I am a thinker personality type and it is not uncommon for me to wake up in the morning and lay in bed thinking about the day, even the week ahead of me. I imagine the things that need to happen and what might go wrong if I try to accomplish this or that. I naturally slip into thinking about the consequences and next steps after completing the things I have thought about. And what if I fail or can’t do it? I then think about backup plans A, B, C, and all the way through ZZ should my original plan not produce the desired results!! On a recent morning while still in bed I was in this thinking mode and I felt the Lord tell me that I “can’t live life in bed.” It was time to get up and get to it.
Do you live your life in bed? Maybe you live your life in a chair or on the couch. You get up, go to work, come home, and sit in the chair and watch TV until it’s time to go to bed and then you do it all over again the next day. While you are laying in bed, sitting in the chair or on the couch, do you think about the life you want? Do you think about having a more consistent relationship with God? A more satisfying marriage? A better relationship with your children? A more satisfying job? A physically fit body? A general attitude of being able to enjoy life? All of these desires are good ones but to have what you are thinking about you have to get out of bed, out of that chair, or off that couch and you have to do something about it. Wanting it will not be enough. You have to get up and get to it.
If you do not get up and actually live life, you place yourself in a vulnerable position of distraction. Thoughts simmer about what you want but an interesting dynamic happens when you do not actively pursue positive things…you tend to think about what is wrong with the things in your life that you would like to change. As you continue to brood on what is wrong, you can fall prey to all kinds of deception from Satan.
What kinds of deception can we fall prey to when we are not applying effort towards desires that are God approved? Subtle traps like the mindset that nothing will change, addiction to mindless TV, busyness, or shopping . Horrible traps such as an adulterous affair, the use of or addiction to alcohol, drugs, or pornography. Whether subtle or blatantly horrible, private or public, the traps are designed to keep us from fulfilling God’s plan for our lives. When we do not live life the way God has designed we open ourselves to all manner of evil regardless of how subtle or horrible.
Do not live life from an inactive state and run the risk of falling prey to those things that can make your life ineffective. Do not allow Satan to distract and blind you from what God wants to do through someone who is willing to live life by His design. Get up and live life with the purpose for which you have been created, to love God and keep His commands. Then let Him lead you and guide you in what you must do to experience a deeper relationship with God and experience joy and peace and whatever you work towards. Nothing will happen if you lay around or sit around. If you do nothing, you have nothing, and you get nothing.
Don’t live life from bed. Get up and get to it!
Scriptures
Ecclesiastes 12:13: “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commands, for this is the whole duty of man.”
John 10:10: “I [Jesus] have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”
Showing posts with label adultery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label adultery. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
The Prodigal Child Part II
A previous post titled The Prodigal Child describes the prodigal path as a path of selfishness that leads you away from God. The problem with the prodigal path is it ruins your relationship with God, with others, and with yourself.
The prodigal path is fun and exciting when you first start to walk on it. You embark on a journey that seems to fix any number of problems you might have in your life.
Maybe your marriage is not what you want it to be so you are drawn to someone else, regardless of whether or not they are married, too. You feel the excitement of something new and forbidden. You walk towards that other person in your mind and heart and then in word and deed. You become blinded by sin and are walking the path of adultery and divorce leaving damaged and broken lives behind you. It doesn’t matter that God tells you in the Bible that He hates divorce.
Maybe your prodigal path is one of total withdrawal. You have retreated from life and refuse to be a participant. You do not trust anyone nor do you seek to share your hurts with anyone. You hold on to bitterness and anger nursing it as a reminder of the injuries you have experienced in life. A friend's betrayal, a spouse's lies and adultery, a rape, child abuse, a medical diagnosis, a loved one's death, or your own sin has made you retreat to a life of solitude powered by hurt, loneliness, anger, bitterness, pain, or shame. It doesn’t matter that God has promised to forgive you, restore you to a relationship with Him, and be with you always and to never leave you.
Maybe you are bored or disenchanted with life and one night while surfing the internet you come across a provocative website. The excitement of pornography grabs your attention. Before you know it, you are registered on multiple websites catering to a sexual addiction that steals you of your time and money. It doesn’t matter that God tells you in the Bible that you are to be pure in our thoughts and actions.
Maybe you have pain and torment that you have no idea what to do with. God hasn't answered your prayers for deliverance and you become tired of waiting for Him to deliver you. So you seek to relieve your pain in any one of the following diversions; alcohol, drugs, fantasy, shopping, or gossiping. You find that diversions like these numb your mind or body and make you forget your pain. These things will lead you to walk down the prodigal path of addiction. It doesn’t matter that God tells you in the Bible that He will comfort you and heal you.
It does not matter what your prodigal path looks like or what activities you participate in along the way. The departure point and the destination point are all the same. The departure point is rejecting God and His plan for your life. The destination point is ruin, destruction, and death to you and those affected by your choices.
There is an alternative route to the prodigal path. It is called the path of righteousness, or right living with God. The path of righteousness is a safe path, a healthy path, a life-giving path. The traveling companions on the path of righteousness are God the Father, the Lord Jesus, and the Holy Spirit Who will be your teacher, guide and comforter. You also have angels watching over you as you travel the path of righteousness.
There is a famous poem titled The Road Not Taken (also known as The Road Less Traveled) by Robert Frost. In this poem, the traveler states:
The prodigal path is fun and exciting when you first start to walk on it. You embark on a journey that seems to fix any number of problems you might have in your life.
Maybe your marriage is not what you want it to be so you are drawn to someone else, regardless of whether or not they are married, too. You feel the excitement of something new and forbidden. You walk towards that other person in your mind and heart and then in word and deed. You become blinded by sin and are walking the path of adultery and divorce leaving damaged and broken lives behind you. It doesn’t matter that God tells you in the Bible that He hates divorce.
Maybe your prodigal path is one of total withdrawal. You have retreated from life and refuse to be a participant. You do not trust anyone nor do you seek to share your hurts with anyone. You hold on to bitterness and anger nursing it as a reminder of the injuries you have experienced in life. A friend's betrayal, a spouse's lies and adultery, a rape, child abuse, a medical diagnosis, a loved one's death, or your own sin has made you retreat to a life of solitude powered by hurt, loneliness, anger, bitterness, pain, or shame. It doesn’t matter that God has promised to forgive you, restore you to a relationship with Him, and be with you always and to never leave you.
Maybe you are bored or disenchanted with life and one night while surfing the internet you come across a provocative website. The excitement of pornography grabs your attention. Before you know it, you are registered on multiple websites catering to a sexual addiction that steals you of your time and money. It doesn’t matter that God tells you in the Bible that you are to be pure in our thoughts and actions.
Maybe you have pain and torment that you have no idea what to do with. God hasn't answered your prayers for deliverance and you become tired of waiting for Him to deliver you. So you seek to relieve your pain in any one of the following diversions; alcohol, drugs, fantasy, shopping, or gossiping. You find that diversions like these numb your mind or body and make you forget your pain. These things will lead you to walk down the prodigal path of addiction. It doesn’t matter that God tells you in the Bible that He will comfort you and heal you.
It does not matter what your prodigal path looks like or what activities you participate in along the way. The departure point and the destination point are all the same. The departure point is rejecting God and His plan for your life. The destination point is ruin, destruction, and death to you and those affected by your choices.
There is an alternative route to the prodigal path. It is called the path of righteousness, or right living with God. The path of righteousness is a safe path, a healthy path, a life-giving path. The traveling companions on the path of righteousness are God the Father, the Lord Jesus, and the Holy Spirit Who will be your teacher, guide and comforter. You also have angels watching over you as you travel the path of righteousness.
There is a famous poem titled The Road Not Taken (also known as The Road Less Traveled) by Robert Frost. In this poem, the traveler states:
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
There are two roads in life to choose from: the path of the prodigal which leads to ruin, decay, and destruction or the path of righteousness which leads to life, peace, and joy. In our American culture, it appears as if the road less traveled is the path of righteousness. I have no doubt that if you travel the path of righteousness it will make all the difference in your life. Choose God’s path of right living and as you make the journey, let God minister peace and healing to your soul and to your life.
Scripture and References
Malachi 2:14-16: “…the Lord is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. Has not the Lord made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. … So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth. ‘I hate divorce,’ says the Lord God…”
Deuteronomy 31:6: “…the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
James 5:16: “Confess your sins [faults] to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”
Psalm 101:2-3: “I will be careful to lead a blameless life…I will walk in my house with a blameless heart. I will set before my eyes no vile thing.”
I Timothy 5:22: “…do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.”
Psalm 34:18: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Matthew 5:4: “Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.”
Galatians 6:8-9: “Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at…[He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God.] For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap. For he who sows to his own flesh (lower nature, sensuality) will from the flesh reap decay and ruin and destruction, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.” (Amplified Version)
The Road Not Taken can be found at http://quotations.about.com/cs/poemlyrics/a/Road_Not_Taken.htm
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
There are two roads in life to choose from: the path of the prodigal which leads to ruin, decay, and destruction or the path of righteousness which leads to life, peace, and joy. In our American culture, it appears as if the road less traveled is the path of righteousness. I have no doubt that if you travel the path of righteousness it will make all the difference in your life. Choose God’s path of right living and as you make the journey, let God minister peace and healing to your soul and to your life.
Scripture and References
Malachi 2:14-16: “…the Lord is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. Has not the Lord made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. … So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth. ‘I hate divorce,’ says the Lord God…”
Deuteronomy 31:6: “…the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
James 5:16: “Confess your sins [faults] to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”
Psalm 101:2-3: “I will be careful to lead a blameless life…I will walk in my house with a blameless heart. I will set before my eyes no vile thing.”
I Timothy 5:22: “…do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.”
Psalm 34:18: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Matthew 5:4: “Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.”
Galatians 6:8-9: “Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at…[He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God.] For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap. For he who sows to his own flesh (lower nature, sensuality) will from the flesh reap decay and ruin and destruction, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.” (Amplified Version)
The Road Not Taken can be found at http://quotations.about.com/cs/poemlyrics/a/Road_Not_Taken.htm
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