get ready for the answer in advance …

have you ever asked this question, what am i supposed to be doing while i’m waiting on GOD?

james first of all gives the example of the farmer and that we are to wait expectantly.

i must expect a harvest.  i must believe that it is inevitable, that i’ve done the right thing. 

what does a farmer do while he’s waiting on GOD?  just sit and watch reruns on television all day?  no, while he’s waiting on the harvest, the farmer is preparing for the answer.  he’s getting ready. 

waiting is a time for preparation which shows your expectation.  we demonstrate our expectation by our preparation.  we get ready for the answer in advance. 

psalm 130.5 (lb),  i wait expectantly, trusting GOD to help, for HE has promised.  notice the word, expectantly. 

what are you waiting for from GOD?  maybe to heal a long-term illness, or to transform your marriage, or to reverse your financial problems or for GOD to reach your teenagers for CHRIST?  do you really expect HIM to do that? 

the bible says, according to your faith it will be done unto you. 

if you do expect GOD to do it eventually, then prove it!  how can you prove that you’re expecting GOD to do something?  simple.  what are you doing to get ready for it?  are you preparing for the answer?  if the answer came today, would you be ready? 

how can i prepare?  the way you get ready for something is by preparing in advance.  while you’re waiting you’re preparing.  preparing demonstrates expectation.

just a thought from the front porch…

how to prepare for temptation…

so how do you prepare for temptation?  how do you get ready for it?  by understanding how it operates.  2 corinthians 2.11(msg), we don’t want to unwittingly give satan an opening for yet more mischief—we’re not oblivious to his sly ways!

GOD wants you to know how the devil operates, how he tempts.  the only thing you can say about the devil that’s good is this: he’s consistent.  he’s been using the same old bag of tricks for 2000 years and longer.  it’s very easy to discover his process.  temptation is a process, never just a one time act and james outlines the four steps the devil uses in order to tempt you.

1.  james 1.14a (niv), each one is tempted when, by his own evil desires… the first step of temptation is desire.  desire.  it’s an inside job. 

now most desires are ok.  you couldn’t live without desires: a desire to eat, drink, sleep, the sexual desire, to accomplish.  GOD gives us these desires.  those are good desires.  they are good gifts.

but any desire out of control becomes destructive.  satan loves to take routine desires and turn them into runaway desires.  you are consumed. obsessed by it: food, work, having fun, sex. money.  legitimate desires but when they are out of control they become a problem.

temptation is like a steel magnet.  there’s an inward and outward part.  there’s a outward circumstance but there’s an inward drive, desire.  if it weren’t for the inward desire you wouldn’t be tempted.  it starts on the inside and it’s often the fulfillment of a legitimate desire in the wrong way at the wrong time.  it always starts with a desire.

just a thought from the front porch…

the difference between preparing and solving…

in making wise decisions you will need to prepare for problems.

donald trump said, “i expect the best but i prepare for the worst.”  that’s not bad advise.  in faith, expect the best.  expect GOD to work in your life.  but also prepare for the problems that are coming. 

five thousand years earlier, solomon said this same thing in the bible, proverbs 22.3 (tlb), a prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares to meet them; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.  

the wise person recognizes there’s going to be problems in any decision and prepares for them.  even the bible knows about murphy’s law:  if anything can go wrong, it will.  i saw a bumper sticker the other day, “murphy was an optimist.”  you can’t ignore problems because they’re not going to ignore you.  problems are inevitable; they are a part of life.  the wise person prepares for

problems. 

ask:  what could go wrong?  what will happen if it does?

there's a difference between preparing for a problem and solving a problem.  big difference.  never confuse the decision making phase with the problem solving phase.  they are two different things.  if you have to solve all the problems before you make a decision, you’ll be paralyzed before you make the decision. 

in the spiritual realm this means you don’t have to have all of your doubts about CHRISTianity and CHRIST settled before you make the decision to follow CHRIST.  listen, you don’t have to have all of your doubts figured out before you come to CHRIST. “JESUS, i give all that i know about me that i understand, to all that i know about YOU that i understand at this point in my life.”  the rest of your life you’ll be working out all the problems, the doubts.  i still don’t understand a lot that is in the bible. 

you don’t have to have all of your doubts resolved.  a man once came to JESUS:  “i need YOU to heal my son.”  JESUS asked, “do you believe I can heal him?”  man:  “i want to believe and i want you to help me with my doubts, my unbelief.”  JESUS:  “that's good enough” and HE healed the kid.  if that’s good enough for that man, it’s good enough for you.

you come and say, “JESUS, i give YOU all my life. i don't understand and i have some doubts and fears.  but i’m coming with them all.”   YOU solve the problems later.  if you had to solve all the problems before you make a decision then the decision isn’t made in faith.

just a thought from the front porch…