A little girl asked her father what it was like to die. The dad said, “Well, you know how sometimes you’ve gone to sleep in the car late at night when we’re driving home, and then you wake up the next morning in your own room? I think that’s what it’s like. You go to sleep here and you wake up in the Father’s house in your own room.”

Our resurrection for Jesus will be as easy as rousing someone from sleep. Death is not the end. In John 14 Jesus reassures his followers with these words: “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”(verses 2 and 3)

This is what it means to confess, it means you sincerely agree with God. “God, I watched a movie last night I shouldn’t have.” “Father, I admit I’ve been harboring resentment toward my spouse/friend/co-worker.” “Lord, I’ve been worrying excessively rather than trusting You.” “God, I got irritated and lost my temper.” We need to be specific in asking God to forgive us.

Notice the sequence of events in this verse. First, we freely admit to God, “This is the truth about me. I know you know it and I want you to know I am sorry.” Then, because God is faithful, he forgives our sin and makes us inwardly clean. Does he do that because we’ve earned it? No. Because we deserve it? No. He does it because this is who God is. The whole basis of forgiveness is founded upon the faithfulness of God to keep his word. He is completely reliable. He never breaks a promise. He never fails to come through on something he has promised to do, including forgiving our sins.

A second resource God provides is His Church. Whenever you go through a painful experience chances are there is someone at BSCC who has already gone through the same type of experience. To find comfort you need to humble yourself, open up and share with others how you are hurting. As you do this you give God the chance to work through His church to support you.

I saved the best agent of God’s comfort for last, His Son. In Philippians 2:5 Paul writes, “If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love…” Christ’s love is the greatest comfort of all. Jesus himself wants to encourage and strengthen you in times of heartache and pain.

When you go down into the water in a submarine, they pressurize the cabin. Otherwise,  the pressure on the outside would implode the submarine. When you go through a painful experience, the only way to equalize the pressure on you from the outside is to be filled with Jesus on the inside. Being united with Christ provides you with the inner strength you need so you don’t cave in.

In these words I believe Jesus was teaching us to pray, “God, keep me from unnecessary temptations, from temptations that I bring on myself.” Do you know where you are most likely to stumble spiritually? If you can predict where and when you are most vulnerable to temptation, then you can plan in advance to avoid those circumstances. Here’s 5 questions that are worth reflecting on if you are serious about avoiding temptation.

1. When am I most tempted? I’m talking about the day of the week and the time of the day. There are some patterns that will emerge if you take the time to identify them.

2. Where am I most tempted? Is it at work? Is it at a neighbor’s house. Is it at a sports bar? When you know when and where you are most tempted you can avoid those places or better prepare yourself whenever they are unavoidable.

3. Who is with me when I am most tempted? You need to know who these individuals are so that you can either avoid them or be prayed up and alert when around them.

4. What temporary reward do I feel when I give into temptation? One of the keys to faithfulness is valuing the difference between short-term thrills and long-term   consequences.

5. How do I typically feel when I am most vulnerable to temptation? To avoid temptation you need to know your emotional triggers.

Bruce Wilkinson writes, “Most of us face too many temptations—and therefore sin too often—because we don’t ask God to lead us away from temptation. We make a huge spiritual leap forward, therefore, when we begin to focus less on beating temptation and more on avoiding it.”

In the March 4 message we looked at this verse: 2 Corinthians 10:5 “we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”(NIV) With God’s help you and I can capture fearful, scary, unproductive thoughts. We can put them off to the side and go, “These thoughts are not helping me, so I’m going to box them up and replace them.” It is possible when you’re freaking out because you’re afraid, to discipline your mind in such a way that over time you learn to stay focused on thoughts that are helpful, true and positive.

For me, public speaking was a big fear, it still is at times. I can start to think things like: I might trip and fall on my face as I walk up on the stage; I might have something stuck between my teeth or sticking out of my nose; I might forget what it is that I intend to say. I’ve dreamt that I’ve slept in and missed an entire worship service before or forgot to bring my notes to the stage.

But what I’ve found is that with God’s help you can discipline your mind so that fears don’t control you, harass you or paralyze you. Now when I’m going to be doing some kind of public speaking I remind myself of truths like: How God is with me and He’s the one who speaks into people’s hearts and changes their lives; and how God loves me and all of the people I’ll be speaking to, so he’s going to be helping me and helping others.

At times I’ve found it very helpful to have Tammy or a friend say to me: “Dave, what you’re thinking is coming from fear not faith.” Sometimes when I get afraid I’ll recite this next verse, 2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”(NLT) In Christ, God has given you and me the power to discipline our minds so that we don’t have to give in to foolish, irrational thinking when we are afraid. Instead, we can focus on thoughts that are helpful and enable us to move forward.

In Hebrews 12:2 it says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”(NIV) The question that gave Jesus peace, strength and hope on the cross was the question, “To what end is God working here?” Likewise, when we find ourselves confronted by evil and suffering it is best to concentrate on the question, “God, to what end are you wanting to work this situation out for your glory and for my good?” Listening for God’s answer to this question is where the peace to endure is found.

Try starting each day by praying something like, “Good Morning God, I’m so glad I don’t have to face this new day alone. I’m grateful You love me and will be with me throughout the day. I’m glad you’re a strong, capable God and that You’re going to help me handle whatever life throws at me today.” Then talk with God for a few minutes about what’s on your schedule that day. Take five minutes and concentrate on a little section of Scripture before beginning your work.

As you start your work tell yourself, “I’m going to keep my dialogue with God going while I work because He’s here with me.” As you do this you will find yourself building an awareness of God into your life. Then, when it’s dinner time pause to pray and read a couple verses of Scripture with your family. You can still watch TV and do the other things you like to do in the evening, but take a moment first to connect with God.

Then, when you come to the end of your day thank God for being with you throughout the day. Pause to recognize that you did the day with God, that you were aware of His presence and that you had this ongoing dialogue going on with Him. This is where the faith adventure of following Jesus and growing with Him happens. Happy growing!

When it feels like everybody is walking out on you and abandoning you, that’s when you want to be able to turn to your group and hear them say, “We’re not going anywhere, we’re in this together.” We’re commanded in Galatians 6:2 to “share each other’s troubles and problems.” Being there for one other in the painful moments of life to bear each other’s burdens is an irreplaceable experience in becoming a fully devoted follower of Jesus.

I hope you’re in a group. If not, we’ve got dozens of them getting started over the next couple of weeks. Our fall semester for groups runs from mid September to mid December. Join in as we support and guide each other toward full devotion to Christ.

At the root of a complaining spirit is a refusal to trust in God’s authority and goodness. A complaining spirit says, “Either God does not have my best interest at heart or he is not really in control. I’m going to be bitter and angry about what has happened to me because I don’t think God knows what he’s doing in allowing this to occur.”

Joseph had an incredibly persistent faith in God’s authority and goodness. He waited year after year after year and nothing seemed to go right. But even when he didn’t understand he choose to trust God. He could have said, “Where did my dream get me? Into slavery. Where did my integrity get me? Into prison. Where did my helping others get me? No where. But instead of complaining and grumbling, he fulfilled his responsibilities as best he could while maintaining his integrity. And, we see him trusting in God’s authority. By his actions Joseph says, “I believe God has a plan for my life, a good plan. And, I am going to continue to believe that he is ultimately in control.”  Don’t complain, instead trust that God is both good and sovereign.

Paul shows his maturity here by saying, “May it not be held against them.” How could he say that? He could say it because he had learned that even though he wanted his closest earthly friends standing beside him in this difficult time, he didn’t have to have them there to survive. Through these types of experiences Paul had discovered that he could count on God to show up and meet his deepest needs for strength and support. This is the wonderful hope that walking by faith provides when the focus of our faith is the God of hope.