Have you ever said that?  Have you said that yet you are not even sure that God exists?  Have you ever been in so much pain, physically, mentally or emotionally that you just needed it to stop, to find relief and for someone, anyone, God to make it all go away?

Sometimes we get ourselves in a position due to our decisions that we need rescued from the pain.  Sometimes life happens to us, no fault of our own at the time, where someone else hurts us so much that we just can not take the pain anymore.

I have heard this story in sermons before, today though I am going to explore it a little further.

There was a man, his house was getting surrounded by water, and he was on the second floor.  Sitting there, scared, not sure what to do, he started to pray.  “God if you are there would you please send something to save me, I am scared I need help!”  Soon after he looked out the window and saw a big tree or log floating by, it came right up to the window and even seemed to slow down.  The man watched it float by.

Soon the water started to rise again and the man had to make his way to the roof.  The man was getting very scared and nervous by now.  He cried out to God again.  “God if you are listening, I know you are all powerful, I know you save people, would you PLEASE save me?!”   Soon after the man prayed, a small boat came by with a man in it.  The man in the boat called out to the man on the roof.  “Come on! Get in! The water is rising you don’t have much time!”  The man on the roof yelled back, “That is ok God is going to save me!”

Soon the water was so high that it had all but covered the roof.  The man was on the highest point on the roof, the water lapping at his feet.  He was terrified at this point and cried out to God again.  “GOD, are you listening! Do you see me?  I need you to save me! Please save me! I know I have to believe in you and have faith in your power and I do, I do Please Show your power and Save me!”   Soon after the man saw a helicopter flying towards him and the helicopter seemed to be hovering over his area.  He didn’t move a muscle, just sat there.  The helicopter pilot seemed to look right at him but the man did nothing.

Of course the water kept rising and the man on the roof died.  He approached heavens’ gates and was upset with God.  He asked if he could speak to God about this situation.  He asked “God, why didn’t you save me? I asked you to save me!”  God said “Sir, I sent you a log right up to your window but you watched it float away.  I sent you a man in a boat but you turned him away.  Then I sent you a helicopter, the pilot looked right at you but you did not wave back.  I sent you three different ways to save you.  I listened to your prayers, I answered them.”

Those of you that have heard this story, yes I know, I might have missed some details or added some, but the story has the same meaning.

Now lets look at this story a little more.

Some of us admit there is a God and yet we do not believe in His power.

Some of us know God and His Power.  Some of us do not know God even though we think we do because we are always looking for Him to save us in a grand miraculous way!  Sure God can and will and has worked like that but it is up to us to recognize the help when we see it.

So the log, the big tree that came up to the window, why did the man not want to take that way out?  Was it because it wasn’t grand enough? Was it because he didn’t want to jump into the water to catch the log?  Was it because it was too messy and it would take too long for this “rescue method” to work?  Was it because he figured if God is going to save me I don’t have to get wet or messy and I would not have to work for it by hanging on to a log!?  Isn’t that how we are? We don’t want to have to get wet or messy in our own rescue.  We don’t want to have to do the hard work to get ourselves out of the mess we are in.  We don’t want to have to wait a long time for the situation to be over, we want it over now.  We don’t want to have to work for it.

The boat, the boat had a man that was willing to help the man on the roof get to safety.  There are people that come with a boat in your life, that are willing to help, that are willing to help us get to safety faster, that seem to have the answer yet you turn them away.  You may listen, you may smile, you may be polite, yet you say no…I know God is going to save me I don’t need your help.  I don’t need your insight, your answers, and your boat.  Even though God is sending people in your life to give you help you turn them away.  Why? Is it still not fast enough? May you get a little wet by getting in the boat? Is that it is too hard to admit that you need help? Are you still looking for that immediate fix?

Oh now the helicopter, the fast way out! The powerful way out! You will get help as soon as possible with an army behind you!  Oh but that isn’t good enough?  That is too much work? Or was the man too scared because the first step would be scary as he would have to give over control to someone else that is helping him out of his terrible situation.  Or was he so stubborn that he could not see that God was sending him the best rescue yet but the man was looking for a miracle, just move me from this roof to safety with no other help like magic! Bam! I am all better because I asked for you to help me!  The man could not see for whatever reason that the helicopter would be the fastest way to rescue and he would have a whole army of people in his corner, he would have the most powerful way of getting rescued with the most powerful people to save him and help him afterwards.

You may think, how silly of that man to not see his way out.  However, aren’t we like that? Aren’t you like that?  There is something going on, you need help, you don’t know what you are going to do to get better or get out of this situation you put yourself in and there is a glimmer of hope.  That hope though is going to require you to get messy, to get wet, to do some real work and to hang on until you get to safety.  Oh, that takes too long, that is what I wanted. So you bury your pain in sex, drinking, drugs, money, drama?  Then you realize you are worse off and again you seek help.  God sends people in your life that offer you a way out, a way to get where you are going faster, that care and love you because God has loved them.  They are willing to use what they have to help you, they are willing to do whatever they can to help you get to where you will be safe.  But, you smile and wave and say oh that is ok, I will be alright, thinking no they don’t understand, they will ask me what is really going on, they will want to know how I got myself here, they will judge me, it will take too long to get safe, I don’t want them to use what they have to help me, no I will be fine.  So you go back to whatever takes your pain away and it doesn’t so you do more and more to just shut up the voices, to bury that pain even further.  Then the Big Helicopter comes!  You see it coming; you know that is your way out! You understand that there is a powerful, immediate way to safety.  The Pilot is looking right at you!  No I can’t take that way out, no I am not worthy of it.  No it can’t be for me, you start listening to other things, you know, you see Him, but for some reason you just can’t accept it.  Why?  What makes this not for you?  What makes God’s rescue out of your life not for you? Are you too scared to take the first step?  Are you too scared to give control of your life to someone else?  What is holding you back?

Do not let life swallow you up like flood waters!  Do not let the log, the boat and the helicopter pass you by!  Yes you might get messy and wet and have to hang on to the log but it will be so worth it when you are whole again!  Yes the people in your life might not have a clue what you have or are going through but God sent them to you anyway, maybe just maybe they will understand even though they haven’t experienced it and loves you anyway and will help you get whole again.  Yes the helicopter can be a scary first step. Yes giving control of your life to someone else that is much more powerful is hard, but you see God will not let you slip, God will hold you up and He has an army of angels and people there to help you after he rescues you!  God made you, He breathed life into you, He created you for this time, for a purpose, to live your life now! He wants you to live! We all fall, we all need rescuing; do not let the log, the boat or the helicopter pass you by! Choose to life!

Melissa Wilder

I’m such a geek that about 3 years ago I started keeping a list of all the westerns I’ve seen on imdb.com. I’m up to 54 so far, that I can remember. If you don’t think that makes me a geek then know that I have also watched them on my laptop sitting in bed and on my phone during my lunch hour at work. I even wrote part of this post on my phone. I really enjoy technology and Netflix.

I enjoy watching them with my boys, and sometimes the girls join in. It is Westerns at the Wilder’s about once a month and we all watch on the TV. The latest one I’ve seen is also an old John Wayne flick, “Angel and the Badman” from 1947. I’m looking forward to seeing the 2009 remake with Lou Diamond Phillips.

One of the scenes at the beginning of the move is a close up of a plaque hanging on the wall with this Quaker saying “Each human being has an integrity that can be hurt only by the act of that same human being and not by the act of another human being.”

That got me thinking about integrity. Specifically about integrity vs. christian integrity. Is there a difference? Can you have one without the other? Can you claim to be a christian and not have integrity?

We live in an age where the being a christian is synonymous with hypocrisy, not integrity. Preachers and politicians who are upheld to higher standards have fallen when it comes to their integrity.

The dictionary definition of integrity is – adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty. With that definition you might judge a man’s integrity by how well he can stand by those moral and ethical principles. You might have heard it said that Character is doing the right thing when nobody’s looking.

How well do you stack up? The truth is – it’s impossible to be perfect. No matter how hard you try to measure up to that perfect mark of integrity you think you have to meet. You will always fall, I will always fall.

Romans 3:23 says “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  Have you tried to keep the Ten Commandments? You shouldn’t lie, Honor your mother and father. those two should be the easiest to keep right? I have failed, and if your honest with yourself you have failed as well.

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death.”  The one and only perfect God demands a penalty (consequence) for our sin, which is death. Eternal death is separation from God forever in a place called Hell. (Yes it is real, and it wont be a party) God is a just God, and He demands punishment for every sin. Justice is getting what we deserve, because of our sin, we deserve death. The same as a judge would punish a murderer. In God’s eyes sin is sin, it’s all equal. Our lie is the same as another mans murder.

 Ok, I’m not all full of bad news, here is the good news.

Even though we will fall short, God still loves us. He has made a way for us to spend eternity with him in heaven. Even though we screw up, He still wants us to be with him. God sent his son Jesus to earth, to be born as a baby and live as a man. In the flesh just like you and I, God himself walked this earth in his son Jesus. He was the only one to ever live who was perfect. Who did not sin, even though he was temped in every way that we are.

That perfect man, Jesus, who never sinned paid the penalty for our sins. Everything we have every done wrong, and will do wrong, Jesus paid the penalty for us. He was executed on a cross for crimes he did not commit. Think about that judge here on earth, that would punish a murderer with the death penalty, had a son. During the sentencing of that murderer, a death sentence, the judges son stepped in and willingly took the murderers death sentence. Jesus willingly did the same for us. Because Jesus took our penalty of a death sentence, we can spend forever with God in heaven.

 So what do we have to do to benefit from the sacrifice that Jesus made? Give away all our money, sell everything and go volunteer at a homeless shelter for the rest of our lives? It can be as easy as A B C

A. Admit to God you have sinned, that you have screwed up. Ask God to forgive you.

B. Believe that Jesus is the Son of God and died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins. Believe that he was alive again on the third day.

C. Commit your life to Jesus and strive to make him the master of your life.

If you have done that, let me know. I want to send you some information to help you get to know God better and make Jesus the master of your life. Find me on Facebook or Twitter, or email jeremy@thelifesong.org

It really doesn’t taste that good anyway.

Old shoes might be good for the puppy, but not for baby brother.

Who?

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I avoided it for a while because so many were writing about it. This says it all, I couldn’t say it any better. Watch it, think about it, pray about it, where are you in the picture?

www.twitter.com\jeremyis2nd

Act like a clown, don’t make the baby look like one.

Be Real,

Jeremy

www.twitter.com\realstudents

God doesn’t use Twitter, but I wish he did. Wouldn’t it be nice to know what is on God’s mind in regards to your life? or what he thinks about our government? current events, or anything we care about. I found this comic last week and hopefully it doesn’t suggest to you that God doesn’t care about you or what goes on in your life.

God does care about you. Read Luke 12:6-7

6 “What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. 7 And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.

God cares enough about you that he gave us his word in the Bible. The 40th President Ronald Reagan said this about the Bible. ” Inside the Bible’s pages lie the answers to all the problems that mankind has ever known. I hope Americans will read and study the Bible. The Bible can touch our hearts, order our minds, and refresh our souls.“

God may not use Twitter, but we can know his heart by reading his word in the Bible. Jesus would be the King of Twitter. He could say more in 140 characters than anyone who has ever lived. Check it out, read any of the four gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Do you want daily scripture in a tweet, follow @esvdaily

So how do you use Twitter? Let me know in a comment, or follow me on Twitter and send me a Tweet.

www.twitter.com\jeremyis2nd

That is a question that will make you think. It is July and the year is half over, so you still have time left to make some really good decisions.  I can’t take credit for this question, it comes from a blog that I read by Mark Batterson, pastor of National Community Church in Washington DC. Here is his blog post:

______________________________________________________________

I love the Bible

If someone asked me: what is the BEST DECISION you’ve made this year? It’s an easy answer. The decision to read through a one-year Bible.

Honestly, I’m falling in love with the Bible all over again. It’s the most inspirational book ever written because it was inspired by God himself. It’s the best sin deterrent I know of. And it’s the way you carry on a daily conversation with God. I’m not sure who said this first but it’s so true: when you close the Bible God closes His mouth and when you open the Bible God opens His mouth.

Nuff said.

_______________________________________________________________

What about you? Is this a challenge you are up for in the final six months of 2009? Are you ready to hear from God in 2009? Sure it can be scary to think of, but it can be a great ride. Don’t have a bible, check out YouVersion a great new site that helps you read through the bible and offers 16 english translations, and even an apps for your iPhone, Blackberry and a mobile web version. Any way you can read the Bible is great. Go ahead and put the Bible  on your phone.

2 Timothy 3:15 – 17 (The Message)

15 … There’s nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.16 Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way.17 Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.

So leave comment and let me know what your answer is.

What is the BEST DECISION you have made this year?

Be Real,

Jeremy

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