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Sunday, November 14, 2010

9. Happy Endings?

Psalm 128:  How joyful are those who fear the Lord, all who follow His ways!  You will enjoy the fruit of your labor.  How joyful and prosperous you will be!  Your wife will be like a fruitful grapevine, flourishing within your home.  Your children will be like vigorous young olive trees as they sit around your table.  That is the Lord’s blessing for those who fear Him.  May the Lord continually bless you from Zion.  May you see Jerusalem prosper as long as you liveMay you live to enjoy your grandchildren.  May Israel have peace!


I have thought a lot about what a happy ending to my story would look like.  As a human being, whenever there’s loss, a happy ending would include restoration and reconciliation.  So naturally after a divorce and separation from my family, a happy ending, to me, would have re-marriage to my ex-wife and the family restored. 

My failures also let down my Father in heaven.  But as God has taken a hold of me and awakened my spirit, He has delivered me, changed me and drawn me to Him in every part of my life, which constitutes a happy ending for sure!

We have all read books and seen movies that have a typical happy ending.  About four months after free falling to the bottom, at the request of several friends, I saw the movie “Fireproof.”  The movie deals with self centeredness, selfishness and addiction by a married man to a point that his marriage is near divorce.  After being confronted and challenged with a 40 day “Love Dare,” the man completely changes his life.  Through prayer and actions, his marriage is restored.  The end of the movie shows him at his office, which is a firehouse, and his wife shows up to surprise him and the scene becomes one of the happiest endings you can imagine.  I admit several times during the film tears flowed down my cheeks.

Yes a happy ending would include reconciliation of the people I love most in my life.  But a joyful life includes really knowing that I am different on the inside because of what Jesus has done and not because of who I am or what I’ve done.  And there is Peace in that! 

Being able to share my story with others about how God has continually shown Himself to me seems to encourage them as much as it reminds me that He is always there. 

One area that God has restored in ways I could never have dreamed of is my work in ministry.  Previous to bottoming out, we had a small group that met at our home, and I was on the drama team and sound team at church.  Those ministries had been removed because of my sin.  After two years of healing and growth service in the church has been restored!  PLUS I work for a national radio ministry that reaches millions of people a week.  Never did I think it would be possible to be a part of God’s Kingdom work to that degree! That is incredible evidence that He restores!

So let’s look at the happy ending of Psalm 128.  It closes with the words “May Israel have peace!”  Two words in this four word sentence have major significance.  Those words are “Israel” and “peace.”  In the Old Testament the people of Israel were God’s chosen people.  He freed them from the slavery in Egypt and led them to the Promised Land.  Their deliverance though didn’t come without a lot of detours, wandering and disobedience.  But God’s chosen people finally did make it to the Promised Land. 

After Jesus came, taught and gave His life for all men, women and children, we became Israel.  All who have accepted Christ as Lord are now God’s people.  So may all of God’s people have peace.

Once again peace is a word that doesn’t really mean free from conflict.  When you look up the synonyms of peace you find…calm, quiet, stillness, tranquility, silence, harmony and serenity.  Peace is an inner feeling.  I like the word content.  Paul says in Philippians 4:11-13
 “Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have.  I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything.  I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.  For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” 

He’s talking about how the gifts of the Philippians have helped him, but he has learned to be content or at peace with whatever he has or doesn’t have.
Just before talking about the gifts, Paul encourages the Philippians to keep their eyes and minds on Christ to receive His peace when he says in verses 8 and 9 of chapter 4,
“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing.  Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable.  Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.  Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing.  Then the God of peace will be with you.” 

I can’t think of a better way to be at peace with or content with life’s circumstances than to keep my thoughts on what is true, and honorable and right and pure and lovely and admirable. 

Remember life cannot be about performance!  Especially not the Christian life.  If you base it on performance, you will be extremely disappointed and probably angry at God most of the time.  It goes back to the condition of the heart.  How is your relationship with your Heavenly Father?  Does Jesus lead your life everyday?  I’m not talking about Sunday morning and, or Wednesday night.  I’m talking about every single day!  At home, at work, at school, on the road…everywhere!  It seems as though most of us, when we get into the driver’s seat of a car, become a different creature.  Why is that?  Because we want control.  It’s all about “me.”  When somebody won’t speed up, they’re preventing “me” from getting where I need to be sooner.  If they pull in front of me, they are hindering “me.”  Behind the wheel of a car, it’s always all about me.  How about saying a prayer before we get going.  Start the engine and say, “Lord, you know the kind of person I am.  You know the frustration I have when I’m driving and others aren’t driving up to my expectations.  Help me let go and let You take us on this trip.  Keep us safe and let me have no expectations of other drivers.  Jesus You take my heart and my attitude.”  I think that could make a huge difference in our character even in the everyday life of driving to work, or wherever we may go. 

It’s my belief that we cannot be a successful man or woman of God unless we give Him our entire life!  Offer up our physical, emotional, spiritual life along with our thought life.  He must have all of me and all of you to be able to bless us the way He wants to!

And He does want to bless His people in a big way!  One of the hardest things about the written word is you can’t hear the tone of voice I am using.  I am saying these things with so much love, but I’m saying these things very emphatically…please don’t wait until you have to hit bottom, to look up and see how much God wants all of you and wants to bless all of you.

Notice the last thing in the psalm.  “May Israel have peace!”  It’s an exclamation point.  That wasn’t put there on accident or per chance.  He wants you to have that peace that only He can give!  The psalmist couldn’t say it with any more emotion than that.

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