GRL Series – But the Jerk Is Getting Away With It!

GOD IN REAL LIFE

But The Jerk Is Getting Away With It!

What do you feel when someone who has wronged you appears to continue on with no consequence?  How do you deal with that rightly?

This is a tough one.

Any of us could probably compile a list of at least a few people who meet the criteria of “jerks who seem to have gotten away with it” after they hurt us.

Anger and indignation is our normal human response.  So is our scream for justice.

I came face to face with one of the jerks from my past today.  Well, almost face-to-face.   It was the first time I saw the jerk in the flesh in quite awhile.  Suddenly, anger and indignation I thought I had long dealt with arose from its grave and jumped on top of me.

GRL Series – Life Is Like A Washing Machine

GOD IN REAL LIFE

Life Is Like a Washing Machine

I have a rather interesting washing machine.

It was banned to the garage because of a leak that’s gotten progressively worse over the last year or so.  I’ve been told it’s the pump, and although I know nothing about washing machines, that can’t be good.

One of the self-leveling thing-a-ma-bobbers on the bottom broke off, so between that and the slight slope to the garage floor, I keep a piece of wood wedged underneath one side.  It’s still not level.

The rinse cycle quit working.  It completes the wash cycle just like it was made to do, spins out, but then when it’s time to refill for the rinse cycle it seems to sit in suspended animation.  So to rinse the clothes, I turn the dial back to the beginning of the wash cycle to fool its washing machine pea-brain, but don’t add the soap.  I found that I was forgetting if the latest round was the actual wash cycle, or the rigged rinse cycle, so I invented an ingenious system for keeping track.  If it’s the wash cycle, I leave the laundry detergent bottle sitting on the lid.  For the rinse cycle, it’s the bottle of Downy perched on there that cues me to put that load in the dryer.

Since the tub inside sits slightly askew, all it takes is a load of towels or anything slightly heavier than normal to make the machine come to life in some wild, unbalanced Frankenstein-like hissy-fit, walking itself away from the wall until I come running through the house to shut it off.  I ruined a brand new bottle of detergent one day when it fell off the lid during a Frankenstein fit and burst open, pouring thick, slippery detergent all over the garage floor.  It did make the garage smell nice though.

GRL Series – Armed & Dangerous, Part Four – Moving From Knowledge to Understanding

GOD IN REAL LIFE

Armed & Dangerous, Part 4 – Moving from Knowledge to Understanding

I remember pulling a book off my shelf I read years earlier.  I had been walking through a very difficult season of life and a couple other books by this same author brought tremendous insight and deep healing to my soul.  It occurred to me I had another book of his on my shelf, so I went searching.

Sure enough, it was there, complete with faded yellow highlights in parts I thought were meaningful.

I laughed at myself as I read it this time, noticing the passages I had highlighted years earlier.  Good grief – was I really that deaf, dumb, and blind when I read it through the first time?

I thought I understood enough to highlight key points, but it never really penetrated my soul in a way that enlightened my ability to apply the principles and experience change.  I didn’t grasp the author’s real point and I didn’t recognize the implications of those truths.

That difficult season brought me to a fresh level of humility.  Believe me, it wasn’t easy to lay down the anger and indignation I felt over what I had experienced in order to embrace a humble spirit, yet it was vital to do so.

GRL Series – Armed & Dangerous, Part Three – Belief With A Kick

GOD IN REAL LIFE

Armed & Dangerous, Part 3 – Belief With A Kick

Do you know it’s possible to believe in God, be certain where we’re going to spend eternity, yet live defeated because we aren’t BELIEVING Him?

In Scripture, there are two forms of the New Testament word usually translated as “believe”.  There is a “belief” leading to receiving the Gospel message, and there is an active, ongoing, CONTINUAL act of BELIEVING that is a lifestyle.*

As a matter of fact, I’ve observed that my level of belief (faith) directly correlates with my level of trust, which exactly corresponds with the sense of peace (or lack thereof) I am experiencing when faced with any difficulty or uncertainty.

Your belief (positive or negative) is the lens through which you view everything.  It determines your perspective – which in turn influences your emotions, your decisions, your ability to discern options, and your behaviors.  As a result, you experience certain outcomes, which may then adjust your perspective, which reinforces your level of belief.

If I were to diagram it, it might look something like this…

GRL Series – Armed & Dangerous, Part Two – Boot Camp

GOD IN REAL LIFE

Armed & Dangerous, Part Two – Boot Camp

So, you’re tired of being the sitting duck – being used as target practice by the enemy, eh?  Ready to stand up and fight, charge that hill, proclaim you just ain’t taking it no more and you’re going to give Satan the what for?

Bad move.

You might as well paint a bullseye on your chest.

Only an arrogant fool would rashly charge into battle against a well armed and seasoned enemy.  Yet that’s exactly what many of us do.

To win this battle – to kick the enemy off your “Promised Land”, you must first be willing to participate in God’s Boot Camp.

Speaking as one who’s been through boot camp – flunked out a few times, and had to go through it again – let me share with you some insider tips…

GRL Series – Armed & Dangerous, Part One, The Victor or the Duck

GOD IN REAL LIFE

Armed & Dangerous – Part One, The Victor or the Duck

You know that carnival game where the little tin ducks paddle back and forth while someone stands there with a rifle shooting at them?  Ping! Ping! Ping!  The helpless ducks fall over one by one.

Ever felt like one of those little ducks?

In reality, you were born into a spiritual war zone.  Your life is being played out in the midst of an epic battle between good (The Lord God and His angelic host), and evil (Satan and his demonic hordes).

What’s at stake? – Your heart, mind, and allegiance.

Let me clarify something… I don’t mean to be rude, but Satan doesn’t really care about you, per se.  He does however desire to keep you from being transformed into the image of God you were created to bear!  It’s the desire of God’s heart to see you living that out, so Satan wants to get back at God by capturing you.

Being the ultimate narcissist, Satan wants everything to be all about him.  He wants to be the most beautiful and glorious being (mirror, mirror on the wall…), NOT God, and certainly not you in the image of God.

God is fighting for you because of the immeasurable love He has for you.  He wants you to experience that love, and walk in wholeness, peace, victory and abundance here and now as a gift until we get to experience everything more richly and without end one day with Him.  Our part is to learn how to do that.

Satan is fighting for you because he intends to use you as a pawn for his own purposes.  If he can deceive and distract you from truth, build up your fleshly pride (translation – arrogance), and coerce you to live like a victim (the duck!), then not only will you honor him instead of God, but he just might be able to use you as a tool against the “good guys” in one form or another.

Satan trembles in knowing that a Christian, who has been healed, matured, and equipped for battle, can command him to flee and take back the ground that’s been stolen over the years!  For him it’s imperative that he neutralizes our effectiveness!

For us, it’s imperative that we wake up, and grow up!

So why don’t we?

GRL Series – When Your Problems Outnumber Your Hairs

GOD IN REAL LIFE

When Your Problems Outnumber Your Hairs

Do you know what it’s like to disturb a fire ant mound?

All it takes is one step on that sloppy pile of loose grains of soil and before you can inhale twice, thousands of those humorless red stinging suckers come straight for you.  How they manage to get inside your socks in seconds flat is beyond me, but they let you know in no uncertain terms that you’ve made an egregious error.

There were times that I was just minding my own business, far away from any sight of their precious mound and they seemed to come looking for me – stinging me just for fun when I hadn’t even wronged them!

Problems are like that aren’t they?  Sometimes we step right into the midst of them through our own foolishness, and sometimes they seem to come looking for us undeservedly.  No matter which manner our problems befall us, we experience the sting nonetheless.