Our Burden Bearer

Psalm 55:22

Cast you burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved.



God is the One Who Bears Our Burdens.



The word burden is from an Old English word that means to carry a load or weight.



Three important questions:

Are you carrying any burdens?

If you are carrying burdens what are they?

What can you do to get rid of your burdens?



The first two questions no one can answer for you. I will share a burden that I carried for years. My burden was great fear that I had in my life. The fear was a fear of failing. I was obsessed with success so much that I would not try anything that I was not very sure that I would succeed at. If I didn’t feel like I had succeeded, I would lie to make it at least sound like I succeeded. I would feel discouraged when I didn’t feel like I had succeeded and I rarely felt like I had. There came a point in my life when I was gripped by that fear. I slept for several months in the living room with the television on to try and drown out the fearful thoughts in my mind.



The three question, “What can you do to get rid of your burdens?” God answers for us in His Word. 



First, we have to humbly cast.



1 Peter 5:6-7

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because He cares for you.



Jesus cares for us and when we acknowledge we cannot carry the burden or overcome the fear, and we give the burden to Jesus, He will take it and release us from it.



Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is casting our burdens, whatever there are on Jesus and knowing He will take them.



Second, we have to recognize who our enemy is and what he is trying to do.



1 Peter 5:8

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.



Jesus is on our side. Satan is not; he is our adversary. We have to be sober-minded, collected in spirit. We need to not let the burden that our adversary has put on us control our lives. We also need to be watchful. We need to understand what our adversary is trying to do by controlling our lives with burdens. He is trying to destroy us. 



Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is seeing who our adversary really is and seeing what he is trying to do.



Third, let go of the burden because it is hindering us from living life as God created us to live it.



Hebrews 12:1

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.



We let go of the burdens that weigh us down and live life with a God-given endurance. Life is a gift from God and we are to live life as a gift from God. It will have its burdens and difficult times, but if we view them as opportunities to grow, God will use them.



Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is living life as a gift from God even with its burdens.



Fourth, rejoice in Jesus.



Philippians 4:4

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice.



We experience the joy by rejoicing in Jesus and by focusing on His love for us and on the gifts He gives us. We lose the joy by focusing on what we don’t have and on the burdens.



Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is focusing on the good gifts Jesus gives us and rejoicing in Him.



Fifth, pray and let God’s peace rule in our lives.



Philippians 4:5-7

Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.



Turn your anxieties, your burdens, into prayer with a grateful attitude and God’s peace will guard your heart and mind. God’s peace is greater than any burden we will face in life. God through prayer will turn the anxiety into peace.



Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is trusting God through prayer and experiencing His peace.



God is our Burden Bearer. Turn your burdens, your fears, your anxieties over to Him.



In God’s Power Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                         Joe

The God of Preseverance

In June of 1975 I started serving Jesus through His local church. That has been forty-six and half years. There have been times when I felt like quitting and giving up. I never did, I have persevered, not because of me and my great persevering spirit, but because of God.



God is a God of Perseverance. He does not give up on us and He gives us the empowering to persevere.



Galatians 6:9

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.



When we trust that God will use us, then we are willing to continue to serve God no matter what our circumstances or our emotions.



The key in seeing a spiritual harvest is our willingness to make ourselves available to God and His powerful work through us.



Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is trusting God to work no matter what the circumstances look or feel like.



Acts 1:8

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.



Notice the word highlighted, “will”, not might or could or should. The power will come upon us as the Holy Spirit fills us and it will make us effective witnesses.



A witness is not someone who produces change in another person. A witness is a person who shares the truth about Jesus and leaves the result to the Holy Spirit. We witness and God transforms. That means if we are faithful to be witnesses, then we have done what God has called us to do.



I don’t feel like giving up when everything does not go as I thought it would. I trust God and His promise of power.



Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is trusting God’s promises and depending on them.



Matthew 28:18

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.”



Jesus has all authority. Jesus’ authority is far above any other authority in all creation. Jesus is sovereign and supreme over everything and everybody. I live based on Jesus’ authority, not my own or any other human authority.



When I am tempted to give up, I remember that what God directs me to do, He has the authority to accomplish.



Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is living and operating under Jesus’ authority.



Matthew 28:20

Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.



Before Jesus ascends to His Father, He promises to always be with His disciples.



In Hebrews 13:5b it says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Jesus promises that no matter the circumstances He will never leave us alone or forsaken in difficult times.



God never leaves us alone.

God never forsakes us.

God never ignores us.



Psalm 139:17-18

How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I’m still with you.



God’s thoughts are always focused on us.

God’s presence is always with us.



Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is experiencing the reality of God’s presence, power, love, and grace in our lives every day.



In Jesus we have the power to face difficult situations and even difficult seasons in our lives and not give up, but to persevere and experience victory.

With Jesus in God-Powered Perseverance

Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

Joe

The God Who Satisfies

Psalm 107:8-9

Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love, for His wondrous works to the children of man! For He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul He fills with good things.



God is the God who satisfies.



So, do you find yourself unsatisfied with things in your life? If you do, you’re in good company because dissatisfaction is part of the human condition. The answer to our condition of being dissatisfied is God.



God reminds us in the Bible that satisfaction is not found in amassing stuff. Satisfaction is an internal condition of the heart. Our satisfaction is possible only to the extent that we have a personal relationship with the Lord.



So, how can I learn to be satisfied with what I have?



Three Principles for Experiencing Real Satisfaction



Principle #1: I will be satisfied to the extent that I see everything I have as a gift from God.



The truth is that everything we have is a gift from God.



James 1:17

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights.



Solomon had every earthly thing that a person could aspire to have. He had wealth, power, position, and fame.



In Ecclesiastes 2:11 Solomon says, “Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toll I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.”



Plumb is a Christian rock band that has a song called God Shaped Hole. The chorus of that song says, “There’s a God-shaped hole in all of us. And the restless soul is searching. There’s a God-shaped hole in all of us. And it’s a void only He can fill.”

This hole in the human heart can only be filled by a relationship with God. We have to see that it is God and Him alone who fills our life with good gifts.



Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is seeing everything we have is a gift from God and receiving it from Him.



Principle #2: I will be satisfied to the extent that I notice what is going on in the lives of others.



This is not a form of comparison but of observation.



When I was involved in a jail ministry, I was concerned that I would not be able to identity with them because I had not experienced being in jail. When I began doing the ministry, I found that the only difference in these men and myself was that they were in orange jumpsuits and not able to leave. I shared with them the same concerns, struggles, and temptations. Except by the grace of God, there I would be.



Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 3:16, “Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and that in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness.”



All people sin.

All people make mistakes.

All people fail.



The more we notice the needs and sins of others and give ourselves and our resources to helping meet those needs, the more we reflect the character of God and the more satisfaction with what we have in life.



Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is finding our satisfaction in serving the Lord by serving others.



Principle #3: I will be satisfied to the extent that I trust God during times of distress.



There is a weird connection between anxiety and satisfaction.



Several years ago, they found a lump in wife’s breast. The surgery was scheduled. The day arrived and we went to the hospital and they took her back do the surgery. They returned in a few minutes and told us that when they did the imaging, it was not there. We went from great anxiety to great gratitude and satisfaction.



True satisfaction is connected with my perspective.



In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 Paul says, “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”



As I give thanks to the Lord no matter what is going on in my life, I am demonstrating a grateful and satisfied heart.



Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is giving thanks to God in all circumstances.



Solomon ends Ecclesiastes with Ecclesiastes 12:13 which says, “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”



True satisfaction will be found in a personal, intimate relationship with God and in that only.



In Relationship with God Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                                Joe

Jesus Is According to John Chapter 1

One of the things that is discussed by many of the Jewish people in all four Gospels is exactly who Jesus is. In the Gospel of John, we are given an in-depth look at who Jesus is.



John 1:1-2

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.

Jesus is the Word and the Word was God.

Jesus existed in the beginning, not because He had a beginning as a creature, but because He is eternal. He is God.



Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is knowing and serving Jesus as the eternal God.



John 1:3

All things were made through Him, and without Him, was not anything made that was made.



Jesus is the eternal Creator.



Everything that exists was created through Jesus. He is not a created being; He is the Creator. The verb “was made” is a perfect tense verb which means it is a completed act. Creation is a finished product. Jesus is still at work in His creation but creation itself is finished.



Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is knowing Jesus as our Creator.



John 1:4

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.



Jesus is life.



Jesus is the source of all life, physical and spiritual. The word used for life is the Greek word zoe. It means life in all its fullness.



In Acts 17:28 Paul says that in Jesus we live and move and have our being. Paul is saying Jesus is not only the source of our lives, but that our everyday life is in Him.



Jesus is the source of life, our daily life is in Him, and that life is life in all of the fullness that God can give us.



Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is experiencing Jesus in our daily lives and experiencing the fullness of His life in us.



John 1:12-13

But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.



When people receive Jesus into their lives as Savior and Lord, they become children of God, born of the will of God. Jesus is the key to us becoming children of God. We don’t become God’s children because of physical birth or because we will it ourselves. We become God’s children because we accept Jesus’ death and resurrection to pay for our sin and give us victory of sin.



Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is becoming children of God through receiving Jesus as Savior and Lord.



John 1:29

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”



John 1:35-36

The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”



Jesus is the Lamb of God. He as the Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world. Jesus does that by being our sacrifice for sin. He died on Passover as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.



Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is surrendering the authority of your life over to Jesus and trusting His sacrifice to pay your sin debt through His death on the cross.   

When you add up these five truths about who Jesus is, it shows that He is the one and only eternal God.



In and Through Jesus Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                              Joe