When Trouble Comes

John 16:33(NIV) “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

James 1:2–4(NIV) "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

2 Corinthians 4:17(NIV) "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." 

Warren Wiersbe said, “'Perseverance' in the New Testament is not simply 'waiting it out;' it is steadfast endurance in the Lord, keeping going when the going is tough. The Christian who prays for more patience must expect more tribulation, for tribulation is the spiritual tool God uses to make us patient.”

• When suffering comes, it will either make us or break us. If we accept the suffering, yield to God’s will, and by faith continue to stand true, then the suffering will help us grow.
• If we resist the suffering, complain to God, and give up in unbelief, then the suffering will break us and weaken our testimony.

If Satan seems to be winning the battle today, resist and rest in faith, knowing that he will lose the battle tomorrow!  GOD wins.  

Good News for Messy People

If someone is an authority in our life, and wants to speak to us, we almost always assume the worst…right?  If your boss says to you, “I need you to come to my office!"…Are you thinking promotion or problem?  We usually assume the worst.

We do the same thing with God.  When we think about God wanting to speak with us we fret about that.  That’s why, when we mess up, we stop coming to church...stop praying.  We know what we did. God knows what we did.  If God wants to talk to us we assume that it can’t be good.  There is a divine disconnect when it comes to seeing our sin and encountering God.  There is a lot of fear there.

When the Angels showed up to announce the birth of Christ it freaked the Shepherds out.  However, their terror was soon replaced with joy.  The angel said to them, (Luke 2:10)  “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.”

There is a message in that for us.  Take it from someone that has allowed his assumptions to mess up great relationships. Our assumptions are often wrong.

The message of Christmas isn’t about fear it’s about joy!  An angel showed up to announce a reason for living not hiding.  God has come to us, not to scare us, but to save us—to give us another chance.

It's not just good news for good people it is good news for all people! We do not need to be afraid we need to be glad!  God meets us where we are, knows how messy we are, and loves us just as we are.

Seeing Jesus in Susie

A 9-year-old is sitting at his desk in school when all of a sudden there was a puddle between his feet.  The front of his pants were soaked.  He thought his little heart was going to stop.  He knows that when the boys find out he will never hear the end of it.  When the girls find out his chances of ever getting a date are done.

The boy puts his head down and prays this prayer: "Dear God, this is an emergency! I need help now! Five minutes from now I'm dead meat." He looks up from his prayer, and sees the teacher with a look in her eyes that says he's been discovered.

As the teacher is coming to snatch him up, a classmate named Susie is carrying a goldfish bowl filled with water. She stumbles and dumps the goldfish bowl in his lap. He pretends to be angry but prays, "Thank you, Jesus!"

Now, rather than being the object of ridicule, this kid is the object of sympathy. The teacher rushes him downstairs and gives him gym shorts to put on while his pants dry out. When he comes back to class, all the kids are on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk. This sympathy is wonderful!

But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his has been transferred to Susie. She tries to help, but they tell her to get out: "You've done enough, you klutz!" As the day progresses, the sympathy gets better and better, and the ridicule gets worse and worse.

Finally, at the end of the day, they are waiting at the bus stop. The boy walks over to Susie and whispers, "Susie, you did that on purpose, didn't you?"

Susie whispers back, "I wet my pants once too."

Isaiah 53:4–5 (NIV) “Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.”

Like little Susie, Jesus took our shame.

…and much, much more.

Her name is Dorothy

A professor in a college gave a pop quiz.  One student did really well on it until he read the last question: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?" Surely this was some kind of joke. He had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would he know her name? He handed in his quiz, leaving the last question blank.

Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would really count toward their quiz grade….

"Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say, "hello."

The student who left it blank said that he never forgot that lesson. He also learned that the cleaning lady's name was Dorothy.

Isaiah 53:3 (NIV) “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.”

Jesus  understands what it is like to be sad— He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.

Sorrow was such regular part of His life it was part of His moniker.  You have to have a lot of sorrow to be known as a “man of” them.  You don’t just have one or two sorrows and get that nickname!

The verse I shared also says…”Like one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.”

You’ve been despised and so have I.  People have willfully diverted their eyes from ours.

Jesus knew what it is like to be discarded…to have people who should acknowledge Him, simply refuse to.

Jesus could relate to Dorthy.  Jesus relates to us.

Brownies and Buddies

Two friends went out to dinner and ordered the same dessert.  Brownies.

When the treat came to the table it was obvious that one of the brownies was bigger than the other one.  One man quickly reached out, grabbed the smaller brownie, and gave it to his friend (keeping the bigger one for himself).

The guy with the smaller brownie said, “Hey man… Do you see what you just did?  You gave me the small brownie and kept the big one for yourself!  What’s up with that?  What gives you the right to do that?”

The guy eating the bigger brownie asked,  “What would you have done?”

‘Well, I would have given you the bigger brownie and kept the smaller one for myself.”

“Well thanks, it’s delicious.”  :)

Matthew 6:1 (Msg), “Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don’t make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won’t be applauding."

Foolish Risk

Last night, at the Men’s Bible study that meets in my home, we were talking about the foolish risks that Samson took. In the book we are going through together, The Samson Syndrome, Mark Atteberry talks about watching a war movie.

In that movie a group of soldiers are walking casually across an open field when one of them suddenly spots a land mine. At the top of his lungs, he screamed, “MINES!” and the soldiers all froze in their tracks. No one dared move a muscle. All casual conversations came to a halt, and cold sweat broke out on their faces.

The writer brought out the fact that life is a mine field. Satan sets subtle, almost invisible traps everywhere. That’s why we need the Word of God. Psalm 119:105, “Your Word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path.” God’s word will show us where the mines are. It keeps us from making that one fatal step or taking that one foolish risk that could ruin our lives.

The writer reminds us that, unfortunately, we often fail to give the Word of God the attention it deserves. It is often the strongest, most confident soldiers in the platoon that get their legs blown off. 

Lets read and heed the Word of God before we take another step!

Adoption is Forever

Ephesians 1:4b–8 (NIV) “In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will—to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.” Q: If salvation wasn’t permanent why introduce the concept of adoption? If losing our salvation were possible, wouldn’t it have been better just to describe salvation in terms of a conditional contract between man and God? Why would God choose, before the foundation of the world, to adopt someone He knew He would eventually have to unadopt? People who believe that they can lose their position as children of God are set up for a serious case of spiritual insecurity. After all…How deep can a person’s relationship with God really go if God cannot or will not pledge His unconditional love and acceptance of them? Not very deep...! They would be waiting all the time for Him to say “I don’t love you or want you anymore.” Can you imagine the emotional state of a child who does not know from day to day whether or not he is a member of the family? Today, since he was a good boy, he is considered a member. But tomorrow, if he misbehaves, he may no longer be a member. Today he is loved by his father. Tomorrow he may not be. That child would be a mess! The good news is that WHEN you belong to Christ, you are part of the family, and YOU get to enjoy all the benefits of that—including the emotional security that your Heavenly Father wants you FOREVER. Maybe you didn’t have a great dad growing up.. just don’t infer his deficiencies onto God! God is a great God and would never abuse or abandon you. He chose you and He isn’t giving you back.