Tempted

All our lives, we will be tempted. Tempted by some sort of sin. Whether it be pride, lust, envy, hatred, etc, we will have moments in our lives where we will be tempted. Maybe it will be our flesh, or maybe it will be others who tempt us. But the question isn't, will you be tempted. The question is, what will you do when that temptation presents itself. Will you give in? Or will you run to Christ? Really, those are the only two answers. Maybe we will run from one sin, into another. But that's just giving in. Turn to Christ. He will help you. He will deliver you. You may feel that you fall over and over. But get back up. Take that next step. Stay on that narrow road. Don't fall asleep. Just Do Not Stop. Don't Stop Fighting! This is not a road that is filled with flowers and soft moss. It's a road filled with bandits, rocks, thorns, thistles, and critics.

Love you all. Have a great Thursday. ^_^

And I do apologize, I haven't been posting every day. I do try to, but sometimes I forget or as in the last couple times, I wrote up a really long post and then decided against posting it.. And the offer still stands, if you can catch me the day after I miss a post, I'll mail you something. My e-mail is in my profile. ;-P

Humility

It seems that many of my sins end up stemming from pride. I haven't struggled with sin for all of 10 minutes. YES!!!!!! Let's have a party. And, pride shows up. And then fall into more sins.

Humility is of utmost importance. Keep God in perspective. God is infinite, we are tiny, finite creatures. We fail all the time. God doesn't. Stay humble. Stay on your knees. Love God. Love others. Serve others. When others are first, and you are second you won't have time to get proud. If you're always looking for ways to serve others, why would you serve yourself with a little pride?

And, I will probably go fall on my face once again tomorrow. But Lord willing, I will obey Him better than I did today.

God Cares for You

Everyone will let you down. They won't be perfect. But God doesn't. He is always perfect. Rest in that hope tonight. :-) Have a wonderful Sunday!

Think Big: Think Today

It's easy to get burned out, especially if you're always thinking someday. Someday this, someday that. When you look at how many millions of steps it is going to take to get there, oftentimes those tasks will seem completely overwhelming. However, if you can break it down and make it a bunch of mini journeys it becomes much more doable. If you can break it down from 5 years, to 3 years, to 1 year, to 6 months, to 1 month, to 1 week, to today, all of a sudden you're good to go. ^_^ You know what you're doing today. You know that it's going to be taking you toward where you want to be in 5 years, but at the same time it's easy to accomplish today.

Trash in Your Life

I run this stretch of road next to the highway 2-3 days per week. There are all these little pieces of trash that have been there for 1-2 years. The disgusting towel, the sock, the piece of packaging, the broken beer bottle, all make up a part of this assortment of oddities that litter the side of the road. In many ways, I think we all have these little pieces of trash in our lives. The things that are small, but that over time just become part of the scenery. We get used to them. They make the place feel like home to us. But they're still disgusting and make the roadside look like a dump. Oftentimes, in our lives there are sins that are this very thing. Maybe they're small, maybe they've just become part of our daily lives, but they still need to be cleaned up.

Take a look at your life. What needs to be cleaned up and tossed into a garbage bag? And don't worry. There will always be pieces of trash. Just keep that garbage bag open, and keep up the good work. ^_^

And, I'm going to go get a garbage bag on my next run and start cleaning up the road I run on..

No Perfection Here

Most people I've met who have apostatized from the faith have told me that the reason they apostatized was because of all the hypocrisy in the church. It's the living a lie, that they hate. So they left. But no Christian is ever going to be perfect. They will always fall. But I think the important thing to remember is that, a Christian is one who sins, but repents and confesses their sins. It's no longer swept under the carpet. It's not kept hidden from others, because of a sense of shame and a wanton lust to continue living in that sin, it is confessed and repented of. We see this repentance in David's Psalm 51, after Nathan the prophet reproved him for his sin. 

First, David cries out to God with a heart that needs God's grace and compassion. He asks that the Lord wash him of His sin. We need to remember that we have no part in this washing. We can't wash ourselves. It always reminds me of when Eustace, in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, is turned into a dragon and attempts to scratch all his scales off. It's useless. But then Aslan offers to tear the scales off, and he rips them off. 

"The very first tear he made it was so deep that I thought it had gone right in to my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I've ever felt. The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off. You know—if you've ever picked the scab of a sore place. It hurts like billy-oh, but it is such fun to see it coming away. He peeled the beastly stuff right off—just as I thought I'd done it myself the other three times, only they hadn't hurt—and there it was lying on the grass: only ever so much thicker, and darker, and more knobbly-looking than the others had been… and then I saw why, I’d turned into a boy again."

Remember, all our sins are just against the Lord. David says, "Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge." In a sense, when all the hullabaloo that goes on in the large sectors of the world about our complete moral breakdown is brought up, we just need to remember that these sins are against God. He is the only one that we have sinned against, because it's His law that matters. When we hide our sins under the carpet, or "in the closet" it doesn't matter. God sees everything. And His opinion is the only one that matters. That's why scouring God's Word is so earnestly important. We need to find that which is evil in His sight in our lives and expel it. Praying on your knees and with hope in the grace of God like David does in this prayer is so needed. Going to hear the preaching of the Word and the encouragement of the saints is of utmost importance. We are weak, but through God and the means that He has given us, we are strong.

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." ~ Philippians 4:13

Leadership

Most people feel lost at times. They feel discouraged, insecure, and unfriendly. If you have these feelings, don't worry everyone does at times. We need to take a stand and be leaders. Encourage others. Make them feel appreciated. Be friendly to them. Bring the Word to them. Pray for them. Be a good friend and leader.