I Love Life's Transitions (NOT)

Have you ever had this happen to you? You are just getting settled into a routine, getting yourself organized, figuring this thing called life out, when out of the blue, BAM! (copyright Emeril) something changes. Maybe its something as common as a fender bender; you know someone hits you from behind as you turn into Starbucks for a Grande Cinnamon Dolce Latte, in case you wanted to buy me one, and your day is shot. (No coffee/Starbucks/Expresso pun intended)

It can be something that simple, and annoying, or it can be some of the big stuff. You know what I mean, we are surrounded by it. People lose their jobs with no warning, health problems set back your dreams, hopes and finances. There has been an increase of young males dying early because of hypertension, caused by high blood pressure... Pressure, it is all around us. Transitions always bring pressure.

Paul says in II Corinthians that the "light afflictions come to bring in our lives a greater weight of glory". Could it be that the pressure we are feeling today, the inconveniences we are tolerating are purposefully and strategically designed to transition us to a greater level of "glory", the new carrier we have been too scared to pursue before, the ministry we have been too "successful" to start? Could it be that the transitions we are in are not just an accident, but have been designed to bring God's purpose and plan into our lives?

I think this is exactly the case. The Bible says that if you love God, everything works together for your good. That everything means everything - the job loss, the helpless feeling you have right now, the fender-bender, the spilled cup of coffee on your new shirt, the seemingly mundane irritations of life - all things work together for our good.

I know in my life that is exactly how it has been. When I was the most irritated, and the most troubled by an irritation or situation, God was working in the background for a greater and eternal weight of glory, he was working out my purpose. It was a set back that ultimately brought Deidre and I to Hot Springs. Had it not been for a job lay-off I would not have been desperate enough to ask God what He had in mind for us. I had already began to devise a plan, but God had something different in mind, and the pressure got my attention.

I challenge you today, when the irritations come, and they will, stop cursing them and hating them (at least for a moment) and look around at what is happening. Maybe, just maybe, God is applying pressure so He can take you closer to fulfilling your purpose. Take a minute right now to ask God what He is up to in your life...

I'm Coming UP!

I was just talking to Gus this morning and he reminded me of a message I preached a few months back. (Its good to know someone is actually listening!) I decided to make it the topic of this blog. As we stand in this economic climate we need to be reminded that everything that goes down, in the Kingdom, must come up!

Matthew 19:30 (NIV)- But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

Matthew 19:30 (TMNT)- This is the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first.

In this world we understand that what goes up must come down, but the spiritual world is a kingdom of opposites. It’s a world where the last will be first, where the poor say they are rich and the weak say they are strong. It’s a world where in order to get you have to give, and to increase you must decrease. It’s a world where his strength is made perfect in our weakness. It’s a kingdom that if you want to go up you have to go down. Though you walk through the fire you will not be burned…. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death you will have no fear… In this world you will have trouble, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world! And everything that goes down is destined to come up. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy’s coming in the morning! The very fact that you are down is an indication that you are on your way back up!

2 Corinthians 4:7 (TMNT) If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. ⁸ As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We've been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, ⁹ but we know that God knows what to do; we've been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we've been thrown down, but we haven’t broken.

Romans 8:35 (NIV) Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

You may be going down right now, but hold on for a minute, cause your on your way back up with more power and energy that you have ever had before.

Pastor James, why do I have to go down in order to go up, that’s a great question, I’m glad you asked it! Newton's first law: law of inertia- Every body perseveres in its state of being at rest… except insofar as it is compelled to change its state by force impressed. In other words, we are will remain just like we are until the pressure to change becomes greater than the desire to stay where we are. Only when we are allowed to fall to the bottom do we then create the pressure to cause change in our lives.

Newton's third law: law of reciprocal actions- For an action there is always an equal and opposite reaction… The pressure that is created in our lives that pushes us down is not just creating pressure, but also momentum. But remember for every action, the pressure pushing us down, there is an equal and opposite reaction, the momentum that will carry us higher than we were to begin with.

If I were bouncing a ball, the harder I try to push that ball down, the faster and higher is comes back at me. I can push as hard as I want, that ball is still going to respond to the pressure and bounce back to me faster than I push it down. Its like those power balls you get out of the dispenser at Wal-Mart. You can throw them down as hard as you want, but they will keep on bouncing back.

Anybody ever seen one of those things when you were a kid that when you hit it, it lays way over and bounces back up, cause its weighted at the bottom? No matter how hard you hit it, it always bounces right back up. Somebody needs to get a bounce back in their spirit. Somebody needs to look life in the face and say you may hit me and knock me down, but I have to go down in order to come back up.

I may be down now, but I am on my way back up. I may have fallen down one more time, but I have a bounce back in my spirit and I’m on my way back up! Tell ‘em, I’m like George and Wheezy, "Baby, I moving on up…"

There’s a song by the great American Theologian, Rodney Adkins, that says, If you're going through hell, keep on going, don't slow down, if you're scared, don't show it. You might get out before the devil even knows you're there. If you're going through hell, keep on moving, face that fire, walk right through it. You might get out before the devil even knows you're there

It’s time for someone today to make their mind up that you will not quit. I will not give up! I might be down, but everything that goes down, MUST come up!