The Lively Blog of Thoughts

Throw in the towel. Say you can’t go any further. It’s too difficult for me. I don’t have the energy. All of these are signals and statements of giving up.
Have you been faced with a challenge or situation that gave you this deep pit of the stomach feeling that you could not go any further and you can’t accomplish your goal?

Some of us are built with this inate fighting spirit to go all the way to the end or going down on our own sword even in defeat. What that usually accomplishes is success, at least in some sorts, that otherwise we would not have obtained. Buy this never ending desire to go on, we endure and migrate through various obstacles that make our fighting spirit even stronger. 

When it comes to our faith , we need that same fighting spirit. We know that we will face challenges and difficulties in this world. The Bible tells us that Satan can pull us through his snares and temptations and away from our focus as a Christian. The apostle Paul seems to have had this same kind of fighting spirit as well.

2 Corinthians 12:5:..7–I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.

Think about Paul’s desire and fighting spirit to serve his Lord and God but at the same time, the torment he was under. Did he say quit?  No, he keep the faith and preserved through it all. This is how we must fight onward in our daily struggles and see it through to the end even when we want so much to quit. 

Another of Paul’s words for us and to keep our focus in front of us is found in Philippians 1:21-26: For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me.

Let’s stay focused ou our ultimate goal!!

isn’t it wonderful to walk outside to smell the fresh air and to see another blessed day that God is created for us.

What do we take for granted when it comes to the ordinary things of the day? Do we see God’s creation around us in the midst of almost anything we face?

We are confronted by many situations where we have to take a stand on our views or opinions. In many instances, this bold stance that we make can lead us to be looked down upon or ridiculed by our friendsor just those people around us.
How do or just those people around us. How do we gain the confidence to stand boldly for Lord? How do we take the position that in many ways is like a person on an island?

How many times do you start feeling down and deflated after you have reached a high in some way, accomplished a feat, moved on from some major activitiy to the next, or just notched one of your bucket list items and “then you kind of feel an emptiness?”  How should you deal with this feeling?  How do you move on with the enthusiasm needed for the daily activities that are right in front of you?

Sometimes you need some solitude to just let things settle in. Sometimes you have to be careful not to totally separate yourself too long from friends and family to allow yourself to start feeling like you are falling off to the opposite side of the high you just experienced. 

Jesus saw the need to separate himself from the multitude of people at times to take a respite from not just the daily grind but from the real highs or exhausting experiences of his personal ministry for his Father. Think about the times he did that and then the times he took his closest friends (his apostles) to spend time just with them. The Sermon on the Mount was such a time of solitude and a special time with his closest friends. 

In Matthew 5:1-2: “Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.”  Just before this as recorded in Matthew 4:1-2, “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted a by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.”  He clearly had experienced an emotional even and was coming off that experience. The lesson here is how do we come off our highly emotional experiences?  

Sometimes it is the best to seek out our trusted friends to help us after these events for emotional support and to see us through these times. 

Have you ever worked hard trying to achieve something that took an extreme amount of effort and fighting spirit to accomplish?  How did you feel when your achievement was successful?  How about if it wasn’t successful or what you thought you would achieve or feel after this feat?

Many of us have plowed our all into some activitiy or event to come out on the other side with an odd feeling or certainly a feeling that was unexpected.  I guess the Whois what should we feel like in those circumstances?  What was the prize we were looking for?

The Apostle Paul had a goal. He pursued a prize. He worked tirelessly for the pinnacle moment. In  Philippians 3: 7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. [8] What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ [9] and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. [10] I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, [11] and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. [12] Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. [13] Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, [,14] I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

We are constantly bombarded every single day with things that distract us off of our focus or goals. We see it as we walked on the streets, we see it when we listen to the radio, we see it when we are watching TV, and we see it even when we’re in groups of friends and acquaintances.
But, what is your focus? That is what we have to think about on a daily basis. Our focus is either on serving our Lord, or not serving our Lord.

Have you ever thought about the things that cloud your mind and take away precious time on the goals you are trying to achieve? These distractions keep us from accomplishing those goals.  I can’t keep from thinking about the things that somehow make their way into my mind even when I am in prayer to my guide for when I am trying to study the Lords word. Somehow and for some reason I find my mind wandering off on other things that keep me away from my focus. Why can’t I take the intensity of trying to keep my mind focused on the Lord’s word in the Lords work?
Just
of trying to keep my mind focused on the Lord’s word in the Lords work?

Just think on these things about your focus of your goals and how to accomplish them daily.

Are the times that we are living in today really new and different than times of old?  What are the really important things in life?  Are we really better off than our forefathers by living our own way, following our feelings, living free, expressing ourselves by being different?  The world is different right?

I’m reminded of quotes by one of, if not the wisest man to live, Solomon.  In Ecclesiastes chapter 1. The famous quote here is “Vanity, vanity, all is vanity.”  Vanity means, “excessive pride in or admiration of one’s own appearance or achievements.

Ecclesiastes 1: All Is Vanity

The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north, around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again. All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said,    “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.

The Vanity of Wisdom–I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind. What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted. I said in my heart, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind. For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

So, what does this all mean?  I suggest we think about the real values of life that hopefully was imparted into us by our parents or grandparents.  What were the values they left with us?  Do we live by some of these core values?  If you think about those concepts, how different would we be living compared to our relatives from the past. Think about it. Think about your core values. 

If you have ever left home or some place you have lived a number of years and it’s been a very long time since you have been back, the journey back to your old stomping grounds can be both exciting and can bring back many memories. This weekend we traveled back to the town where our children spent several years of their childhood and where we created many wonderful memories as a family. We drove down the huge oak tree-lined roads with rock walls that created the boundaries of pristine manicured properties. We passed many places that we recalled from the several trips we had made to and fro. When we passed our former home, we could remember the times our kids ran up and down the driveway and back and forth across our property. Great memories from the past!

But those times are behind us and we must look forward to creating new memories by focusing on the road ahead.  Just what is around the bend and down the road for us? 

The Apostle Paul talked about what was ahead. He even longed for the hereafter. He had a hope for what was down the road.  In Ephesians 1:18, Paul stated, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people.”  He is talking about what lies ahead in the hereafter and the hope we have in Jesus.  

Memories of the past are great to re-live but the destiny of our eternity lies ahead. Just as Matthew tells us in Matthew 6:19-20–“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  

Our daily footsteps we take today the things we strive for are to do this very thing. Let our daily deeds, our actions and the memories we are creating be more than the just memories but instead work daily to store up treasures for Heaven some day. 

I have always struggled with the scripture regarding taking up the cross daily. When you think about the context of what Jesus was saying, you have to focus on what your life is all about. I, by all means, do not fully understand how this practically works.  We have busy lives. We have things we have to do. We have family matters to take care of. We have a job that keeps us very busy. So, what does this all mean about the cross?

We must be ready in all situations of self-denial and patience with life’s circumstances.  We must live a life of denying ourselves and the contempt of this world that we come face to face with each day. How do we avoid the temptation of indulging ourselves and satisfying our own desires and wants?  These challenges puts us in a state where our human desires may keep us from really wanting to bear the spiritual desires that we should have by being in Christ. Every day we should desire the will of God to be complete in what we do, in whatever our call is regardless of our job/vocation, etc. We will frequently meet with the “crosses that need to be picked up” in our daily journey.  We must pick these up and carry them daily for our the cause of Christ. 

Luke 9:23-27–Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.  “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”

Please consider this poem by Charles W. Everest:

“Take up thy cross,” the Savior said, “if thou wouldst my disciple be; deny thyself, the world forsake, and humbly follow after me.”

Stop and smell the coffee. Open your ears to hear the chirping of the birds. Listen to the waves that rush ashore.  In other words, pay attention to what is going on around you and don’t take even the small thing for granted. 

Is Jesus working in your life and are you really aware of His impact in your life daily or are you just taking everything in stride and assume that these things just happen normally?  Or, do you desire that your life is patterned after God’s plan?  Have you thought how God’s grace can have an impact in helping you cope with the daily needs you have?

The Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 12:9–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.

Also, Ephesians 2:8,10–For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

If you are created in the image of Jesus and are part of God’s handiwork, are you aware of how God’s grace can touch you to be about His work?  Dwell on these thoughts by Jewell Monroe“Whitey:  HIS GRACE REACHES ME

Deeper than the ocean and wider than the sea. is the grace of the Savior for sinners like me. Sent from the Father and it thrills my soul. Just to feel and to know. That His blood makes me whole

CHORUS

His grace reaches me. Yes, His grace reaches me. And ‘twill last thru eternity. Now I’m under His control and I’m happy in my soul. Just to know that His grace reaches me

Higher than the mountain and brighter than the sun. it was offered at Calv’ry for ev’ry one. Greatest of treasures and it’s mine today. Tho’ my sins were as scarlet. He has washed them away. 

His Grace is Sufficient!!!