it can happen…

this brings us to the last step in dealing with temptation, which is the hope step.  it’s the good news step.  it’s the faith step.  it is, you must persist in believing you can change.

here’s the good news.  you don’t have to stay the same.  i have watched thousands of people be changed.  i’ve seen it in my own life.  change is possible.  and it is never too late to start over. 

you may have dealt with this habit for fifteen or twenty years or whatever.  but let me tell you how it’s not going to happen.  it’s not going to happen with a miracle. 

some of you have been praying that GOD would just take away the desire.  it isn’t gonna happen.  some of you are waiting for that one experience, that emotional shot, that silver bullet, that pill, that seminar, that sermon, that all of a sudden it takes it away and you’re never tempted again.  it isn’t going to happen.

you can pray.  but that’s not what you pray for, for GOD to just make a miracle and take it away.  HE’s not going to do it. 

so how does GOD take it away?  notice this next verse.  1 corinthians 10.13 (msg), no test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. all you need to remember is that GOD will never let you down; HE’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; HE’ll always be there to help you come through it.

you say, “bill, i was in this situation and i was tempted and i couldn’t help it.  i just couldn’t help it.”  you’re right.  that’s why you need JESUS CHRIST.  that’s why you need GOD in your life.  you don’t have enough power.  you need GOD’s power in your life and you need GOD’s power through a friend, a CHRISTian friend, who is JESUS in the flesh for you.  you need an accountability partner and you need GOD’s SPIRIT in your life because you’re not going to get over it on your own. 

it’s not going to happen by a miracle in your life.  it’s going to happen when you commit to these steps we’ve been looking at here for the last few weeks.

just a thought from the front porch…

when the outlook is bad, look up…

in being patient waiting on GOD you wait expectantly, you wait quietly and then you wait confidently.

when the outlook is bad, you look up.  micah 7.7 (gn), i will wait confidently for GOD.

how do you do that?  you have hope.  hope is holding on praying expectantly – hope.  when you’ve got a problem that’s unexplainable, a person who is unchangeable, a circumstance that is uncontrollable then wait confidently.  GOD is working.

how do you wait confidently?  sit still.  don’t get nervous, anxious.  you don’t take matters into your own hands and work things out. 

psalm 37.7 (nlt), be still before the LORD and wait patiently for HIM to act. 

where do you need to have patience right now?  do you have an uncontrollable circumstance in your life right now?  maybe you're in a job situation and your boss has told you to do something that’s beyond your control and you don’t want to do it.  maybe you’ve had a financial reversal that was beyond your control.  maybe you have a long term illness. 

maybe you’ve got an unchangeable person in your life.  it’s frustrating when you tell your kids something to do over and over and they don’t do it. it’s frustrating when you want to make the marriage work and you’re willing to change but your partner is not willing to change.  it’s frustrating when you have a parent who’s growing old; their idiosyncrasies are coming out and they’re dependent upon you.  there’s that cantankerous relative that, every time they are around, they cause problems.  they’re never going to change.  you need patience with an unchangeable person.  you need patience with unexplainable problems. 

what do you do when you have these kinds of things?  remember what GOD has said in james.  GOD is in control.  it may be out of my control, but it’s not out of GOD’s control.  nothing is beyond HIS power and HIS purpose for my life is greater than the problem i’m experiencing right now.  GOD will reward your patience, if not in this life, HE will in eternity.  GOD is working behind the scenes for a purpose.

just a thought from the front porch…

when your hope dies…

when you are at a dead-end rely on what GOD has said.

romans 4.18 (ph), when hope was dead within him, abraham went on hoping in faith... he relied on the word of GOD.  how do you know when hope has died in your life?  you start using the word “never”. 

i’m never going to get married.  i’m never going to graduate and finish school.  i’m never going to get well.  i’m never going to get out of debt. i’m never going to be able to let go of my past and forget all of that shame and heartache. i’m never going to be able to change.  i’m never going to become what GOD wants me to be.  i’m never going to see this situation turn around. that's when hope is dead within. 

what do you do when your hope dies?  scripture says, you keep on hoping.  when hope was dead within him, abraham went on hoping in faith.  he relied on the word of GOD. 

when you are at a dead-end you need the bible.  read it.  study it.  memorize it.  think about it.  write it down on little cards and go over it.  take the book and put it into your mind when you’re at a dead-end.  it’s full of promises.  you rely on the word and it will revive you emotionally.  nothing else is going to encourage you like the bible. 

when you rely on the word of GOD you don't panic when you hit a dead-end because you know it’s out of your control but it's not out of GOD’s control.

that is where hope starts…

hope is determined by the way you think about GOD’s love, by the way you look at problems, the way you talk to GOD, by the way you read the bible, the way you think about eternity. 

the bible says in romans 4.23-24 (msg), it’s not just about abraham. [he was a great believer]  it’s also us.  the same thing gets said about us when we embrace and believe the ONE who brought JESUS to life when conditions were equally hopeless.  the ultimate moment of hope in this world is when JESUS CHRIST came into this world, lived life for you, gave HIS life for you and was resurrected again for you.  if you haven’t connected to that hope as yet, that’s where you start.  that’s where you start.  because GOD wants to develop a relationship with you where HE can give you hope. 

if you think that somehow you’ve got to impress GOD or you’ve got to live up to GOD’s standard in order for GOD to like you, or GOD to want to be a part of your life, that’s not what JESUS came to teach.  HE came to say, none of us are good enough to be in GOD’s presence.  none of us are perfect.  we’ve all blown it.  couldn’t we all admit that one?  no one’s perfect yet GOD wants to have a relationship with you.  so JESUS came and said, “I’ll give MY life for you.  I’ll begin a new life for you by being resurrected.  I want to give you the gift of a relationship with ME.” 

don't try to get a relationship with GOD based on the good things that you do.  you’ll never get there.  none of us can be good enough.  some of us are better than others but none of us are good enough because GOD’s perfect.  instead of that, let GOD give you a relationship with CHRIST and let HIM begin to build the good things in your life HE wants to do.  don’t get the cart before the horse. 

if you’ve not started a relationship with HIM you can do it right now.  you might think, “that’s all i have to do?  that doesn’t seem fair.”  it doesn’t seem fair because GOD’s already done it all.  HE already sent HIS SON to give HIS life for you and to say to you I love you and say to you, I want to open the door wide for a relationship with you.  start there.

just a thought from the front porch…

are you heavenly or earthly minded?...

2 corinthians 4.17-18 (ncv), we have small troubles for a while now, small compared with eternity.  but they’re helping us to gain an eternal glory that’s much greater than the troubles.  so [and here’s our decision.  so…] we set our eyes not on what we can see but on what we cannot see. 

colossians 3.2 (tlb) says this, let heaven fill your thoughts.  don’t spend your time worrying about things down here.  that idea of letting heaven fill your thoughts, i know some people are a little scared of that.  there’s this phrase out there “people who are so heavenly minded they’re no earthly good.”  i haven’t met very many people like that.  i really haven’t.  i’ve met a few, people who were so spiritually minded they didn’t care about anybody on this earth.  but the vast majority of people i’ve met who are heavenly minded have the deep care and compassion for people on this earth and the desire to make a difference.  in fact being heavenly minded helps them get rid of the selfishness we so easily live with, get their eyes of the worries of their own life a little bit so they can care about somebody else. 

i’ve also met a lot of people who were so enmeshed in the worries of this world they don’t have time for anybody else.  they’re so earthly minded they’re no good for heaven or earth either.  being heavenly minded shouldn’t make you ignore the needs around you.  it should make you aware of the needs around you and able to meet those needs that are around you.  you make the future your foundation.

how do you do that?  especially for those of you who are feeling hopeless right now, how do you do that?  you do it every hour.  every hour.  you make hope your alarm clock.  every hour you set the watch or the clock and every hour you remind yourself “this world is not all there is.  i’ve got something to hope in.”   

those of you who are feeling particularly hopeless right now, let me just be frank with you.  you’re not going to want to do this.  there’s something about hopelessness that ensnares us.  and we stay caught.  it’s going to feel not quite right to you the first few times you do it.  but i want to encourage you by faith just to do this every hour.  just to take those fifteen seconds to “this world is not all there is.  i'm going to build on the future not on now.” 

i promise you this.  if you’ll do that, every hour, just remind yourself of that during the day – you need an every hour reminder if you’re particularly hopeless.  slowly but surely GOD’s going to lift your eyes off of what you’re going through right now.  HE may not change the circumstances but you will be able to lift your eyes up and when you do that regardless of the circumstances you begin to feel a new hope. 

just a thought from the front porch…

are you building something significant?…

you find hope for today by making the future your foundation.  GOD’s future, your foundation.  you don’t build your life on the foundation of the past.  that’s over.  that’s done with.  good or bad, it’s over.  you don’t even build your life on the foundation of the present because that’s not going to last.  you build your life on the foundation of GOD’s future.  GOD’s future – eternity in heaven – which is going to last forever. 

you see, we all need foundations to build on.  if you’re going to build something significant in your life, if you’re going to build something that lasts in your life, you’ve got to build it on a good foundation.  there’s all kinds of foundations you can try to build on but the only one that’s going to last is GOD’s foundations for GOD’s future in eternity.  heaven is the ultimate foundation of life. 

that does not mean there’s anything wrong with having other goals.  you should have other goals.  you should have goals about business and family and school.  but if you see those as the ultimate you’re going to be deeply disappointed.  it’s not enough.  one of the most frightening moments in life – and some of you have faced this moment, you know what i'm talking about – is that moment when you reach your highest goal.  you achieve that thing you’ve been pointing to all your life and you discover it’s not enough.  it’s not enough to give me the fulfillment that i was looking for.  you know what?  it’s not supposed to be enough.  you should have those goals in life.  but it’s not supposed to be enough.  because GOD has made us not just for this earth, this world where things aren’t perfect and we mess up a lot of times.  HE’s made us for an eternity with him in heaven. 

so that’s what you look forward to.  you build on that future.  we are a forward-looking people.  we are a forward hoping people.  we are a people who have our foundation in the future.  because of that you’re able to build things in your life that are incredible for GOD’s sake.  because of that you find strength in the difficulties and problems of life. 

just a thought from the future…

encouragement and endurance…

follow the example of a guy by the name of solomon in the old testament.  just a simple example that’s good for any of us.  you might remember solomon’s dad was named king david.  GOD had told king david, you’re going to build a temple.  “I'll give you the plans and then your son is going to build the temple.”  when it came time to build this temple for GOD, here’s what solomon said, 1 kings 5.5 (ncv), the LORD promised my father david, “I’m going to make your son king after you and he’ll build a temple for worshipping ME.”  now i plan to build that temple for worshipping in the LORD my GOD.  very simple.  i want you to notice two phrases in that verse.  first, the LORD promised.  that’s where it started.  then, solomon said because of that now, i plan. 

there it is.  that’s the order.  pretty simple.  GOD promises, i plan.  don't get these reversed.  i make a plan then i look for some promise that GOD made to fit with my plan.  that doesn’t work very well.  and don’t leave out the “you planning” part of it.  GOD promised and now i’m just going to set back and watch and not have anything to do with it.  no, when GOD makes the promises HE’s going to make you a part of the plan.  there’s no doubt about that one.  GOD promises and now i plan. 

where do you find GOD’s plan?  where do you find GOD’s promises?  the bible, GOD’s book, GOD’s gift to us, contains over 7,000 promises from GOD.  so when you feel like, “i don't have hope.  i don’t know what to do next,” one of the things to do is begin reading through the bible.  i suggest you read psalms, a book like mark in the new testament or philippians – places to start.  read through some books like that.  you’ll find some promises there that you can plan on.  that you can count on. 

you begin to read and ask GOD for a promise.  romans 15.4 (niv) says this about the bible, for everything that was written in the past was written to teach us so that through endurance and the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.  two important words i’ve highlighted there, endurance and encouragement.  let me just ask you a quick question.  which of those two do you like better?  i don’t know about you but i like encouragement.  endurance?  that doesn’t sound like such a hot idea.  but it takes both.  it takes both encouragement and endurance and GOD’s word gives us the strength for both. 

dale carnegie once said “most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.”  the question is how do you keep on trying?  where do you get the encouragement to keep on trying?  where do you get the endurance to keep on trying?  it’s not easy.  so the bible gives us the encouragement, the endurance that we need. 

just a thought from the front porch…

following a crazy plan…

daniel burnham’s famous statement, “make no little plans.  they have no magic to stir men’s blood.  make big plans.  aim high in hope and work.”  the truth of the matter is all of our plans, as human beings, are little plans.  all of them.  you may be thinking, “not mine!  i have big plans.”  and compared to everybody else, you may have big plans.  you may have tremendous plans, huge plans.  but compared to the plans of GOD, all of our plans are little plans.  HE’s the GOD of the universe.  HE made it all.  HE sees all time in a moment.  GOD’s plans are the biggest plans. 

the bible says in proverbs 19.21 (msg), we humans keep brainstorming options and plans but GOD’s purpose prevails.  you can count on that.  so plan based on what you can count on because that’s where the hope comes from.  that’s where the hopes aren’t dashed.  plan based on what you can count on.  make GOD’s promise your plan. 

something funny happens when we’re hopeless.  when we’re hopeless any plan seems good enough.  have you noticed this in your life and in the life of some people you love?  when you’re hopeless you’ll chase after just about any plan because you’re hurt.  because you’re trying to find some hope.  so you chase after anything and everything.  you run over here and get involved in this scheme.  you waste your money on this.  you do the craziest things and pick up and move in a day.  just crazy ideas because you’re trying to find some hope. 

in fact some of you this last week, some crazy idea came into your mind and you’re thinking about doing that.  hoping that it will make you feel better.  “i’m going to leave my husband (or wife).  it’ll make everything better.”  no, it won’t.  “i’m going to abandon my kids.”  i’m sure some of you even thought this last week, “i’m going to take my life.  i don’t have any hope left.” 

don’t do it!  don’t follow that crazy plan.  make GOD’s promise your plan.  GOD brought you here to the front porch to say to you, “i’ve got a better plan so make my promise your plan.”  instead of rushing off to do just anything, get on board with what GOD is doing in the world. 

just a thought from the front porch…

more than you ask for…

take some time every day, a few minutes at the beginning to talk to GOD honestly.  find some space to talk to HIM about the opportunities of the day, the feelings of the day, the relationships, the problems of the day. 

in fact, let me get real practical about this.  in your car.  turn off the radio and the cell phone and stop putting on makeup or shaving.  and just for five minutes talk to GOD.  i’m not saying talk to GOD all the time you’re in the car.  don’t make this so crazy you can’t do it.  but just take five minutes.  for many of us the only time we’re sure to be alone sometime during the day is somewhere driving in the car.  so just turn everything off and take five minutes to say, “ok, GOD, let’s have an honest talk about how i’m feeling.”  if you begin to do that as a daily habit it makes an incredible difference in your life.when you talk to GOD in honest prayer let me just tell you, you will not always get what you ask for.  GOD is much wiser than to give us everything that we ask for.  you will often get much more than you ask for. 

some of you are familiar with this soldier’s prayer from american history. 

i asked GOD for strength that i might achieve,

i was made weak that i might learn humbly to obey.

i asked GOD for health that i might do greater things,

i was given infirmity that i might do better things.

i asked for riches that i might be happy,

i was given poverty that i might be wise.

i asked for power that i might have the praise of men,

i was given weakness that i might feel the need of GOD.

i asked for all things that i might enjoy life,

i was given life that i might enjoy all things.

i got nothing that i asked for, but everything that i’d hoped for.

almost despite myself my unspoken prayers were answered. 

i am among all men most richly blessed.

when you don’t know what to do what do you do?  start by making GOD’s love your lifeline.  then you make the decision to make patience your priority.  then you make prayer your pressure release. 

just a thought from the front porch…

the most ridiculous prayers…

look at psalm 143.7 (msg), hurry with your answer, GOD.  i’m nearly at the end of my rope.  Don’t turn away.  don’t ignore me.  why can’t we just pray honest prayers?  you know what i think we pray a lot of times.  we pray prayers with disclaimers – you know, like “batteries not included,” at the end of an ad.  we pray that way in our prayers many times. 

let me show you how that would work with this prayer.  hurry with your answer, GOD.  disclaimer: unless of course you don’t want to hurry.  because i don’t want to see i’m telling you to hurry if you don’t want to hurry.  so, really, take your time if you want to.  i’m nearly at the end of my rope!  well, not really at the end of my rope.  i’m like three feet from the end of my rope.  so if somebody’s closer to the end of their rope than i am please help them first.”  then get real pious and pray things like, “GOD, i don’t want to seem ungrateful so thank you for this rope that i’m nearly at the end of.  really, i want to thank you for this rope.”  ridiculous!  answer my prayer now GOD.  don’t ignore me.  but then we add the disclaimer: “if you have time today to not ignore me which in light of the fact that there’s war and famine and disease all over the world you probably don’t have time for me today so forget i said anything at all.” 

we pray the most ridiculous prayers.  i think one of the reasons why is because we have a small view of GOD.  we think GOD can’t handle all of our prayers all at once and HE can.  GOD is the ultimate multi-tasker.  if you can get in your car and you can drive your car and listen to the traffic report and talk on the cell phone and put on makeup and shave.  if you can do all that at the same time don’t you think that the GOD of the universe who made everything who is the almighty, the all-powerful, can listen to every prayer of the billions of people on this planet and give personal attention and care?  of course HE can. 

that blows our mind a little bit but that is the greatness of GOD.  that’s how great GOD is.  so you’re not bothering GOD with your prayer.  you’re not taking away from somebody else’s need with your prayer.  so talk to GOD honestly.  because when you talk to GOD honestly you’re able to hear an honest answer. 

do you hear that answer audibly?  i never have.  you hear it through a thought HE brings to mind or a bible verse HE brings to mind or somebody who comes into your life.  if you pray dishonest prayers to GOD, and you fake it with GOD, you’re not going to hear any honest answers from GOD.  but if you honestly tell HIM how you’re feeling, you’re going to hear some honest answers back.  and that’s how your heart’s going to change.  that’s where the pressure gets released. 

just a thought from the front porch…

let’s be honest…

who do you talk to when you feel hopeless?  i’ll tell you what my default is.  when i feel hopeless, my default is to not talk to anybody.  to throw myself into some work or into some project and just hope the feeling goes away.  or to set down in front of the tv and click through 150 channels hoping i’ll find hope on one of those channels.  i’ve never found it yet but i just keep hoping.  it doesn’t happen that way.

who do you talk to when you feel hopeless?  you need to talk to other people.  let other people in on it.  let them pray for patience in your life.  lift each other up.  but even that isn’t enough.  you talk to other people but also you talk to GOD about it.  the feelings build.  these feelings of hopelessness, anxiety, discouragement you might have.  they build.  eventually you’re either going to blow up or you’re going to cave it.  so you talk to other people about it.  but also you talk to GOD about it.  you talk to HIM regularly.  you talk to HIM honestly.  you talk to HIM about it. 

psalm 17.1 (tev) says something about that.  i want you to notice particularly a word at the end of this verse.  listen o LORD to my plea for justice.  pay attention to my cry for help.  listen to my honest prayer.  do you see it?  it says, honest prayer. 

do you know why a lot of us don’t like to pray, i think?  we don’t pray honest prayers.  we pray these pious prayers.  we pray these fancy prayers.  we pray these religious prayers.  we pray these pattern prayers like other people have prayed.  so it doesn’t feel like us.  it feels phony.  it feels fake.  because it is.  it’s not us.  and GOD says, “you know what i’m looking for?  I’m looking for honest prayers.  tell ME how you feel.  tell ME what’s really going through your mind.”  HE already knows anyway.  HE’s the GOD of the universe.  HE knows everything you’re thinking.  so if you can’t talk to GOD honestly, who can you talk to honestly?  you’d enjoy praying a lot more, you’d get a lot more out of prayer, if you talked to GOD honestly. 

just a thought from the front porch…

the raw material…

we are all about problem – solution – done.  problem – solution – done.  but GOD’s all about problem – patience – growth.  problem – patience – growth.  because more than anything HE’s interested in what HE wants to do in your life.  and your problems, my problems, are the raw material out of which GOD manufactures hope.  out of which GOD moves us to trust HIM in something that in this world is not going to last to trusting in HIM in something in the next world is going to last. 

we all trust in things that aren’t going to last.  one of the things our problems do is help us to realize “i can’t trust in that anymore.  i’ve got to find something greater to trust in.”  GOD tests us, not to grade us but to grow us.  HE doesn’t test you, looking at you thinking, “wonder how they’re going to do with this one.  oh!  they get a c minus on that one.  they didn’t do very well.”  GOD already knows how you’re going to react.  HE’s GOD.  HE knows everything.  so why does HE let us go through tests?  because HE knows what they’re going to do to our heart.  HE knows how they’re going to grow us. 

but growth and hope are not guaranteed results of problems.  i know plenty of people who go through problems and they’ve got no growth going on.  they’ve got no hope in their lives.  it takes patience.  that’s why you want to make patience your priority. 

so what is it that keeps us from hope?  circumstances?  it’s easy to think that.  but no.  every one of us knows someone who has the best of circumstances but no hope at all.  and we know people who have the worst of circumstances but they’re lives are overflowing with hope.  so obviously it’s not about circumstances.  it’s something about your heart, your attitude, in the circumstances. 

now, having patience in the midst of problems is easy to talk about but it’s hard to do.  whether you think they should or not, whether you feel guilty about that or not, your problems tend to wear you down after a while.  so what do you do?  here’s the answer.

don’t face your problems alone.  GOD never meant for you to face those problems alone and try to be patient alone.  galatians 6.2 (tlb), share each other’s troubles and problems and so obey our LORD’s command.”  our LORD’s command to love one another.  you share each other’s troubles and problems.  GOD didn’t mean for you to face it alone. 

GOD says we’re not built to face it alone.  HE has made us to share our problems with other people so we can lift each other up and encourage each other.  problems have this power to move us from false hope to real hope but it takes other people involved in our lives for that to happen. 

just a thought from the front porch…

love, mercy, patience and hope…

lamentations 3.21-23 (ncv) says, but i have hope when i think of this.  the LORD’s love never ends.  HIS mercies never stop.  they are new every morning.  i have hope when i think about GOD’s love.  i have hope when i think about GOD’s mercy.  because HE is a GOD of love and hope and mercy. 

you drive into a gas station.  what would you hope to find there at a gas station?  gas.  you go into a doughnut shop, what do you expect to find?  doughnuts.  you go to the GOD of hope and love, what are you going to find?  not fear, not guilt.  you’re going to find hope.  you’re going to find love.  because that is who GOD is. 

this verse says, GOD’s love is new every morning.  if it’s new every morning i want to think about it every morning. 

in fact, let me get even more practical than that.  if you’re feeling hopeless, or if you don’t want to start feeling hopeless, here’s the practical thing to do.  before you even get out of bed in the morning – remind yourself GOD’s love is your lifeline.  you wake up feeling groggy.  before you even get out of bed because who knows what’s going to happen the first thirty seconds of the day.  “GOD, no matter what happens today, YOU love me.”  just remind yourself of that.  every morning.  there is power in doing that. 

another way to find hope in a hopeless situation is to make patience your priority. 

but you say, “i don’t want patience!  i want hope!  and i want it now.  i don’t want to wait for it.”  if you’re looking for hope and someone says to you in the middle of a problem, “oh, just be patient.”  does that sound like an answer?  to me it sounds like somebody just patting me on the back.  “oh, it’s going to be ok.”  and send me out with no real answer.  yet GOD, when HE talks about our problems, talks about the power of patience to make a difference in our lives. 

our priority is to solve the problem.  that’s not GOD’s priority.  GOD’s priority is to grow us through the problem.  why is that by the way?  because GOD knows that you’re going to far outlast any problem that you have.  problems that you have, they might last five days, five months, five years.  they might even last the rest of your life.  but compared to the eternity that GOD has created us for, that is a short time.  so because GOD knows that you’re going to far outlast your problems.  HE’s more interested in your growth and my growth than in solving the problem immediately. 

just a thought from the front porch…

your lifeline...

i’ve met a lot of people who know how to feel hopeful when the circumstances are good.  i’ve not met very many people who know how to be filled with hope when the circumstances aren’t so good. how to be filled with hope when it feels like GOD’s love isn’t there any more. how to be filled with hope when you don’t know how long you can last.

GOD wants to give that kind of strength into every one of our lives.  what do you do when you don’t know what to do? 

for one you make GOD’s love your lifeline.

what’s your lifeline?  that’s what you hold on to when you don’t have anything else to hold onto.  here’s the crazy thing.  when we face tough times it is the easiest thing in the world to make self-destructive behavior our lifeline.  that’s where we tend to go first.  because they offer the quick fix.  they seem like they’re going to help us.  so you’re hopeless and what do you turn to?  drugs or drink or lust or anger or self-pity or burying yourself in entertainment.  all kinds of things that aren’t going to help that actually are going to take you down faster.  don't make those your lifeline.  make GOD’s love your lifeline. 

in fact, don’t even make the things that might seem strong your lifeline because they’re not enough.  your job is not enough.  what if you lose your job?  i know a lot of people who make their spouse – their husband or wife – their lifeline.  and that is not fair to your husband or wife.  think about this: what if they’re going down with you?  what if they’re facing a circumstance worse than your circumstance?  you should love deeply, your husband or wife.  they should give you strength and encouragement.  but to make them your whole lifeline is asking a human being to do what no human being can do.  only GOD’s love will last through any and every circumstance.  only GOD’s love is there every moment of our lives no matter what.  so don’t ask a person to do what only GOD can do.  you make GOD’s love your lifeline. 

psalm 121.1-2 (niv) says, i lift my eyes to the hills.  where does my help come from?  my help comes from the LORD.  the maker of heaven and earth.  i just like the simple picture in that verse.  

las vegas where I lived for 15 years is surrounded by mountains. and I would look at those mountains that GOD has made and i realized that the same GOD who made them, the GOD of grandeur, the GOD of greatness – that same GOD cares about me.  HE cares about my life.  HE cares about what i’m going through.  HE wants to give me strength in my circumstance.  i lift my eyes to the hills.  where does my help come from?  it comes from GOD.  the same GOD who made heaven and earth wants to be a part of your life. 

just a thought from the front porch…

hope in a hopeless situation…

when circumstances aren’t turning out like you want them to turn out, when a relationship isn’t working out like you would like it to work out, when things just aren’t going like you want, you’ve got one of three choices.  you can look down in discouragement or despair.  you can look around for someone to blame.  or you can look up to GOD in hope.

the bible says in psalm 88.3-4 (msg), i’ve had my fill of trouble.  [any of you feel that way sometimes]  i'm camped on the edge of hell.  [anybody feel that way sometimes.]  i’m written off as a lost cause, one more statistic, a hopeless case. 

i put that in there to remind you that for thousands of years people have been feeling that way.  and in spite of that for thousands of years GOD has been giving people hope.  you’re not alone in what you feel. 

listen, it is never too late to hope.  it’s never too late to look up.  in fact, if you’re feeling discouraged, if you’re even feeling in despair let me just remind you that discouragement, despair is just the hunger for hope.  that’s all it is.  it’s the hunger for hope. 

what do you do when you’re feeling hungry for hope?  wait for your circumstances to change?  that’s what a lot of us do.  “i’ll wait for the circumstances to change and then i’ll be ok.”  but what if they don’t change?  then how do you find hope?  you may be facing the worst of circumstances but you don’t have to live without hope the rest of your life. 

i can’t think of a better example of hoping in difficult circumstances than a guy by the name of abraham in the old testament.  you might remember the story.  GOD had told him to go to a promised land, a land that was going to be a place where he’d have a multitude of his family and it would be a rich place where they could really enjoy life.  abraham takes GOD at HIS word and he goes to this promised land and he finds rocks.  that’s about all that he found there at the beginning.  there was no place to live.  he had to live in tents.  he had to travel from here to there.  there were all kinds of problems and famines and difficulties.  yet abraham still trusted what GOD had said. 

in fact here’s what the bible says about him in romans 4.18 (msg), when everything was hopeless abraham believed anyway deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn’t do.  but on what GOD said he would do.  a whole different way of living life even when things might look hopeless. 

just a thought from the front porch…

life is not easy…

GOD has made it possible to live a life without desperation.

henry david thoreau said, “most people live lives of quiet desperation.” they're overwhelmed, discouraged. life is not easy. life is tough. GOD has not promised a stress free, problem free life for believers.

however CHRISTians do have a hope that helps us keep on going.

romans 8.18 (niv), our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. paul says here, i know how the story's going to end. there's going to be rewards. sure i'm going through tough times right now but i've read the last chapter in the book and i'm going to win in the end. the fact of life as a CHRISTian is i have a hope to hold onto even in my problems, even with things going wrong, even when things fall apart. i have a hope that unbelievers don't have.

there are two things that give us hope. romans 8.23 says someday you're going to get a new body. isn't that good news? and in verse 26 he says that the SPIRIT prays for us when we're going through trials so we have a hope.

we live a life without condemnation, without domination, without desperation.

just a thought from the front porch…

a life without condemnation…

most people really don't know how to live. they simply exist. or they vegetate. or endure. they float through life never really learning how to live.

and i think it's for that reason JESUS said in john 10.10 (tev), I have come that you might have life – life in all its fullness. JESUS did not say, “I have come that you might have religion” or “I have come that you might have rules” or “I have come that you might have regulations”. he said, I have come that you might have life – life in all its fullness. but most people really don't know how to live.

there is a guy named dr. martin seligman who is the study professor at the university of pennsylvania. he has studied thousands and thousands of people and come to the conclusion in his studies that people who are optimistic and people who are positive live longer, have better health, are happier and accomplish more than people who are not optimistic or positive.

another study i read proved that salesmen who are optimistic have 37% more sales than guys who are not optimistic.

people like to be around positive people. and i think CHRISTians, of all people, need to be the most positive, optimistic people there are. we have so much to hope for.

somebody called CHRISTians hope‑addicts. i think that's a good term. we have a lot to hope for. i think that a pessimistic CHRISTian is an insult to GOD. i say that because of what we find in romans 8. in this chapter there are some reasons why every CHRISTian ought to be the most positive person in the world. we're going to look at the lifestyle GOD intends for you and me to live.

now one reason is because as a CHRISTian (or because i am a CHRISTian) it is possible for me to live a life without condemnation.

romans 8.1 (niv), therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in CHRIST JESUS. notice the word no. the greek word for this no is the strongest word for “no” that you can use in greek. it means absolutely, positively, no, no! there is absolutely no condemnation if you are a CHRISTian. GOD does not condemn you.

that is a hard truth for us to grasp. intellectually we can get it. but emotionally it's just too good to believe. no matter what i do, GOD doesn't get mad at me. that is too good to believe.

just a thought from the front porch…

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...