​One of my best friends, a godly, Christian prayer partner and confidant for thirty years said the other day “Sometimes life doesn’t make sense.” I agreed wholeheartedly.as I ate my ham and cheese omelet at the restaurant we meet at regularly for breakfast.
 
How many times have you heard yourself or someone else say “I just don’t understand? What is happening just does not make sense.”
 

• The inability to understand some life situations is far from uncommon.

 
We have all taken a lap or two around the block of lack of understanding. Matter of fact, if we are honest, we might agree that we understand a lot less than we think about how life should operate.  
 
If you are anything at all like me, there are times I find it extremely frustrating to not be able to figure out why things happen or why things do not happen. Everything within me silently screams to understand. My subsequent searches for understanding often take me on a winding and potentially perilous path to a sinkhole of quicksand called “I still don’t understand.”
 
As the sticky, suffocating sand surrounds me and threatens to sink my thinking into oblivion, I desperately cast my “I don’t understand” dilemmas at the feet of God.
 
Please God, help me to understand is my heartfelt cry. With eager expectation, I hope to hear a word that will satisfy my desire to figure things out. Sometimes that word comes and sometimes it doesn’t.  
           
So, what is a Christian to do when life doesn’t make sense and they don’t understand?
 
Solomon helps us get a healthy grip on THOSE TIMES when we cannot figure life out. His simple instructions in our scripture for the week will save us a lot of grief when we face situations that do not make sense to us. Following the wisdom writer’s three step faith formula will help us prevail over perplexing times we don’t understand.
 
“Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”  Proverbs 3:5-6
 
First, TRUST IN THE LORD.
 
The exhortation is to trust in the Lord. In other words, put your faith in God. Simply and purposefully stimulate your faith in situations you don’t understand. And trust the Lord “with all your heart.” Not part, but all your heart. With every fiber of your being, let faith rise up within in you.
 
Take your head out of it and put all your heart into it. As much as possible, shut off your mind and turn on your spirit of faith. Look beyond the shortcomings of your human understanding. Lift your whole heart to the One whose heart knows what is best for you.   
 
Second, DO NOT TRUST IN YOURSELF.
 
The next exhortation is a negative one. Do not lean (rely for support or inspiration) on your ability to understand.
 
 Frustration sets in when we look to ourselves to solve things. Solomon says not trusting in ourselves is critical to success in making sense of life. You and I must resist the overwhelmingly irresistible and unbearable urge to figure it out for ourselves.
 
DO NOT DO IT! Isaiah 55:8-9 reveals that our thoughts and ways are not God’s thoughts and ways. I am glad and you are too that Steve Roll is not God!!! His understanding of life is much higher and wiser than ours. So, when we do not understand, we are to lean on God’s wisdom and understanding, not ours or another human being.     
 
Third, SUBMIT YOUR SITUATION TO GOD.
 
Here is where the rubber meets the road. Acknowledge means to recognize. Recognize what? That God is our Creator and the creature is responsible to his Creator. Responsible to do what?  Willfully and joyfully submit our lives to Him.
 
Please note the phrase “in all your ways.” In every way, hand over your lack of understanding to the One who understands. Release your limitations to the limitless God of the universe. Let go of what does not make sense to you. The Lord will help you make sense of it in His way and good time.
 
The result: HE, not we, will make our paths straight! WOW! Just what we need when we do not understand. A straight path. When we look to Him with faith, God will straighten out the crooked and confusing maze that not understanding can create.
 

• When we do not understand, we can walk by faith on a straight path. And God Himself paves the path for us!

 
If death has suddenly claimed a loved one of yours, or you were recently fired from your good job, or you received a negative medical report, or world-events are tearing at your heart, or your dream is turning into a nightmare and you just don’t understand what is going on--put your trust in the One who does.
 

• Faith does not have to understand to believe! Faith cannot always figure things out. But biblical faith always trusts God who knows what life is about. YOU CAN TRUST HIM!
• Life may not make sense to you and me but God makes sense of life for you and me!!!!!

 
How about you my friend? Something perplexing you today? Driving you border line crazy because life does not make sense?
 

• TRUST HIM TO MAKE SENSE OF WHAT MAKES NO SENSE TO YOU.

 
“Trust in the Lord forever, for in God, the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock. “Isaiah 26:3
 
“Trust in the Lord and go good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.” 
Psalm 37:3
 
A Word For Your Week: When you don’t understand, stand firm in faith. Trust God with what you don’t know.  
 

​I hear often from people who come for restoration counseling that they are a “people pleaser.” Upon hearing details of their self-confession, I ask them how is that working out for you?  Their sheepish response is something like this: “Not very well!”
 
All of us desire and need to be accepted by people. God put within us a longing to belong.
           
Love, acceptance and approval from others is a core need of our heart. But when our need for love, acceptance and approval from people is obsessive to the point where we live our life only to please others, we will be disappointed, and ultimately, become emotionally unhealthy.  
           
The Apostle Paul had the right perspective on who we should seek to please.
 
“But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts.” I Thessalonians 2:4
 
Paul certainly respected people and labored as a witness for Jesus in a winsome manner to win those were winnable to Christ (see I Corinthians 9:19-23, I Corinthians 10:33, Romans 15:2). Paul did his best to lovingly persuade men and women to receive the Lord. In doing so, Paul remembered that God (not men) approved of Him and entrusted him with sharing the Good News.
 

• Paul was a caring, bold, persuasive witness for the Lord because he lived his Christian life, not as a people pleaser, but as a God pleaser.

 
Note he said he spoke (preached and taught) to please the One who examines the heart. Paul knew his heart belonged to the Lord and God would hold him accountable for his life and ministry.
 
I am convinced from experience that if you and I live to please people, we will be disappointed. Again and again! If we live our life to please God, you and I will never be disappointed “For the Scripture says, “whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” (Romans 10:11). I love this truth!
 

• If is not possible for God to let us down or disappoint us when our daily desire is to live to please Him

 
Why Being A People Pleaser Won’t Work
 

• People are fickle. One moment they approve of you, the next, not so much.  
• People are struck on themselves and do not care that much about you.
• People cannot be pleased because they keep moving the bar of approval. You can never please people who expect you to please them.
• People do not know your heart and may misjudge your motives.
•  Some people will never be pleased with you because they are not pleased with themselves.
• “People pleasing” sacrifices my identity and sabotages my self-respect.
• “People pleasing” is a certain pathway to disappointment, discouragement and disillusionment with the human race.  I heard a couple of Amens!

 
Why Being a God Pleaser Works
 

• God loves you and is pleased with you because of His Son Jesus Christ.  
• God takes immense pleasure and delight in you as His child.  
• You and I do not have and cannot earn God’s approval because we have it through faith in Jesus...
• God knows our heart like no person can. His judgment is just, right and true.
• Pleasing God is His good, acceptable and perfect will for our lives.
• There is no greater joy than to start your day by committing yourself to please God in thought, word and deed.
• Pleasing God reaps awesome rewards that no man could ever bestow upon us. 

           
People pleaser or God pleaser…which one are you?
 
It took me years in my adult life to conquer the emotional desire/need to please people. Even as a born-again. Spirit-empowered Christian and minister of the Gospel, I wrestled with people pleasing. I wanted people in my ministry to like me. I think I am very likable. Even lovable.
 

• But instead of being who the Lord has made me; I had this thing in me that erroneously felt let I had to prove in some way that I was worthy of people’s love and approval.

 
Guess what?  People I tried to please could not be pleased! The Lord revealed to me to keep my eyes on Him, love people and fulfill the calling on my life. Freedom from people pleasing has been a major growth point in my personal life. I live daily to please God and minister to people who are open to receive God’s Word and live for His pleasure.
 
APPLICATON: Take a time out. Get quiet before God. Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart. Let the Lord point out if you are living to please people or God. Make whatever lifestyle adjustments you need to make to live a life that is pleasing to God.
 
Think about it. Because of God’s great love for you and me, it should be easy (a no brainer if you will!) to live to please Him!  
 
A Word For Your Week: Pleasing God is the pathway to a fruitful, fulfilling, satisfying life.

​What do you do when you have a chronic problem that will not go away? 
You have done everything you know to do to resolve ii.  The issue only gets worse and worse.
I am glad I asked the question many of us have struggled with.  

• I have discovered throughout my life and the lives of many others that God does awesome things for those with amazing faith.

There is a precious woman in the Bible who faced an insurmountable life mountain with amazing faith, resulting in the miracle she needed.
Her incredible story of faith is found in Mark 5:25-34. Read it. Meditate on it. Soak your spirit, if you will, with this inspiring example of bold, amazing faith. Here is a synopsis.
A lady has been hemorrhaging for twelve years. She has consulted multiple medical specialists to no avail. Her bank account does not have money. She has exhausted her insurance, finances and patience pursuing a cure that never comes.

• Her mind is understandably frustrated with unanswered questions, continual disappointment, troubling discouragement, depression and desperation.

Her personal dilemma was complicated by the fact she was a woman in a man’s world. Treated as a second-class citizen. The incessant hemorrhaging made her unclean in public. She was a subject of gossip and ridicule. She was embarrassed, humiliated and ashamed about her condition.

• No matter. She had heard about Jesus and His healing miracles.

She took action. In verses 27-28 we read “After hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak. For she thought “If I just touch His garments, I shall get well.”      
Please note that first she thought “If I touch His garments, I will get well.” Her thought led to a touch. She decided to get well by reaching out to the One who made people well.
Verse 29 reports “And immediately the flow of her blood dried up, and she felt in her body she was healed of her affliction.”  Wow! Twelve long years, nothing but bleeding. “Immediately”. Right now. Without delay. The once non-stop bleeding ceased!

• She knew she was healed! Jesus knew too.

Verses 30-32 describe how Jesus sensed someone had touched Him. Healing power had left His body. The Lord asked “Who touched My garments?” The disciples, so human and spiritually dense like you and I would have been, questioned how anyone could know who touched Jesus’ garments in a large crowd. If anyone could, certainly Jesus would!
Jesus looked for the woman. “Fearing and trembling,” the healed woman fell down before Jesus and told Him the whole truth (Verse 33). Her humility, honesty and sincerity touched the Savior’s heart.  
Jesus’ response in verse 34 is off-the-charts amazing.  “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.”

• Her faith made her well. Because she believed, she received healing from Jesus. 

Note Jesus called her “daughter.”  The word “daughter” must have warmed her heart, causing a not-so-special woman in the eyes of others to feel very special in the heart of the Son of God.
Imagine how she felt as she walked away. No more bleeding or pain. No more embarrassment or shame. No more ridicule. No more doctor appointments! I have an idea that this humble, healed, healthy lady rejoiced in the Lord, skipping and dancing all the way home!
If you were this woman, how would you have felt and responded to your miraculous healing?
Four Simple Steps Of Amazing Faith

• Step Out Of The Crowd. Separate yourself from looky-loo’s, skeptics, cynics, doubters and sensation seekers. Never let a crowd keep you from going to Jesus. Never allow doubt to keep you out of His presence.
• Step Through The Crowd. Push through the masses to seek and receive the miracle you need from Jesus. A crowd can hold us back. Crowds are just that: crowds. Crowds won’t produce my or your miracle. Leave the crowd behind to get to the One who stands above crowds.
• Step Forward to Touch Jesus. Touching the Lord is the objective. Nothing less. Faith always moves forward to reach Jesus. The reward of a miracle is more than worth the risk of stepping out in faith.
• Step humbly to receive healing. With a sincere, humble heart, expect to receive that for which you are believing. Jesus wants to heal you as much as you want to be healed.

 

• Principle: Hearing leads to believing, believing leads to acting, acting on faith leads to miracles.
• Bottom line: Miracles happen to those who believe they will. 

Do you need a healing miracle? Are you currently struggling with a long-term spiritual, physical, emotional, mental, relational or financial issue that has exhausted and exasperated you? Have you spent all you have to no avail to find a cure?
Rubber meets the road: Do you have faith like this woman that drove her to boldly push through the crowd to reach Jesus? Why not step out with amazing faith like this dear lady did?
You and I live in a crowded world. Some believe, most do not.  I do not know about you. But my faith in Jesus means everything to me. When facing an insurmountable obstacle, with the Holy Spirit’s help, I chose to step out in faith to trust the Lord. for the “miracle” I need.

• God does the miracles you and I need in His way and timing, for our good and His glory. Amazing faith is the key to amazing miracles.  

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” II Corinthians 5:7
A Word For Your Week: Step out boldly with am

If you were to ask me what one message I would convey to the vast majority of people who have come to me for pastoral advice and counsel over the past three decades, I would say with great gusto “Grow Up!”
 
Ouch! That hurts because so many of us refuse to grow up.
 
Paul tells us in I Corinthians 13: 11 “When I was a child, I used to speak as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.”  Paul also writes in I Corinthians 14:20 “Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be babes, but in your thinking be mature.”
 
When we were kids, we did what kids do. We acted childish, not grown up. It is perfectly all right and acceptable for children to act like children, because they are kids! Childhood is a very special season in our lives.
           

• But when childhood passes and adulthood takes center stage, we are to grow up and act like grown ups, not children in adult bodies.

 
When Paul became a man, he chose to do away with childish things. He purposely changed his thinking and behavior. No more kid’s stuff for Paul. Maturity was the mark he strove for.  Paul made daily decisions to step out of childhood and walk in adulthood as a believer in Jesus Christ.
 

• So much poor adult behavior is childish behavior.

 
Sadly, some people never do away with childish things, they never mature in their thinking and conduct, and they wonder why they cannot maintain healthy, adult relationships.   
 
I have an idea why. They act like immature children. Juvenile. Some people act like spoiled brats! Sometimes in counseling I feel like I am babysitting! I have to call time outs. Some people throw spiritual tantrums and emotional fits. You know what I would like to do? Send them to their rooms. Ouch again!
 

• Growing up is hard to do but is required if we are to become like Christ and enjoy mature, mutually satisfying relationships with God and people.

 
Think with me for a moment. Do you realize how frustrating it is for a person you love to relate to you on an adult level when you choose to act like a little child? Adult-child does not work when mature relationships require adult-adult. Adults need to grow up and act like grown-ups!
 
Paul gives wise, sensible guidance to the body of Christ concerning conduct toward brothers and sisters in the church.
 
“But speaking the truth in love, we are to GROW UP in all aspects unto Him, who is the head, even Christ...” Ephesians 4:15
 
The context of verse 15 is verses 11-16. “Speaking the truth in love” means calling stuff what it is. If we are to grow up, we must begin by facing the truth. Truth is truth. I believe the rule for healthy relationships is to always take the high road and speak truth with love.
 
Love takes the hard edge off tough stuff. But love does not mean not facing truth and needing to grow up and act maturely. Love doesn’t cover truth. It exposes truth and provides opportunity for change---if we are willing to grow up!     
 
Why is it so hard for us to “grow up” in our Christian life? Here are a few reasons to ponder.
 

• Growing up means I must face my shortcomings and do something about them.
• Growing up means I must be willing to stop making excuses for poor behavior.
• Growing up means that I must admit that I am not perfect.
• Growing up means I might have to admit that I was wrong and you were right.
• Growing up means I, and I alone, must take responsibility for my actions.
• Growing up means I must repent, apologize, seek forgiveness and make restitution when I have wronged others.
• Growing up means I must put away childish behavior and decide to act like an adult.
• Growing up means I must look to Jesus as my standard for maturity and do whatever He tells me to do to be more like Him.
• Growing up means I will have to die to self and live for God and others.
• Growing up means that if I desire to be Christ-like, I must grow up to be like Jesus. 
• Growing up means, bottom line, that I value relationships with God and people so much that I refuse to act like a baby anymore.

 
Imagine what would happen in the church of Jesus Christ, in Christian homes, in the business community, in our world if Christians started GROWING UP and SHOWING UP as mature witnesses for Christ? Wow—revival and restoration to righteousness, holiness, goodness, wholeness, wellness, happiness, prosperity and peace would be the order of the day.
 

• If you need to grow up, start right now. The stakes are too high to continue to act like an immature child. Successful living requires mature, grown up, adult behavior.

 
Choosing not to grow up you will never know how good grown-up living can be. Chose to grow up and you will know how being like Jesus can make life abundant and worth living.
 

• Hey friend, are you growing up and becoming more and more grown up in Christ each day?

 
“Therefore, putting aside all malice and al guile and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the Word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation.”                                                                                        I Peter 2:2
 
“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity.”                                           II Peter 3:18
 
A Word For Your Week: If you want to go up, GROW UP!
 

Time and timing.
You and I understand time… but struggle with timing.
The wisdom writer Solomon wrote “He (God) has made everything appropriate in its time” Ecclesiastes 3:11a.
 The truth expressed here is everything is appropriate (suitable, fitting, compatible) with our Maker’s timing.

• Clearly this scripture declares that our Creator created everything (including you and me) according to HIS TIME AND TIMETABLE.

Think with me for a moment.  As far as I know, there is no time as we know it in eternity. No clocks that the Almighty sets back or moves forward in heaven.  We earthlings are consumed with and worry about time. God is not. Time does not worry Him. Our Creator is eternal all the time. He has always been and will always be.

• God’s chief concern is timing. His timing is always perfect!

Many years ago Miller Brewery advertised their product with the phrase “Miller time is the right time.” Nice thought. But this guy begs to differ. If beer is the right time, humanity is in bigtime trouble!
Let’s be honest. You and I are often guilty of questioning God’s timing.
The times in my life when my deepest disappointments came have been when I expected God to keep His promises and answer my prayers according to Steve’s timetable. Hey Lord, what is with the delay regarding the prayer request I sent You?? What’s up with my requests not being filled when I think they should?  
 Heavenly Father, did it get lost in heaven’s post office?  Isn’t it about time for it to be answered? Have You checked Your celestial watch lately? Oh, that’s right, no time in heaven.
JUST A THOUGHT. You and I might think something is the right thing and the time is right. But if God’s timing is not in it, what we thought was right will not work out right. Chew on that for a moment!

• The Lord has always been gracious in teaching me about His timing.

The greatest joys in my life have occurred when God comes through on His time for me!
 I see His hand in the timing. Then I say to myself “Steve, see, God’s timing was absolutely perfect once again. When are you going to get it through your thick head that God’s timing is always on time? His blessings in your life always arrive on His time schedule, not yours.” 
Let me ask you. Have you ever wondered why God’s only Son, Jesus Christ came to the earth when He did? I have. God could have sent Jesus a thousand years before His birth 2, 000 years ago. He could have sent Him in 1650 or 1820 or you pick a date. How about your birthday!
The answer to the time question is in Galatians 4:4-5. “But when the fulness of time came, God sent forth His Son born of a woman, born under the Law in order that He might redeem those under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”
Fulness of time can also be translated due time, proper time, predetermined time, right time. Sounds like God’s timing to me!

• God the Father’s plan of salvation. Biblical prophecy. Historical setting. All the above figured into the time and timing of Christ’s birth.

My little brain has decided God’s Son, Jesus, my personal Savior, was born in Bethlehem, raised in Judea, was crucified and raised from the dead in Jerusalem and descended to heaven promising to return for His sons and daughters according to God’s perfect time and timing. Amen and amen for that!
 Attitudes and Actions that interfere with God’s timing.

• An impatient, anxious, worrisome spirit.  
• Lack of understanding of timing of biblical events.
• Comparing our experiences with other people’s timing experiences.
• Listening to people who gripe about God’s timing.
• Insisting that “I have to have it now” complicates the timing process.
• Thinking that I know better than God. Lightning bolt on the way!!!!

My friends, you and I can experience relief, peace, joy, power and confidence when we trust God’s timing for our lives. Trusting God’s timing is a matter of faith. I do not have to know everything about everything. I do get to trust my Maker and Redeemer to provide everything I will ever need in His time and timing. AMEN.
How about you my fellow Christian? Do you trust God for His timing in your life? Really trust Him?  If not, why? Do you think you can manage time and life events better than the Almighty Creator of everything? If so, you need to think again and line up time and timing with God’s Word.
Time. Timing. Manage both well this week with God’s help.
A Word For Your Week: God’s timing is always on time!

​Rain. Rain. And more rain.
Our neck of the woods recently experienced a week of thunderstorm, tornado and flash flood warnings as copious amounts of rain fell from heavenly places. I caught myself humming the little jingle “Rain, rain, go away, come back another day!”
It did rain a number of another days!
It rained so much I wondered if we needed to build an Ark!
Thunderstorms, tornadoes  and rain did considerable damage in Oklahoma. But nothing like the massive destruction from tornadic winds and flood waters that devastated the Midwest, Southern and Eastern sections of the United States.  
My heart breaks and goes out to so many whose lives have been turned inside out and upside down by storm after storm that ravaged their families, homes, businesses, towns and cities.

• Please join with me daily in prayer for the recovery, restoration and rebuilding of storm ravaged areas. Pray especially for precious people who lost loved ones. In an instant, family members were suddenly gone. Homes were destroyed. In a terrifying moment, life changed forever.  
• Ask the Lord to comfort and heal hurting, grieving hearts. Ask God to provide wisdom, direction and what do we do now steps as tens of thousands in our nation are in a recovery and rebuilding mode.

On the last day of the storms here in Tulsa, I drove to a park a few miles from our house to wait on the Lord and pray. For fifty years, getting away regularly each week to meet with the Lord at secluded lakes or parks is one of my favorite things in life.
The rain had ceased. Clouds were breaking up and moving out.  Rays of golden sunlight broke through the dark, foreboding clouds that had blanketed the skies for days.  When I stepped out of my car, I was blown away! (Not from storms).

• What captured and captivated my attention was the melodic symphony, a concert of scores and scores of birds SINGING AFTER THE RAIN!   

Cardinals. Blue Jays. Robins.  Gold Finch. Wrens.  Blue Birds. Sparrows. Ravens. Blackbirds. Hawks soaring overhead were singing their little bird hearts out. Creations’ chorus was singing Hallelujah to our Creator! The storms are gone. All clear. Safe to come out from hiding. Find food. Fly around. Do what birds do.

• My heart soared! I am not a bird. (Sometimes my precious wife thinks I am a bird brain!). Nevertheless,  Steve Roll, from the bottom of his lungs, shouted praise to the Lord for stilling the storms. Simply amazing! God’s creation was singing after the rain…and I joined them!!!

Rain can be good and not so good. I get it. So do you. But I learned something from the birds…singing after the rain is a good thing!!!
Just a thought for you and me as Christians.  As God’s people we should sing during and after the rain. Sing God’s praises for the rain that the earth needs. Sing His praises for shielding us from tornadoes and flooding. Look to Him and praise Him for protecting us and directing us how to recover from any storm damage.
The two verses below exhort and encourage us to rejoice in the Lord always and always give thanks in everything. I love Paul’s emphasis on “always “ in both verses.
“Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.” Philippians 4:4
“In everything give thanks for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” I Thessalonians 5:18

• No matter what the immediate outcome of thunderstorms and rain, I believe it is a powerful thing for God’s creation (including you and me) to praise and give thanks to the Creator. Everybody should say Amen!

 

• So, my brothers and sisters in Christ, the next time it rains, after it ceases, sing the praises of God! It will make you feel good like the birds.

A Word For Your Week:  Sing praise to God after the rain.

Eternity is man’s destiny.
 
You and I should remember that all of us have a date with eternity.
 
Solomon says so in our word for your week. “God has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart….” Ecclesiastes 3:11a
 
·      God has set eternity in our hearts. Our Creator created us to be eternal. Because everything is appropriate in its time (God’s time and timing), we have an appointment with eternity that is scheduled on God’s cosmic calendar.  
 
I serve and minister to people who often have lost sight of the big picture of life. Struggling with their current situation their perspective is short-sighted. They are overwhelmed and consumed with here and not concerned about the hereafter.
 
Isn’t it interesting that we human beings who are eternal get so hung up on the temporal? Honestly, sometimes you and I are so earthly minded that we are not much heavenly good!
 

• Life is not all about here….it is all about the hereafter.

 
For believers in Christ, this earthly life is not our destiny or final destination. Paul reminds us in Philippians 3:20 that a Christian’s home is in heaven. “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
 
If you think about it, a Christian, living in a fallen, hostile, anti-Christ world, is in reality, homeless. Our real residence, our spiritual home, is heavenly, not earthly. Jesus is preparing our home for us right now (John 14:1-6). I imagine that our residences in heaven will be awesome to say the least!
 

• Christians should consider life here and now in light of the hereafter.

 
According to S cripture, each of us chooses our eternal destiny. Resurrection to eternal death in hell or eternal life in heaven are the options (John 5:25-29, Romans 6:23, John 14:6, John 3:16). Eternity is never ending. Earthly life has an end line. How we live here and cross that line determines how we live hereafter.
 

• Life is too short and eternity is too long to not live right.

 
When I meet with precious people who are hurting, I direct them to look to the Lord for the healing, restoration and renewal they need. Our earthly lives are important. God put us here for a purpose. Living our lives in a holy, wholesome, healthy, righteous manner, for our Creator’s glory, is God’s will for each of us. Jesus came to give “abundant life” (John 10:10).
 
 In addition to abundant life on earth, Jesus sacrificed His life so we could live with Him in heaven for eternity.  Abundant, eternal life in Christ should cause us to pause and look at our here and now lives in light of the hereafter.    
 
Life Is Too Short And Eternity Is Too Long….
 

• To reject Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior.
• To not allow the Lord to heal your broken heart and bind up your wounds.
• To live a selfish, self-centered, self-absorbed,” it’s all about me” lifestyle.
• To suck your thumb, drag around your woe is me blankie, throw temper tantrums, and wallow in the pit of self pity.
• To keep beating yourself up over past mistakes and failings.
• To hold a grudge, to nurse a hurt, to curse someone.
• To not release anger, resentment, bitterness and other ugly stuff from your heart.
• To not ask forgiveness of people you have wronged.
• To withhold forgiveness from people who have hurt you.
• To not reconcile an estranged relationship that matters to you.
• To withhold blessing when it is in your power to bless others.
• To not give thanks and praise to God for giving you life and all the blessings you experience everyday.  

 
Important question to answer: Do you have an eternal perspective while you live your earthly life? Do you desire to live right here and now? Right living (righteousness in Christ) is laid out in God’s Word, the Bible. If you want to live life right for time and eternity, pattern your life after the truth, principles, promises and the person of Jesus Christ revealed in the Word of God.
 

• My friend, eternity is just around the bend. Around the bend is not the end. It is the beginning of all that matters. Eternal life in glory with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I just shouted HALLELUJAH!!!!!!

 

• Get your life in order. Then keep it in order while you have opportunity.

 
“According to my earnest expectation and hope, that I shall not be put to shame in anything but that with all boldness, Christ shall even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or death.”                                           Philippians 1:20
 
A Word For Your Week: Live your life in the light of eternity

​Change is inevitable.
 
Welcome, or unwelcome, change knocks often on life’s door. When change comes a knocking, what should we do?
 
CHANGE FORWARD!
 
It is thoroughly human to resist change. You and I tend to view change as a threatening, negative experience. Why? Because change overturns the proverbial apple cart. Change disrupts the status quo. What’s familiar becomes unfamiliar when change invades our space. Things thought certain become uncertain when change rattles our cage. We become very uncomfortable when change upends our comfort zones..
 
Erroneously, we think change is sent to sabotage our desires and derail our dreams. Nothing could be further from the truth.
 
Remember Joseph the dreamer? (Genesis 37-50). Joseph is an inspiring biblical example of changing forward. Every time his God-given dream appeared to turn into a devilish nightmare, Joseph stood firm in faith, trusted God, and changed forward.
 
From a pit, to Potiphar’s house, to prison, to prime minister of Egypt…the Lord was with Joseph” (Genesis 39:2). Joseph’s circumstances changed. His God didn’t. Neither did Joseph’s trust in his God. When change challenged Joseph, he kept dreaming and doing God’s will. Faith kept him moving forward.
           

• Faithful Joseph leaves us a spiritual epitaph of trust in God. He conquered change with his change forward attitude. 

  
Christians can change forward because God is changeless. His perfect will is ageless and timeless. His plan is always going forward. Malachi 3:6 reads “For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.”
 

• GOD DOES NOT CHANGE.

 
Change does not change God. He is changeless. Those who trust in an unchanging God will not be changed by change either. Life’s inevitable changes will not consume those whose faith is rooted and grounded in a changeless God.
           
 Hebrews 13:8  “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever.” is the New Testament mirror image of Malachi 3:6.

• Being the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, Jesus Christ does not change.

 
Those who trust in Jesus need not fear change. I love what verses 6-7 have to say about our security in an unchanging Savior. “So that we may confidently say, the Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What shall man do to me? Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and consider the result of their conduct, imitate their faith”.
 
What a wonderful word of encouragement! Jesus hasn’t, doesn’t and never will change in His person, regarding His promises or His personal relationship with His believing children. Jesus Christ can be counted on in a time of change because He doesn’t change.  
           
Your life and mine will indeed change. Life does shift from time to time. When it does, imitate the faith of those who have gone before you and trusted God to GO, GROW, and CHANGE FORWARD!  
 
Here are some thoughts that will help you and me change forward when change shows up.
 

• Embrace change as a gift that can move you forward.
• Receive change as a friend. Don’t reject it as a foe. 
• See the possibilities and potential embedded in change.
• Look for God’s hand and plan in change.
• Make change work for, not against you.
• View change as a GO, not a WOE or NO!
• Trust God to cause change to propel you forward in life.

 
Change is good when God is in it!
 

• If you are going through some changes right now, like a lot of people are, choose to change forward. Welcome change! Charge forward with faith into the wonderful future the Lord has planned for you.

 
“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”                          Romans 8:28
 
“For I know the plans that I have for you declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope.”                                            Jeremiah 29:11
 
A Word For Your Week: When life changes, CHANGE FORWARD!         

​Upon graduating from seminary, my dear Grandmother Eplin sent me an incredibly special gift. She and her women’s Bible study group lovingly and painstakingly quilted me a comforter that became my all-time favorite adult blankie. When we lived in Michigan where the winters are long and bone-chilling cold, my down-filled comforter was one of my best friends!
 
I cannot count the times when my wife Jo Ann lovingly tucked the comforter around my body when it was cold or I was not feeling well. When covered by the comforter, I was toasty warm and did not have a care in the world. Often I nodded off to sleep because I felt so comfortable, warm and secure.
 

• The comforter brought comfort when I was uncomfortable. Where is that blanket anyway?

 
Many people today need comfort. Life has beaten them up, scared them or left them feeling vulnerable and insecure. In the New Testament, the Greek root of the word comfort means “to come alongside, beside for the purpose of rendering aid or help.”
           

• During difficult and discomforting times, you and I needed someone to come alongside and help us in life. There are precious people all around us who need a comforter in their lives too.  

           
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.’ II Corinthians 1:3-4
 
The Apostle Paul, who had experienced comfort from God and His people, wrote about three important truths regarding comfort and comforting others. 
 
1. GOD IS THE SOURCE OF COMFORT. Straight up the Word tells us that our God is a merciful Father and “God of all comfort.”  Comfort flows from mercy. Comfort is about being compassionate and caring. Almighty God is a comforting God.
 
Our comfort comes from the Lord.
 
 Real comfort, help that really helps, comes from a merciful God. This spiritually cold, emotionally impersonal, self-centered world knows little or nothing of comfort and comforting. God does. He is the God of all comfort. He knows how to tuck hurting people in with His love and comfort.
 
 
2. GOD COMFORTS THE UNCOMFORTABLE. Note God comforts us “in all our affliction.” Affliction (trouble, injury, distress or anguish) is no fun! Everyone who has been afflicted said AMEN! God knows affliction makes us uncomfortable. He comes alongside to comfort and render the aid we need.
 
II Corinthians 7:6 states “But God, who comforts the depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus.” In a downtime, God comforted Paul by His presence and by the presence of Titus.
 
God spread a blanket of love and comfort over Paul.
 
Foundational to our faith and vital to victory in times of affliction is to remember that the Holy Spirit is called the Comforter in John 14:16-26 and John 16:7-15. While Jesus was here on earth, He comforted the disciples. When He left, the Father sent another Comforter (Helper) (John 14:16) to comfort them.
 
The Holy Spirit is our Comforter today. What a wonderful gift the Holy Spirit is from our Father in heaven!
 
When we need comfort, we need to call upon the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, who is our Helper. He knows where to place the specific spiritual/emotional blanket we need in time of trouble or discomfort.
 
3. GOD COMFORTS US SO WE CAN COMFORT OTHERS.  The God of all comfort comforts us “so that” we can comfort others. The purpose of His comfort in our lives is twofold. * To comfort us. * And to comfort others through us. Note Titus was part of the comforting process in Paul’s life.
 
My comfy blanket is not just for me. I am to share my comforter with those in discomfort. Titus could comfort Paul and others experiencing a tough time because God had comforted Titus.  
 

• Christians are called to share their blankets of God’s comfort. God comforts us so we can comfort others.

 
We are conduits or channels of His comfort. We should be running around in Jesus’ name wrapping warm blankets of God’ s love and His comforting Word around hurting brothers and sisters in Christ and lost souls.
 
There would be a lot less discomfort and more comfort in this heart-broken, weary world if Christians would comfort others with the comfort which they have received from the Lord Jesus Christ.   
 
How do we start this comforting business?
 
·      Ask God how to comfort others. Seek His wisdom in reaching out to hurting people. Receive the Holy Spirit’s comfort so you can comfort others. Minister with the Helper’s help!
 
·      Love hurting people. Hug them up if they are huggers! Be sensitive to their needs. Listen to them. Take time to care.
 
·      Pray for hurting people. Share a scripture of encouragement with them. Serve them in ways that will show that you and God love them.
 
Personal note: I am very thankful for Christians who at various times in my life comforted me when I needed comforted. They may have no idea how much the comfort they gave me in Christ’s name met the need of the hour. 
 
DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO IS HURTING, UNCOMFORTABLE IN LIFE? SOMEOME GOD CAN SEND YOU TO COMFORT THEIR HEARTS IN THE NAME OF JESUS?
 

• Comfort hurting people with the comfort you have received from the Lord.

 
A Word For Your Week: Christians are comforters sent by the Comforter to comfort uncomfortable people.
 
 

Breaking News Jerusalem.
 
Just into the studio news desk: a man was robbed by thieves on the road to Jericho early this morning. Three fellow travelers saw the brutally beaten, stripped-naked man bleeding to death on the roadside. Eye-witnesses report that after two religious leaders ignored him, a Samaritan stopped to assist, caring for the man’s needs from his personal resources.
 
Who was this man who some are calling the “good” Samaritan? Onlookers were overheard asking “Why would he put his life in danger, stopping to care for a total stranger.” Tune in to the 6 o’clock evening news for more details about this unusual, fascinating story.
 
This fictitious news bulletin is a teaching found in the Bible. Jesus shared the story of the Good Samaritan to teach you and me about neighbors and compassion.
 
The scenario is set-up in Luke 10:25-29. A lawyer, familiar with Jewish religious customs and commandments, stood up to test Jesus. A work-your-way-to-heaven kind of guy, he inquired of the Lord what he must do to inherit eternal life.
 
Jesus turned the tables on the lawyer by asking him how do you read the Law?  How would you answer sir? (Verse 26). The legalistic lawyer fired back “love God with all your being and love your neighbor as yourself” (Verse 27) (Deuteronomy 6:5).
 
Good job Mr. Lawyer! Jesus commended him for answering correctly. Then Jesus exhorted him “Do this, and you will live.” (Verse 28). But that did not set well with the lawyer. Come on Jesus, is that all I must do? Are you sure that is enough? And who is my neighbor? (Verse 29).
 

• In verses 30-37, Jesus answered who our neighbor is, and how we should treat them as their neighbor.  

           
Seeing the distressed man, a priest and a Levite passed by on the other side of the road, abandoning the dying man in a ditch. Shame, shame on the “holy” men. 
 
A man from Samaria, who was racially ostracized by the Jewish people, stopped to render aid.
 
“But a certain Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him, and when he saw him, he felt compassion.” Luke 10:33
 
The Samaritan did four things
 
First, the Good Samaritan CAME upon the man. The Samaritan was traveling. Following his itinerary. Doing his thing, minding his own business. Then life happened. Right in front of him. A hurting man crossed his path.
 
·      Our life journey will cross paths with hurting people.
 
Second, the Good Samaritan SAW the man. His eyes were not blind to the hurting man’s dilemma. He looked toward the man, not away from him. He saw more than a bleeding man…he saw a fellow, helpless human being who needed someone to help him. 
 
·      Unselfish, wide open eyes see needy neighbors who need assistance.
 
Third, the Good Samaritan FELT for the man. Seeing the hurting man, he felt compassion. His heart hurt for his needy neighbor on the roadside. He could not look away like the religious leaders did. His compassionate heart beat with empathy. Mercy prompted him to reach out to the hurting, helpless man   
 
·      Love, mercy and compassion pave the way for helping hurting neighbors.   
 
Fourth, the Good Samaritan CARED for the man. Compassion led to action. He rushed to the man’s side, pouring oil and wine, and bandaging his wounds. He put him on “his own beast”, transporting him to the safety and comfort of a hotel. He arranged for the care of the man, whatever he needed, paying the bill in full upon his return trip.  
 
·      Neighbors in need respond to actual deeds, not mere words of compassion.
 
Way to go Good Samaritan! You got personally involved. You didn’t look the other way or walk by on the other side of the road. You rolled up your sleeves, touching and ministering, from your own resources, to the terrified, vulnerable, mercilessly battered dying man.
 
Your compassionate action was radically gracious, generous, and lifesaving. Without regard to your own safety, you reached out to save a neighbor who could not save himself.
 
Now for the rest of the story. Jesus asked the lawyer in verse 36 “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robber’s hands?” The lawyer had the right answer once again: “The one who showed mercy” (Verse 37).  Jesus’ response “Go and do the same.”
 
End of story…or was it the beginning for the lawyer. As he walked away, I wonder if he went out and became a Good Samaritan. Don’t really know. But what about you and me who confess to be Christians? Are we willing to “Go and do the same?”
 
OUR NEIGHBOR IS ANYONE IN NEED. You and I prove to be neighbors to hurting people when we reach out with Christ’s compassion to meet their need. 
 
Comments Concerning Compassion
 

• Compassion is Christ’s response to hurting people.
• Compassion flows from people with compassionate hearts.
• Compassion is a heartfelt feeling followed by helpful activity.
• Compassion paves the way for ministry to hurting people.
• A compassionate touch softens life’s hard blows.
• Compassionate ministry stirs hope in hopeless hearts.  
• Often, compassion is caught rather than taught.  
• Compassion cannot be packaged or bought. It is free for all who need it.  
• Christians should be compassionate because Jesus is compassionate.
• If Christians are not compassionate, who in this world will be?

 
My friend, Christian compassion is needed more then ever in our self-centered, cruelly coldhearted, cynical culture.  Multitudes of hurting people (neighbors), left for dead on the roadside of life, cry out for love and compassion from those of us who know the One who “saw the multitudes” and “felt compassion.” (See Matthew 9:36-38).  
 
Needy neighbors will intersect your life and mine.  
 
What will you and I see? How will you and I feel? Most importantly, what will you and I do to help? As Christ’s witnesses and ambassadors, you and I have opportunity every day to show compassion to someone who is hurting.
 
A Word For Your Week: Show Christ-like compassion to a needy neighbor.