BE Part of the Resistance!

The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.

1 Corinthians 10:13 

 

"I just can't help myself!"

"This is too hard!"

"Just this once won't matter."

"You just don't understand what I'm feeling."

 "You just don't get it!"

 

Excuses! We throw them around like confetti at a parade and wonder why we aren't suddenly and magically not any better off than the day before.  In fact, we discover that the only thing we've gotten better at doing is....making excuses.

 

We may believe that we are the only ones who are enduring our particular temptations.  While that may seem partly true, we seem to have forgotten that Jesus was God in human form.  Jesus lived among us, as one of us, and was tempted in every single way that we are, yet He did not sin. Not only that, but God does not allow ANY temptation to be more than we can stand with His help AND He always provides a way to endure the temptation.

 

Now I applaud those of you who have resisted the temptation to knock some sense into my head or smack some smart aleck up side the noggin'.  You have the patience of a saint.

 

Thank you to those who are patient with others in spite of our oddities and snarkiness.

Feeling A Bit Prickly?

The path of lazy people is overgrown with briers;
    the diligent walk down a smooth road.

Proverbs 15:19 

 

Ever know anyone who was better at making excuses than they were at actually accomplishing something?  What excuses have you heard?

• "I can't do this job because they just don't like me."
• "I got fired because the boss had it in for me."
• "I can't get my reports done because I just don't have time."
• "I can't......."

 

Let me give you a little piece of wisdom I had to learn first hand....excuses are like growing a hedge of thorns around yourself. At some point, people are going to accept that the thorns are no longer worth the effort of crossing to try to help you.

 

Want an easy life? Then just lay down and stop breathing, because God NEVER promised us an easy life on Earth!  Our time on this spinning orb is going to be dangerous, difficult, and a right royal pain in the back pocket.  So we can try to hide from the world behind our excuses, apathy, and prickly personality, OR we can take down the hedge, change our perspective (and our attitude) and get on with our job of living.  It's our choice.

 

Remember, when Jesus came, He loves us so much that He took away our excuses!  He healed lepers, which took away their excuses for keeping themselves separate and expecting others to take care of them.  He forgave sinners, which took away the excuse that "I'm not good enough."  He befriended the misfits and outcasts, which took away their excuse that no one wants to be around them.  He loved the broken hearted, taking away their excuses of being afraid of being hurt.  He promised us that on this Earth we WILL have troubles, but He also promised us that He would ALWAYS be with us, help us, guide us, love us, and already has a plan in place to get us through any trouble we may face.

 

Hiding behind the hedge of thorny excuses only proves that you have not met Christ and haven't taken the time to get to know Him! 

What Is This 'Rest' Thing?

So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.

~Genesis 2:1-3 

 

I've seen it, and done it...eating lunch at my desk; working while "at lunch"; working 'vacations'; always busy; always working....and always extremely stressed!  I'm doing a little better with it now, but it is still a struggle.  

 

Let's face it, there's SO MUCH we have to accomplish so:

     * we work more than we are paid to work, 

     * we sleep less than we need to sleep, 

     * we ignore our family, 

     * we ignore our health, 

     * we ignore everything except the "TO DO" list that only gets longer.  

 

And we wonder why people have breakdowns, heart attacks, ulcers, GCA syndrome (Generally Cranky Attitude).  We stress because our stress is making us look old.  We stress because if we aren't stressed then people might think we were (dare I say it) not working hard enough!  After all STRESSED = WORKING HARD.

 

We are willing to take the world on our shoulders hoping someone will notice how hard we are working and how busy and burdened we are, but at what cost?  Is it worth your health?  Is it worth your life? Think about this...if stress kills you, and it can, will your "TO DO" list go away or just get passed off to someone else?

 

I tried getting away from the office with some coworkers during lunch, but when you go to lunch and talk about work...what's the point?

 

Listen to me VERY carefully.....EVEN GOD TOOK A DAY OF REST!!!  EVEN JESUS TOOK TIME AWAY FROM HIS WORK!!!

 

Grampa told me that your legacy is what people remember about you after you die.  What legacy will you leave?  Will your legacy to your kids be that you were never there for them?  Will your legacy to your spouse be that you were gone when they woke up and not home yet when they went to bed?  Think about your legacy!  How do you want to be remembered? 

What's Your Excuse?

Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”

  “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”

Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”
Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath. 
~John 5:2-7

Excuses!  Boy aren't we good about finding excuses.  Why? Because if we can get people to accept our excuses then we don't think we have to take any personal responsibility....after all, it's not MY fault!

Here we see Jesus in Jerusalem walking by one of the public pools.  Tradition stated that when an angel moved the water, the first person into the pool would be healed.  Jesus saw a man laying on a mat by the pool and asks him if he would like to get well.  The man thought Jesus was just passing the time of day in small talk so he explains that while he would like to be healed, there's a reason why he can't.  Some would wonder, if the man could get to the edge of the pool with no apparent help, why couldn't he roll into the pool on his own.  Such answers we are not given.

You see, the man gave Jesus a plausible excuse why he couldn't get into the pool.  Jesus, on the other hand, saw the man's potential and healed him.  While we celebrate the face that Jesus healed this man, we don't notice the truth of what Jesus did for this man.  In reality, Jesus took away the man's excuses!  When Jesus healed this man, He took away all the excuses why the man couldn't become self-supporting; Jesus took away all excuses why the man needed someone to do everything for him; Jesus took away all the excuses why the man should be pitied.  Jesus takes away our excuses all the time!

Jesus takes away our excuses!  "I'm too tired to make it to church this week" - Go to bed earlier instead of partying all night.  "I don't have enough money in my month" - Get rid of the expenses that aren't vital to survival.  "I hate my job" - Change your attitude or change your job. 

I'll admit, I much prefer to exercise my mind over my body.  My body is built for comfort.  My doctor told me I must walk (quick march) no less than 45 minutes each day.  I gave him all the excuses I could think of why I "couldn't" and the response I got was "You got legs that work?  You can walk!"

Jesus teaches us every single day and in teaching us, He takes away our excuses.  When you stand before God to give account for your life, what excuses will you offer?