5

 The problems you face will either defeat you or develop you - depending on how you respond to them. Unfortunately, most people fail to see how God wants to use problems for good in their lives. They react foolishly and resent their problems rather than pausing to consider what benefit they might bring.

Here are five ways God wants to use the problems in your life:

1. God uses problems to DIRECT you.
Sometimes God must light a fire under you to get you moving. Problems often point us in a new direction and motivate us to change. Is God trying to get your attention? Sometimes it takes a painful situation to make us change our ways. (Read Proverbs 20:30)


2. God uses problems to INSPECT you.
People are like tea bags - if you want to know what’s inside them, just drop them into hot ever water! Has God tested your faith with a problem What do problems reveal about you? When you have many kinds of troubles, you should be full of joy, because you know that these troubles test your faith, and this will give you patience. (Read James 1:2-3)


3. God uses problems to CORRECT you.
Some lessons we learn only through pain and failure. It is likely that as a child your parents told you not to touch a hot stove. But you probably learned by being burned. Sometimes we only learn the value of something - health, money, a relationship - by losing it. It was the best thing that could have happened to me, for it taught me to pay attention to Your laws. (Read Psalm 119:71-72)


4. God uses problems to PROTECT you.
A problem can be a blessing in disguise if it prevents you from being harmed by something more serious. Last year a friend was fired for refusing to do something unethical that his boss had asked him to do. His unemployment was a problem - but it saved him from being convicted and sent to prison a year later when management’s actions were eventually discovered. "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good." (Read Genesis 50:20)


5. God uses problems to PERFECT you.
Problems, when responded to correctly, are character builders. God is far more interested in your character than your comfort. Your relationship to God and your character are the only two things you’re going to take with you into eternity. We can rejoice when we run into problems - they help us learn to be patient. And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady. (Read Romans 5:3-4)

Here’s the point:..

God is at work in your life - even when you do not recognize it or understand it. But it’s much easier and profitable when you cooperate with Him.

time

I heard a story which illustrates how we often confuse God's timing with ours. A country newspaper had been running a series of articles on the value of church attendance.

One day, a letter to the editor was received in the newspaper office. It read, "Print this if you dare. I have been trying an experiment. I have a field of corn which I plowed without praying. I planted it without a prayer. I did all the cultivating without praying. I gathered the harvest  and hauled it to my barn without praying. I find that my harvest this October is just as great as any of my neighbors' who went to church and prayed much. So where was God all this time?"

The editor printed the letter, but added his reply at the bottom. "Your mistake was in thinking that God always settles his accounts in October."

That's often our mistake as well, isn't it - thinking that God should act when and how we want him to act, according to our timetable rather than his. The fact that our vision is limited, finite, unable to see the end from the beginning, somehow escapes our mind. So we complain; we get frustrated; we accuse God of being indifferent to us.

That's when God gently reminds us that... "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts". (Isaiah 55:8-9)

God's timetable is perfect. He will do exactly what is best for us - in His own time - according to his wonderful plans for us, because He loves us so much. Wait! Be patient! His clock may show a different time than our clock, but it's the right one.

ready

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness'" (2 Cor 12:9).
If there is one thing that is consistent throughout scripture, it is this: God calls people when they are not ready. God will never call you into service when you think you are ready. This is intentional on God's part.

And, you can be sure when God calls you, you will have similar responses as Saul did when he was called to be the first king, or Gideon, when he was called to take down the idols in his nation, or Moses, when he was called to deliver his people from Egypt.

Saul answered, "But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why do you say such a thing to me?" (1 Sam 9:21).

"But Lord," Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family" (Judg 6:15).
But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" (Ex 3:11).

When God calls, you will most likely be in the most unlikely circumstances to receive that call. You will be in the midst of a crisis, you will lack resources, you will not have the skills you think you need. This too is the way of God.

God does this because He wants you to know your call is only based on His ability, not yours. When you think it is based on you, this is a false humility. And, it is unbelief and disobedience on your part.

Has God called you to something you have failed to do because you felt you were not ready? Repent before the Lord and let God accomplish great things through you.

-os hillman

understand

It happened so suddenly. Without warning. Yesterday everything was going smoothly for the Herrens. Today their whole world turned upside down.

This morning Keith Herren left for work -- a middle-level executive's position with a national corporation. He drove his company car out of his nice neighborhood, past the church his family really loves. When he got to the office, he and a number of colleagues were called into the conference room for a surprise meeting. Without warning, the company (like others) has decided to downsize for economic reasons. A large number of jobs are being terminated. Keith's is one of those positions.

"Don't worry!" company officials chirped. "There will be a very generous severance package." And it's true that Keith is young enough and talented enough to find another job. But as he drives home he thinks about having to start all over. "Lord, I don't understand. We really love this place. After five moves in ten years, we've finally found a community and a church where we feel at home and where we'd like to put down some roots. And now you're making us start all over again.

Suddenly Keith's eyes are filled with tears,and he can barely see the road. Many people think that believing in God protects them from trouble, so when calamity comes they question God's goodness and justice. But the message of Job is that God allows us to have bad experiences (Job 2:10).

Faith in God does not guarantee personal prosperity, and lack of faith does not guarantee trouble. If this were so, people would believe in God simply to get rich and feel better. God is able to rescue us from suffering, but He may also allow suffering to come for reasons we cannot understand. It is Satan's strategy to get us to doubt God at exactly this moment. Job showed a perspective broader than that of seeking his own personal comfort. If we always knew why we were suffering, our faith would have no room to grow.

Psalm 42:11  "Why are you downcast, O my soul?  Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God."

secrets

Tell a child you have a secret and you have his undivided attention. All of us children - big and little, young and old - love secrets; love to hear them, love to tell them. 

Allow me to open the vault and reveal four of the best-kept secrets in the Kingdom of God . 

Secret #1 - God has big plans for you. 

Jeremiah 29:11 says it best. "I know the plans I have for you: plans for your welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope."  His plans for us fall into two categories - earthly and heavenly. 

Secret #2 - He is not going to tell you what they are. 

In His mercy, God makes big plans for us. In His wisdom, He does not tell us what they are. He protects us from knowledge of the future for two reasons. 

   (1) We could not handle it. 

   (2) We would mess it up. 

Suppose you found out that your brothers were going to fake your death and sell you into slavery, and that you would end up forgotten and forsaken in a foreign prison for years. Who could handle such news? Most of us would grieve over such a future and grow bitter toward our brothers and angry at God.  In the Old Testament book of Genesis, Joseph experiences precisely such a fate. 

Suppose the Lord told you that one day you would become the king's second-in-command and live in power and luxury for the rest of your life.  Who could handle news like that without becoming distracted? This, too, is the story of Joseph in Genesis. 

Scripture promises the Lord will not put more on us than we can bear.  One way He does that is by withholding details about our future. The burdens would rob us of our joy and threaten to destroy us in advance, while the blessings would distract us from our responsibilities of the moment.

 

Secret #3 - God is working on His plans this very moment. 

He is getting you ready for the future and getting the future ready for you.  Jesus said, "I go to prepare a place for you. If I go away, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also." (John 14:1-6).  He is getting Heaven ready for us. He is getting us ready for Heaven. 

One way God prepares us for future challenges is by giving us difficulties and hardships. He strengthens us the same way a personal trainer builds our muscles: by laying on stress. "It is good for me that I was afflicted," the psalmist said, "that I might learn thy statutes." (Psalm 119:71) That's how it works. 

Secret #4 -- Your job is to be faithful today. 

Bloom where you are planted, as the saying goes. The way to be ready for tomorrow's opportunities is to do our job today, no matter how insignificant or routine. 

Writing in the Spring 2003 issue of "Columns" (The alumni magazine of Louisiana College), Curt Iles pays tribute to science professor Charles Cavanaugh. Early in Curt's sophomore year, he paid Cavanaugh a visit to tell him he planned to drop chemistry. 

"Prof," said the 19-year-old, "I thought it was God's will for me to become a science teacher. I enjoyed the biology classes you taught last year. But chemistry is killing me. That little rural high school I attended did not prepare me for this. I failed the test yesterday and I am not going to be able to pass this course. So, I plan to drop chemistry. Maybe God will have something else for me since I can't be a science teacher. I need to find His will." 

Suddenly, the professor cut him off. "God's will?  God's will?  Son, I'll tell you what God's will is for you! Get in there, go to work, and pass chemistry.  That's what God's will is for you!"  And he stormed out of the office. Curt sat there in shock. Finally, realizing the professor was not returning, he went back to his dormitory. That night, he studied chemistry, and the next day, made a D on the test. At least, it was passing. 

"That day," Curt Iles writes, "I decided that nothing was going to stop me from achieving my goal of teaching. I was going to pass this course or die trying."  A month later, the chemistry professor said, "Iles, what's happened to you?"  He was a student with a purpose. 

Before leaving the disciples, Jesus began to prepare them for the future. Peter listened, absorbed all he could, then turned to the apostle John. "Lord," he said, "what about him?"  Jesus said, "What is that to you? You follow me." (John 21:22) 

God has big plans for you. He is mercifully not going to tell you what they are. At this moment, He is at work getting you ready for them and them ready for you. 

Your job is to do the work He has put on your plate today. (emphasis added)

-joe mckeever

consecration

  From reading some old books I've discovered a missing spiritual  dimension. The Lord is inviting us to reclaim it.

  A few months ago I went on a special diet. I put aside all newly published books and limited my reading to a small collection of  Christian classics, mostly devotional works by Andrew Murray,  Watchman Nee, E.M. Bounds, Charles Spurgeon, A.B. Simpson and  Corrie Ten Boom. I knew God had a message for me in those musty   pages.

  I had noticed a similar theme in all these books, but it took me  a while to crack the code. These writers from the 19th and 20th   centuries wrote from a spiritual depth that I rarely see in the   church today, and I wanted to know their secret. I slowly began   to figure things out while reading A.B. Simpson's book, A Larger Christian Life, which he wrote in 1890 when the Holiness Movement   was at its zenith in the United States.

  "It is not enough to simply avoid the sins that our Christian culture says are the "worst"; we must also allow God's knife to   slay the pride, the self-will, the self-confidence and the self-glorification that our backslidden Christian culture encourages."

  Simpson often preached about Abraham's offering of his son Isaac  on the altar at Mount Moriah, and he called Christians to the place of self-sacrifice. Mount Moriah, Simpson wrote, "signifies the deeper spiritual experience into which the fully consecrated person must come. In this act of obedience, the sanctified self  is laid on the altar just as Isaac was."

  I read similar comments about consecration, or full surrender, in Watchman Nee's The Release of the Spirit, which was first published in China in 1955. Nee taught us that the path to spiritual fruitfulness—and to true, intimate knowledge of the  Lord—is the brokenness of the outward man. He explained that God  uses tests and trials in our lives to break our selfish nature so that Christ's nature can flow through us.

  Nee wrote: "No life manifests more beauty than the one who is broken! Stubbornness and self-love have given way to beauty in the one who is broken by God."

  Perhaps the reason I find so much nourishment in these old words is that I don't hear much today about the crucified life, suffering, brokenness or surrender. We rarely talk of altars and we avoid altar calls. We don't invite people to a deeper spiritual realm because few even know about such a place; often even our  leaders are too busy using God to boost their egos or to amass personal wealth.

  Today's shallow, "evangelical lite" culture focuses on self, self and more self. Christian books today are mostly about self-improvement, not self-sacrifice. We teach people to claim their "best life now"—and to claim it on their terms. Our message is one of self-empowerment: God wants to make you happy, so just add a little bit of God to your life (on your terms of course) and He will bless you, prosper you and make all your dreams come true.

  How strange that message seems when contrasted with the old hymns Christians used to sing back in the days of holiness revivals. This song written by Adelaide Pollard in 1907 seems eerily foreign today:

  Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!

  Thou art the potter, I am the clay;

  Mold me and make me after Thy will,

  While I am waiting yielded and still.

  Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!

  Hold o'er my being absolute sway!

  Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see

  Christ only, always, living in me.

  The woman who penned those words was an itinerant Bible teacher who was discouraged because she didn't have the funds to make a missionary journey to Africa. She found great comfort when she put all her plans and desires on the altar and freshly surrendered to God's will for her life. The song that sprung from her anguish blessed millions, but today it has lost its popularity because we simply don't relate.

  I believe we must reclaim the forgotten message of consecration.  It is not enough to know Christian doctrines or to paint a nice Christian veneer on the surface of our lives. God wants our hearts. We must embrace the cross daily. It is not enough to  simply avoid the sins that our Christian culture says are the "worst"; we must also allow God's knife to slay the pride, the self-will, the self-confidence and the self-glorification that our backslidden Christian culture encourages.

  I invite you to reclaim this lost message by praying a "dangerous prayer" of consecration. 

Let God assume the throne of your life while you abdicate.

-j lee grady

“...Do not stay in the stronghold. Go into the land of Judah...”  (1 Samuel 22:5)

David and his fighting men had been hiding in the cave of Adullam. He was fleeing Saul. Many of life's down-and-out had come and joined David's army. David was content to stay in the stronghold of safety. Then, God's prophet came to David and told him that he must leave the stronghold and go into the land of Judah.

When life beats down on us and we get to the place where we want to hide in a cave, God often places people around us who prod us into moving in the right direction. He does not want us to remain in the place of discouragement. He wants us to move into the land of "praise." Judah means "praise."

I recall when I went through a very difficult time. It seemed to drag on and on with no change until finally I wanted to retreat to a cave and forget pressing on. It was a great time of discouragement. A Godly man came to me and said, "You must keep moving! There are too many who are depending on you in the Kingdom."

I didn't totally understand what he meant at the time. Now, I know.  He was saying that God is preparing each of us to be the vessel He wants to use in the life of another person, but we will never be that vessel if we give up and hide in our cave of discouragement. Not only must we keep moving, we must move into a new realm. Our attitude must move from discouragement to praise. It is when we move past discouragement to praise that we begin living above our problems. Make a decision today to "eave the stronghold" and "go into the land of Judah".

-os hillman

tag

In the war years, triage referred to the policy by which medical assistance was given. It was up to the doctors to "color-tag" the wounded, placing them in one of three categories according to their condition. One color meant hopeless - nothing we can do will save them. Another tag meant they'd make it whether they get help or not. The third color-tag indicated a doubtful prognosis - a chance to live only if medical assistance is given. Since there were severely limited medical supplies, assistance was being given only to this last group.

Lou was badly blown apart, including one leg severely wounded. The doctor who examined him made the decision that Lou was a hopeless case and tagged him as such, leaving him to die. But a nurse noticed Lou was conscious and began to talk with him. They discovered they were both from Ohio. Getting to know Lou as a person, the nurse just couldn't let him die. She broke all the rules and changed his color-tag.

Recovery included a two-day trip in the back of a truck and months in a hospital, but Lou made it. He met a girl in the hospital whom he later married. Even minus one leg, he has led a full happy life, all because a nurse broke the rules of triage and "changed a tag".

Jesus spent much of his earthly ministry "changing color-tags" - healing the broken-hearted, forgiving sinners and bringing hope to the hopeless. He's still bringing hope to the hopeless - every minute of every day! Today, someone you know is feeling hopeless. They desperately need hope. Share the hope of Jesus with them. Look for every opportunity to go around "changing their color-tags".

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovery of sight for the blind, to set at liberty those that are bruised, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19)

? here

Don't you think Moses, after a discouraging day, may have pulled open his tent flap to see the pillar of fire high in the sky and said, "Everything's fine. LOOK WHO'S HERE!"

And what about Daniel, charter member of the Lion's Club. He laid his head on the mane of a lion and said, "I'm not afraid. LOOK WHO'S HERE!"

King Nebuchadnezzar had those three fellas thrown in the fire - but when he looked down, he saw four. Shadrach and Company were just fine. "LOOK WHO'S HERE!"

And what about Elijah? Water was scarce and still he ordered twelve barrels to be poured upon the altar. God or Baal?  Choose you this day whom you will serve! Ol' Elijah just chuckled to himself and said, "LOOK WHO'S HERE."

David, the shepherd boy who would become King, looked at Goliath, loaded his slingshot, and said, "Your time's up. LOOK WHO'S HERE."

Remember when Walter Cronkite signed off every evening with, "And that's the way it is."  A preacher friend of mine would say "No, Walter, that's not the way it is, that's just the way it looks. LOOK WHO'S HERE."

Lazarus had been dead four days when Jesus said "roll the stone away."  But Lazarus walked out of that tomb because Almighty God turned death on its heels and said "LOOK WHO'S HERE."

One of these days, "it may be at morn when the day is awakened, it may be at midday, it may be at twilight, it may be per chance in the blackness of midnight" - in one mighty shout around the world we will look up and cry"Hallelujah!  He's back!  LOOK WHO'S HERE!"

-vance havner

den

So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lion's den. The king said to Daniel, 'May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!' (Daniel 6:6) 

           

No question,  Daniel got a rough deal.  He was set up by jealous, lesser men who wanted him out of the way.  It seemed like they succeeded, except for one thing they overlooked:  Daniel's trust in God.

The interesting thing, however, about Daniel being thrown into the den of lions is that God didn't deliver him out of the den before Daniel found deliverance in it.  Imagine if Daniel had fought against being thrown into the den (which he would have been justified in doing) and gone into the den fighting against it every inch of the way, chances are the lions would have torn him to shreds before he hit the bottom.  

But Daniel didn't. He accepted his lot and trusted his life to God who shut the lion's mouths.

           

On more than one occasion I have asked God that if I am not going to be delivered out of my "lion's den" (naming the frustrating situation I'm in), would he please deliver me in it.

Sometimes, like Daniel, God has a lesson for us to learn in our present difficult situation and before he delivers us out of it, like Daniel, we need to find deliverance in it.

others

A voyaging ship was wrecked during a storm at sea and only two of the men on it were able to swim to a small, desert-like island.  The two survivors,  not knowing what else to do, agreed that they had no other recourse but to pray to God.  However, to find out whose prayer was more powerful, they agreed to divide the territory between them and stay on opposite sides of the island.  The first thing they prayed for was food.

     The next morning, the first man saw a fruit-bearing tree on his side of the land, and he was able to eat its fruit.  The other man's parcel of land remained barren.

     After some days, the first man was lonely and he decided to pray for a wife.  The next day, another ship was wrecked, and the only survivor was a woman who swam to his side of the island.  On the other side of the island, the second man had nothing.  Soon the first man prayed for a house, clothes, and more food.  The next day, like magic, all of these were given to him.  However, the second man still had nothing.

     Finally, the first man prayed for a ship, so that he and his wife could leave the island.  In the morning, he found a ship docked at his side on the island.  The first man boarded the ship with his wife and decided to leave the second man on the island.  He considered the other man unworthy to receive God's blessings, since none of his prayers had been answered.

     As the ship was about to leave, the first man heard a voice from heaven booming:  "Why are you leaving your companion on the island?"

     "My blessings are mine alone, since I was the one who prayed for them," the first man replied.  "His prayers were all unanswered and so he does not deserve anything."

     "You are mistaken," the voice rebuked him.  "He had only one prayer, which I answered."

     "Tell me," the first man asked the voice, "what did he pray for that I should owe him anything?"

     "He prayed that all your prayers be answered."

     We have many of the apostle Paul's prayers recorded in his epistles.  It is significant to me how large a percentage of those prayers involved petitions for other people (mostly for spiritual needs rather than physical, incidentally) and how few involved petitions for personal needs.

     It is easy to get so caught up in asking God to provide us what we need (or merely want) that we forget to pray for others.  May God help us to be sensitive to the needs of others around us, and may we take advantage of every opportunity to approach the throne of grace and lay their concerns at the feet of our Father.

     "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone..." (I Timothy 2:1, NIV)

good

The story is told of a king who had a close friend with whom he grew up. The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or negative) and remarking, "This is good!"

One day the king and his friend were on a hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. In preparing one of the guns, the friend had apparently done something wrong, for after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off.

Examining the situation the friend remarked as usual, "This is good!"  To which the king replied, "No, this is NOT good!" and proceeded to send his friend to jail.

About a year later, the king was hunting in a dangerous area.  Cannibals captured him and took him to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to it. As they approached to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone that was less than whole. So after untying the king, they sent him on his way.

As he returned home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt remorse for his treatment of his friend. He went immediately to the jail to speak with his friend. You were right," he said, "it was good that my thumb was blown off." And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had just happened. "And so I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this."

"No," his friend replied, "This is good!"

"What do you mean, 'This is good'? How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year?"

"If I had NOT been in jail, I would have been with you."

Situations may not always seem pleasant while we are in them, but the promise of God is clear. If we love him and live our lives according to his precepts, even that which seems to be bleak and hopeless will be turned by God for His glory and our benefit. Hold on... God is faithful!

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."  Romans 8:28

repitition

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go." (Psalm 32:8)

We were among the first boarding the Boeing 757 on the flight from Atlanta to Phoenix, as our tickets took us to the rear of the plane. We were seated, and the flight warnings and instructions were shown on the TV screens which hung above the center aisle.

As I watched, looking down the length of the plane, I saw 5 screens, each repeating the same instructions. I thought o myself, "How often does God have to repeat the same thing to me - over and over - before I understand and I am obedient?"

Have you ever felt the nudging to write someone a note, make a phone call, or lift someone up in prayer... just to ignore it? Then perhaps a friend may mention that persons' name - again, a repetition of the nudge.

The list could go on. How about when we know we should spend time in prayer or Bible reading? We may ignore that first reminder, but God has a way of repeating the message to us until it gets through! He also is in the business of reminding us of His unfailing love, just in case we miss it on the first screen of our lives. He will repeat the love message to us in many ways - as many as it takes - for us to know that we are SO special to Him and loved without reservation.

I am glad that God will repeat His message of love to us, and His call for us to serve others. How blessed we are!

even haazer

There's a peculiar line in the classic hymn "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" that many of us probably never even realized was there. It's in the second stanza; and it says, "Here I raise my Ebenezer." 

Similarly, many of us may not be familiar with the single verse from which that line originated. Robert Robinson apparently not only knew of the verse but also understood its meaning and importance, for it was he who wrote those words into his beautiful and timeless hymn.

In 1 Samuel 7:12 we are told that "Samuel took a stone and set it up... and called its name Ebenezer, saying 'Thus far the Lord has helped us.'"  That stone was a reminder to the Israelites of God's faithfulness and might.  It was set up so that no matter what situation they were in, they would be able to hark back to their defeat of the Philistines in which God was faithful to deliver them.

What reminders do you have of God's faithfulness in your life?  It may be a picture, a song, a powerful verse that really spoke to your heart during a difficult time.  Whatever it is, keep it at hand so that when you are discouraged you can not only use it to recall how God has blessed and helped you, but you can also look forward to His future faithfulness.

Ebenezer - from two Hebrew words pronounced together: "Even Haazer" - "Stone of Help."

remember

Then, turning to his disciples, Jesus said, "That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life — whether you have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear. For life is more than food, and your body more than clothing. Look at the ravens. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than any birds! (Luke 12:22-24).

My theory is that most people spend most of their time sweating over things that won't really matter when all is said and done.

You've probably heard the story about the up-and-coming entrepreneur who was opening the door of his sleek new Jaguar when a truck roared by, hit it, and ripped it off its hinges. The police arrived at the scene quickly and found the man jumping up and down in the street. He was shrieking to anyone who would listen about the horrible damage done to his precious automobile.

"You wheeler-dealers are all so materialistic!" began the investigating officer, shaking his head in bewilderment. "You make me sick."

"What's your problem?" the driver snapped.

"You're so worried about your precious Jaguar," said the cop, "that you appear not to have noticed that your left arm was ripped off!"

"Oh, no!" bellowed the guy as he looked down at the grisly stump where his arm had been a few minutes before. "What happened to my Rolex?"

When one of us gets where my young friend was when he was told that he likely had less than six months to live, he will focus intensely on the things that really matter in life. There will be far less concern about the newest electronic gadget, a bigger house, liposuction, a luxury car, or some other inconsequential indulgence. In fact, I doubt that a one of those items will come to mind at all.

When your time on Planet Earth is about to end and you are reflecting on how your once-around trip through life has worked out, you'll think about and reach for the people who are most important to you. And you will think about what happens after you have taken your last breath. These are the really important things — as opposed to burning yourself out at the office, neglecting your family and friends, and pushing spiritual concerns to the fringe of your life.

Being responsible and working hard are good things. And there is nothing wrong with enjoying the fruits of honest labor. Yet the Bible cautions us to remember that we came into the world without a company, portfolio, or fortune — and will leave it the same way. So the smart thing is to major in what will matter at the end and not to fritter away your life with what cannot go into eternity.

Judged by that standard, how does your plan for the week look now?

What do people really get for all their hard work? I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end. So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God (Ecclesiastes 3:9-13 NLT).

key

　

THE KEY

The key to victory in 2011 is Philippians 3:13-14. Paul was using the illustration of a race to describe his life. He was in the home stretch, but he was still running the race; the race wasn't over. The first thing we need to notice is that Paul was not satisfied with his performance. No runner worth his salt is ever satisfied with his performance. He always wants to go a little faster, a little longer or a little harder. Each runner wants to continually improve himself. and Paul was the same. He said, "I have not apprehended it yet." - NOT YET!

Right behind this conjunction is one of Paul's secrets to living: THIS ONE THING I DO! It's the only time this particular phrase is used in the New Testament. Single-minded concentration on the things of God is essential to running the race of Christianity. You cannot be dwelling on other things as an athlete and give your best performance. Therefore, Paul says "this one thing I do."

What is "This One Thing I Do"?

"Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." That's the key for victory in the Christian life. That's the key for victory in 2015.

　

What do we need to forget?

Paul had learned that we have to lock the door on yesterday and throw away the key. Paul discovered that looking back almost always ends up in going back. Let me repeat that... Looking back almost always ends up in going back. In the Old Testament we find the wandering Israelites ready to return to their old ways rather than pressing on. In the New Testament Jesus clearly taught us in Luke 9:62 that "no man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for God's Kingdom."

　

4 THINGS WE NEED TO FORGET:

　

1. YESTERDAY'S MISTAKES

In his book "ENCOURAGE ME", Chuck Swindoll has a chapter entitled, "The Fine Art of Blowing It". It begins like this, "It happens to every one of us. Teachers as well as students. cops as well as criminals. Bosses as well as secretaries. Parents as well as kids. The diligent as well as the lazy. Not even presidents are immune. Or corporation heads who earn six-figure salaries. The same is true of well-meaning architects and hard-working builders and clear-thinking engineers... not to mention pro ball players, politicians, and preachers. What? making mistakes, that's what. Doing the wrong thing, usually with the best of motives. And it happens with remarkable regularity."

Dale Carnegie has a folder entitled "FTD" It stands for "Fool Things I Have Done." Whenever he did something foolish or stupid, he would dictate a record of it to his secretary. He confesses, however, that he was so embarrassed by his stupidity that he was ashamed to have her know it. So he would write it out in longhand and slip it into the file himself.

　

Everyone makes mistakes. Everybody does stupid, foolish things. God's Word says: "forget it" - leave them behind you.  There are 3 things we should do about yesterday's mistakes:

   1. Learn from them

   2. Determine with God's help not to do them again

   3. Forget them.

Satan will want to remind you and make you feel guilty for your past mistakes – but God says: "Forget Them. I HAVE"!

　

2. YESTERDAY'S HURTS

Life is a battlefield. You're a soldier in God's Army. On any battleground, injuries will occur and soldiers are going to get hurt. Sooner or later, someone is going to

   ... hurt you.

   ... lie about you

   ... verbally or physically harm you

   ... misrepresent you

   ... chop you up in little pieces

   ... slander you

It's going to happen--what do you do?

You have two choices:

   1. Allow the resentment and hate to build

   2. Forgive and Forget

         A. Forgive as Christ forgave you

                - just as He forgave the Roman soldiers who didn't know what they were doing.

        B. Forget those things that are behind you Phil. 3:13

　

You might say, but David -

   ... You Don't Understand

   ... You don't understand what's happened to me.

   ... You don't know how bad I've been hurt.

   ... I was innocent.

   ... I didn't do anything wrong, but they hurt me.

   ... They lied about me.

   ... They hurt my feelings and they didn't care.

   ... They criticized me when I didn't do anything wrong.

   ... They talked about me behind my back.

   ... They cheated me, they rejected me, they hurt me really bad.

God understands. Jesus was innocent, but they beat him, they tortured him, they mocked him, they crucified him. He didn't deserve it, but they did it anyway. On the cross, He forgave them. On the cross, He provided salvation for even those who beat him, who mocked him, who crucified him. In order to press on in the Christian life, we have to lock the door on yesterday's hurts.

3. YESTERDAY'S POSSIBILITIES

How often do I see people unable to operate in today because they are still living a "what if" life of yesterday. They keep talking about "what could have been"--"if I had only..."

Quite often they blame someone else

   ... if only my wife hadn't...

   ... if only my parents (children) hadn't...

   ... if only my business partner had...

   ... if only the war hadn't...

They even blame God - "if God would have… or if God wouldn't have…"

　

We can't live on yesterday's promises or yesterday's dreams. Too many people are dissatisfied with life because they've had an expectation that just hasn't worked out. Paul is saying - forget your past hurts, forget your past mistakes and forget living with what might have been and finally...

　

4. YESTERDAY'S SINS

Billy Graham once said that 60% of all the patients in mental hospitals could go home if they would accept the fact that they are not guilty or that they have been forgiven.   Many people are carrying a burden of guilt:

   ... A past mistake

   ... A moral failure

   ... A painful cut to a friend

   ... A physical hurt to someone

   ... A stupid, hateful remark

   ... A poor decision

   ... A sin so horrible that they believe either God will not forgive them or they will not forgive themselves

***There is no sin, no matter how great or small, once it has been confessed and forgiven, that the memory of it should torment us no more. Let me repeat that: When sin, no matter how great or how grievous, has been confessed and forgiven, the memory of it should not torment us any more!

　

Notice, Paul didn't say, "I've forgotten those things which are behind. Paul said, forgetting those things. Paul had learned the secret. There are some things in our memory that we will never forget.  We have to keep practicing forgetting...

Guilt will eat us alive. Every time the memory comes back, every time a song or a word or a smell or a picture or a person reminds us, we continue to practice forgetting. How long do we practice forgetting?

   ... until the memory doesn't hurt any more.

   ... until we allow God to forgive us

   ... until we allow God to forgive through us

   ... until the pain is no longer there

   ... until we can use our past to help us grow in the present

   ... until we can use our past to help others in the present

God says in Jeremiah 31:34 "I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more."

　

Psalm 103:12 "I will remove their sin as far as the east is from the west."

　

I John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

It's time to:

   Lock the Door on the Past!

   Throw Away the Key!

   Forget Where You Have Thrown It!

-david langerfield

trash

 Fred Craddock tells the story of a missionary family in China who was forced to leave the country sometime after the communists took over.

One day a band of soldiers knocked on the door and told this missionary, his wife, and children that they had two hours to pack up before these troops would escort them to the train station.  They would be permitted to take with them only two hundred pounds of stuff.

Thus began two hours of family wrangling and bickering -- what should they take? What about this vase? It's a family heirloom, so we've got to take the vase. Well, maybe so, but this typewriter is brand new and we're not about to leave that behind.  What about some books?  Got to take a few of them along.  On and on it went, putting stuff on the bathroom scale and taking it off until finally they had a pile of possessions that totaled two hundred pounds on the dot.

At the appointed hour, the soldiers returned.  "Are you ready?" they asked.  "Yes."  "Did you weigh your stuff?"  "Yes, we did."  "Two hundred pounds?"  "Yes, two hundred pounds on the dot."  "Did you weigh the kids?"  "Um, . . . no."  "Weigh the kids!"

And in an instant the vase, the typewriter, and the books all became trash.  Trash!  None of it meant anything compared to the surpassing value of the children.

If only it were that easy for us.  If we had to make a physical choice, the choice would be easy.  What's worth more -- your child or a computer?  If you could only take one with you, which would it be?  That's easy; it's a no-brainer.  But seldom does the choice come wrapped in such easy-to-open paper.

Too often, it sounds more like this:  What's more important -- spending time with your family or staying at work a couple of extra hours to get caught up?  "Don't ask me to make that choice!  My family is important to me.  It's just that I really need to get this done!  After all, I'm only doing it for provide for them."  Still, there are times when the question won't go away:  Which is more important?

And there are times when we are forced to admit that we've been gathering hundreds of pounds of "trash" while neglecting that which is of greatest importance.

"But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.  Yet indeed I count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ." (Philippians 3:7-8)

But God bless each one of you with the wisdom to choose that which is of greatest value.-alan smith

prayer

Elohim,
I KNOW You can create something out of nothing, please create something out of any nothing areas - the impossible situations in my life.

El Elyon,
I KNOW You are in control, sovereign, and I give You my circumstances today.

Adonai,
I KNOW You are my Lord and Master, I choose to follow You instead of the ways of the world.

El Shaddai,
I KNOW You are God Almighty, and I trust that You are sufficient for my deepest needs today.

Jehovah Jireh,
I KNOW You are my provider, and will supply everything I need today.

El Roi,
I KNOW You are the God who sees me, and that I am never alone, and nothing in my life goes unnoticed, for You know it all and see it all.

Yahweh,
I KNOW You are the one and only, self-existent, eternal, covenant-keeping God and that You will always love me.

Jehovah Rapha,
I KNOW You are my healer and I come to You now with every area of my life that needs healing today.

Jehovah Nissi,
I KNOW You are my banner, and the victory in every situation that threatens me today.

Jehovah Mekoddishkem,
I KNOW You are my sanctifier, making me holy, doing for me what I can never do for myself.

Jehovah Shalom,
I KNOW You are my peace, and bring calm in every storm I face in life.

Jehovah Sabaoth,
I KNOW You are the LORD of Hosts, and bring deliverance as You defeat my enemies.

Yahweh Ro'i,
I KNOW You are my shepherd, and intimately care for me even if no one else does.

Abba, Father,
I KNOW You are my Father and that I can run to You and rest in the security of your everlasting arms.

In Jesus' name,
Amen.