Give it Up

So I have been struggling lately. I head a song on Air 1 radio that spoke to me. The song reflected on a man who hadn't prayed in a week. A man who was really stumbling and struggling with his relationship with Christ.

I guess that's me the past few days. Distractions tend to get me....well.....distracted. I have been on the road traveling, my wife has been on emergency call (she's a vet), I have been rereading an old book, Friday Night Lights, and it just seems I am always preoccupied with something.

Not that any of this is an excuse. But yet, I have been excused. It's humbling. To know that I have been forgiven of sin, yet I don't deserve it. I guess this is what gets me down. When I "get distracted" and let my relationship with Jesus slide, I tend to get down on myself. I tell myself not to try again; that I will only hurt the One I am trying to please. And, I will role in this stinkhole for sometimes days, and sometimes years. But, then it hits me.

I believe the problem is two-fold, and strangely enough, would only be made apparent through my fall.

FIRST I SET MYSELF UP: I start growing in the Lord. I dive into His word, and spend time on my knees. I begin to feel invincible, and rightly so.

Phi 4:13 MKJV (13) I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Soon, though, I neglect something, maybe it's a scheduled prayer time, or study time. But it's ok, remember Phil 4:13. Oh man, I just lost the meaning of the verse. I just cut out the second half. But it doesn't register right away. So I begin neglecting the relationship. Then I find myself in sin. Perhaps it's not having patience with people, not loving my enemies, or maybe something more serious. At some point though, I'll come to the realization that I am not living the way I should.

THIS STARTS MY SECOND PROBLEM: I realize I need to straighten up. I ask myself, "Why?" If I'm just going to fail, why try? Why hurt the One I am trying to serve. So I start to give up. (It's not until later I realize the wrongness of this argument. I'll explain in a minute.)
I usually completely quit walking with the Lord. I quit. But then the Holy Spirit begins to talk to me. He urges me to talk to Him. I try to ignore it but eventually I succumb. Sometimes it only takes a couple of days, like this week. Sometimes it takes a few years.

But it doesn't stop there. I am dumb I guess. I'll try to get it right. I try to do what's right, but I miserably fail. Sometimes this will send me further into the abyss. But sometimes, I see the light quickly, such as this week.

See, there is nothing you or I can do to better our position in God's eyes. We were so hopelessly in the abyss, that God sacrificed His son, so that we wouldn't have to work our way out. We got a free ride out. We simply have to trust in Jesus. So I humble myself before God, tell Jesus He is my only hope, and drop into His arms.

Now I get it. First, I must realize that my only hope is Jesus. I remember the second half of Phil 4:13. This is the only reason I am able to have a change in my life. I proved I can't do it on my own. Secondly, I must hold on to the humbleness. Spending time on my knees helps. Sometimes gazing into space helps. Anything to keep me humbled.

Folks, I hope these words might help you. Give it up. At whatever point in your walk with Jesus, remember to give it up...to Him that is.

In Christ

SPAM (Scripture's Powerful Ageless Messages): Know the Signs

SPAM LIGHTING THE WAY: KNOWING THE SIGNS

Mat 12:38-40 MKJV
(38) Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we want to see a sign from you.
(39) But He answered and said to them, An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign. And there shall be no sign given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
(40) For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the huge fish, so the Son of Man shall be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

The above scripture relates the exchange of volleys from the Pharisees and Jesus. Pharisees required Jesus to show a sign from Heaven to prove Himself. However, if the Pharisees would refuse the signs already given to them, why would another sign change their minds? Jesus very directly answered them that His sign would be the that of Jonah. Jonah was taken to the belly of a fish which he described with the Hebrew word Sheol which means refers to the world of the dead or hell. He then was delivered from the fish back with the living at the town of Nineveh and upon hearing Jonah speak, Nineveh repented.

Jon 3:5 MKJV
(5) And the people of Nineveh believed God. And they called a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

However, contrary to Nineveh's repentance of seeing and hearing Jonah, Jesus tells the Pharisees will not heed even this sign saying,

Mat 12:41 MKJV
(41) The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it, because they repented at the proclaiming of Jonah, and behold, One greater than Jonah is here.

If the Pharisees had been students in the scripture, they would understand Daniel's prophecies concerning Jesus's death and resurrection and that it was at hand. Daniel proclaimed many prophesies which detailed even the day Jesus would rise again. However, the Pharisees in their unbelief of the Word of God through Daniel, would not consider a present sign from Jesus, nor would they repent after Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus then left the Pharisees in their unbelief, not trying to convince the foolish.

We don't go out trying to ensnare Jesus in some malicious and unGodly request to prove himself with a sign. But do you sometimes sit around in times of trouble or maybe just loneliness, looking and asking for a sign from God, expecting some miraculous tower of fire from heaven? Look at all the miracles and wonders around you. The Word of God shows prophecies made thousands of years ago that have already happened. Do we need more signs from God? Don't fall into the same trap as the Pharisees. Ask God to reveal himself through His Word to you. Praise him for the miracles already in your life. Believe in Him, stop doubting and run the race as Paul talks about. Don't doubt for one minute those prophecies yet to be filled in the end times. Be prepared for you have been told through His Word.

Mat 24:44 MKJV
(44) Therefore you also be ready, for in that hour you think not, the Son of Man comes.


In Christ