Overcoming – Page 32

Facing sexual temptation? Keep this in mind!

“See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son.” Hebrews12:16 (NIV)

The recent demise of the Herman Cain campaign was sobering and painful to behold. Whenever a well respected man’s reputation comes into question, as his did over charges of sexual impropriety, it triggers a gamut of emotion. We hope against hope that it isn’t true. We wonder how in the world such a thing could happen and possibly have been going on for so long without anyone blowing the whistle. We stand in amazement that someone who is so successful and seemingly so intelligent would jeopardize everything they have attained in life, and the promise of a preferred future, in exchange for some momentary sinful pleasure.

But it happens all the time. History is replete going all the way back to the days of Esau, with countless individuals who traded their inheritance for a bowl of porridge. Sadly, the cemeteries of the world have far too many people in them who went to their graves with regret over all the good in life they forfeited in exchange for the evils of sin.

Esau, the first born of Isaac and grandson of Abraham, was slated to receive both the inheritance rights as well as the patriarchal blessing. He was a man’s man, an outdoorsman, a hunter and rough cut man of passion. In his day, he was what might be termed a hunk.

Esau probably would have made a great politician. Strong, passionate, outspoken leader types have a way finding their way into places of influence. But every person considering a run for political office should keep in mind this scriptural advisory: “Be sure your sin will find you out.” (Numbers 32:23 NIV) Anyone who has any skeletons in the closet or hidden sins, be assured, they will eventually be exposed and you can count on the press and media to help. Don’t kid yourself, those who find themselves in the public eye need to keep a strict private eye on their own lives.

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When dreams are not meant to be!

2 Comments / Growth & Development, Overcoming, Relationship with God / Tom Stuart

“Are you seeking great things for yourself? Don’t do it!” Jeremiah 45:5 (NLT)

I find myself cringing when I hear people say “You can be anything you set your heart to be.” It is not true. It sets people up for misguided lives fraught with unfulfilled expectations and disillusionment. I understand the reasoning behind such a statement, particularly when it is directed at children and youth. It is important to instill a dare to dream mentality and a can-do attitude in every human heart. But dreams, like everything in life have parameters and exacting conditions that are necessary for their fulfillment. And it is not just a matter of faith and hard work.

A more accurate statement to inspire young and old alike is to say “You can be anything God has created you to be.” That maxim acknowledges the requisite talents and motivations endued at birth. And it also takes into account the times and seasons in which a person is living and the necessity of divinely ordained opportunity.

Michael Jordan is a great illustration. In 1993Jordan retired as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, after leading the Chicago Bulls to three NBA championships. He quit basketball to pursue a lifelong dream of becoming a professional baseball player.

He spent two years bringing his well-documented dedication and intensity to baseball, but ended up being a journeyman player at best with a .252 batting average and never made it to the big leagues. He returned to the Bulls for the 1995-96 season and proceeded to lead the Bulls to another three-peat series of NBA championships.

What was the cause of the disparity in the outcome of Michael Jordan’s pursuit of two dream careers? Obviously the measure of inherent talent was one. Another was the contrast in experience and time for skill development. But an intangible may have been his chemistry with his teammates and his coach. Dream fulfillment is complicated business.

In the waning years leading up to the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 586 BC, Jeremiah the prophet was busy warning both the king and religious leaders of God’s impending judgments. He had a faithful scribe named Baruch to whom he dictated his prophecies and through whom a number of them were personally delivered.

Baruch, who’s name means “blessing” was hoping against hope that the recipients of these prophetic messages would repent and that his ministry would be successful. As a spokesperson for Jeremiah he had dreams and career aspirations of a position of influence in a reformed society. (Not unlike Jesus’ disciples.) It was not to be.

In what appears to be a parenthetical

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No Problem

Overcoming / Tom Stuart

“No problem! No problem!” Ah if only it were true.

In some settings that phrase is a tip off that the person who utters it isn’t really telling you the whole truth. It is code for “I can do this, but it is more difficult than I imagined and as a result it could take more time and cost more money than originally planned.”

In other settings, coming from the lips of believers, it is a statement of faith and an assurance that God is in control.

Years ago I was on a ministry trip to East Africa. For me the most nerve wracking, faith testing aspect of my entire time there was traveling from place to place in my host’s small four door sedan. Every day before we climbed into the car I made it a practice in my mind to race down the aisle, fling myself at the foot of the altar, beg for God’s mercy and get saved all over again.

The driver, bless his heart, often became more engaged in conversation than in keeping his eyes on the road. The roads were narrow and flooded with traffic, especially huge road hogging, diesel exhaust belching trucks. Their only semblance toMinnesotaroads were that they were cratered with potholes like ours after a brutal winter. To top it off the car was old and had bald, threadbare tires.

Being the generous person that I am, I decided that I would buy my hosts a new set of treads. We found a place where they sold tires and at my urging sought to purchase the tires and have them mounted post haste. When the man at the shop said “no problem” I rejoiced. Inwardly I was feeling a tremendous sense of relief knowing that a major source of my stress was about to be eliminated. I should have known better. As we climbed back into the car my host explained to me that there was indeed no problem in getting the tires. It was just that they did not have them in stock but could get them within four or five days. Oh joy!

As it turned out we had a flat tire the next day while journeying out into the bush. There was no spare. No problem! Thankfully we were close to the home of my host’s parents. There we were able to spend the night and the next morning one of the men walked 20 miles carrying the flat tire to a place where he could get it fixed.

I have learned to love the faith of Christians who take the “no problem” approach to life’s hardships. There is much we can learn from those believers who have learned to trust God, roll with the punches, declare “no problem” and then see what God is going to do

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Dealing with the Stain of Sin

3 Comments / Growth & Development, Overcoming / Tom Stuart

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 (ESV)

What do you do if you have confessed your sin and received God’s forgiveness but continue to be afflicted with the after effects of your transgression? The after effects are the stain of sin – the residual vexation in your soul over what you have done. The stain of sin often is the shame, embarrassment or feelings of failure that continue to plague you. It can be a self loathing and inability to forgive yourself for the stupid choices that you’ve made. The stain of sin can also be an obsessive preoccupation with reliving your sin, which dangerously can become the tool of the flesh and the devil to subtlety lure you back into sins lair.

The quintessential verse in the Bible promising God’s unmitigated forgiveness process for repentant sin is quoted above from the first epistle of John. As an apostle, John had been privy to Jesus’ many teachings on the forgiveness of sin. He had been a witness at the foot of the cross where Jesus paid its awful price through the shedding of His blood. (see 1 John 1:7) And after the resurrection, he had seen first hand Jesus’ merciful forgiveness completely restore his buddy, the repentant denier, Peter.

It is important to note from John’s verse that forgiveness of sin has two key aspects. They are the forgiveness and the cleansing. In simple terms, the forgiveness part is God forgetting our sin and the cleansing part is God helping us to forget it.

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Spiritual Crabology

Overcoming, Relationships / Tom Stuart

“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love . . . Rejoice with those who rejoice.” Romans 12:10 & 15 (NIV)

I was introduced to this concept years ago by a Mississippi pastor. Being familiar with the fishing industry in the Gulf he described how those catching crabs did not need to put a lid on the container in which the crabs were kept. Naturally one would think that any crab that wanted to, could simply crawl up over the edge and escape. But the curious nature of the crab is that instinctively those in the group reach up and pull down the ones climbing out, back into the bucket. They will not allow one another to break free which sadly seals their collective fate. He referred to that mentality as crabology.

Crabology of course extends to human behavior. It says in effect that “if I can’t be free, neither can you.” It is the tendency to want to downplay, discourage and even disallow someone else from a breakthrough or succeeding at something that we have not experienced. It may be motivated by envy or jealousy, a competitive attitude or simply ignorance as to what is really happening.

Needless to say crabology also has spiritual applications and implications. Paul the apostle addresses this very thing in his letter to the Romans when he said “rejoice with those who rejoice.” This injunction is set in the context of seven verses in which Paul is giving specific instructions to Christian believers as to how to get along with one another. (Romans 12:9-16) All of it is great advice and very much needed, as evidenced by how frequently it has not been heeded.

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