Bro. Hughes observes that many of the messages he preaches have to do with dealing with trouble. The reason is that all of us will encounter trying situations no matter who we are. We do not have to be a bad person for trouble come into our life. When we look at our world and the state of our society we quickly come to the conclusion that we are all in trouble. Trouble is everywhere and it is overwhelming. It floods our minds and thinking and overwhelms our emotions. In our text, Habakkuk was struggling with problems. He was puzzled and could not understand what God was doing and what He was allowing to happen to Israel. He could not understand how God would allow Israel to be threatened as it was. In such a state of mind Habakkuk went to pray. He sought to understand, he was looking for encouragement and he needed a word for his people from the Lord. He recalled that God had delivered Israel from great peril and danger in the past. If He did it once, He will do it again. No matter what it looks like right now, it is not over until God says it is over. Habakkuk offers his prayer, and in verse three God answers by moving. God is coming. He is coming to our problem. He has heard our prayer and He is coming. God’s power is greater than our problem. God is coming to where we are to address our problem and nothing is going to stop Him. Our unbelief, our doubt, our sin is not going to stop Him. By His coming he restates His profound interest in all of us. He cares about us. He loves His people. God is coming; That is a good word for a bad day.

God wants us to succeed in life. Many people were brought up thinking that God was just waiting for them to step out of line so that He could strike them down. This is unfortunate, because it is not true. The bible is full of examples of how God wants us to have life and live it more abundantly. Our text is one of those examples. In it Paul writing to Timothy advises that if we keep the doctrine and take care of our life being an example to others, not only will we save ourselves, but we will have a affect on the lives of others around us. Bro. Hughes tells us that if we take control of life, we can save ourselves as well as others. The bible uses the words “take heed.” Using our modern vernacular, we need to pay attention to ourselves. We are all where we are because of decisions we have made in life. No one else is responsible for the decisions we have made and therefore are not at fault for our lives. The blood of Jesus can save us from anything except for one thing. The blood of Jesus cannot save us from our selves. Our greatest enemy is not Satan it is our self. If we want our life to be better we must get control of our selves because all that God wants to do will be for naught if we do not save our selves. Paul admonishes Timothy to be mindful of his words, his conduct, his spirit, and moral priorities. There is a rule of life what when we take control or ourselves, we are putting our selves in a place where God can bless us and bless those around us. When we heed Paul’s advise to Timothy we secure blessings not only for ourselves, but also for those around us. The advice he offers seems contrary to normal church teaching. However, if we save ourselves first, we will be in a position to bless others.

God wants us to succeed in life. Many people were brought up thinking that God was just waiting for them to step out of line so that He could strike them down. This is unfortunate, because it is not true. The bible is full of examples of how God wants us to have life and live it more abundantly. Our text is one of those examples. In it Paul writing to Timothy advises that if we keep the doctrine and take care of our life being an example to others, not only will we save ourselves, but we will have a affect on the lives of others around us. Bro. Hughes tells us that if we take control of life, we can save ourselves as well as others. The bible uses the words “take heed.” Using our modern vernacular, we need to pay attention to ourselves. We are all where we are because of decisions we have made in life. No one else is responsible for the decisions we have made and therefore are not at fault for our lives. The blood of Jesus can save us from anything except for one thing. The blood of Jesus cannot save us from our selves. Our greatest enemy is not Satan it is our self. If we want our life to be better we must get control of our selves because all that God wants to do will be for naught if we do not save our selves. Paul admonishes Timothy to be mindful of his words, his conduct, his spirit, and moral priorities. There is a rule of life what when we take control or ourselves, we are putting our selves in a place where God can bless us and bless those around us. When we heed Paul’s advise to Timothy we secure blessings not only for ourselves, but also for those around us. The advice he offers seems contrary to normal church teaching. However, if we save ourselves first, we will be in a position to bless others.

Contrary winds come from many sources and can have a great affect on lives. Our text is set on the Sea of Galilee, which is about 600 feet below the Mediterranean Sea. This severe elevation change caused violent and unpredictable storms and winds to sweep over the water. The men in the boat were all skilled fishermen and knew how to handle themselves on the water. Even these experienced strong men were at the mercy of these contrary winds. These winds represent the strong, powerful, and merciless forces that come against our lives. These winds oppose our progress in life and seek to frustrate the labor of sincere people. Contrary winds will blow in each person’s life to oppose the effort of good people to follow the will of God. Our story is about His disciples. They were on a journey on which He had sent them. This story illustrates that good men will find strong opposition to accomplishing His will even with their best efforts. The bible says they were toiling against these contrary winds. They were not making much headway, but yet they continued to row. Bro. Hughes observes of this text, that we need to be more careful about how we judge other lives. We do not know the contrary winds that people have had to toil against just to get to where they are. It is only about 12 miles across the sea, but even after rowing all night against the wind, they were only about half way across. It is easy to look at someone and think that they need to be further along than they are. However the disciples toiled all night, but were only a short distance across the Sea of Galilee. This story should make all of us a little more merciful and less judgmental. When we understand contrary winds it will make us judge less harshly, love more deeply and give more freely and become what Jesus was: A comfort to people facing their own contrary winds.

Contrary winds come from many sources and can have a great affect on lives. Our text is set on the Sea of Galilee, which is about 600 feet below the Mediterranean Sea. This severe elevation change caused violent and unpredictable storms and winds to sweep over the water. The men in the boat were all skilled fishermen and knew how to handle themselves on the water. Even these experienced strong men were at the mercy of these contrary winds. These winds represent the strong, powerful, and merciless forces that come against our lives. These winds oppose our progress in life and seek to frustrate the labor of sincere people. Contrary winds will blow in each person’s life to oppose the effort of good people to follow the will of God. Our story is about His disciples. They were on a journey on which He had sent them. This story illustrates that good men will find strong opposition to accomplishing His will even with their best efforts. The bible says they were toiling against these contrary winds. They were not making much headway, but yet they continued to row. Bro. Hughes observes of this text, that we need to be more careful about how we judge other lives. We do not know the contrary winds that people have had to toil against just to get to where they are. It is only about 12 miles across the sea, but even after rowing all night against the wind, they were only about half way across. It is easy to look at someone and think that they need to be further along than they are. However the disciples toiled all night, but were only a short distance across the Sea of Galilee. This story should make all of us a little more merciful and less judgmental. When we understand contrary winds it will make us judge less harshly, love more deeply and give more freely and become what Jesus was: A comfort to people facing their own contrary winds.

Our text is one of the most amazing stories chronicled in scripture. Saul had fallen in battle and David was coming into power. He remembered his predecessor. Saul had not always been kind to him, but even so, David respected and honored Saul and ask if there were any left of his court that could be honored. A servant was found to explained that there was one who remained. This young man was crippled. Mephivosheth had enjoyed a blessed life living in Saul’s house but his life changed quickly as his family tried to escape Jerusalem to escape what the family was sure to be the wrath of David. Mephibosheth’s spent years hiding and dealing with the physical change of becoming crippled. He was about to experience a grace that he had never known. Our text shows the beginning of a quest to find him in his place of hiding and an effort to extend a grace and courtesy. Like Mephibosheth, we cannot imagine or understand the effect of the grace that comes to us.

Bro. Hughes offers his observations about grace. Grace remembers us. Others may walk away and leave us, but grace never will. Grace is not afraid to come into our hell in order to take us into His heaven. Where we cannot, grace can. Grace may find a wounded man who cannot function, but grace does not turn away. Grace picks us up and takes us to where we need to be. Grace changes us; it can make a difference in our lives. Mephibosheth let go of his crippledness and he came into the place where the king wanted him to be. We may have lost a lot of things in life, but grace restores. Grace introduces us to what we are born to be. When we think about what grace has brought to us, kept us from, helped us over come and where it is taking us that we cannot help but be amazed.

Our text is one of the most amazing stories chronicled in scripture. Saul had fallen in battle and David was coming into power. He remembered his predecessor. Saul had not always been kind to him, but even so, David respected and honored Saul and ask if there were any left of his court that could be honored. A servant was found to explained that there was one who remained. This young man was crippled. Mephivosheth had enjoyed a blessed life living in Saul’s house but his life changed quickly as his family tried to escape Jerusalem to escape what the family was sure to be the wrath of David. Mephibosheth’s spent years hiding and dealing with the physical change of becoming crippled. He was about to experience a grace that he had never known. Our text shows the beginning of a quest to find him in his place of hiding and an effort to extend a grace and courtesy. Like Mephibosheth, we cannot imagine or understand the effect of the grace that comes to us.

Bro. Hughes offers his observations about grace. Grace remembers us. Others may walk away and leave us, but grace never will. Grace is not afraid to come into our hell in order to take us into His heaven. Where we cannot, grace can. Grace may find a wounded man who cannot function, but grace does not turn away. Grace picks us up and takes us to where we need to be. Grace changes us; it can make a difference in our lives. Mephibosheth let go of his crippledness and he came into the place where the king wanted him to be. We may have lost a lot of things in life, but grace restores. Grace introduces us to what we are born to be. When we think about what grace has brought to us, kept us from, helped us over come and where it is taking us that we cannot help but be amazed.

We live in a dark time. We are in a great spiritual conflict. More than just personal problems, we are in an eternal struggle. Bro. Hughes observes from reading the bible, that the settings and cultures may have changed, the base underlying conflict has not changed: light against darkness, truth against lies, good against evil. There is as war going on that affects all of our lives. There is no middle ground in this war. We cannot find a compromise position between good and evil. Unfortunately this battle is not limited to the world, it has infiltrated the church too. The news is full of stories of adultery, financial misdeeds and other breaches in morality within the church. Our text refers back to the children of Israel who escaped Egyptian bondage. God removed them from Egypt in a night, but it took him more than 40 years to get Egypt out of them. It is during this time that our text is set. They were camped near the Promised Land. The Israelites began to interact and engage the Moabite people, which was forbidden by God. God’s punishment was to order the death of every person who had engaged in this sin. This brought Israel to their knees calling out to God. In the midst of this scene, Phinehas stood up and took action that spared action from the wrath of God. The bible does not chronicle what Phineahas said, but Bro. Hughes suggests that if he said anything it was: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Bro. Hughes wants to know: Is there anyone who is willing to stand up and declare ENOUGN IS ENOUGH and take action against the immoral behavior that surrounds us. Our association in the world has caused us to lose our ability to be embarrassed by some things. It is time that someone stood up and said ENOUGH OF UNGODLENSS, ENOUGH OF IMORALITY! Someone to say I don’t want that in my house. I don’t want that in my Church. I don’t want that in my country. The bible tells us that God counted Phinehas’ actions as righteousness. Bro. Hughes asks if we have a Phineahas. Will someone please stand up?

We live in a dark time. We are in a great spiritual conflict. More than just personal problems, we are in an eternal struggle. Bro. Hughes observes from reading the bible, that the settings and cultures may have changed, the base underlying conflict has not changed: light against darkness, truth against lies, good against evil. There is as war going on that affects all of our lives. There is no middle ground in this war. We cannot find a compromise position between good and evil. Unfortunately this battle is not limited to the world, it has infiltrated the church too. The news is full of stories of adultery, financial misdeeds and other breaches in morality within the church. Our text refers back to the children of Israel who escaped Egyptian bondage. God removed them from Egypt in a night, but it took him more than 40 years to get Egypt out of them. It is during this time that our text is set. They were camped near the Promised Land. The Israelites began to interact and engage the Moabite people, which was forbidden by God. God’s punishment was to order the death of every person who had engaged in this sin. This brought Israel to their knees calling out to God. In the midst of this scene, Phinehas stood up and took action that spared action from the wrath of God. The bible does not chronicle what Phineahas said, but Bro. Hughes suggests that if he said anything it was: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Bro. Hughes wants to know: Is there anyone who is willing to stand up and declare ENOUGN IS ENOUGH and take action against the immoral behavior that surrounds us. Our association in the world has caused us to lose our ability to be embarrassed by some things. It is time that someone stood up and said ENOUGH OF UNGODLENSS, ENOUGH OF IMORALITY! Someone to say I don’t want that in my house. I don’t want that in my Church. I don’t want that in my country. The bible tells us that God counted Phinehas’ actions as righteousness. Bro. Hughes asks if we have a Phineahas. Will someone please stand up?

Our text tonight speaks a critical truth. It has been said that the eyes are the windows to the soul. Light comes in through this window. The condition of these windows determines the type and quality of light that gets in. If they are clean and clear, we see things correctly. We make good judgments and decisions. If however, these windows are dirty and smudged, we will make poor judgments and not see things as they truly are and our life will be affected in a negative way. Everything that we see in life depends upon the condition of the eyes. The window of our soul determines how we look at other people and how we handle adversity. When the smoke of life clouds our eyes our view of life changes and we become unappreciative of the blessings we have. Our scripture tells us that if the lens is clouded and dirty, that our life is impaired. When the windows are unclear, morality and truth issues are debated and then become optional. When the eyes are dirty, people begin to justify their actions and standards are allowed to fall away. Jesus stated very clearly in our text. Life can be blessed or cursed depending upon the cleanliness of our eyes.

As he considered this scripture, Bro. Hughes began to wonder, “what darkens the windows of our soul?” Trials can certainly cloud our eyes. Our disadvantages and handicaps can dim our vision. Perhaps the most devastating thing that can darken our eyes is pride. Pride darkens our soul quicker than anything. It is only when we humble ourselves and admit to our faults and failures that we can begin to make progress to resolve the situations.

So how do we clean the windows of our soul? Repentance will clear away the fogginess. Forgiveness will clear the dirt from the eyes. The truth is that as often as we repent, we must forgive. Worship will also clear the lenses that have become clouded. When we begin to worship, our perspective changes. Worship can transform. So the keys to cleaning the windows of life are Repentance, Forgiveness and Worship.