In our series on validating our trust in God, we have talked about the v-ision, the v-enture, the v-ariables and today we will talk about the v-alleys. The v-alleys are those difficult times and seasons that we all face. Jesus told us these v-alleys would be a part of our lives.

John 16:33 (NIV)
33 “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.”

We are going to use as our background for this message a story from the life of the Apostle Paul. Paul dealt with a lot of v-alleys in his life.

Here are a few examples:

2 Corinthians 11:24-27 (NIV)
24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.

After going through all of those situations, Paul is able to write this:

2 Corinthians 6:4 (TEV)
4 Instead, in everything we do we show that we are God’s servants by patiently enduring troubles, hardships, and difficulties.

The story we are going to look at is found in Acts 27. Paul was being transported as a prisoner to Rome and they have faced some delays and Paul warns the Captain and crew not to keep going, but they decide to go anyway. Often times when we are impatient we head right into a storm.

Acts 27:9-10 (NIV)
9 Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Fast. So Paul warned them, 10 “Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.”

This story of shipwreck can teach us a few things about dealing with the v-alleys of life. Some of your difficulties feel like shipwrecks anyway.

1. What caused it?

Was it me? Was it others? Was it the enemy? Was it some combination of all of the above?

When we are trying to establish the cause of the difficulty we need to go to God in prayer.

Psalms 73:16-17a (TEV)
16 I tried to think this problem through, but it was too difficult for me 17 until I went into your Temple.

We need to be connected with God or we will make the same mistakes that the people on Paul’s ship made. Paul had told them not to go because God had warned him about the consequences. Rather than listen to God they:

a. Listened to bad advice

Acts 27:11 (NIV)
11 But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship.

God told them not to go through Paul, but they chose to listen to their “expert” instead. Our expert is often the person who says what we want them to say.

b. Followed the crowd

Acts 27:12 (NIV)
12 Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete, facing both southwest and northwest.

The majority is often wrong. Just because everyone is doing it doesn’t make it right.

c. Relied on circumstances

Sometimes we decide that because the right circumstances seem to be in place that somehow trumps the wisdom of God.

Acts 27:13 (NIV)
13 When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had obtained what they wanted; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete.

Always ask God if these are the steps you should take. It doesn’t take long for a nice breeze to turn into a hurricane

2. What can I learn from this v-alley?

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

Rather than try and find someone to blame for our problems we need to see what we can learn from the situation. God can use even the worst situations to teach us things we need to know for life.

Romans 5:3-4 (TLB)
3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us–they help us learn to be patient. 4 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.

3. What should my response be?

Start screaming it’s not fair over and over while stomping your feet? Pout? Turn to your addictions?

Back in our shipwreck story we can get a few clues.

a. Don’t start drifting

Acts 27:15 (NIV)
15 The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along.

We sometimes let the storms and valleys of life push us a long and we start drifting off course.

b. Don’t start throwing it all away

Acts 27:18 (NIV)
18 We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard.

When things get tough one of our reactions is often to start throwing things away. Things like our values and our relationships. I’m throwing in the towel. I’m checking out.

c. Don’t despair

Acts 27:20 (NIV)
20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.

Despair causes us to give up hope. They forgot that even in the midst of a storm, God is in control.

One of the most fascinating things to me about this story is that while everything in the story is falling apart, Paul is doing fine. His trust was not in the ship, it was in God. When you are going through the storms and valleys of life you need to remember that God is in control and you can trust Him.

PS.

Two little things I thought were funny in the story. One of them was Paul couldn’t resist a little I told you so:

Acts 27:21 (NIV)
21 After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss.

The second this is this:

Acts 27:34 (NIV)
34 Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.”

Sometimes when you are really stressed, you absolutely need God, and a little pound cake might not hurt either.

Come back often to see the latest sermons or bible studies on your Online Pastor site. We are blessed to be your Pastor Online!

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We are doing a series called Redeeming the Time. The idea is to help us slow down so that it doesn’t feel like life is passing us by. Last week we introduced a little acrostic for Time. Teach yourself to say no. Identify your values. Make time for rest. Embrace God’s timing.

Last week was TIME, this week is SPACE. We need to create a little space in our lives. Some distance between where we are and where the edge is. We seem to live life on the edge. There is no peace on the edge.

Job 3:26 (NIV)
26 I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil.”

I did some research about being too busy on the Internet:

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”
~John Lennon

“What’s another word for thesaurus?”
~Steven Wright.

Yeah, that last one doesn’t fit, I just liked it. So how do we deal with being too busy? We have to put some SPACE in our lives. Some room to stop and breathe and not always be living right on the edge of everything.

1. S – Schedule Realistically

Put some space in your schedule. You need to leave some time unscheduled. Don’t fill it completely. And, the busier your life is, the more unscheduled time you need to find. To live life without any space is foolish.

Ecclesiastes 10:15 (TEV)
“Only someone too stupid to find his way home would wear himself out with work.”

It reminds me of the story of the guy who comes home and his little kindergarten daughter asked him why he’s working so hard and why he has to always bring work home. He looked at her and said, “I just don’t get it finished at work so I need to bring it home and get it done.” The daughter looks up at him and says, “Daddy, I think they should put you in the slower group.”

Life is an adventure, not a race. Why does it become so important to get there quickly? We have a tendency to turn everything into a competition. Life is not a competition. We have to learn that it is not how fast we live that is important, it’s how well we live.

2. P – Prune periodically

If you are a gardener than you know that pruning is important to the health of the plant, or bush, or vine. It is sometimes hard to cut back what seems like healthy growth, but the reality is, without periodic pruning, the plant would become unhealthy.

We need to do regular pruning of our own lives as well. We are constantly adding new activity branches to our lives. In order to be healthy, we need to cut back some of the other activities. You can’t just keep adding without cutting back, without pruning your activities. You are even going to have to get rid of some activities that are still producing fruit in your life because you are in a new season. We need to learn to do this pruning ourselves or it will come in other ways.

Proverbs 20:30 says, “Sometimes it takes a painful situation to make us change our ways.”

I like to think of this as responding to God’s mercy. I believe we usually start out experiencing “tender mercy”. You need to cut back. If we do it great, if we don’t we may experience another kind of mercy, and it will get cut back for us.

3. A – Accept limitations

You are not superman/woman. You have limits, limitations. You can’t do it all.

Psalm 119:96a (TEV)
“I have learned that everything has limits…..”

We have to remember that we are only human. We are not bullet proof, or invincible. We are just human beings.

We keep thinking that we can do something in five minutes that takes at least 30 minutes. Almost nothing in life takes five minutes. Half hour meetings always take an hour.

On top of that we live in a culture that constantly tells us “You can do it all! You can have it all! You can be it all! You can have everything! You can be whatever you want!” The truth is, that’s a lie. It is not true. You can be all that God wants you to be but you cannot be whatever you want to be. Most us will never sing like Pavarotti or dance like Barishnakov. You don’t have that natural ability. So there are limits in your life. You can only be what God made you to be.

But what about that verse

Philippians 4:13 (NIV)
13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Don’t take that verse out of context. That verse is not saying that you can go beyond your human limits. Don’t use that verse to think, “I can keep on taking more and more and there will never be any fall out because “I can do everything”. It is a misuse of the verse. You have physical limitations, you have emotional limitations, you have mental limitations, and you have time limitations.

How do you know when you are reaching your limits? Neat little warning lights that God designed into your system start to go off.

Pain. Fatigue. Stress. Lack of joy. Irritability.

Just like in your car, ignoring the warning lights can cause greater problems.

4. C – Choose to trust God more

God can do more in twenty minutes than you can do in twenty years. You need to let go of some of the things you have been hanging on to and start trusting God more. Perhaps, the only positive thing that comes from reaching the edge is that it will force you to trust God. One time the Apostle Paul hit the edge big time.

2 Corinthians 1:8-9 (NCV)
8 Brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the trouble we suffered in Asia. We had great burdens there that were beyond our own strength. We even gave up hope of living. 9 Truly, in our own hearts we believed we would die. But this happened so we would not trust in ourselves but in God, who raises people from the dead.

God can do what you can’t do. You have to learn to trust Him more and trust less in your busyness.

5. E – Expect to have problems

This is why you need space in the first place because you have problems in life. Nothing goes as planned. If you think, “If I’ve got to go a certain distance and it’s going to take me fifteen minutes if traffic is great,” you probably ought to allow space. There may be traffic. You may have a flat tire. You may run out of gas. You may forget something and have to go back.

Expect to have problems. Jesus told us we should expect to have problems.

John 16:33
“In the world you will have trouble.”

He doesn’t say, “You might have trouble.” He doesn’t say, “You could have trouble.” He says, “You’re going to have trouble.” Having some space in our lives will keep problems from taking us over the edge.

Build some SPACE into your lives and you will begin to see a difference. Remember, our busyness is really a statement about who we think God really is. Is it on Him or is it all on you?

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Dear Online Pastor,

I could use some advice, and having subscribed to your service I have enjoyed reading and utilizing this service as a tool in forging a closer relationship with Christ.

I have been married a long time with three beautiful children. I live a fulfilling life but am currently separated from my spouse. I see my kids practically every day as does my spouse but there are unresolved issues between us and it is hard to envision us moving back in together.

There have been hurtful things that have been said and done to one another through this process, and we both have reason to be suspcious though I do accept the contention that I left my spouse. We both toyed with the idea of separation but I am the one who actually did. I do believe we were successful in keeping most of our issues from impacting the kids, but I know that they are confused about what is occurring. Keeping a close relationship with my children remains my focus and most critical concern.

I do not think that my spouse and I are holding grudges but we’ve been together so long, we diasagree about much and I have seen indications that we have both grown as people in some ways as we do more for ourselves and do not rely on each other. We have both sought comfort with other friends and family members. I will admit that I have one friendship that had become very close and I may rely too much on this individual for support and comfort.

I have prayed for guidance and continue to pray. I know God answers prayers and I am trying hard to take my own opinions and biases out of this process. Ultimately I need to make a decision on whether going back or divorce is the choice I should make. If we live together again and it creates more strife and animosity then if we remain separate, then I do not think this is the better option. I fear what this could do to the children, and I fear that my spouse and I would go back to the same habits that have cause this situation in the first place. I want to do what is best for my spouse and my children, but above all it must be God’s will.

Sorry for the long email and only one other thing I would like to share. We still go to church together as a family frequently. We do this in acknowledgement that we are a family, and we do this because we both seek God’s counsel and support.

Signed,
Seeking answers

Dear Seeking Answers,

Relationships are often difficult. Marriage is the idea of two people becoming one flesh and yet still being uniquely created individuals. There is something in the marriage union that somehow displays the image of God.

Genesis 1:27 (NIV)
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

I believe that one of the reasons we struggle in our marriages is that the Evil One doesn’t like the fact that the marriage union displays the image of God. Since he can’t destroy God, he wants to destroy anything that bears God’s image. So we are not only dealing with our own selfishness, and the selfishness of our spouses, we are taking frequents shots from the enemy as well.

What steps have you taken towards reconciliation? Have you tried counseling? One of the things that you wrote concerns me and that is the idea of having a “close” friendship. My guess would be that you are talking about another man. The way that you wrote about it let’s me know that deep down you understand that it is not a good idea. This friend is meeting needs in your life that should be met by God and your husband.

If there is any way to reconcile your marriage, I would say that it is worth trying. The Bible is quite clear that divorce is a last option and only for a very limited set of circumstances. Culturally, you can get divorced for any reason or for no reason at all. It should be different for believers, but unfortunately, the statistics show that it really isn’t. Christian couples seem to get divorced at pretty close to the same rate as the rest of the population. I will be praying for you and your husband and your children and your marriage. I know that this must be very difficult for you!

Hope that helps!

Internet Pastor

(Internet Pastor Online Ministry is provided for education and entertainment purposes. This site is in no way a substitute for a relationship with a local church/pastor or with a licensed counselor when necessary.)

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We are going to finish up our series on Enjoying Life by talking about persevering. I did a little research on the Internet about the subject:

Home run hitters strike out a lot. ~Reggie Jackson

Some people grin and bear it; others smile and do it. ~Anonymous

If you have been coming for any length of time, you have heard me say the following many times:

Life isn’t fair, do the next right thing.

My hope in saying it often is that it would be a reminder that even when life isn’t fair, when things are hard, when things don’t go the way we want them to, when bad things happen….that we would keep on doing the next right thing. To me that is what perseverance looks like. Sometimes I think we confuse existing with persevering. Going through the motions isn’t persevering. Perseverance is that attitude that decides every day to take the focus off of our circumstances and to put our focus on the Lord. Perseverance is starting the day reporting for duty at the feet of our Lord Jesus. Perseverance is knowing that this life that God has given us is an adventure. Perseverance is not just living and waiting for the Lord to come back, it’s accepting the call on our lives and redeeming the time. Life isn’t fair…..do the next right thing, because that is where we will find life and that is where life can be enjoyed.

In reality, this entire series of messages has been about persevering. It has been about developing an attitude that will allow us to enjoy life in a fallen world on a broken planet with all of its problems. Persevering and enjoying life is an attitude. It’s a choice of who and what we want to be……you might even call it a Beatitude.

You might also be interested to know that as we worked through our acronym for turning your problems around “SMELBORP”, we were also developing the beatitudes. Check it out:

Secret of Life

Matthew 5:3 (NIV)
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Being poor in spirit is the about realizing that we need God. It’s not all about me. I am not the center of the universe. God is the center of the universe and when I realize that fact and yield to it, the kingdom of heaven opens up to me.

Mastering Complaining

Matthew 5:4 (NIV)
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Rather than mourning over the problems we face and taking them to God, who is the only one that can really do anything about them, we usually just complain and gripe. Lasting comfort is never found in complaining and whining, it is found in going to the Lord.

Enjoying People

Matthew 5:5 (NIV)
5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

We have lost the art of enjoying people because we often reduce them to nothing more than the scenery and machinery in our lives. Meekness, humility, helps us to know that people are not just on the earth to make it work for us, and this humility allows us to see people the way the God sees them, opening up for us the possibility of one of the greatest joys on the earth, enjoying people.

Living Successfully

Matthew 5:6 (NIV)
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

A successful life in the Kingdom of God is found not in the pursuit of worldly successes of money and power, but in the full on pursuit of God and His will for our lives.

Beating Stress

Matthew 5:8 (NIV)
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Stress is less about our circumstances than it is about our perception of those circumstances. The things we choose to think about will determine how settled or stresses we will be. We are to think about things that are true, noble, right, true, pure, lovely, and admirable and we find the peace of God.

Optimizing Expectations

Matthew 5:7 (NIV)
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Unrealistic expectations, demanding that people meet our needs keeps us from enjoying life. Realizing that we are not perfect, and that we need God’s mercy, helps us to understand that the people we are in relationship are not perfect and also need mercy. In His mercy we learn to trust in Him.

Reducing Conflict

Matthew 5:9 (NIV)
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

As we look for ways to reduce conflict in our relationships, we stop competing with those we should complement, stop criticizing and complaining, and learn to encourage and build up the people around us, we are developing the attitude that Jesus had, an attitude of yielding our rights, of serving, and of sacrificing, which is making us more and more like Him.

Persevering

Matthew 5:10-12 (NIV)
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

And so we persevere, walking each day with God remembering that, “Life isn’t fair…do the next right thing”.

The Result of developing these attitudes is the Witness of a people who are Enjoying Life and not just enduring it.

Matthew 5:13-16 (NIV)
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Come back often to see the latest sermons or bible studies on your Online Pastor site. We are blessed to be your Pastor Online!

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Last week we began to talk about enjoying life. Most people don’t enjoy life; they just endure it. We often think that life must be perfect for us to be able to enjoy it. If only this was different, and if only that was different, them I could enjoy life. If only I didn’t have these problems. But there’s no such thing as a problem free life. If you’re ever going to enjoy life, you have to learn to turn your problems around, “SMELBORP”. Today we are going to begin our journey by looking at the S in SMELBORP. The S is for the Secret of Life. What is the secret of life? I can’t tell you. It’s a secret. Only kidding.

Secret of Life – It’s not all about me!

Most of us live life as though we are the center of our universe. When something happens to someone, very often our first thought is how it impacts me. Most people have usually learned to hide this thought while they process it but it is usually there (some people don’t hide it at all, and actually vocalize what they are feeling about themselves, not even considering what the other person is going through). When we are at the center of our universe, then it is easy to be overwhelmed by any problem that happens, because if you are at the center of the universe you are responsible for the universe. There is no way you will be able to enjoy life if it is up to you to make life work. You can’t, and it doesn’t.

So, if I can’t control my situation, and somehow make everything right, how will I ever enjoy life? You have to learn to enjoy life in the very experiences of life.

I want to look at a situation from the life of the Apostle Paul. We will be looking at a difficult season in Paul’s life which is recorded for us in Philippians Chapter 1. Paul has had a rough four years. He spent two years in Caesarea in prison on a false charge. Then he’s put on a ship to go to Rome to appear before Nero who is not known for his kindness to Christians. On the way he’s shipwrecked, stranded on an island, bitten by a poisonous snake, and then when he finally gets to Rome he is put in prison again, this time he is chained to a guard 24 hours a day. In the midst of all of this Paul says in Philippians 1:18 “I rejoice and I will continue to rejoice.” What’s Paul’s secret? He has figured out that it’s not all about him. Here are four clues from Paul about the process.

Look at my perspective

We began to talk about perspective last time. Perspective is an amazing thing. I talked about gas prices. All you had to do to appreciate 2.35 cent gas was to pay 4.35 for a while.

I was watching a football game this week. At the end of a close game those last two minutes are completely different if your team is ahead or behind. If you are behind it doesn’t seem like there is enough time. If you are ahead, it feels like two minutes is an eternity. It’s the same amount of time, just from different perspectives.

Everyone of us have problems. No one is problem free. Sometimes we look at other people and we have this thought that their life is way better than ours. If only our life was more like theirs. They have problems, they are just different than yours. The way you look at that problem is much more important than the problem. Your perspective makes the difference.

v. 12 “Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.” 13 “As a result it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.” 14 “Because of my chains most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.”

Paul got a perspective that was bigger than his own and it not only impacted him, it impacted other people as well.

The perspective we all need to live from to enjoy life is in Romans 8:28 “And we know that in ALL things God works for the good of those who love Him…”

Action 1: Make a gratitude list. Take some time this week to make a list of all the things you are thankful for. It will help to change your perspective.

Investigate what’s really important

If you don’t decide what’s important in life, other people will decide it for you. If we don’t know what our priorities are, we just live putting out fires. Whatever is on fire gets our attention. Here is the deal, you can live life based on your problems, one fire after another, or you can choose to live life based on your priorities.

Philippians 1:15-18 (NIV)
15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, Supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,

While Paul is in prison, he is catching some flack from people. They are trying to stir up trouble for him.

People do this to us sometimes. There are a lot of reasons; jealousy, envy, fear, bitterness. Sometimes when people are miserable they want to make everybody else miserable to. You can’t let others people’s opinions or criticism or judgment or bad attitude steal your life away. I love what Paul says in verse 18 “But what does it matter”. In the Greek it is literally “SO WHAT”. Some people will always be critical and unhappy.

If you know what is really important in life then the opinions and criticisms of others won’t have much impact on your life.

Action 2: Make a priorities list. Take some time to write down what is really important in your life.

Find my reason for living

Paul has had a rough season. He is getting old and he is tired. They have taken pretty much everything away from him — friends, freedom, privacy, his ministry. But they couldn’t take away his purpose, his reason for living.

Philippians 1:21 “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

Paul has a reason for living, it’s Christ.

Philippians 1:22-26 (NIV)
22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24 but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.

Each of us has a purpose in life. There is a reason you are here. You are not some sort of cosmic accident. You matter. You count. It is like the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”. Your life makes a difference. Maybe your purpose doesn’t seem significant to you. It is. We are not all going to be heroes or famous. We may not have books written about us or be the focus of a documentary. But your life touches the lives of people around you. Part of your purpose is to look beyond yourself and see what other people are going through. Show some small act of kindness, give a word of encouragement, listen to their story. Remember the Golden Rule. Can you imagine how different life would be if people just began to care about one another?

Action 3: Start coming up with a life mission statement. Can you sum up the purpose of your life in a single sentence? This would be your life mission statement. Remember this as you think about it, life is not judged by its duration but by its donation.

Steve’s – To make a difference in people’s lives, one person at a time.

Engage God’s power

Because life is difficult, it can wear you out. One crisis after another can drain you. You lose your energy and your strength. Sometimes you just feel like throwing in the towel. You need a new power supply.

Philippians 1:19-20 (NIV)
19 for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. 20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.

Paul said that he found hope in people praying for him, and in the Spirit.

Where is your power supply? What is your source of hope?

Philippians 4:13 (NKJV)
13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Action 4: How would you honestly fill in the blank?
For me to live is ______________.

Our culture would tell us that the answers are possessions, or pleasure, or popularity. Paul’s answer is still the one that will really allow you to enjoy life. All of the others fall short. How do I know? If it were true that enjoying life was all about possessions, pleasure and popularity, then the people who have those things would be enjoying life. They aren’t.

Life is found in Christ. “I have come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly.” John 10:10

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There are a lot of sayings about life. One of the most famous is probably Forrest Gump’s…Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get.

I did a search on the Internet for life sayings. Here is a partial list:

Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.
- Soren Kierkegaard

If you really want something in this life, you have to work for it – Now quiet, they’re about to announce the lottery numbers!
- Homer Simpson

Life is an endless struggle full of frustrations and challenges, but eventually you find a hair stylist you like. ~Author Unknown

Life is like a taxi. The meter just keeps a-ticking whether you are getting somewhere or just standing still. — Lou Erickso

Life is a long process of getting tired. ~Samuel Butler

Life is like a ten-speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use. ~Charles Schulz

Life is a grindstone. Whether it grinds us down or polishes us up depends on us. — Thomas L. Holdcroft

Life… is like a box of chocolates – a cheap, thoughtless, perfunctory gift that no one ever asks for, un-returnable because all you get back is another box of chocolates. So, you’re stuck with mostly un-definable whipped mint stuff, mindlessly wolfed down when there’s nothing else to eat while you’re watching the game. Sure, once is a while you get a peanut butter cup or an English toffee but it’s gone too fast and the taste is fleeting. In the end, you are left with nothing but broken bits filled with hardened jelly and teeth-shattering nuts, which, if you are desperate enough to eat, leaves nothing but an empty box of useless brown paper. ~The X-Files

Here is my life saying for this series:

Life is a Prize

I have developed it from James 1:12

James 1:12 (NIV)
12 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

The word for crown denotes a badge of royalty or a symbol of honor or a prize in the public games. Life is a prize that God has promised to those who love Him. It is more than eternal life. It is the promise of a fullness of life here and now.

Do you believe that life is a prize? A gift? A joy? A blessing? A wonder? An adventure? Or is it to you somehow more of a punishment, something to be endured, until something better comes along? Unfortunately, most people don’t see life as a prize until something threatens it or tries to take it away.

Life is a prize and it is a prize worth winning. How do we get to the prize? We stand the test and persevere under trial (problems). We learn to turn our problems around.

James 1:2

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds…”

The Truth about Trials (Problems)

I want to introduce to you my new little acrostic about truth.

To
Really
Understand
Truth
Hurts/heals

The word of God is truth

John 17:17b (NIV)
your word is truth.

and it is a two edged sword

Hebrews 4:12 (NIV)
12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Truth hurts and heals.

True that or “true dat” – we tend to think that things we agree with are true and things we don’t agree with are false…what if we are wrong?

Is it possible that some of the things we think are true aren’t?
Is it possible that some the things we think are false aren’t?

We have this underlying idea that life should be easy. It is one of the false beliefs that most of us hang on to. Life should be easy; everything should work out the way I want it to. The truth is that life is difficult. Instead of embracing the truth that life is difficult, we choose to complain about our problems, as if they represent some unique kind of affliction that is only visited upon us or our families. Life is difficult. We live in a fallen world on a broken planet. Life in a fallen world presents us with a series of problems. Sometimes we think that experiencing problems means we are being punished. God isn’t happy with us and therefore He is causing us problems. He isn’t. He uses problems but He isn’t causing them. Problems come from living in a fallen world, from being an imperfect human being and living with other imperfect human beings, and sometimes from a very real enemy.

Here is the amazing thing, once you reject the false belief that life should be easy, and accept the truth that life is difficult, then, life is no longer difficult. Because you are no longer struggling against the false belief, the reality that life is difficult isn’t such a huge issue.

With that in mind, here is some truth about problems

1. Problems are inevitable

The Bible doesn’t say “If you encounter problems consider it joy” but when . Problems are not an elective in life. They are a required course.

2. Problems are unpredictable.

“…whenever you face problems …” The word “face” in Greek is “peripipto”. It literally means “to fall into unexpectedly”. Problems are not planned. We don’t plan to have a flat tire, or a crisis. They are unplanned and unpredictable — when we least expect them. That’s what makes a problem a problem.

3. Problems come in all shapes and sizes

Problems are never boring. There are big ones, little ones, short ones, long ones. There are a wide variety of them.

4. Problems are purposeful

1) Problems show who/what I really trust in. It is in the midst of problems that we see where we have placed our trust, our faith. Do we trust in God or are we trusting in our own man made institutions. The big three man made institutions we trust in instead of God; economics, politics, religion.

2) Problems teach us perseverance “…the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” The ability to keep on keeping on, the ability to hang in there. The Greek here is literally “the ability to stay under pressure.” We don’t like pressure and we do everything we can to avoid it. We run from it, turn to all sorts of things to avoid it, to get away from the pressure. But God uses problems in our lives to teach us how to handle pressure, how to never give up, how to persevere. How does God teach us about patience? By everything going your way and always working out? No. God teaches you patience in traffic jams, in always choosing the longest and slowest check out line at the grocery store, the times and places in life where we have to wait.

We live in a fast and convenient society. Everybody wants it now. If I can’t have it now, forget it. I won’t wait in a drive thru if the there are more than a few cars. Forget it, I can’t wait. Perseverance, today, is a rare quality.

3) Problems develop my character. They make me more like Jesus. They help me mature. They help me to grow. “The testing of your faith produces perseverance that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” God’s long range goal and plan for you is to develop your character. He wants you to mature and grow up. In this Christian walk and life, character is the bottom line. As believers, if we don’t realize that God is able to use our problems to help us grow, we will soon be overwhelmed by our problems. Our problems have purpose and therefore we can know that no matter what God will be with us. God’s ultimate purpose is to make you more like Jesus. Not a Messiah, not a Savior, but to develop the character of Jesus which displayed humanity as God intended it to be.

Do you think much about what Jesus was like? People really liked Jesus. They were drawn to Him. He lived out life as God had always intended it. He wasn’t a ruthless taskmaster. In fact, His yoke (rabbinical teaching was easy) and His burden light. He didn’t come to be served but to serve. He loved with such extravagance that people were completely caught off guard. He always made the right decisions based on what was true. This is how God intends for us to live. Selflessly and rightly.

It is often through the circumstances of life that what we read about Jesus in the Word becomes real. The words were always true, they just weren’t real yet. I know people who are convinced that because they have problems in their life, somehow God doesn’t really love them. The truth is that you are exactly where God wants you. You’re in a character course. He’s making you like Jesus. Romans 8:28 “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. The secret of Romans 8:28 is 8:29 “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers” Why do all things work together for good? In order to make us more like Jesus.

As we work through this series together we are going to develop some attitudes we need to have to see life as a prize. That is where the SMELBORP comes in. We are going to turn our problems around by learning:

Secret of Life
Mastering Complaining
Enjoying People
Living Successfully
Beating Stress
Optimizing Expectations
Reducing Conflict
Persevering

For today, I want to leave you with what I believe is the most fundamental truth you will need to have to begin to enjoy life. This truth applies to all phases of your life, your relationships, your job, your hobbies, and your passions.

The Golden Rule

It is a little rule that goes like this:

Matthew 7:12 (NIV)
12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.

It seems so simple, it was something we were all taught as kids, but this little rule has the power to make amazing changes in your attitude toward life. It is the foundation on which we will build all the rest of the attitudes we need to really enjoy life.

Our culture has slowly been chipping away at this rule so that now for most people it is more like:

Do one to others before they do one to you.

If that is your prevailing attitude, you will never really enjoy life.

Get ready, SMELBORP is coming. Come back often to see the latest sermons or bible studies on your Online Pastor site. We are blessed to be your Pastor Online!

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