I decided I would share with you an interesting fact about myself in this week’s blog.  I’m certain you will be extremely impressed. Are you ready?  Here we go…….I am a professional grocery bag carrier.  I mean, someone should pay me for the level of talent I exude when carrying grocery bags.  I despise making multiple trips from my car to my home after purchasing groceries. I hate multiple trips so much that I have proudly carried as many as 21 bags at one time.  Sure, it’s uncomfortable and a little painful at times.  When you have heavy bags pressing into your arms and leaving bruises your natural instinct should be to lighten your load.  My instinct it to walk faster and put them down without having to do it multiple times. Apparently, my children have watched me and have begun repeating my same behavior. Whereas in the past I normally brought all the groceries in by myself, they now want to help. It’s amusing to watch my five and eight-year-old attempt to load themselves up with grocery bags that, at times, weigh more than they do.  My daughter (my eight-year-old) likes to impress me by carrying the heaviest bags she can find.  Sometimes, when the load is too heavy they will give up trying to carry them and simply drag them along.  At those moments, attempting to prevent an even bigger mess, I pick them up and carry them.  My instinct is to always help them anyway but, at times, their stubbornness and independence begs to do things on their own.  I’m older, stronger, and more capable.  Common sense would assume they would enlist my help.  But not always.

Don’t you do the same thing every day?  Don’t you carry burdens, stresses, and frustrations that are too heavy to carry?  Don’t you carry baggage around of things that happened decades ago?  I know I do.  I shouldn’t, but I do.  Lately I have become so overwhelmed with life at times that I have found myself in a purging mood.  I’ve started dropping things along the way that feel too heavy for me to carry.  Things I should have dropped years ago but felt the need to continue carrying around like I had superhuman strength.  I firmly believe God allowed me to get to this place.  I had to arrive at a place of total exhaustion and realization of my inabilities before I even acknowledged my Heavenly Father standing there with arms outstretched to help me.  And He’s been there all along!  Like my kids, I was too stubborn to ask for help.  But I guess they have been following my lead.  Psalm 55:22 reminds us, “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.”  If you’re feeling burdened about something, apparently you haven’t learned how to cast your cares.  You must cast your cares before you’ll reap the benefit that He will sustain you.  If you don’t first cast your cares you can’t inherit the promise of never being shaken. 

Closing remarks and encouragement:  What’s bothering you today?  Just drop it!  Feeling overwhelmed with life?  Start dropping things.  The Father is waiting there to do the heavy lifting for you.  Stop being so stubborn and independent.  Just drop it!

As I was leading worship this past weekend the Holy Spirit kept dropping mental pictures of my children into my mind. I remember each season of their growth with great detail. The things I continued to see through my mind’s eye were memories of feeding them a bottle, giving them baby food for the first time, and then table food. At each transition I vividly remember how their eyes danced brightly when something new and tastier was introduced into their diet. Once they had a sampling of something new they didn’t care for the mushy bland food they had been eating. The new food was flavorful with seasoning and became all they wanted from that point forward. After tasting something new they had no desire for those older things any longer. Paired with those mental pictures were three words that resounded over and over in my mind until I finally shared it with our congregation. They were—taste and see. Simple but impactful as I instantly knew what the Holy Spirit was saying to me.

My children could probably have gone the rest of their lives on oatmeal, formula, or any number of mushy foods with little-to-no seasoning but it wouldn’t have sustained them. As they have grown, their bodies have needed other types of nutrients. As their teeth began to come in they learned to chew foods with a more complex make up. Do you remember when you came to the saving knowledge of Christ? If it was anything like my experience, it only took one taste and I wanted more. After a while, I began searching again because my initial experience didn’t sustain me. When my longing became great enough I would press through everything else around me to get what I so greatly desired. Eventually, I found that which quenched my thirst.  I still find myself going back. The more I have, the more I want, and the more I need. Psalm 34:8 reminds us, “Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” You are like a parent to the world around you. You hold the spoon to serve them a taste of our loving Savior through your words, actions, and deeds. Are you keeping Him to yourself or are you serving all that sweet gooey goodness to those who are hungry? Our world is starving and looking for something to fill a void only He can fill. Sadly, many choose to live on the crumbs of the half-baked ideals of anyone who seems to offer something that looks fulfilling. They will never know how good He is until they’ve tasted Him for themselves. But once they do, they will find nothing else will taste quite the same.

Closing remarks and encouragement: Have you truly tasted Him for yourself? The world is waiting…..they are BEGGING you to taste and see. You can’t share something you don’t have or haven’t experienced for yourself. Get in your word! Get in your War Room (or as the older saints refer to it, your prayer closet).  He promised, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” [Jer. 29:13] They’re hungry and waiting on you!

Have a blessed week, my friends!

Who is your Jethro? No, not the guy from Beverly Hillbilly’s.  The other one.  Still don’t know?  I’ll get to him in a few minutes. In leadership you (sometimes) find yourself being thrust into awkward situations. We walk into differing settings with our own set of preconceived notions of how things should be done and set about completing the task at hand. In most cases, we base those notions on our own personal experiences. I’ve been blessed to serve under some great and not-so-great leaders. Like me, they all had their share of bad habits. Some dubbed themselves the Lone Ranger and tried to carry the entire weight of the ministry entrusted them on their own shoulders. I’ve mentioned in past blogs that this is one such bad habit I had to break early in my ministry time. I have watched as some burned out all while vowing I wouldn’t let the same happen to me. In many cases, I turned around and still repeated those same failed behaviors. The need for balance in our lives is a necessity. And finding it doesn’t come easy as the level of balance is different for everyone. Tipping the scale too far in one direction or another can have disastrous results.

I am a firm believer that healthy balance comes in the form of Godly counsel. Consider Moses for a moment. He’s probably feeling extremely accomplished and blessed having led thousands upon thousands of Israelites out of Egypt. Though God had used him to accomplish something huge, he has now become a babysitter of every person he led out of captivity…..and he has his hands full. His father-in-law, Jethro the priest, comes to visit him and offer sacrifices of thanks unto God for the miracles he has performed through Moses on the Egyptians behalf. While there he sees Moses governing over the people alone and serving as judge from morning to night. Realizing Moses was heading for disaster, Jethro recommends to Moses, “But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.  Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you.  If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.” [Exodus 18:21-23] Moses did as his father in law recommended and things began to flow more smoothly. Back to my original question, who is your Jethro? In other words, who are you surrounding yourself with? Who do you allow to speak into your life? Anyone can give you their opinion on a subject but what you need is Godly counsel from someone who loves you, has your best interest at heart, and longs to see you accomplish that which God has anointed and called you to do.

Closing remarks and encouragement: If you don’t have a Jethro, ask God to send you one. Then allow them to speak to you directly. God never created you to be an island, alone and carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. It’s important that we adjust our unrealistic expectations and link arms with fellow men and women of God to complete the work of the kingdom.

My wife and I were chatting a few days ago as we were getting ready for work. We were discussing how comical it is that our children get up and get ready for school/daycare but somehow end up in our bed where they stay until it’s time to go. This happens (almost) on a daily basis. For some reason they find comfort being there. I remember my own childhood and doing the same thing. There was something special about climbing into my parents bed and pulling the covers up. Or, sometimes, I would ask my Dad if I could borrow one of his t-shirt’s to wear to bed. I had pajama’s but there was always something special about wearing that shirt. Though it had been washed it somehow smelled like him. He always wore the same kind of cologne and the smell never quite left his shirt even after a round in the washing machine. Even though that shirt didn’t have any special powers, when I was wearing it, I felt protected. I felt a like I had on a bulletproof jacket of some sort. It was the same way with the bed. I just felt like no one could get to me there. I knew my Dad’s presence meant protection from anything and everything. He was my own personal super hero. And now, my children seem to have that same mindset.

That feeling of protection is a powerful thing. Even in the worst of circumstances there’s this sense that everything will be okay and there’s no need to worry. My pastor has recently been preaching on the importance of abiding in the presence of God.  He has actually started asking our staff periodically, “Are you abiding?”  Study of the word abide in Strong’s Concordance reveals the definition to mean to lodge, remain, rest, or dwell. Sometimes I catch myself abiding simply out of necessity.  When life gets hard I run to Daddy-God for protection. Then there are other times I’ve been eating my Wheaties and I don’t feel like I need Him so and I don’t run to Him as often. I have this belief that I’m strong enough to do it on my own so I step out from under His covering. He desires a close and personal relationship with me, while I’m simply treating him like a drive-thru window — “Hey, God! Can you fix this for me?!?” I’m learning the importance of abiding in God even when things are going great. Psalms 91:1-4 states, “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High shall abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.” When you’re abiding in His shadow those steps of faith don’t seem to be as scary as you realize He’s there with you. When you’re in the middle of a panic attack, His presence is there to get you through it. When you’re going through a terrible situation that seems hopeless you are still able to find hope because He’s still there with you. Even better, when things are going well there’s still this realization, should you need Him, He’s already there as long as I stay in His shadow.  Are you abiding today?

Closing remarks and encouragement: To abide in His shadow requires you to remain close to Him at all times. Independence and the ability to take care of yourself is a good thing to aspire to. But not when it comes to your relationship with the Master. When you move out of His shadow, you move away from His umbrella of protection. Stay close to Him!

Have a blessed week, my friends!

I love my children with all my heart but, at times, I have a hard time simply “being present.”  I’m not necessarily referring to my actual physical presence being in the room with them.  I’m referring to being present emotionally and in other ways.  Life is crazy.  My wife and I both work jobs that require a lot of us.  Many times we come home and run through the “to-do” list that includes packing lunches for the next day, preparing and serving supper, cleaning up the dishes, washing clothes, bathing the kids, feeding the dog…the list goes on and on.  When there’s finally a break in the action I can always be found in my comfy recliner with a pillow behind my head and my cell phone or iPad in my hands.  By that point, my goal is to stay in that spot until it is necessary for me to move.  A few nights ago my daughter came over and climbed her ever-growing long-legged self in my lap.  I got her situated and comfortable and went back to playing my game.  A short while later it was time for her to brush her teeth and head to bed.  It wasn’t until an hour later that I realized I had not said one single word to her in that 30-minute period of time.  I was there, but I wasn’t there.  Rather than turn my attention to my living, breathing daughter, I kept myself immersed in a pretend world.  My daughter isn’t always the cuddling type so when she initiated climbing in my lap I should have turned my attention to her.  But I didn’t.  When I realized my response I was overcome with a terrible feeling of guilt.

When did other things become my priority?  When did moving to the next level on my game become the most important thing?  I could place those games to the side and come back in two or three months and, chances are, nothing will have changed.  Yet, my daughter is growing up before my eyes and will be leaving my house for college in ten years.  Sure, ten years seems like a long time but we all know it flies by in an instant.  The simple fact that she’s nearing the age of ten and it seems she was just born a few months ago is a gleaming example of that fact.  Talk about a reality check.  Proverbs 22:6 instructs us to, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”  Literally, in that moment, I was teaching my daughter it’s okay to ignore my (future) grandchildren.  My actions taught her it’s okay for other things to take priority over her family.  Everything I do now will affect my grandchildren, great-grands, and so forth.  What if God treated me in this manner?  How would I feel if I went to God in prayer, pouring out my heart, and He responded, “Hold on a minute, Brian.  I’ve got Sally on the other line and her problems are more important that yours!”  Devastated.  That’s how I would feel.  Devastated.

Closing remarks and encouragement:  Choose to be present in every way.  You can be assured I won’t be found on my deathbed wishing I’d made it to the next level of Candy Crush.  I encourage you not to assume your children/grandchildren expect you to be perfect.  You’ll never achieve such.  Just be there.  The same can be said of our time with our Heavenly Father.  We must stop treating our relationship like a Friday night fling, only going to Him when we want something.  Be purposeful and choose to be present.

My children come to me constantly asking for different things ranging from toys to animals and everything in between.  Part of me wants to give them everything their little heart’s desire.  Part of me realizes I would be raising spoiled monsters if I parented in that way.    Some things may fall into the realm of possibility while others are so outlandish I just laugh and say, “Baby, that ain’t happening.”    Currently, my horse-addicted daughter is attempting to gather money for a new saddle to use when she rides horses at her Poppa and Grams house (she is outgrowing her old saddle).  She’s been talking about it for well over a month now.  Every time she visits and spends a few days she always returns home with a renewed focus on how she can attain her goal.  When we picked her up from her visit yesterday she began informing me how much money we needed to ‘give’ her.  While I want her to learn a good work ethic, the importance of saving, and other life lessons that will serve her throughout life, I decided to throw a little encouragement in her direction.  I said, “Well, I’m not just going to give you the full amount but here’s a little bit towards it,” as I handed her Gram a little money.  You would have thought I’d handed her a million dollars.  That beautiful face lit up and you could see the excitement of nearing her goal dancing in her eyes.  When I make any type of promise to my children, big or small, I work hard to fulfill what I assured them I would do.  I want them to know they can trust me and I’m always here for them in their time of [genuine] need.  What do you think would happen if she went six months without getting any closer to her goal?  I know her well enough to know she would eventually give up on something that was, at one time, extremely important to her.  After a while she would lose hope of ever attaining her heart’s desire.

What is your saddle?  What is it that you are believing God for?  The salvation of a family member, the solution to an impossible situation, or healing of some sort?  How long have you been waiting on fulfillment of a particular promise from God?  Believing what God has promised you He would do requires faith.  Faith, for all intents and purposes, is a sacrifice as it requires you to set aside logic, personal feelings, and assumptions when what you’re being asked yields the possibility of no return.  Joshua 6:2-5 tells us, “Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.  March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets.  When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.”  What would have happened if Joshua disobeyed God’s commands and decided to take a few shortcuts along the way?  Let me inform you how bargaining with God works.  It doesn’t!  God’s plans may not always make sense to us but He’s not an auctioneer.  He’s not in the bargaining business.  Are you looking for shortcuts?  Let me encourage you—don’t do it!

Closing remarks and encouragement:  Our waiting seasons can seem like pure torture.  Fear, worry, and anxiety all tend to attack at the same time.  Shortcuts seem like the perfect way to attain our goals but will rarely yield a return (if at all) when God is involved.  The process seems tedious, frustrating, and downright painful at times.  But God has a plan.  Follow God’s [sometimes] confusing directions and just keep marching around your wall.  Eventually it will come down.  I speak from experience when I say, you can trust Daddy-God.  You don’t have to understand.  Just trust.

My goal for my life and this blog have always been to take my shortcomings and put it out there so others can realize they aren’t alone in their own struggles. While I feel I’m finally approaching a season where I feel the fog lifting, during the past six months, I have felt like I was losing my mind. I would get caught up in the whirlwind of my own thoughts and emotions. It was a vicious cycle that ruled my every waking thought. I have struggled on an (sometimes) hourly basis to distinguish what was reality and what was deception sent from the enemy. I’ve dealt with nausea every morning and throughout the day. I’ve lost weight because I couldn’t bring myself to eat due to the nausea. I felt like those closest to me were talking about me and attempting to sabotage me behind my back. Two months ago things reached a fevered pitch and I found myself nearly crushed under the pressure. I just wanted it all to go away….far, far, away. I just wanted to close myself off from the world and just sleep. Sleep brought me my only relief from reality. I caught myself having illogical thoughts because the heaviness of my emotions were too much to carry. My logical mind told me these thoughts/feelings were wrong but I couldn’t shake the onslaught of constant mental attacks.  If prayer were the answer, I would have been healed. If reading my word or fasting were the answer, I would have already received my healing. Nothing helped. “God, where are you?!? I can’t take this any longer!! The noise….so much noise….the….I can’t breathe….I can’t think straight……I can’t take this any longer…..STOP IT!!! JUST, MAKE STOP IT!!!” I finally shared everything with my wife. Honestly, I felt admitting my struggle was showing weakness and I was so ashamed.  I’ve always prided myself on being the strong one. I knew my thoughts were illogical but I didn’t have the strength to fight them any longer on my own. But she knew I was struggling. She saw it every day. My attempts at hiding it all were a sad and futile attempt at maintaining what little bit of faux-fortitude I had left.

Wars are fought and lost (or won) in our minds. If the enemy can affect our thoughts he literally has control. We allow our emotions and thoughts to govern how we will respond and that can lead us down some extremely dangerous roads. Anxiety is a real problem. Depression is a real problem. Oppression from the enemy is a real problem. It can affect your physical body. Hiding it does no more than allow it to continue growing in the darkness of our minds like a mold or fungus. The moisture and darkness feed it until it grows into something hard to combat singlehandedly. When I disclosed those things to my wife, it brought things out in the open. What I had attempted to hide couldn’t continue affecting me in the same way because I had someone helping me fight this battle. Hardship hits us all in different forms from time to time. But certain moments can leave us breathless. Even David experienced his fair share of heartaches. We find him crying out to the Lord in the Psalm 55:5-7 as he states, “Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me. I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest. I would flee far away and stay in the desert…” Life just happens. The good. The bad. The [really] ugly. But He is our hope. The Apostle Paul reminds us, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments (some versions use the word “imaginations”) and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ…” [2 Corin 10:3-5] As believers, we’re not battling flesh and blood. God has given us the ability, through Him, to pull those things down and rebuke the lies of the enemy floating through our heads. Anything that tries to exalt itself above the power of God MUST come down. It may sound crazy but, during those high pressure moments, as a symbolic gesture I’ve been rolling down the windows in my car and verbally commanding the enemy to get out. Or opening the back door to my home and, again, commanding he get out (my neighbors probably think I’m crazy but, hey, sometimes you’ve have to work harder to cast down those imaginations). Through the power of the Holy Spirit we have to take those thoughts captive and rid ourselves of them. And friends, sometimes we’re not strong enough to do it on our own….and that’s nothing to be ashamed of.  Battling alone is ignorant. We can do double the work when we have others helping us fight. Are you tired? Feel like you can’t take another step? Frustrated beyond belief? Ashamed of your struggle? Good! Just let go! Literally, release those things to the Lord. It was never your burden to carry anyway. “His yoke is easy and His burden is light.”

Closing remarks and encouragement: Are you struggling with anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, and more? Please get help! God never intended us to live our lives as an island. I speak from experience when I say, you cannot fight this type of battle alone. Pray for God to direct you towards finding one or more persons you can trust and confide in. Or, just as I’ve done, secure a Christian counselor who can help you maneuver through it all. Then, just spill you guts. Bring those things into the light! Begin the process of releasing it to God. It may have to be a daily, sometimes hourly habit of releasing…but do it! You’re not alone. You’ve never been alone. You’ll never be alone.

We all face times in our lives that are pressure points.  Even Jesus, who was God and man all in one, faced times where He felt all alone.  At His loneliest point He asked his disciples to stay with Him and pray (Matthew 26:38).  Often we feel the leading up to the pressure point and attempt to make preparations for comfort.  Prior to Gethsemane, Jesus informed the disciples that all of them would fall away from Him.  Peter, one of Jesus’ inner circle, took offense to the statement and declared that he would not deny Him even if all others fled.  Peter had great intentions but at the time of pressure his priorities manifested selfishness and self-preservation.  Who stays at your pressure point?  What a hard place it must have been for the Son of Man to endure alone.  He displayed His disappointment by asking, “Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?” (Matthew 26:40) Three times He left them to pray and three times He found them sleeping upon His return.

Life’s pressure points often remind us God alone can withstand any season.  The Bible tells us,  “when father and mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.” (Psalm 27:10)  We never consider our parents won’t be there for us.  We tend to rely and lean on them even when we are mature ourselves.  People have great intentions and attempt to stand in the gap on our behalf but in that darkest and loneliest hour, even our greatest friends can’t always be found.  Thankfully, God never slumbers.  God never grows weary or tires.  He won’t be found sleeping in our greatest moment of despair.  I encourage you to try Him today.  Whatever your circumstance or season, He is faithful to that which He promised.  Though it may seem like He has overestimated your ability to handle certain situations, He reminds us, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind.  And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13).  Even though tried in the fire, you will come out like pure gold.  Tempered and molded, the Potter reminds you to lean into His hands as He molds you through pressure points and seasonal circumstances.  Be prepared.  It won’t be comfortable.  But He alone stands sure.  Don’t let Him find you sleeping rather praying and pressing through every season of your life.

My family and I were recently in our vehicle stopped at an intersection because of a red light. My five-year-old son (who loves to read everything he sees lately) made mention of a woman standing at the corner with a large sign around her neck. I heard him reading the sign in the seat behind me, “God Loves You!” He inquisitively spoke up and asked, “Daddy-why is she wearing that sign? We already know God loves us!” I said, “That’s right! We do know that!”  I began thinking to myself, “I know God loves me but her face isn’t telling me much about God’s love right now.” This well-meaning woman was standing away from the road in the shade (in her defense, it was a very hot day) with a putrid look on her face. Her weight was shifted to the right, had hands on her hips, and her stance loudly pronounced her disdain for something or someone. I honestly didn’t see much benefit to what she was doing as her actions were discounting her message.  A few days later I was walking in a grocery store near our house and walked by a mother scolding her young son on the sidewalk. She told him quietly as I approached, “….there are consequences for you actions. Now stop whining. And fix your face before we walk in this store….” I’ve heard that sentence used before and knew what she was saying. It was basically a newer version of a familiar line my brother and I heard growing up, “Dry up those tears or I’ll give you something to cry about!” [some of you have heard that line more times that you care to admit…and have used it a time or ten yourself, ha ha!] Once inside the building I began thinking, maybe someone needed to tell the lady with the sign to fix her face.

Christians-like it or not, everything you do in your life is done on a platform. From the moment you accept and proclaim Christ as your Savior you are pushed out onto a stage. From that stage your life becomes a living and breathing testimony of who God is. A spotlight is placed on your actions (good and bad) and the world begins watching your every move. In your defense, we both know you’re not expected to be perfect. Only One perfect person has ever roamed this earth and they wrongly accused and hung Him on a cross to die. Just like Christ, you are going to be scrutinized for your every word, movement, and deed. But make no mistake—there’s only One opinion (in regards to your actions) that truly matters. King David left us one of many examples of how we should pray when he said, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.” [Ps 19:14] Platforms come in different forms and sizes. There are literal platforms of ministry such as proclaiming the message of Christ from a stage through ministry in some form. But there are other, less recognized but just as widely regarded, platforms you can/do minister from in the form of Facebook, Twitter, your relationships with your co-workers, the smile on your face (or lack thereof), how you treat your neighbor, and more. Whether you desire it or not, you’re being watched by audiences everywhere.

Closing remarks and encouragement: What are you doing with your platform? How are you presenting yourself? How do other people view your actions and demeanor? If you’re hanging around environments that are not Godly and involving yourself in conversations, actions, or other things that are not representative of who He is, there’s a problem. Better yet, if you’re doing the work of the Lord and have no joy, you’re probably doing something wrong. You might even need to fix your face  🙂   We are children of the King of Kings. Let’s act like it!

Have a blessed week, my friends!!

Recently I took it upon myself to paint the privacy fence that goes around my backyard. It was something I had been meaning to do for months but had never gotten around to.  I ran to our local Lowe’s and picked up everything I needed.  It was somewhat of a windy but hot day so I put on a pair of shorts, a T-shirt, and a pair of sandals.  I had watched our neighbors across the street kill themselves using a paintbrush so I decided I was going to use a spray gun to take care of things quicker.  The type of stain I chose was labeled clear on the bucket so I really didn’t think much about it.  About halfway through the job I noticed my skin looked different.  I removed my sunglasses for another look and, for a split second, I was mildly impressed by the tan I was beginning to get…. until I realized it wasn’t a tan at all.  Rather there was a mild amount of coloring in the bucket of solution being used.  By the time I realized it was staining my skin it was too late. The damage had been done and the sun was poised to go down pretty soon.  I pressed on. Later, I attempted to wash off the coloring from my skin but it only partially came off.  There were still remnants of what happened. Here I am six days later and I still have some coloring on my skin left over.  I looked like I had a bad spray tan on my arms and legs.

Isn’t that how sin is?  Things may start out on a very innocent level but, before you know it, you have been marked by the stain of what you have involved yourself in.  It doesn’t seem like it has affected you much until you start noticing the stains here and there.  You can try to cover it up but if you were to ever remove the covering the stain will still be there glaring at you like a scarlet letter announcing what you had done.  1 Corinthians 10:13 reminds us, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”  We know temptation will come but even during our worst moment, God is still faithful and would not have allowed it to come in our direction if He didn’t think we could handle it.  God must give the enemy permission to test or attack His people.  Job’s story reminds us of that. Thankfully, there’s always a trap door…a way of escape!  It’s like the magician who disappears leaving the crowd shocked.  I like the idea of shocking the enemy by how quickly I slip out the back door.  Satan could be gearing up for round two and, with God’s help, I will have already overcome the attack and slipped away from his grasp without him ever knowing. 

Closing remarks and encouragement:  Temptation will always come.  It’s nice to think we will always get it right but there are times we will slip and fall.  It’s our sinful human nature.  Just remember, it doesn’t matter how many times you fall as long as you GET BACK UP every single time!  And it would be nice if you purposed not to make the same mistake twice.  🙂      

Have a blessed week, my friends!!