my prayer…

what i want to do right now is basically pray here my own prayer to GOD.  if any part of this prayer speaks to you where you would say, “that’s how i feel about it too.  that’s the way i want to live my life too,” then you just whisper in that moment very quietly to GOD, “GOD, that’s my prayer too!”

LORD, help me make the biggest decisions first.  so that i can make the best decisions from now on.  i need to make the decision GOD to live life your way.  the decision to know YOUr word – the bible.  the decision to ask for YOUr help – to pray.  the decision to get good advice and the decision to take my time.  LORD, i’m not capable alone to make consistently good decisions yet i want to learn how.  become my teacher, LORD.  give me wisdom.  give me the ability to see life from YOUr point of view.  i commit the best i know how to following YOUr leadership in my life.  and i pray this in JESUS’ name.  amen.

just a thought from the front porch…

why is life burdensome?...

we have been talking here on the front porch about living up to GOD’s name?  and some of you might be saying, “that sounds like a lot of pressure to me.” 

well, if living the CHRISTian life is one big pressure to you, you’re doing it wrong.  GOD didn’t mean for it to be a pressure.  JESUS said, “I mean for it to be a life of peace, a life of rest.  my commands”, HE says, “are not burdensome.  they’re light.”

so what’s wrong?  why does it all of a sudden for many of us feel so burdensome?

the main reason it becomes burdensome is because we try to do it on our own.  instead of realizing how much GOD loves us and living that life out we take it back for ourselves and say, “i’m going to plug into my power and make it work on my own power.”

it’s not going to work.  you can’t make yourself holy any more than you can make yourself a foot taller just by your own willpower.  it comes by GOD’s power.

so i invite you this week to realize that GOD didn’t call you to live this burdensome CHRISTian life.  just don’t settle for this burden.  just say, “i’m going to ask HIM for the peace.  i’m going to spend this week thinking about how much HE loves me rather than how much i need to do for HIM.  then out of my understanding of HIS love then maybe i can begin to do things for HIM again.” 

you stop trying and you start trusting.  say, “i need this in my life to remind me that the power comes from HIM.”  it’s not a life of pressure.  it’s a life of peace.  out of that life of peace it is a worthy goal to pray, “GOD make my life honor YOUr name.” 

just a thought from the front porch…

what prayer is all about...

now i don’t know exactly what you are going through today but i do know that GOD is right there with you and HE wants to interact with what is happening in your life but HE won’t.  but HE won’t until you ask HIM.  that is what prayer is all about.

some of you are reading this, thinking of this as intellectual truth and you’re filing it in your mind.  others of you know exactly, from experience, what I’m talking about.  you’ve been through some deep waters in the last two or three weeks and you have felt GOD’s presence in your life and you have reached out to HIM and HE has comforted you.  HE has given you the strength and encouragement to keep on going.  HE’s an encourager. 

psalm 116.8-11 (good news), the LORD stopped my tears and kept me from defeat.  so i walk in the presence of the LORD.  i kept on believing, even when i said, ‘i'm completely crushed’ and even when i was afraid and said, ‘no one can be trusted.’ 

time after time when i have been discouraged and ready to quit, i thought i was in the wrong direction, without the presence of GOD’s encouragement in my life i would not have made it.  times when you think, “i’m defeated.  i’m completely crushed.  nothing can be relied on.  everybody’s let me down.”  that’s when you need to recognize the presence of GOD in your life. 

a whole new life is about to open up to you if you will grasp the simple truth i have just shared with you.  if you will become aware that GOD is always with you it is going to change your life. 

it will cheer you up, it will calm you down, it will help you out, it will see you through when you become aware of that.  no matter where you find yourself this week, GOD will be there, in advance, with you when you get there – school, vacation, traffic jam, flying 35,000 feet high – GOD is everywhere.  HE’s in the jail, in the bar – everywhere.   

i see all kinds of reactions that people have in life.  i see the reactions to funerals, the hospital stays, the crises that come that nobody can predict or plan.  i don’t know how people make it without the LORD.  they don’t make it.  they have scars and they don’t get over things as quickly as people who depend on the presence of GOD do.  they hurt much more deeply and much more severely than those who know that GOD’s presence is there.  HE’s there to encourage them. 

just a thought from the front porch…

some life principles…

JESUS told the story in matthew 25 – the story of the talents.  and in it JESUS gives seven life principles. 

ownership.  everything i have belongs to GOD.  verse 14 (niv), again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 

allocation.  GOD has given me some talents.  the word “talent” comes from this story.  verse 15 (niv),  to one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability.  it used to be the word “talent” simply meant money. it was about $1,000. 

the bible tells this story of the master who goes away and he says, “i'm going to give my servants some money to take care of.”  he gives one guy 5 grand, another 2 grand, another 1 grand. 

we’re all given different amounts.  we all have talents.  we all have different talents.  everybody gets something but nobody gets the same thing and the amounts are different. 

the point is there are no non-talent people.  a talent is anything that GOD has entrusted with you.  ability, strength, skills, physical health, family, children, opportunities, business situations, brains, personality, the fact that most of you were born in a free country – these are talents that GOD has given us.

romans 12.6 (niv), we have different gifts, according to the grace given us.  you didn’t deserve it.  GOD just gave it to you. 

accountability.  GOD expects me to use my talents.  HE’s made an investment in my life and HE expects a return on it.  HE wants me to make the most of whatever I’ve been given. 

verse 19 (niv), after a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts.  

this is a story that’s a parallel to the fact that one day, we’re going to give an account to GOD for our life.  one day GOD is going to do an audit on your life.  that’s one audit you’re not going to miss.  HE’s going to ask you this question.  “what did you do with what you were given?”  you need to be prepared to answer that.

just a thought from the front porch…

how to get started…

there are a lot of people who ignore GOD’s purpose for life.  they run after fame, they run after money.  they’ll be disappointed in the end because those things are so little compared to GOD’s purpose and how long it lasts.  but there are a lot of people who do that. 

there are a lot more people who instead of ignoring GOD’s purpose try to fit GOD’s purpose into their life.  you take your life, it’s filled with stuff.  it’s busy.  there’s lots of activity.  it’s already filled to the brim.  and you take a “little” thing like GOD’s purpose and you try to fit it into your life.  you try to cram it in as hard as you can and stuff starts spilling out all over the place.  it’s a mess!  it doesn’t work. 

so what do you do?  you say maybe later.  you still go to church but you take GOD’s purpose and say, “i’m going to put it over here.  maybe after the kids are gone… maybe after i’m retired…”  GOD says, “don’t try to fit my purpose into your life.  let me fit your life around my purpose.  start with my purpose and then watch how everything else fits in.”  JESUS said it this way, if you’ll seek first GOD’s kingdom and GOD’s righteousness all the other things will be added as well”  just start with that.  clear the desks and start with GOD’s purpose.  then watch what HE does.  it’s what HE made you to live for.  not to ignore HIS purpose.  not to try to make HIS purpose fit into your life.  but to live for his purpose in your life. 

that’s a big thing.  living for GOD’s purpose.  that’s huge.  how do you get your arms around that?  how do you get started?

psalm 31.15 (msg), hour by hour i place my days in your hands.  that’s the only way to do it – step by step, hour by hour, day by day.  that’s how you get your arms around GOD’s purpose in your life.

some of you are feeling “i think i’ve missed it.  i think i’ve missed GOD’s purpose for my life.  the mistakes i’ve made.  the times i’ve said no.  the opportunity is that i’ve passed up.  i’ve missed GOD’s purpose.”  you may be feeling some massive regret right now.  psalm 18.20 (msg), GOD made my life complete when i placed all the pieces before HIM.  even if you feel like your life is in pieces and there’s nothing left, GOD still has a purpose for you.  you bring whatever is there to HIM.  watch how HE brings purpose in your life.  it is never too late to get on track with GOD’s purpose in your life.  GOD’s purpose centers on GOD’s SON. 

ephesians 1.10 (tev) tells us. this plan, this purpose which GOD will complete when the time is right is to bring all of creation together – everything in heaven and on earth – with JESUS CHRIST as the head HIS purpose centers on HIS SON.  that means that if i center my life on JESUS CHRIST, i’ll be in GOD’s purpose for my life.  that’s as simply as i can say it.  it can sound very complicated but if i’ll center my life on getting to know JESUS CHRIST, if i’ll center my life on what HE directs in HIS word, the guidance that HE gives to me, if i’ll center my life on being with other people who are trying to do the same thing, i will be in the center of GOD’s purpose for my life.

just a thought from the front porch…

a life of purpose and fulfillment and adventure...

there’s something that’s reassuring about the fact that GOD is scrupulously fair.  genesis 18.25 (niv), will not the JUDGE of all the earth do right?  HE will. 

it is so comforting to know that every human being who’s ever lived is going to be uniquely judged by GOD, fairly judged by GOD.  the way i understand it from scripture is that there will never be one individual in all of history after they have been judged by GOD who will genuinely be able to shake their fist at GOD and say, “that was unfair!”  even though they may not like the results, they will ultimately see GOD is scrupulously fair. 

the reason people will be denied admittance is because they’ve told GOD their entire life that they can live just fine without HIM, they don’t need HIM.  so when they die GOD will say to them, “based on your own decision to live your life separate from ME, i'm going to honor the decision that you made and i'm going to seal it right now and you will live with that decision for eternity.  you’ll be separated from ME forever.”  that is fair.  GOD isn’t going to violate our free will.  HE’s going to honor the choice that you make and that i make as to whether or not we want to be reconciled with HIM.

but we’re not isolated.  here in america or wherever you are reading this, we are not isolated.  if you’ve never heard the message of JESUS CHRIST before, you’ve heard it now.  you’re accountable for it now.  the question is, what are you going to do with it?  statistics show that 84% of americans already believe that JESUS is the SON of GOD.  the problem is that’s not enough.  the bible says in john 1.12 that it’s not enough to just believe that JESUS is the SON of GOD.  we have to take a step of faith in receiving HIM as our forgiver and leader.

when you do that and as you grow in your faith, you will find out what i have found out and millions of other CHRISTians have found out.  JESUS is the way.  HE is the way to a life of purpose and fulfillment and adventure.  and JESUS is the truth.  HE will give you wisdom to deal with everyday life and deal with the turbulent times you know are going to come.  and most of all, JESUS is the life.  HE alone can give you eternal life with GOD forever.  it’s not based on your qualifications.  it’s based on you accepting the invitation. 

just a life-changing thought from the front porch…

the tree of eternal life…

there were two trees in this garden that GOD gave adam – very important trees. the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. it’s important to notice that the second tree, it’s not the tree of good and evil. it’s the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

it’s not that GOD put an evil tree in the garden. there was a tree there that if you ate from it, you would have the knowledge of evil. adam and eve were created innocent. they didn’t have the knowledge of evil and GOD didn’t want them to have it. HE didn’t want them to be scared. the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was there.

now the tree of life was the tree of eternal life. this tree was so important, so powerful, that after adam and eve sinned GOD said, “we’ve got to get them out of the garden so they won’t eat from the tree of life. i don’t want them to live forever in this sinful state. i don't want them to have eternal life with this kind of misery in their lives.” HE had a different plan. it was called JESUS CHRIST.

the tree of life that HE took adam and eve away from doesn’t go out of the story. it’s one of the greatest things in scripture, how things tie together. in the first couple of chapters of the bible you have this tree of life. then in the last book of the bible, revelation, the tree of life comes back in.

revelation 2.7 (niv), he who has an ear let him hear what the SPIRIT says to the churches. to him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of GOD.

the paradise of GOD is not someplace in eden. some people have taken the rivers that are talked about here and said, “if i can figure out the right place i’ll find eden and i’ll find the tree of life. i’ll eat from it and i’ll live forever.” that’s indiana jones kind of stuff.

the truth is paradise now is in heaven, with the LORD. revelation 22.1&2 (niv), at the very end of the book, then the angel showed me the river of the water of life as clear as crystal flowing from the throne of GOD and of the LAMB, JESUS, down the middle of the great street of the city, the holy jerusalem, and on each side of the river stood the tree of life bearing crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month.

you and i one day as believers in JESUS CHRIST will be able to look at GOD’s throne, worshiping HIM, and while we’re worshiping HIM be able to reach up and pick whatever fruit it is off the tree and take a bite of it. i think that’s going to be fun; i’d like to invite you to join me! GOD’s word is an amazing book and the tree of life is one of those examples to us of how amazing and how GOD-empowered this book is. no human being could have figured this story out. GOD wrote it.

just a thought from the front porch…

perfectionism and happiness…

perfectionism destroys your happiness.

you have the constant feeling that you never quite measure up. you go through life giving life your best shot and always coming up short and always feeling like, no matter how hard you try, your best is not good enough and you feel like a failure. that's depressing, discouraging. you start thinking, “what's the use?” “it's frustrating. why do i even try? if GOD demands that i be perfect, why even try?”

this is why most people avoid GOD because of their misconception of GOD. paul says in galatians 5.1 (niv), it's for freedom that CHRIST has set us free. HE set you free, not loaded you down. stand firm then and don't let yourselves be burdened again by the yoke of slavery.

everybody has a mental picture of their ideal self. it's what you really think you want to be or what you'd like everybody else to think you are. your ideal self shows up two ways: one, when you're filling out a job application. two, on your first date. you're always trying to impress people with what you think, you think everybody wants you to be. but it's not really you.

the problem is, your real self and your ideal self never really match. they start warring with each other in your life and you get under a burden.

nobody likes a nag. everybody feels like nags are a bother in life but our worst nag lives inside our skins. we subject ourselves to a relentless self judgment program. we remind ourselves of all the past failures and how we blew it. we criticize our present actions. we pressure ourselves about the future. we're always telling ourselves how we've blown it. “you'll never change.” that's perfectionism. that's the burden of trying to gain GOD's approval by being perfect.

GOD says, “that's not the way i intend you to live.” paul says, “don't be under the burden of slavery. don't go back and try to prove your worth by the law.”

just a thought from the front porch…

you have everything to gain…

if you've never opened up your life to CHRIST i encourage you to do so today. 1 john 5.11-12 (ph) real life is to be found only in GOD's SON. anyone who has CHRIST has this life but if he doesn't have CHRIST, then he does not possess this life at all. you have everything to gain. don't wait. some of you have been thinking about making your decision for months, for years. don't put it off any longer.

review: are you bothered by regrets? do you have things in your past that you feel guilty about, wish you hadn't done, regret? you feel condemned and you condemn yourself. as a result, you're pretty condemning of other people. you say, i wish i could get rid of this guilt and get a clear conscious. JESUS CHRIST offers you a life without condemnation.

would you like to break free of the things that bind you up? those bad habits, those situations, those things that tend to control you and you tend to respond in a way that you wish you could change, you wish you could be different. JESUS CHRIST offers you life without domination. the more you give yourself to HIM, the more freedom you find.

are you facing a situation right now and you think it's hopeless? it's not going to work out. JESUS CHRIST offers you a life without desperation. HE says, “there's hope!”

are you confused by the problems that you are having and you think it doesn't make sense, you don't know why it's happening, what's going on? GOD says, “i have a purpose behind those problems. and i'm working them into the grand design.” maybe HE just wants to get your attention. and he saying, wake up! HE can take the mistakes that we have made and somehow bring a positive benefit out of them by weaving them into HIS overall plan.

what are you afraid of? are you afraid of failure? are you afraid of dying? are you afraid of the future? are you afraid of what other people think? GOD wants to give you a life without intimidation that says, ”i don't fear. if GOD's on my side, what does it matter!”

HE wants to give you the kind of life where you have a continual relationship with him that can never be destroyed. are you worried that your needs won't be met? put your life in the hands of JESUS CHRIST. the good, the bad, every part of it and HE will assume responsibility for your needs.

GOD loves you so much. you can't even imagine how much HE loves you. HE is for you! and HE made you to love you, the bible says. HE has a plan for your life. the more you put your life into His plan, the better it gets.

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…

do you have religion or a relationship?...

there is nothing more vital in your life than that you hear from GOD. nothing. one reason why is because it assures me that i'm in GOD's family.

the proof that you really know JESUS CHRIST, that you have a relationship, is that you hear GOD speak to you. JESUS said in john 10.14 & 16 (ph), i know those who are mine...and they hear my voice...

if you've never heard GOD speak to you, if you've never sensed HIS speaking to you in your heart and in your mind, you have every reason to doubt that you're really a true believer, that you're in the family of GOD and that you're on your way to heaven. you have every reason to doubt it because JESUS said, those who are mine hear my voice.

some of you may be brand new believers and when you first get started sometimes its a little bit difficult to figure out, "is this GOD talking to me or not?" you're not used to HIS voice. but if you're really a child of GOD you're going to know your FATHER's voice.

when i call my kids, i don't have to say, "this is bill williams your father." i just start talking to them and they know my voice. when brett or stef call me, they don't have to say, "this is stef," or "this is brett." i know their voices. why? because i have a relationship with them.

if you don't have that, if you don't ever hear GOD speaking to you, you need to be saved because you're not going to heaven unless you have a relationship with CHRIST. it's really clear. it is available to anybody who says, "JESUS, i want a relationship with you. GOD, i want to know you. i want to communicate with you."

some of you know about GOD but your don't know HIM. some of you know about JESUS, but you really don't know HIM. you have a religion not a relationship. you may have gone to sunday school or catechism as a kid and you go to church every week but you don't have that relationship.

there is a man that comes by my house everyday. he's our mail carrier. i know who he is, i know what he looks like, i say hi to him but i don't really know him. i know about him but i don't really know him. that's the difference.

one of the proofs that you know you're a CHRISTian is that GOD talks to you on a regular basis and you listen and you hear and you talk back.

many people think that GOD only talks to super saints. no. those of you who are parents, do you only talk to your smartest kid? (i hope you are going to say no) GOD talks to all his true children – young believers, old believers, baby believers, grown up believers. it assures me i'm in GOD's family.

just a thought from the front porch…