1) Romans 5:3 tells us that we can rejoice when we run into problems. I’ve met many Christians on this journey, but not too many of them rejoice when they encounter problems. Yet, these are the opportunities to see God at work. Most people seem to prefer not having problems at all. That sounds great, but it’s not the right attitude. Remember, this world has its challenges.

2) The reason that encountering problems is an opportunity for rejoicing is because these situations create endurance in us. Stated another way, problems teach us to prevail. There’s not a lot of prevailing required when there’s nothing to overcome.

3) Additionally, because we all claim that we want to be like Jesus, learning to endure and overcome is a part of our character development. The character that is specifically like Jesus. I think too many of us want to be transformed into a Jesus-like figure by eating a magic bean. That’s not really being transformed into the image of Jesus. Transformation comes glory by glory, or victory by victory, as the scripture teaches.

4) The rest of the formula helps us understand that the development of our character to be more like Jesus teaches us to have confident expectation, a hope for what is to come. This will be glorifying to the Lord and result in outcomes that will turn out for good according to His promises.

5) Romans 5:5 opens with this important note, one that we cannot afford to miss. It simply says, “We know how dearly God loves us.” Here is yet another challenge. Many of us know it. We know that God loves us, but we’ve tucked that away somewhere inside of our brain, in some compartment that we don’t visit very often. Therefore, it becomes less and less of a reality. The process the Lord allows us to go through helps us to pull it out of that box in our heart and mind, and realize the power of that truth.

A) As we enter into Matthew 18:7, We read that Jesus makes it clear about causing other people to stumble. No, there is in this specific space, any reason to believe that this is geared towards children. This is geared towards those who believe. Therefore, it’s application is towards all of those who believe, and try to put their conclusions on others, that may have ANY variance with the specific commands of Christ. If you have a flavor, GREAT. If you drop that ion some one eels, NOT GREAT, moon landing or not.

B) Temptation to do wrong is inevitable. Yes, that sounds like a movie line from The Matrix, but it is one they stole from Jesus. Temptations are real. They happen. To deny this is to deny the very words of Jesus. That is why He stated, in the sermon on the mount, to ask the father daily, to deliver us from temptation. Why is temptation inevitable, Because of sin. The Greek word skandalon means a snare, stumbling-block, cause for error.

C) Here is a key. Temptations come through Satan. He is called “The Tempter.” But they also come through people. They are, often times, the vessel of temptation. It can be by sight or by word, but people can be used to bring others to the moment of evil decisions. That is not good. That is why we need to be highly aware of our own influences.

D) If your hand of foot. That means the close to element of your external body parts, and then Jesus adds the “eye” into this mix. If they cause us to sin, then we need to cut it off. Why is this language so drastic? Because these things will cause us to fall. Jesus makes it clear that we need to not have sympathy for these things, but to cut them off. Chop, chop, anything to wounds our connections and right walking with God.

E) The comparison is made to getting into heaven lame or going to hell In the truth, it is impossible to miss this decision: either get in wounded and driving our flesh or to go to hell, will enjoying temporary pleasures and sin. Turn or burn. Heaven of Hell.

1) We find ourselves in Genesis, Chapter 6, Verse 5. The truth of the matter is that each time I read this, I feel a sense of sadness. This is what our brother Sergio was referring to. When you delve into Genesis and read about the time before Noah's adventure, you discover that mankind had gone astray. You witness the heart of the Creator interacting with His creation, and it's far from pleasant.

2) Verse 5 states that the Lord observed the extent of man's wickedness and saw that their thoughts were persistently and entirely evil. It's worth noting, and I've mentioned this multiple times, that much of our warfare occurs between our ears. While there is an actual Armageddon approaching, there is a continuous battle between the forces of good and evil within our minds. This is territory that the devil continually fights for. In this case, the people had completely succumbed to depravity.

3) Then comes the profound revelation. Verse six reveals that the Lord regretted creating them, and it broke His heart. As a parent, I love my children, though not everything they do. When they're trying, seeking, and connecting, it's easy to engage with them and guide them. However, when they deliberately turn away and live without God, it breaks your heart. Imagine how much more this must have broken God's heart.

4) Every so often in the Kingdom of God, we find that there's a chance for a do-over. A "Timmy do-over" is when you start all over again, or better yet, hit the reset button for a hard restart. This is the first restart for any IT person that has ever existed. God pushes the button and decides to completely wipe out everything He's made. There's nothing left for Him to hold onto with these people …except for one person. It's amazing how much influence one person can have, even towards God. Think about how much impact Jesus had.