consequences of that choice.  but we at least have deep within us the  choice.

just a thought from the front porch…

i am set free…

GOD has made it possible to live a life without condemnation and a life without domination.

romans 8.2 (niv), through CHRIST JESUS, the law of the SPIRIT has set me free from the law of sin and death. notice set me free.

fact: i don't have to be controlled by anything anymore as a CHRISTian. when the LORD is in control of my life, i don't have to be controlled by anything else. i am set free.

i talk to people all the time with a common complaint, “my life is out of control. i just can't get a handle on my life. i want to do right, but i don't. i know what i ought to be doing, but i just can't seem to change. i can't break free.” maybe it's a way of thinking, a way of acting, a way of responding. maybe it's a habit -- drinking, eating, smoking, taking drugs, needing exercise, whatever. “i just can't get in control!” the mark of a genuine CHRISTian is freedom. the mark of a genuine church is freedom. the bible says, where the SPIRIT of the LORD is there is liberty.

so my question for you is this, what's controlling you? without even knowing who you are, i can tell you what's controlling you: whatever you think about the most is what controls you.

romans 8.6 (tev), to be controlled by human nature results in death; to be controlled by the SPIRIT results in life and peace.

you are going to be controlled by something in life. either your own nature, the devil, or the LORD, or something. but the amazing thing is, the more i let GOD control my life, the more freedom i experience. when i'm mastered by HIM by his HOLY SPIRIT, i become the master of my circumstances. GOD has made it possible to live a life without domination. i gain control of my life and circumstances by giving it to the LORD.

just a thought from the front…

i want to be free...

another fear that people have that keeps them from GOD is that i'll lose my freedom.

now the world defines freedom as a life without any restraint – do anything i want to do, say anything i want to say, without anybody telling me yes or no.

we have parents who worry about the music their kids listen to. the words to frank sinatra's “my way” are much worse than some of today’s songs. “i did it my way!” everybody got burned by me, but i did it my way! i left five marriages behind but i did it my way! total selfishness! i had my freedom!

what has sexual freedom given us? aids, social diseases, abortions. what has chemical freedom given us? grade school addicts, the most chemically dependent society in the world. what has credit card freedom given us? 146 easy payments. there is no such thing as an easy payment. they are all hard. trillion dollar national debt.

you are not as free as you think you are. the bible teaches that with every choice you make there are consequences. you are free to live anyway you want to live. but once you make that choice you are no longer free. what you sow you will reap.

what does the bible say about freedom? john 8.36 (tev) JESUS said, if the SON sets you free, you will be really free! notice the word, really.

he's talking about real freedom not phony freedom. real freedom is freedom from guilt, from worry, from bitterness, from fear of death cause i know that i'm going to heaven, free to be myself, free to quit pretending – that's real freedom. how do you get rid of those kinds of fears?

1 john 4.18 (niv), there is no fear in love. but perfect love drives out fear. the antidote to fear is to recognize how much GOD loves you. love and fear can't exist in the same heart. when you realize how much GOD loves you, you're not going to have a fear of becoming a fanatic or that GOD's going to take away your fun or your freedom or anything else in life. HE's not a cruel GOD, HE's a loving GOD.

the very first words of JESUS when HE came out of the tomb on easter sunday was “don't be afraid”. HE said, “i don't want you to be afraid! i didn't come to scare you, i came to save you.” we just need to realize how much GOD loves us.

GOD is not at all the way many people think HE is. do you think GOD gets HIS kicks out of making people miserable? what kind of GOD do you think we serve? you need to realize how much HE loves you.

just a thought from the front porch…

who can’t I be?..

who can GOD be that i can’t be? the answer to that is simple. no matter how much we try, no matter how much we act like it, you and i can’t be GOD.

we have been looking for the past few weeks at what is GOD really like and i want us now to look at GOD's sovereignty. read with me 1 chronicles 29.11 (lb), everything in the heavens and earth is YOUrs, o LORD, and this is YOUr kingdom. we adore YOU as being in control of everything.

now GOD's sovereignty simply means that GOD is in control. we’re not and we can’t be no matter how much we try. HE's in control of everything because HE created everything. HE's in control of nature. HE created nature. HE sustains nature. when HE wants to overrule it and do a miracle, HE can do it. it's HIS prerogative.

GOD is in control of history. the bible says everything is moving toward a focus, that there is a plan, a purpose, a climax that history is moving toward.

GOD is in control of our lives. scripture says that GOD's sovereignty decided when you were going to be born. also how long you’re going to live. the bible says GOD decided which natural abilities and gifts you were going to have. GOD gave them to you in HIS sovereignty.

now when i say things like that you might say, but bill, if GOD is in control of everything, then do i even have a choice? and that's a good question. i'm glad you asked.

and the answer is yes. you have freedom but it is limited. there are boundaries, parameters of which you cannot go beyond. because you're a human being you have freedom of choice, but it's not totally free.

it's like you were to get on an ocean liner and you were to go to china. while you're on the trip you could get on the first deck, the second deck, or the third deck. you could watch movies, sleep, eat food, play shuffleboard, swim. you could do many different things – lots of freedom on the boat but there is nothing you could do that would alter the ultimate destination of that ocean liner.

the bible says GOD gives you freedom to choose the way you want to live, the way you want to act, but once you make those choices you are no longer free of the consequences of your choices. you reap what you sow. if you do a then b is going to result in your life.

just a thought from the front porch...