Be Thankful For Options!

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

Galatians 5:22-23

What do you do when you are faced with a person who seems to drain the joy out of your life?  Of you leave them feeling completely exhausted?  Believe it or not, there are people who want you to be their focus and no one can help them except you (so they think).  What do you do?

What do you do when you realize that the group of friends you have are creating a negative environment and you find yourself becoming judgmental, angry, and negative about pretty much everyone and everything?

Guess what?  The Bible does offer a solution to such scenarios...they are called OPTIONS! Read today's verse!  What does the Holy Spirit instill in us? LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS and SELF-CONTROL!  Does the verse indicate in any way that the Holy Spirit instills in us NEGATIVITY, ANGER, HATRED, JUDGMENTALISM?  No it doesn't.  Why?  Because such things are from the pit and smell like smoke!

Today we have the option to choose which we are going to allow to be our focus.  Yes, if you choose the Holy Spirit's offering, you will face a struggle and a battle because the pit-dweller doesn't like to lose.  But God gives us the option to choose!  Choose Well! 

#dailythankfulchallenge

Boosting Morale Does Not Require Beatings

If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything? But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it had only one part! Yes, there are many parts, but only one body.
1 Corinthians 12:15-20 

Morale.....some days we feel it and some days it feels like it's just gone.  Morale is surprising.  Money can only rent morale for a bit.  Time off can give a break to restore a bit of morale.  And, believe it or not, a new job is only a band-aid for morale.

There are lots of temporary fixes that, if graphed, will show waves of morale boosts.  But there is a little secret that we seem to have forgotten.....the responsibility of our level of morale is NOT anyone else but you.  Morale is our decision!  

Yes, you will have days when your nerves are frayed and everyone seems to be stomping all over the frayed ends.  Yes, you will have days when you don't feel like smiling because you are so tired you can barely remember if you put pants on this morning (stop laughing).  Yes, you will have days when you just can't seem to get caught up.  And NO, I am not suggesting that you walk around with a fake smile as if a rainbow unicorn just flew you to work.

Morale is a decision.  I have spent YEARS believing that my morale was based on what someone else should be doing for ME.  I mean, if I am truly a valued employee, should that be made clear to me?  But the truth I have discovered is this, even on the worst day at work, my morale is my decision.  I get to choose!   

Time To Pick A Side!

But if you don’t want to serve the Lord, you must choose for yourselves today whom you will serve. You may serve the gods that your ancestors worshiped when they lived on the other side of the Euphrates River, or you may serve the gods of the Amorites who lived in this land. As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”

Joshua 24:15 

 

Ever been asked why you choose to believe the way you do?  Ever chosen any other way to believe or have you ever chosen not to believe because you couldn't understand why things happened the way they did?

 

November 17, 1981, my world came crashing in and I admit that I began to question why I believed some of the things I believed.  In fact, when I got to college (at a BAPTIST school) the only church I would attend were the Tuesday morning required Chapel services where I spent my time either reading, sleeping, or finishing up a project.  I was not sure that what I believed was true!  So I took time to stop for a couple of years.  I took a few more years re-evaluating what I had been taught to believe.  Those 10 years were spent wondering and wandering.  

 

Then I found a book called "A Scandalous Freedom" by Steve Brown.  This was followed by a whole list of books that seemed as though were written just for me.  One of the points made through these authors is that we must look at WHAT we choose to worship because, after all, worship is a choice we make.

 

What do you worship?  

• Perhaps it's your job. Your job comes before everything and everyone.  Your job defines who you are and gives you great satisfaction at the cost of your friendships, relationships, and when you retire...you are left wondering what to do with yourself.  
• Perhaps it's your children.  You take pride in their accomplishments and gush with pride at their antics.  You ignore your spouse and those who don't worship your children with you because, "they just don't get it."  When your children are grown, you wonder what happened to them and what to do with yourself.
• Maybe it's sports.  You play sports, watch sports, quote all the statistics, schedule your day so you don't miss a single moment of a single game.  You might even go so far as to spend countless dollars on paraphernalia and memorabilia devoting entire rooms in your home to SPORTS!
• Some even worship church.  Odd, how that sounds, but it's the truth.  They worship church because the band plays songs we like to hear; the preacher is dynamic and preaches sermons make me feel good but doesn't make me understand that I need to make some changes.  The socials are great!

My point is this, every single one of us choose to worship something.  My life experience has taught me that the things I worshiped did not last and did not help.  Oh, they gave me moments of escape from reality for a while, but it wasn't long lasting and it wasn't satisfying. But there comes a time when we have to choose whose side we're going to be on.  Jesus told us, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. NO man comes to the Father except through Me" - John 14:6.  Jesus promised to be with us and never ever leave us.  My life experiences have proven that to me over and over.

This is not like picking teams for dodgeball where someone else decides whose team you end up on.  In life, YOU make the choice!  Please, choose wisely. 

 

 

 

Moments

Then they came to the city of Jericho. When He was leaving the city with His followers and many people, a blind man was sitting by the road. He was asking people for food or money as they passed by. His name was Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus. He heard that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. He began to speak with a loud voice, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, take pity on me!” Many people spoke sharp words to the blind man telling him not to call out like that. But he spoke all the more. He said, “Son of David, take pity on me.” Jesus stopped and told them to call the blind man. They called to him and said, “Take hope! Stand up, He is calling for you!” As he jumped up, he threw off his coat and came to Jesus. Jesus said to him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” The blind man said to Him, “Lord, I want to see!” Jesus said, “Go! Your faith has healed you.” At once he could see and he followed Jesus down the road.

~Mark 10:46-52 

Moments.  Think about this!  Our lives are made up of moments.  Every photograph we take is merely a moment in time.  Every memory is of a moment in time.  

      * I don't remember being born; 

      * I can barely remember this morning;  

      * I do remember the moment my daughter was born. 

      * I have lots of pictures of friends and moments spent with them.

      * I remember the face of my first girlfriend (3rd grade. She gave me a baseball sized wad of Plasti-Tack and that won me over).

I recently took time to look back through my high school yearbook from my senior year.  WOW! And we thought we were on the cutting edge of awesome.  Then I started reading the comments people wrote in my yearbook....many of them were the cliche: "Have a great summer" and "Don't ever change" written by people in a hurry and who didn't know me all that well (or found me annoying but wanted to appear to be nice).  But then there were the people who wrote about specific moments in our friendship. Like when we rode innertubes down the Saluda River, or when we pulled a prank that backfired and ended up squishing into the midnight movies because we were soaked from head to toe.  And then there were some that we won't discuss.

But each represents a moment in life.  A memory.  I am convinced that, while we live in a continuum, our minds work on a stream of moments.  

Think about Jesus' ministry.  The writers of the Gospels captured moments in Jesus' life.  Look at today's passage...Bartimaeus was blind.  During this time in history, if you were different from everyone else, you were thought to be cursed by God.  Bart was blind, so he must have been cursed by God and he lived each day going through the same motions of the only job available to him which was begging.  Then Jesus comes along.  Bart hears the crowds of people and probably believes that a lot of people in a group could mean he could get a little extra from begging.

THEN Bart hears someone in the crowd say that Jesus is in the crowd.  So Bart has a quick decision to make, he can continue to live his life as a blind beggar or he can seize the moment and see if Jesus really can help him.  So Bart takes his moment and starts to yell at the top of his lungs calling for Jesus to take pity on him and help him.  Now, some of the crowd want Bart to shut up and not interfere with this great teacher, because Jesus has "more important" things to attend to than a God-cursed-blind-beggar. BUT Jesus stops!  He tells those close to Bart to bring him over, which they do.  Then Jesus asks Bart what he wants.  

Again, Bart has a choice to make.  Again, Bart seizes the moment and tells Jesus that he wants to see.  Jesus, in that moment, heals Bart and in that moment removes Bart excuse to continue expecting others to care for him.  In a moment! 

Our lives are made up of moments! Bart seized his and made it count.  Will You? 

Fool Me Once!

But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no wonder that his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. In the end they will get the punishment their wicked deeds deserve.

2 Corinthians 11:14-15

"Fool me one, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."  We've all heard this saying before, yet we fall for it time and time again, don't we?  And when we fall for it the third, fourth, fifteenth time, we STILL don't take responsibility for not learning.  We are enticed by our own desires because what we desire "feels so right."  

Just because something "feels so right" does not make it right.  The Ancient Chinese General Sun Tzu is quoted as saying: "Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him."   

We are enticed by what? The opportunity to earn some extra money?  To get that bigger house?  To fudge on the rules because, after all, "everyone does it"?

Think about how we are enticed by advertisers with phrases like "But for only a few dollars more, you could have....." or "Why would you settle for the silver package when for just a little bit more (usually a couple of pints of blood or a limb) you can upgrade to the GOLD package."  Or you are looking at a home to purchase and get caught up in all the "high end" upgrades, when what you truly need (since you're working so much to make the money to pay for all these upgrades) is simply a place to put your clothes.

We are constantly being enticed, and with things that are appealing to us.  Let's face it, if sin wasn't fun...we would have no trouble resisting.  This is why I am not enticed by the offerings of broccoli, or onions, or big bags of stable muck. These things are not attractive to me and I have no trouble saying "No thanks, I'm good without them."

I'm also not advocating a life of living in a cave, eating crawly critters, and having disregarding personal hygiene.  We must learn that not everything the glitters is gold and we must learn to be strong enough to resist the temptation by thinking things through.  

What If I Don't Like You?

And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

~Mark 12:30-31

Last week we talked a little about how true love is a conscious decision and we are choose to love often in spite of each other.  Well, guess what?  Jesus teaches us what love looks like!

Jesus and I have something in common...neither of us are overly fond of "church folk."  You know the ones.  They go to lots of conferences, memorize Scripture by the book, pray in Ye Olde English because they don't think God understands the voice of our hearts, and they are very quick to tell you how you are doing life wrong (without ever looking in the mirror).  "Church Folks" almost drove me away from the church completely, until God showed me something from today's passage: When I love God with everything that I am, I understand how much He loves me, so how can I not love other people?

Now let me be VERY clear...loving others does NOT mean accepting or agreeing with their choices.  For example, I disagree with the militant vegans who will have nothing to do with anything that is not a plant, but I still love them because they are also God's children.  People disagree with the fact that I am rather unorthodox in the sharing of my faith, but they still love me anyway (I am led to believe). After all, Tootsie Rolls and other candies open doors to conversations that a Bible upside the head won't (go figure).  I am not a fan of the "christians"  who insist on yelling and screaming that I am going to Hell if I don't agree with them, but they are God's children too and deserve my love (and prayers and compassion and help if needed).

You see, Jesus didn't hide behind a pulpit, He went where the people were who needed Him.  He didn't condemn people, He loved them (even the "church folk" if you remember Nicodemus).  Jesus CHOSE to love others as much as, and even more than, Himself.  He shared wine and meals with people who the church didn't want.  He went to weddings and celebrations where the "pious" would not be caught dead attending.  He touched lepers, let a prostitute was His feet with her own tears (that's a LOT of tears).  He made friends with the rejected.  He told an adulteress that He did not condemn her as a person, but He did tell her to stop with the adultery. He that loved people!

Yet we look at someone and see what we DON'T like about them.  WE choose to be divisive! WE throw up fences!  WE stab people in the back instead of building them up! WE discourage others instead of encouraging!  WE CHOOSE TO BE JUST LIKE 'CHURCH FOLK'!  And we can CHOOSE to think differently.

Let me put it another way....I have an eclectic taste in music but I am not a fan of Country Music (sorry to all the country music fans).  BUT that doesn't mean I will not spend time with, ride with, or enjoy the company of those who like country music.  And I hope they will still love me when I listen to my classical or rock or Harry Belafonte or any of the other non-country genres on my MP3 player.

We must learn to love and care for other people as much as we care for ourselves!  One way to do that is to pray for the people we don't like!  

Buddhist student: "Master, I am discouraged."

Buddhist Master: "Then Encourage!"

You see?  Pray FOR those we don't like and we will begin to see them as God's Children too because God will remind us that people who don't like us are praying for us as well.  Make a difference and make a friend, love others as yourself by loving God above all!

It Starts With You!

Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.

 

There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all,
who is over all, in all, and living through all.

~Ephesians 4:2-6 

As you know, I like to think.  Not just think, but contemplate.  Contemplation is exploratory thinking.  You take a thought and you explore it; you look at it from as many possible perspectives as possible; you turn it over and over in your mind; you touch every crevice and edge; you delve into the every corner.  

Well....I started contemplating Morale. And guess what I discovered?  Morale starts with me!  Good morale is MY decision!  Bad morale is MY decision!  I cannot always control my circumstances, but I can control my responses to my circumstances.  

Look at the words Paul writes to us...."Always be HUMBLE and GENTLE."  Does it say always be ticked off and aggravated because I don't think things are being done the way I want?  Absolutely not!  

"Be PATIENT with each other..."  REALLY?  Do we do that? I'm not always so good at doing that, but I am learning and trying.  Be patient..."making allowances for each other's faults."  Will this one punched me in the forehead!  I am not only am supposed to be patient with others, I am supposed to make allowances for them too!  WOW!  

And just when I am ready to punch the Venerable Apostle in the face, "making every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit."  Well now....if we are to be united in the Spirit [of God] then we are to be completely honest with each other.  If you ask my opinion, I should respect you enough to tell you the truth, even if it's not what you want to hear.  If I tell you only what you want to hear then THAT is proof that I have NO respect for you.  We lie to those we have no respect for.

Paul is reminding us that WE are either uniting or dividing.  We are either part of the same body or we are the cancer within the body.  WE must choose which we will be; honest and truthful, even if the truth is inconvenient or dishonest because it will get us what we think we want.

Bottom line: We CHOOSE to our morale!

 

Feel Like Giving Up?

That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

 

Ever feel like giving up?  I have, lots of times.  Some of those times I gave up and some I didn't.  I can tell you that the times I did give up are not good memories.

 

I have talked with people who are enduring horrific diseases like cancer and leukemia.  I have talked with people who have been injured severely enough that limbs had to be removed or they are no longer able to move without help.  But there is one aspect of each of these people that strikes me as encouraging...they refused to give up!

 

Our bodies WILL at some point start to slow down and might even deteriorate, but the unconquerable spirit that comes from realizing and understanding that as long as we have breath God has a mission for us.  Say what you will about wanting to quit trying, but here's a little tidbit, when God has a mission for you, He will stop at nothing to make sure you fulfill that mission.

 

We have a choice to make:

       1. We can focus on why it's impossible for us to accomplish.

       2. We can focus on God see Him accomplish the impossible through us.