The God of Another Chance

Romans 5:3-6

"And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."

Sometimes your burdens may seem endless. You repeatedly go through the same trial, making the same mistakes. The last time through, you thought you had truly mastered this area of your life. However, now you realize that it continues to cause you pain.

You question if God has abandoned you or if you have displeased Him so greatly that He would allow this suffering to persist. You wonder if you will ever learn the lesson God desires to teach you. Take heart; the Lord loves you, He is with you, and He will never forsake you (Heb. 13:5). He allows the trials in your life because He desires to give you freedom through them and show you His love.

James 1:2-4 teaches, "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing."

Through your troubles, God develops perseverance, character, hope, and the ability to accept His abundant love. It is said that those who were closest to Christ our Lord were those with the greatest trials.

He is drawing you close through this repeated problem. Do not despair. Cling to Him and He will fill you with His love.

Consider this illustration:

A lecturer raised a glass of water and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water?"

Answers called out ranged from 20 ounces to 100 ounces.

The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

And that's the way it is with a burden. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on.

A word of caution, you can put the burden down for a while and rest before holding it again. You may feel refreshed momentarily, but the weight of the burden will continue. Imagine carrying that burden with you month after month, and year after year. I dare say that some of you have been doing exactly that. Now imagine that what you're holding in that glass isn't water but poison; you may be nursing it, sipping it, gulping it and refilling it. And that's exactly what's happening when that burden is anger or bitterness.

You can carry on with the burden alone or you can turn it over to Jesus, who said "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”  Matt. 11:28-29

Other Scripture to encourage you includes,

Psalm 55:22 “Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.”

and,

I Peter 5:7, “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”

So, Reader, put down anything that may be a burden to you right now. Be still and know that He is God. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. In a world of inconstancy, it's good to know that Jesus is the Eternal One who changes not.

Come to know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour: I Want Jesus to Give Me A Chance

portion of this post courtesy of Dr. Charles Stanley

The Man In the Rearview Mirror (Part 1 of 3 in the MACHO! Series)

On one particular fall morning, I drove my children to their school and I was in no rush, enjoying the crisp autumn air. As I pulled out of the driveway, I noticed that a red Jeep Cherokee sped down the street, towards us. I figured that the man in the Cherokee would slow down for us. Wrong. Instead, he began to honk at me as I put the car into direct and drove. You would think that because I was moving along that the honking would have stopped. Wrong again. I looked at him through the rearview mirror and saw that he was yelling and could tell from reading his lips that he wasn't wishing me a good morning. The angry man pounded his fist on the steering wheel and yelled some more; his face was unshaven but it was red. Instead of ignoring him, I chose to slow down the car a little and enjoy the show a little bit longer. All the while, I stared at him through the rearview mirror. At the four-way stop, I waited longer than I should have before turning and waited. Keep in mind, all of this was happening in a matter of seconds, but everything seemed like slo-mo. In the gool ol' days I used to have a little protection under the car seat (you never knew what you were going to come across on the lonely stretches of blacktop in Texas). I thank God that those days are over and that the only things under my car seat nowadays are hamburger wrappers, old receipts and a coffee-stained Bible. I had no idea what I was doing with a car full of kids, taunting an angry man while waiting for him to make a move. I know it was stupid. But, in just that instant, I was back to my old self, my old ways.

Here are a few thoughts of popular wisdom on anger:

1. "Speak when you're angry and you'll make the best speech you'll ever regret." - Unknown

2. "A man is measured by the size of things that anger him." - Geof Greenleaf

3. "Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame." - Benjamin Franklin

Here is the wisdom of the Bible on anger:

1. He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly; (Proverbs 14:17a)
All impulsive, reactionary anger ends up in foolish choices (ie, dealings). We handle matters best when calm and under control. Can you think of a time when you've made a great decision in a time of rage?

2. He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly. (Prov. 14:29)
Again, slow to anger and quick to listen are better approaches to understanding the matter at hand than just reacting angrily and suddenly, which demonstrates a foolish character.

3. A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger. (Prov. 15:1)
He who is soft-spoken can deflate anger, even if the truth is being spoken; unlike provocative words which add fuel to the fire.

4. He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls. (Prov 25:28)
Someone who can't control his anger is someone without boundaries. Watch out for this fella.

5. An angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgression. (Prov. 29:22)
All angry men do is cause trouble for themselves and others, and a man who rages is someone who is in sin and neck-deep in breaking the law.


What does this kind of anger say about you?
It says that you have no self-control; thus, you have no inner strength to overcome your own emotions and reactions to situations. Your internal life is a mess and you're not even at peace with yourself, let alone with others around you. And, because you have no strength to rein in your anger, you are really weak. By blowing up, you think you are tough; all you're showing to the world is that you're like a diseased tree. Tough on the outside, but possessing shallow roots, and hollow and empty and rotting (with anger) on the inside.

Anger can shatter relationships; it ruins both the joy and health of many. Sadly, people tend to justify their anger instead of accepting responsibility for it. It's always someone else's fault. Yeah, sure, bud. That's why YOU end up beat up and holed up in jail, even though it was THEIR fault. Huh! That's why you lose friends, right? THEY shouldn't have said anything to hurt your teeny-weeny feelings. And that's why you get cut loose at work, because THEY caused YOU to lose your anger. Everyone but you controls those worn out knobs to your emotions, right buddy?

I thank Jesus that the Holy Spirit held me back that morning. I am no longer that man, even if I still look the same. The Bible says that I am a new man in Christ (II Corinthians 5:17). In fact, the more you study the Bible, and I mean all of it, the more Scripture will come to your rescue in times of trial and troubles. On that fateful morning, this is what came to mind:

"Be ye angry, and sin not." (Ephesians 6:26)

Instead of continuing on my foolish track to confrontation, I turned on my blinker and turned toward the school and got out of the way of the raging man behind us. After I dropped off my children, I pulled over on the next street and asked God for forgiveness of my behavior. In prayer, I remembered this Bible passage:

"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:21).

So I continued in prayer for the angry man in the rearview mirror and asked for him to come to know the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, who is the only One who could change him. After all, He changed me. And everytime I see myself in the mirror, I'm reminded about what Christ gave me that I didn't have before.

Peace.