a manual on maturity..

now james, a little book in the back of the bible is a manual on maturity.  to find out how to measure spiritual maturity we need to see what the bible says.  now the word “mature” in greek is the word “teleaos” – it’s translated mature, complete, perfect and james uses this word five times in five chapters.  james is a manual on how to be mature.  james gives us some marks of maturity.

one of them is a mature person is positive under pressure.  are you positive under pressure?

james 1.2-4 (msg), consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. you know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. so don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

how do you handle trials?  how do you handle problems?  the first test of maturity is how you react to problems.

do they blow you away?  do you get nervous, uptight, negative?  do you gripe and grumble?  how do you handle problems?

man alive pastor, that is none of your business?  and you are right, it is none of my business but it is CHRIST’s business if you call yourself a follower of CHRIST.

you see CHRISTianity is life.  it’s not religion, it’s a life.  it is not what you do in church on sunday it’s what you do on monday. 

JESUS said, I’ve come that you might have life.  life means problems and a part of life is solving problems and facing them with the right attitude. 

what is your natural attitude; your natural bent when things don’t go right and you’re irritated?  are you negative or positive?  are you basically a supportive person or are you a skeptical person?  is your life filled with gratitude or grumbling?  are you affirmative or are you angry most of the time?

james 1.12 (niv) says, blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that GOD has promised to those who love HIM.   

you can be great in knowledge of the bible and be cantankerous as all get out!  are you positive under pressure?

just a thought from the front porch…

something more than a positive mental attitude…

some of you are at a dead-end right now.  there are certain dead-end words in life.  cancer.  divorce.  bankruptsy.  infertility.  unemployment.  death of loved-ones. 

how do you know when you’re at a dead-end?  things get out of your control and you can’t do anything about it.  you’re at a dead-end. 

well romans 4.17-20 tells about a dead-end situation in the life of abraham of the old testament and in his story we can get some insight on what i can do in my dead-end situation.

for one i remember what GOD can do.

the situation may be out of your control but it’s not out of GOD’s control.  when you face a dead-end you don’t focus on what you can’t do, you focus on what GOD can do.  verse 17 (ncv), abraham believed in GOD who gives life to the dead and who creates something out of nothing. 

it says that GOD can give life to something that’s dead.  now if HE can give life to a dead human being HE can give life to a dead career.  HE can bring life to that dead marriage.  HE can bring life to that dead dream.  HE can bring life to that financial dead-end.  HE can create something out of nothing.  GOD doesn’t need anything to work with. 

verse 17 in the living bible, abraham believed in GOD who gives life to the dead and who creates something out of nothing. 

it wasn’t just positive thinking that abraham believed in.  i recommend positive thinking because, what’s the alternative?  negative thinking and it doesn’t work.  but positive thinking is not faith.  they are two very different things.  positive thinking works fine in situations you have control over.  if you just need an attitude change i recommend positive thinking. 

now CHRISTians ought to be the most positive people in the world.  positive thinking works fine in situations you can control.  but in situations that are out of your control positive thinking is worthless.  it’s just wishful thinking.  it’s being positive but it doesn’t change the situation.  it has no power on things you can’t control.

when you face things that are out of your control you need something more than a positive mental attitude.  you need faith in GOD because HE can control it when you can’t.  most of life is beyond your control.  so you need faith far more than you need positive thinking. 

just a thought from the front porch…

took the very worst and created the very best…

an illustration of the fact that GOD takes something negative and makes a positive is that GOD took the absolutely worst thing that ever happened in the history of the world and created the very best thing that ever happened in the history of the world.

GOD took the death of CHRIST on the cross and through that opened up heaven for people like you and me who if we say yes to JESUS CHRIST we can spend eternity with HIM. HE took the very worst thing and created the very best thing. then the question becomes, how can we not say that in our individual lives GOD can’t take whatever circumstances we’ve gone through and create something good from them. if HE can do that, can HE not take my experience and draw something good? i think HE can and the bible says HE will.

also remember that the day is coming when suffering will cease and evil will be judged.

a lot of times you hear people say, “there are people suffering in this world this very moment. why doesn’t HE come back right now and cause suffering to cease and to judge evil?”

to criticize GOD for not coming back yet is almost like taking a john grisham novel, reading the first third of the book and then throwing it away and say, “what a stupid book! he didn’t tie up all the loose ends of the plot.”

wait a second! the book’s not done and GOD promises the day is coming when HE will consummate history and then evil will be judged. we think of jonbennet ramsey and what a horrible thing – an innocent child murdered and somebody’s apparently gotten away with murder. but they haven’t gotten away with murder. GOD will judge that person and they will be held accountable for the crimes they’ve committed. they’re not getting away with murder.

so why doesn’t GOD come back now? because of HIS love. look at 2 peter 9.3 (niv), the LORD is not slow in keeping HIS promise as some understand slowness. HE is patient with you not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

GOD is holding back the curtain of history, holding back the consummation of history because of some of you reading this who don’t know HIM yet. and if GOD were to come back at this time you would be shut out of knowing HIM. you’d be shut out of heaven forever. the reason GOD hasn’t come back yet is an expression of HIS unbelievable love for you. HE is giving you a chance.

just a thought from the front porch…

something positive out of the negatives…

GOD has the big picture when it comes to pain and suffering and we don’t. we’re limited by our perspective. we have finite minds and experiences.

we don’t many times understand when GOD allows things to happen in our life. it’s because HE loves us, because HE’s disciplining us, trying to get us on the right track. and we blame HIM and curse HIM for the things that have happened to us. why? because we don’t have the big picture. and that's reality.

but when we do have the big picture our attitude is going to change – someday in eternity, when we have the big picture. listen to these words of joni erickson tada, “every sorrow we face will one day prove to be the best possible thing that could have happened to us. we will thank GOD endlessly in heaven for the trials HE sent us here. this is not disneyland. this is the truth!” this is from a woman who was paralyzed as a teen, who is well acquainted with pain and suffering.

GOD can accomplish something positive out of the negatives of life. HE does this by fulfilling the promise HE makes in romans 8.28 (niv), and we know that in all things GOD works for the good of those who love HIM, who have been called according to HIS purpose. GOD’s saying HE can take the bad circumstances that befall us and HE can cause good to emerge if we are committed to HIM and committed to HIS purposes.

the old testament gives a wonderful illustration of this in the life of joseph. joseph was a guy who was sold into slavery by his own brothers. then he’s falsely accused of a crime, falsely imprisoned, twelve years of pain and horrible suffering. then he’s elevated to a role of great authority where he finally can save the lives of the very brothers who had sold him into slavery and many other people.

this is what he says in genesis 50.20 (niv) to his brothers about the sufferings that he went through: you intended to harm me, but GOD intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. you intended it for bad but GOD intended to use it for good. and if you’re committed to GOD, then HE promises to take whatever pain you experience in your life and to draw good from it.

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…

GOD is not angry with me…

romans 8.1 (niv), therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in CHRIST JESUS.

fact: GOD is not angry with me.

GOD did not send HIS SON into the world to condemn it but to save it. john 3.17 (nlt)

so many people i meet are walking around in self condemnation, beating themselves continuously for their past. they won't let themselves go, they won't forgive themselves, much less accept forgiveness from GOD.

there is a church in israel called the church of the flagellation. there are a lot of churches like that in america. you go to church and they beat on you, week after week. a lot of people really don't feel like they've been preached to unless they've been given a verbal spanking and slapped on the hands and whipped. “pastor, that message was so good! it made me feel so bad!” that's masochism to feel like you haven't been to worship unless you you've been run over by a bulldozer.

GOD has made it possible for us to live a life without condemnation. even if there weren't a heaven, it would be worth it to become a CHRISTian just to have a clear conscious, to know that GOD is not mad at me. HE wants to be my friend, not my enemy.

it doesn't say “there are no mistakes for those in CHRIST JESUS or no failures.” obviously CHRISTians fail, they make mistakes. CHRISTians are not perfect, but we are forgiven. if we just stopped right here, closed our computer, that's enough reason in the world to be positive. we are not under condemnation. GOD has made it possible to live a life without condemnation.

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…