Fine Print

Luke 4: ⁵ Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. ⁶ And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. ⁷ Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”

⁸ And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

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“Just hang with me and you will be alright” was the promise from one of the higher ups to me. At dinner, he drank until he could hardly speak and flirted with the wait staff.  As I walked him and others to his suite in the convention hotel and he suggested we do this again tomorrow only this time bring more people so we could really party.

• There were times when I had to decide between career and virtues.
• There were times when I had to decide between money and character.
• There were times when I had to decide between the crowd and the lone trail.

As a human JESUS was relegated to decide between supernatural comforts of life versus an uncomfortable low quality human existence. Greed, power, fame and lust were now possibilities presented to JESUS BUT HE knew that the fine print of the contract would cause all humans to be lost.

• JESUS wants me to decide to follow HIM versus the very tempting roads presented to me.
• JESUS wants me to decide to follow HIM versus the blind road the world presents.
• JESUS wants me to decide to follow HIM versus following the fears of money, the lusts for power, and the desires of constant pleasure.

Some of the temptations sound perfectly fine and logical. I mean who wouldn’t want riches and the ability to satisfy any lust one could imagine? GOD says to me “Control yourself and follow MY lead so you may be protected from the world.”

People may laugh at this choice because it doesn’t look “successful.” BUT GOD loves when I follow HIM and ignore the jeers from those who poke fun at my plain life. Being amazed at GOD daily is more important than people temporarily following me for my five minutes of fame.

• Are you seeking fame and power?
• Do you think you would be better off if you were extremely wealthy?
• Can you stop trying to fix your problems with money and give all your issues to the LORD who knows just what to do with them?

Hasty Decisions

¹⁵ Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”

¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. ¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

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Hasty decisions are made when I am full of fear. I mean when I am scared out of my wits, I make hurried decisions without thinking through the long term consequences of my actions. I squirm and only want out of the problem!

• Many times I lost my patience when faced with certain problems.
• Many times I wanted out of the problem so bad that I could not wait on a good solution.
• Many times I could only see demise so I panicked and ran towards any comfort I could get.

Trust in GOD sometimes went out the window when I faced a pressure filled problem that did not seem to go away. I started searching for the quickest way out of the problem rather than facing the situation. BUT GOD wanted me to act differently.

• GOD wants me to slow down and see HIM rather than speeding up.
• GOD wants me to focus on HIM rather than on human obstacles.
• GOD wants me to join HIS winning fight rather than making the fight mine.

Looking back I can see when I trusted GOD and when I made a hasty decision on my own. The times when I did not trust made me make decisions I regretted for a long time. On the other hand, the times where I placed my trust totally in GOD bared the most fruit, usually in ways I never would have imagined. GOD wants total loyalty and total trust in HIM. HE knows I sin, yet HE wants my trust to grow rather than shrink. I trust GOD alone.

• Where have you placed your trust?
• Are you squirming to get out of the problem?
• Can you allow GOD to handle the problem rather than thinking you know the solution?
• Will you add a measure of trust in GOD today?

Batteries that go forever

2 Peter 2: ²⁰ If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.

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Refreshed was the feeling I woke up to at the leadership retreat. Three days of being away from the grind had actually charged my batteries. We spoke about concepts that I was going to try and now I had a new way of thinking.

During my first day back we faced a crisis. It was all hands on deck and people were getting a little short tempered. I was cool and calm and we got through the storm. But the next day happened and the next week happened. Finally I was back to my fast paced, high stressed old self again.  What was that retreat about again? Hmm, I can’t seem to remember the concept I was going to implement.

• Knowing about JESUS isn’t a short term solution to an immediate problem.
• Knowing about JESUS isn’t a way for me to keep my sin and fool myself into thinking heaven is my home.
• Knowing about JESUS isn’t something I can just try to stop my trial and return to my old way when the situation clears up.

JESUS wants more than “knowledge” of HIM, HE wants belief. HIS death was a permanent act and so was HIS resurrection. HE will never die again and HE will remain raised forever. I can’t simply believe HE exists rather I should believe in HIS position as the only sinless human to ever walk the earth.

Now that HE has been raised, the FATHER has placed HIM back over everything. My belief needs to be directed on my need for a savior. My birth alone is reason to be sentenced to eternal separation from HIM.

• JESUS died for me to save me from eternal separation.
• JESUS was raised to build a special place for me to spend eternity with HIM.
• JESUS lives for me to eradicate every sin I have and will commit.

Will I still sin? Unfortunately yes. BUT GOD is slowly changing me to love others and to love myself, to show mercy the way HE shows mercy. I have not arrived, but I’m not the same.

• Are you living a lifestyle that is against GOD?
• Are you secretly or overtly sinning because you have given up on GOD?
• Can you allow GOD to give you “purpose” that will keep you from falling away from HIM?