Self Care

But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.

Luke 5:16

 What happens when your forget to recharge your cellphone?  What happens when you let the car run out of gas and don't fill it up?  What happens when you go and go and go and go, from project to project, activity to activity, eating "bad for you" stuff?  Answer....you know.

Yet we do these kind of things more than we want to admit.  We will, quite literally, keep going until we drop and then wonder why we are so exhausted all the time.  We drink more and stronger coffee.  We'll pound down gallons of energy drinks.  Why? Because, well let's face it, we're not the brightest critters.

I am fully convinced that Abba put animals on this earth, (BEFORE He brought us into the picture) to teach us!  For example, when our pup, Woody Bear, gets tired he will simply lay down and take a nap.  Guess what? No alarm is set. When he's rested, he wakes up.  Well....unless there's a snack to be had.

So why do we drive ourselves so hard?  Do we REALLY think we can fulfill Abba's plan for us in record time, thus changing His plan for us?  Let me come clean here: I like helping people usually through listening and offering counsel.  However, I am also very bad about not taking time to rest, relax and recharge. This usually leads to feeling burned out, resentful, irritable (ask my bride), sleepless nights...but I'm trying to help people which is good, right?  At what cost?

Look at the life of Jesus.  He would go away frequently to pray, relax and recharge.  He would spend time appreciating the creation. He encouraged His Disciples to do the same.  So, if Jesus needed to take time away for self-care, who are we to believe we don't need to?

Our Advocate

 If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

Romans 8:30-34

When I was much younger, one of my favorite programs was "Perry Mason" (yes I'm THAT old).  The thing that struck me about that show was the fact that no matter what case he had and no matter how badly it was going for his client, somehow by the end of the show he had managed to find some way to win his case much to the chagrin of the Prosecutor.

Now...imagine this scene: You are called into a courtroom to face the judge. Our enemy, the deceiver, presents his evidence by way of a book in which every sin we ever committed has been written.  How do you feel right about now?  

The book is presented to the judge. He opens the book and then closes it again.  He calls on your advocate to present your defense.  He steps up to the judge and says, "Abba, this is one of Your children."  The judge opens the book again and every page is blank, because your advocate is Christ.  The Deceiver is unspeakably angry but has nothing left with which to condemn you...he is defeated.

Read this again and thank Abba: Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

 

The case against you has been dismissed by the blood of Christ!

Hiding In Plain Sight

"Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light."

2 Corinthians 11:14

As a kid, I used to enjoy watching Superman.  "Faster than a single bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap buildings in a single bound."  The images of such immense power amazed me.  However....I also remember the day I realized that the people who couldn't tell that Clark Kent and Superman were the same person...weren't very observant.  Let's face it, you come to work in a suit and tie, a crime is committed (on every show), Clark Kent excuses himself, dashes into the nearest phone both to change clothes...(side note: when he tore off his suit in the phone booth, did he just leave it there or did he have a "super backpack"?)... the off he'd dash to save the day.  All the while, no one caught on that Clark Kent was just a disguise.

Every spy movie I ever saw had one thing in common, the spy used disguises (camouflage) so they would blend in and not alarm anyone.  Think about it, soldiers use camouflage. So do hunters. So do actors. And so...does....the deceiver!

How did the wicked queen get Snow White to bite the apple? By appearing as a kindly old lady. What happened when Snow White bit the apple, the wicked queen's true self was revealed.

The deceiver, according to Scripture, was an Angel.  Not just any angel, but the most beautiful.  Yet he wanted more and plotted to take Abba's place.  Abba threw him down from Heaven to the earth along with all of his minions and they would be forever condemned.  So what did the deceiver do?  He deceived Eve and Adam in an attempt to thwart Abba's plans.  

What does he do with us?  He seeks to deceive us into sin by making it sound like it isn't sin.  Even the Apostle Paul tells us: "I see another law working in my body, which makes war against the law that my mind accepts. That other law working in my body is the law of sin, and it makes me its prisoner. What a miserable man I am! Who will save me from this body that brings me death? I thank God for saving me through Jesus Christ our Lord!" - Romans 7:23-25.

Abba has provided rescue for us in Jesus!  He has provided forgiveness through Jesus!  He has provided for us through Jesus!  The deceiver may hide in plain sight, but he cannot hide from Abba!