Posts Tagged ‘Humility’

Are you a Genuine Fake?

Posted: February 8, 2025 in Something to think about
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Here is some truth for you today-

In this new world of Artificial Intelligence that surrounds us, sometimes it is difficult to discern what is real and what isn’t. But if you remember, before AI we were (and still are) surrounded by “knock-offs” which are also artificial and trying to be the real thing.

I was reading a story recently where the author referred to a trip he and his wife to overseas and while they were shopping one day in a market, he saw a sign that read, “Genuine Fake”. This store was selling genuine “knockoff” jewelry and Rolex watches for just a fraction of the real cost. These items looked like the real deal from a distance but if you got closer, you could see it was just a cheap imitation.

I could not help but remember the parable that Jesus told in Matthew 13 about the farmer who went out to plant seeds in his garden. We learn that some of the seeds fell on different types of ground like hard soil, shallow soil, weedy soil, and of course, good soil. In the parable, the seeds represent you and me and the soil represents our walk with God.

You may already see where I am going with this post so let me be clear. Some of you truly seek God in everything you do each day. Jeremiah 29:13 tells us, If you seek me you will find me IF…. you seek me with all of your heart. You are the guys that believe that verse and apply it daily to your lives. In my last post, “Salvation isn’t Easy” I talked about this, because it isn’t. You, me, we have to work at it every day of our lives because we are surrounded by the enemy who wants to see us fail.

As you can understand, however, this post is not for you. Today, I am speaking to the seeds that did not fall into the good soil but rather fell somewhere else. You may be the professing Christian who attends a church service each Sunday,  but during the week you become a very different person. In fact, if someone saw you outside of the church, it might even be said you would not look like the person you profess to be. I heard this comment phrased another way:

If you were arrested and put into jail for being a follower of Christ, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

What I am speaking about is the depth of your conversion to Christianity. If you have no sense of humility or repentance then you are a genuine fake…and won’t inherit the Kingdom of God.

Let me quote my favorite author, John MacArthur, on this very topic:

The person received the seed of the gospel, but not into clean soil. The gospel germinated, but was choked out before it could come to fruition. The person with the weedy heart was never saved in the first place. We hearts may be willing to accept Jesus as savior, but not if it means letting go of the world. That is not salvation. Jesus said, “You cannot serve both God and man“ Matthew 6:24. And the apostle John wrote, “If any man loves the world, the love of the father is not in him” 1 John 2:15.

Guys, if it sounds like I have a sense of urgency for you, it is because I do. This is NOT a subject I take lightly which is why I urge you to consider your personal commitment to God. 

Remember, the world is temporary and not the destiny of a genuine Christian.

So don’t be a genuine fake

Until next time guys

MacArthur, John. The Gospel According to Jesus. Michigan: Zondervan, 2008

Pride or Humility…It is your Choice

Posted: April 22, 2024 in Heaven Bound
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If you’re like me, the older I get, the more I learn, and the more I learn, the more I realize I don’t know…but that is a whole other blog. This post is about my continuing revelation of how God constructed this whole “personal relationship with Jesus” idea and why I think its so hard for men to stay consistent. 

News Flash, yours (and mines) personal relationship with Christ must begin with humility.

Yes, I said Humility. But the problem is that “being humble” works directly against how we feel about ourselves while we live on earth. 

Face it guys, it is HARD to be humble when all we see is ego exhibited everyday of our lives. It seems like very athlete just seems to call attention to themselves. Not everyone…but a lot of them. A baseball player hits a monster home run and he just stands there and admires it as it leaves the ballpark…A body builder stands in front of the mirror and just stares and stares…

We live in such a “Me ONLY” focused world that as Christian men, its so easy to assimilate into that culture. Look at it this way, if you get up each day and don’t think about your relationship with Christ and just start your day with you driving, I can easily say that over time, you will find yourself moving towards prideful behavior. The influence is that strong.

Listen to how The Message translation of the Bible talks about this in Proverbs 16:18, First pride, then the crash – the bigger the ego, the harder the fall. That is pretty self explanatory isn’t it? God doesn’t have any place for pride or egos in His Kingdom. Its all about HIM, not us.

What you and I see around us here on earth was NOT the plan God had in mind. Rather, sin got in the way and it corrupted everything (Genesis 3 to be exact). As hard as this may be to grasp, pride is NOT from God. It was NOT created by God but rather it is from Satan and he is the one selling that crap to all of us through television, or online, or at the gym…

It is everywhere and conditioning you slowly.

Pride IS a wall keeping you from a relationship with God and it blocks your ability to communicate with Him. Once you reach a point that you are so full of yourself that you don’t think you need God, then the enemy has you where he wants you.


Remember the Bible also tells us in James 4:10 to Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. As I have told you before, NOW IS THE TIME to get right with God Guys! You can see the signs all around you just as easily as I can. 

Satan is working overtime to pull as many men and their families down as he can. 

Where do you plan on spending eternity?

My “ask” of you today is don’t let your ego be the reason you walk away from God. You might be very good at something…your job, or a sport, or something else…but remember that skill is a gift from Him and if you thank Him for it rather than act like it came from you, who knows, we just might be playing a pick up game on that Heavenly court in the sky.

I’ll meet you there…

Until next time Guys-

Can I Really have all that I need?

Posted: March 5, 2023 in Inspirational
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The Lord is my Shepherd, I have all that I need. Psalms 23:1

I have read the 23rd Psalm thousands of times throughout my life and can even recite it from memory. It is so burned into my brain from so many years of reading and hearing it over and over that, I almost don’t hear it anymore…if that makes sense.

Repetition and too much of any one thing can do that to you, right? Well, that isn’t supposed to happen to scripture. But it had until today…and all it took was a version change. A different perspective that seemed to change the angle just slightly…or…just enough to wack me over the head.

As I said, I have heard the words, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want” my whole life. That is the verse. Period. Until today. When I heard it very loud and very clear, again for the first time.

How about this one; The Lord is my Shepherd, I have all that I need.

I HAVE ALL THAT I NEED. 

I can honestly say I have never said that because I never believed those words applied to me. WHY? Because I don’t think I DO have all I need. Does anyone really ever have all they need? But that is precisely what David meant when he wrote those words. He truly had All that he needed. He was content.

So what did he mean?

Here is what I can tell you. David was not referring to his stuff. Things like cars, houses, and vacations. He was talking about his contentment with his God. Let me reword it again:

BECAUSE THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD, I DO NOT NEED ANYTHING

David recognized that in this state of humility with God, our God, it was and IS possible to not need anything. Can you imagine that? You see because we Christians are so immersed in a society where people believe they can never get enough…that honestly, it is very easy to drift over to that way of thinking. Over time, we become what we do not want to…which is believing we don’t HAVE what we THINK we need…or as reworded below:

EVEN THOUGH THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD, HE CAN’T GET ME WHAT I NEED

It is important to recognize this condition above for what it is: That it is NOT from God but rather from the Enemy. Our job then is to resist and to work to become content in our circumstances no matter what they are. It is not easy. Frankly, it is crazy hard…especially if you are not happy with where you are in your life.

The writer of Hebrews put it this way:

Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you. Hebrews 13:5

Let me put it another way:

But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 1 Timothy 6:6

Although it is a very true statement, “You can’t take it with you” the Bible implores you and me to lay up our treasures in Heaven so that your time spent here on this earth can be more like what David said…where you have all you need.

Simply put, if you are focused on the “stuff” you don’t have, then you are not focused on Him.

My intent today with this short post is to remind you that if you seek Him, you will find Him which leads you to a place where you can be content in your life, right where you are. Then you can say with conviction…that you really do have all that you need.

Until next time guys-

God is NOT like me

Posted: November 25, 2018 in Something to think about
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God and me

I am sure that most people, whether Christian or non-Christian, would agree with me when I say that I do not understand why God does or doesn’t anything about what happens on this Earth. God is, and continues to be, a God who doesn’t behave like I would if I were Him…and that my friends, is the main point of this post.

Now, I would not consider myself a big theological guy like my friend, @JeremyRiley, but yet when it comes to God and how we think about Him or how He thinks about us, it might just take some real theology to get the answer we seek.

Let me explain; what I am saying here isn’t really a new revelation but it’s critical to understand this point about God; which is simply that all of us are bound by our “humanness”. What I mean is, because we are human we act accordingly, which means we act…well…like humans…and as a result, how we think about God is affected by our capacity to understand Him. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard friends or acquaintances exclaim, “why did God do that?” or “NOT do that?” and in my mind, I am saying, “what was God thinking?” Yet the answer is actually in scripture and is enlightening if you have never thought like this before…

God was thinking like God and NOT like us…Read this verse from Psalms:

These things you have done and I kept silent; you thought I was altogether like you…Psalms 50:21

The only reason our natural inclination is to think that God would be like us is because what else would He be like? All we have ever been exposed to on this Earth is each other. Moreover, we know that He created us in His own image because the Bible tells us this fact in Genesis so it is reasonable to assume that God is like us right?

Wrong.

Let’s just start there. He clearly states this in the scripture above, ”YOU THOUGHT I WAS ALTOGETHER LIKE YOU”.

Well, He isn’t. God can only be HIMSELF. He is bound by His holiness to be who He is.

I think one of the biggest misconceptions that we have here on earth is that WE think God should behave as we do. Think about that for a second. I have seen people get very angry because they were truly upset that God didn’t intervene or fix a situation that in their minds, God could have taken care of in an instant…but He didn’t.

When this happens, it creates a huge gap between what we THINK we see God doing VERSUS what God is REALLY doing. Read this verse below from Isaiah to help me illustrate my point:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9 ESV)

For some of us, it may take some humility for us to recognize this very simple fact; that Gods ways are higher and better than our own but again, starting right there with how we think about God.

It is critical for us to recognize our place changes everything for us in how we approach and ultimately come to grips with who He is.

Have you ever heard the expression that “God is God and I am not”? Well, that is a reality check for those of us who just assumed that He might act as we wanted Him too.

But I do have some good news for those who feel this information above might have been a reality check for you;

Gods plan was never about God becoming who we wanted Him to be…but rather it was always about mankind, meaning you and me, becoming more like Him. Take a look at this verse in Romans that illustrates this;

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2 ESV)

Think about this verse guys…

You can conform your heart and mind to be more like God’s and I can tell you that when this happens, it truly changes the way you think. Do you remember at the beginning of this post when I mentioned about being frustrated with God because He isn’t fixing or doing something as you think He should?…now you can see that when we think differently about God because of a renewal of our minds, suddenly, there is an understanding there that wasn’t there before.

Keep in mind that God is just being God and carrying out His plan for our lives and we just need to listen…

Until next time guys…

Is Fear or Humility your Motivator?

Posted: March 21, 2015 in Something to think about
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In my own life, I have found that fear can be a very strange motivator. In the heat of the moment it can cause us to move towards both good and bad behaviors. Sometimes fear can cause the hero in us to come storming out of the depths of our core ready to take on anything…

Other times fear can also cause some of us to cower in the corner and be almost paralyzed. Either way, fear has very different reactions for each of us…with none of them predictable.

I have written about fear before in past posts but I felt the need to revisit it again because of some recent reading in the Bible where once again I learned more about the absolute might of our Lord God. It has always amazed me that God describes Himself as “Love” as well as our “sanctuary of refuge” yet throughout the Bible He reminds us that we need to fear and dread Him as well. Those have always seemed completely opposite to me, but then let me remind you of the love of your earthly father. On one hand he is the one who teaches and helps guide us along our path as we grow but yet when we do wrong, he is there to punish us and remind us that there is always a consequence for sin. At the same time, we experience both fear of the punishment and love from the same person because he is a father who loves his children.

The Lord God Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread, and he will be a sanctuary. Isaiah 8:13-14a

But as I think about this world around me and our human nature I think that without actual fear in our relationship with God, humanity would become to comfortable and relaxed towards Him…oh wait…many of us ARE to comfortable and relaxed and that my friends, I believe, is a big mistake.

We cannot forget that no matter what is going on right now…He is God and we are not. Everyday the business of life piles up in front of us and we get distracted and diluted with our responsibilities. Trust me when I tell you this guys, I am speaking to myself just as much as my audience. We cannot be too busy to be humble in the sight of God…to recognize His might as well as His love for us.

This is simply a friendly reminder for all of us. If we can maintain that fear relationship with God, there is a humility there in all of us that God can use. When you focus on maintaining that condition of the heart, that Humility…well simply put, life is better because the joy of the Lord will be your strength.

Remember Proverbs 22:4

Humility and fear of the Lord bring wealth and honor and life…

I don’t know about you but I could use all three of those…

 

Until next time guys…

It’s time to hit the Reset Button

Posted: July 19, 2014 in Inspirational
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We recently finished a very successful Little League season that had us advancing to and winning our local city tournament. After a 24-game season and then a tournament where we faced 6 more local teams…to actually win first place, was very gratifying…

But I have to be honest it wasn’t always that way.

This season provided many of the normal low points that most seasons typically do with one exception; as a team, we discovered something we dislike universally…playing badly. But even more important, we discovered a way to stop this team from “falling off the cliff”. Honestly, this one simple moment truly saved us from being one of the worst teams into being one of the best.

I remember the actual game and frankly, the one particular inning where we literally could not do anything right. We could NOT get an out to save ourselves…hit after hit and run after run, we could not stop this train from certain destruction. When we finally hit the 10-run threshold and to many errors to count, I told the other coach “let me go talk to them”…he mumbled something completely incoherent because I honestly think he was in shock.

As I walked to the mound, I called the entire team over for a conversation. As I stared into those 11-12 year old boys faces, I saw tears and I saw anger but most of all I saw hopelessness. They literally had given up the thought they could do anything right. They were so upset and had completely lost their direction…does this sound familiar to anyone?

I told them “Guys, you are so much better than what I see here today. We have practiced these plays over and over again…frankly, to many times to count”.

“Here is what I want you to do, in this game right now…I want you to hit the reset button inside of you. From urlthis point on, we are starting this game over. We are playing from the beginning again…We are resetting”.

They all looked at me like I was crazy. Our shortstop Tyler spoke up and asked, “what do you mean coach?” “How do we reset?” I told him, “When you reset something, it clears the past or the previous from affecting the future”. Everything that has happened in this game is now over. We are each going to reset and focus on the next play, our next at bat and all of us are going to try our hardest to get out of this inning”

Our catcher chimed in at this point, “come on guys, we can do this, we have to reset. We have to hit the reset button”

So here is what I will tell you, we did not win that game. But we did get out of that nasty inning without giving up another run. More importantly however, the next time we had the beginnings of another poor inning, our catcher pulled the infield together and gave them the reset speech…and guess what, it worked…

As you can imagine, that simple life lesson got me thinking about you guys and the painful 10-run bad inning equivalents we have in our own lives. News flash: sometimes life hurts and it does NOT go our way. In fact, I firmly believe there are many of you right now reading this that are having a very hard time for a variety of reasons and frankly are just looking for some hope. Guys, I am not going to insult your intelligence by saying to just hit your internal reset button and everything will magically get better. We all know that is not the way anything in this life works.

What I will tell you though is if you hit the reset button with God…that will work.

Right now, God is patiently waiting for you to run to Him. He is not the God who will write in the sky, “Hey (your name here)…call me now and let’s fix this” we know He doesn’t work that way. Our God has a still, soft voice that is always calling…we are just too loud or too busy to hear Him.

Guys…today…take my challenge to you…

Hit the reset button with God by praying this prayer right now:

“God…things are not going well right now and I need you to help. Humbly I ask that you take over my life and cause me to reset my relationship with you. I can’t do this on my own. I need you to direct my steps and make my paths straight.

God, I trust in you and I believe in you and no matter what happens, I know you are in control. Please use your Holy Spirit to help guide me during difficult times and thank you for what you are doing for me right now”…

If you prayed that prayer and believe you hit the reset button with Him, I could not be any happier…congratulations. I would also ask that you leave me a note on this blog if you prayed that prayer. This blog has always been about encouragement and knowing you hit your reset with Him is very encouraging to me…

Until next time guys…

Can there be Power in Weakness…?

Posted: June 9, 2014 in Something to think about
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Most of you who read this blog are guys and so I am going to give you an all guys blog today. So here we go…

Guys like strength. We like war movies. We like Captain America movies. We like old-fashioned football when a running back breaks 10 tackles and scores the game winning touchdown. Strength is something we can identify with as a man. We find ourselves measuring each other up all the time. That pick up game of basketball against the new guy or when we see some huge muscle-bound guy in the gym…we are always looking at strength…and deep down inside, we like it.

I believe that is part of the reason WHY we do this is because we have always done it. Throughout centuries, countries have fought other countries by using their strength to overcome one another. Men have always done the same thing. When you pick the starting lineup on any team you are on, for any sport, you always take the strongest, or at least the ones you think give you the best chance to win…

Strength. If you are a guy well then it is as a part of you as the air you breathe.

So here is my question to you…if strength is who we are as a human race, then why didn’t Jesus Christ use it when He came to this earth? In fact, I submit to you that rather than use Power in Strength, He used exactly the opposite…He used Power in Weakness. Think about it. He didn’t come on a horse with a broad sword, he came as a baby, in a simple stable. He wasn’t victorious in a battle while here on earth like we would identify with, instead, He went to the cross and died.

What kind of strength is that? Is that something we can all rally behind on the battlefield…Power in Weakness? Again, I submit to you…yes…

As I have said to you before, God doesn’t think like us. His plans will always be different from anything we would come up with…Moreover, the Apostle Paul wrestled with this very same question when writing to the Corinthians in chapter 1:18-31 when he said,

Jews demand signs (miracles) and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified; a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

And then Paul goes onto say:

For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

 But the question is still why? Why would God choose to proliferate the gospel using Power in Weakness rather than Strength, something we can all identify with?

The answer lies with Paul and his “thorn in the flesh” issue. You see Paul pleaded with God to take away what many think was that he was partially blind on 3 separate occasions and each time he was told no. Finally Christ responded to him directly by saying:

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

Did you pick that up? Christ’s power is made PERFECT in our weakness…which is completely opposite of how we “humans” would have created things had we been involved. God’s plan all along was to create a relationship with us whereby we are reliant upon Him for our needs. His plan was never to use strength to overcome all odds and capture our salvation like we see in the movies. God simply says trust in me and I will take care of the rest.

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 Look guys, I get it. This blog does not have the climax that maybe you thought was coming…and honestly, I find myself identifying with strength still…but the point is, part of my journey in my walk with Him involves learning more about Him and why God uses power in weakness primarily when dealing with us.

Bottom line is this…

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God – that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” 1 Cor. 1:27-31

Brute strength will not get you to heaven…but a humble and pure heart before God is sure a great start…

Until next time guys…

 

 

Humility Looks Good on You…

Posted: January 27, 2014 in Inspirational
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I had the opportunity recently to hear a former major league pitcher speak at a meeting of the Better Men; an organization designed for a similar purpose as this blog, to assist and support men as they walk down the journey of life. Bob Scanlan, who pitched in the 90’s with the Phillies, Cubs and the Brewers talked a little about his career in Baseball, his current one in broadcasting, as well as some great Baseball stories. More importantly, he emphasized a whole lot about being humble. He made the statement that I really liked and will really resonate well with this audience when he said, “there are two kinds of people, those who are humble and those who are about to be”. Coming from a guy who played on one of the biggest stages, that was refreshing to hear.

But it wasn’t always that way, early on he was like many of the guys we see on the court or the field in the professional ranks, he was full of himself and acted as if the entire world revolves around him. As a result, Scanlan went through some real lows early in his career that caused him to change but his biggest change came when he accepted Jesus Christ into his life as his personal savior. The irony was that even after his experience with God, more bad career news followed; he got cut because he wasn’t living up to the expectations that people had in him…poor performance caused him to hit a new low in his life. What’s interesting though is he didn’t give up. He kept on persevering and slowly, over time he became a better pitcher and eventually got his break in the big leagues and he never looked back…

He told a story about a particular Sunday when he was pitching for the Brewers and he was preparing to face a very powerful hitting Indians lineup that included Albert Bell. As the beginning of the game neared, he knew he was ready and put his game face on… however before the game began, it was a Sunday tradition that local little leaguers would accompany the players to their positions for the national anthem. Scanlan was completely focused on the ensuing game and was not paying attention until he noticed the whole stadium had gone quiet. When he looked around to see why, he realized there was a boy in a wheelchair on his way to his mound and was struggling to get over the baselines where the dirt and grass met. When the little boy finally made it to where Scanlan was standing, he looked up with a huge smile on his face. When their eyes met, tears suddenly welled up in Scanlan’s eyes and he turned away from the child during the anthem so no one would see him cry…

When he went to shake the boy’s hand, he told his parents “your son is a blessing” and they both responded “we know”. Then he proceeded to go out and have one of the worst games of his career by giving up multiple runs in the first inning and he was out of the game by the second. Whatever intensity Scanlan had worked up before the game, had been lost as a result of the encounter with the boy.

After the game, Scanlan was angry. He was mad at the Brewers and Little League for having a day like this that screwed up his focus and caused him to fail. He had worked very hard to prepare for that game and he was gone before he had a chance to know what was happening. He struggled with a poor attitude for almost 2 months until it hit him…on that Sunday, that little boy silenced a crowd of over 30,000 people and even made a major league pitcher cry simply by his efforts just to get to the mound. On that day, he realized that life was not about him focusing hard to throw a baseball and win, it was about how he could touch people and impact them. How many of us get caught up in how great WE are and forget about what’s really important. Think about it, nothing you have ever done for YOURSELF has EVER been life changing for anyone else. Personally, nothing I’ve ever done for me has ever made a difference in this world…it’s only what I have done for other people that changed lives.

Guys, do you remember Scanlan’s earlier statement about being humble? “There are two kinds333-310Bk of people, those who are humble and those who are about to be…”

Which one are you? My challenge to you today is to work to get focused on what you can do to make an impact on someone else. It is SO EASY to do things for you, WE DO THAT EVERYDAY…but I am asking you to look around and see what you can do for the guy next to you. Then maybe the next time I see you we can say to each other…

“Hey brother, I just wanted to tell you that humility looks very good on you…”

Until next time guys…

Sin is NOT my Master…

Posted: January 5, 2014 in Inspirational
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opinions_freewill2I was listening to another Podcast recently and something that Andy Stanley from North Point Ministries said struck a chord within me. How many of us actually do what we know we should do 100% of the time? This would mean when temptation strikes you and for that period of time where all of us have a choice, sin or not sin, how many of us really make the right choice? In my opinion, probably not very many of us could raise our hands here because that statement is very near impossible. In fact, Paul struggled with the very thing and asked the very same question:

“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do…As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.?” Romans 7: 15-20

Honestly, its kind of encouraging that I struggle with the same things the Apostle Paul did but that is another blog post…the point I am trying to make here is that Paul is simply saying that what causes us to do the things we shouldn’t ALREADY LIVES inside of you and me. Honestly, we were born with it…into it…and it covers us…what is “it”…

Sin…

I don’t know about you but it drives me crazy when I find myself literally doing something that I told myself not to, 30 minutes prior…and that happens all the time! Why do I let myself fall into the same pit over and over again? Honestly guys, it’s a human problem that affects everyone who was ever born on this earth. It started when our buddy Adam sinned inside the garden and that single act affected mankind forever…and without the cross, we were absolutely doomed!

But you already know all of that…

Lets get back to Paul…because he is pointing out something that affects you and me and he is asking the same questions we do. If I was to summarize what Paul is saying I would say, “Why do we let SIN control our lives?” I think that sometimes we are sold short on the idea that we get to sin all week and then on the weekend, come to church to wipe our “sin slate” clean. That was NOT Gods intent. His intent was that you live a life of freedom from sin all of the time. Well how does one do that? Let me tell you what Andy Stanley said from above to help all of us:

The 3 “D’s”

DECLARE – SIN IS NOT MY MASTER. Say that out loud to yourself…seriously, say it. SIN IS NOT MY MASTER. You don’t have to let sin control you. You don’t have to let sin reign, or be in charge, of your mortal body.

DECIDE – You have a choice to say NO to sin. I am speaking the truth to you guys. You can decide to not let sin rule over you. Everyday, Satan will secretly ask you if he can borrow your mind for a while so you can think about something you know you shouldn’t.

Do not lend Satan control any part of your physical body in order to sin.

DEVOTE – Every part of your life to God. Take a chance and be humble by submitting every part of your body during your prayer time to God.

Guys, look at what he is saying…YOU HAVE A CHOICE. SIN IS A CHOICE…saying NO to sin is literally the hardest thing in the world but yet at the same time, to overcome sin…well that is something a warrior would do…defeat an adversary in a battle.

Paul said it this way:

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1-2

Guys, all He is saying is this: as long as you stay focused on Him, each day, living our your life with your eyes pointed towards heaven…YOU ARE FREE TO MAKE A CHOICE AND HAVE VICTORY OVER SIN.

Does that mean you will stop sinning? Heck no, remember Adam from above? Sin seems to be a part of our DNA but with Christ, we can overcome…

Guys, I challenge you today when you get up each morning to say out loud…Sin is not my master. Say it as many times as necessary until you believe this in your heart, then you can have that victory I know you seek…

Until next time guys,

Andy Stanley is the Pastor of  North Point Church and  North Point Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia. His Videos and Podcasts are available at yourmove.is.

Friendly Reminder…

Posted: December 31, 2013 in Devotional
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Responsibility-ahead-Blog-14

I don’t know about you, but I like to use those digital reminders that are available in online calendars so I don’t forget those critical dates and other important things. So in honor of this new and upcoming year of 2014, this last post of 2013 will fall under the category of “critical” due to its utmost importance for you and I as believers. This is my last friendly reminder to all of us for this year…and it is simply:

All of us who have ever lived or died on this earth…Not one of us will be left out of ultimate accountability with God.

So I will pause for a moment while I let that statement sink in…

The reason we find the accountability idea difficult is that no one wants to think about the future because it makes us uncomfortable…it “cramps our style” in our everyday life.

Being completely transparent, I can identify with the “uncomfortable with accountability” point of view. In fact, I have held that point of view before in my own lifetime.  Because the truth is, when life is going your way…I found little reason to be at church or for that matter, to focus on making the “right” decisions that might make God proud. And why should I?

The answer is simple; Because while the world is going on about its own business, you and I are trying to live out Christianity in the present…and at this very point in history…it is very hard not to get tangled up in ourselves.  Between what you see advertised as “right” and our natural tendency to fall in love with ourselves; Satan slowly and masterfully weaves his work until we have lost our focus…and our anchor. When we shift our gaze from God to man…It is NOT a good ending.

Guys, I am NOT telling you a new story. It is one that has been told many times throughout human history, it’s just a new generation that gets to learn it all over again. So here is the important point I wanted to remind you of today.

AN IRONMANSTRENGTH FRIENDLY REMINDER:

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4:13

For those of you who are reading this verse for the very first time and are skeptical, look it up…I do not make this stuff up…it’s in the Bible for all of us to read and apply to our lives.

So here is my $1,000,000 question of the day:

When you read this verse, does it have the impact of getting smacked right in your face?

If it does, that is good…because that means the Holy Spirit is within you and telling you that you must change…you have to change…

Guys…I encourage all of you to look away from the mirror and up to Him…

Get focused back on God by getting on your knees and try humility.

God understands everything you are going through and I assure you, He wants you back…but YOU must take the first step towards Him…Prayerfully consider these words today.

They are not my words, but Gods.

Reminder: You, me, all of us, will ultimately be held accountable for everything we do, everything we think, and everything we say in this world…I hope you recognize this is something none of us can afford to ever forget…

 

Until next time guys…

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