If God allows something bad, hard or tough to happen in your life, then you can count on and believe that it is ultimately for His glory.

Life is hard and you can expect to be hurt.  It does not matter how hard you work to avoid it, the plain hard reality is that if you live long enough, then life is going to take a bite.

Often time the hurt and pain will come from those that you have allowed to come the closest to you.

Their closeness is one of the things that hurts so bad.  You just can’t believe they would do or say some of the things they do and say, but they do and there is nothing fun about it!

Most of us have been through this at least once and many of us seem to have it playing like a broken record.

I was reading through my Bible and came across these words of FORGIVESS and FREEDOM that Joseph spoke to his brothers after their mistreatment of him, that took him on a horrible and very difficult journey.

His words help us to understand the attitude that we must posses, if we are to claim, experience and live in the victory that God has for us.

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.”  Genesis 50:20

Others may do what they do to harm you, but if God allows it, then He has a plan to use it all for good.

The good that God wants to use it for, is to bring your life to a place where with and through your life; He can save many for His glory.

Hang in there, trust God and know that He has a plan bigger than anything you could dream or imagine.

A few years ago, my daughter Gracie was desperately wanting to learn to get across the Monkey Bars.  She could get to the first bar, but then that letting go in the swing, so she could grab hold of the next bar was a challenge that she just could not seem to overcome.  I would hold her up and assure her that I would not let her fall, but she still had a very hard time letting go of the bar behind her and grabbing hold of the bar in front of her.

Someone said that “Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward.”  Letting go is hard to do.  We hold on, because we think we are secure.  We hold on because we think it’s what others expect of us.  We hold on for our very own personal reasons.

Live life long enough and you are going to have more than your fair share of painful experiences.  If you want to move forward in life, then you have got to learn how to let go of painful experiences.  It’s not easy, but it’s worth it.  If you get good at letting go while swinging forward, then you will grab hold of the next bar and eventually you will find yourself at a whole new place in life.

Gracie finally made it across and when she did, she was one of the happiest girls in town.  May seem like a little thing, but moving forward is a big thing for all of us.  So let go of your painful experiences and move forward – you will be glad you did!

I want more!  It’s not more of the American Dream I want, I ‘ve had more than enough of that.  I want more of Jesus, more of God and more of the Spirit.  I want more of the supernatural, unexplainable, wonder-working power of my Creator.

I have discovered and I am discovering that real pleasure, happiness and fulfillment flow into and through this life and the next as we learn to surrender to God’s purposes.  And I think the trade we need to make, is a trade worth making.

Here’s a question to think about:  “Are you willing to let go of comfort and satisfaction, so that you can grab hold of risk and adventure?”  This is the trade we have to make, if we want to share in and experience the supernatural.  God’s desire is that we love Him so much that we will make the trade.  God wants us to love one another and others so much, that we will go to extremes to be there for one another.  This trade is the ultimate expression of love – His love for us and our love for Him.

There is a greater vision for each of us to live our lives for.  I can think of no greater vision than the vision of giving my life to the high and holy calling of God revealed in the pages of our Holy Bibles – to live my life, not for self, but for others!

This vision is about so much more than keeping a church alive, simply for the sake of existence.  This is about so much more than going through the motions of ministry, just so we can say we did.  We need to stop making excuses for ourselves and we need to stop providing excuses for others.

Who screwed this up anyway?  Most people will tell you:  “I love Jesus, but not the church.” or “I believe in God, but can’t stand religion.”  Church is not a building.  Church is people.  And if church is messed up, it is because we people have messed it up.  And we people need to get right with our Creator and figure this out!

A big part of our problem is that we use all of the wrong measurements.  We’ve allowed it to become about money, numbers, size or prestige.  Church is about people, hearts, spirits and souls.  May God help us figure this out and allow His Spirit to flow.

Another problem is we have a messed up view of God.  Most of us view God as a benevolent being who is there to bail us out when we can’t bail ourselves out.  Others view God as an egotistical judge, who is just waiting to slap us down for our weak disobedience.  God is the origination, creator and center of everything.  It does not really matter if you accept it or not.  Your acceptance or non-acceptance does not change the reality.  It may change your reality, but it does not change reality.

We need to fix our view of God.  This is not so easy, because the world is continually playing with the way we see and understand things.  To fix our view of God is a continual work in progress.  We can do this.  We need to do this.  So let me ask you a question:  Whatcha Gonna Do?