The following are 5 examples of Christian men who are having a good day.
1-So you’ve got a game plan you know what it is that you are going to do and how you are do it. You have worked hard for this moment and you are going to enjoy it the way you planned to enjoy it no matter what.
2-Your world is good. You and the family are headed on the trip of a lifetime and nothing can stop you from enjoying this moment forever.
3-God has just blessed your life and no amount of money could ever pay for the blessing that He has bestowed upon you. You are on top of your spiritual mountain. You could have never thought that you would ever reach such a close walk with God as you are experiencing right now.
4-You’ve been plugging right along. Marriage is good. Kids are good. Everybody’s healthy. There’s food on the table, a roof over your head and a soft bed to sleep in. You are completely content with where you are. Life is good. You are blessed.
5-You are on fire! This is the word that you have been waiting on for a long time. This sermon is coming together like never before. It’s almost like God is plugged directly into your pen and this is just flowing out onto the paper. This is spot on. This will change lives forever. God is awesome!!!!!
1 hour later that day:
Huh? What’s that honey? Yes, Dear. No I didn’t hear you, what is it? The air, what air? Oh, the air conditioner is not working? Ok. Yes I’ll be right there. This thing is blowing warm air. Wonder what the heck is up with that. I think I’ll check the thermostat. Yep its set right. Wonder why it’s blowing hot air. Yes Baby I’m looking at it. No, I don’t know what’s wrong with it and if I did I would be fixing it not looking at it. Maybe if I turn it off and back on again it will reset something in the unit. Yes, I know the unit just shut off. I’m working on it. Will you please go back in the living room and shut up and let me try and fix this. No, I’m not being a jerk. You won’t shut up long enough to let me think. Well, still blowing that stupid hot air. Why did this go and happen today? Of all the days for this thing to break. I’ve got things to do. God just set me on top of the world and now I’m getting to deal with this crap. What in the world is she yelling about now? Holy crap. What did I just step in? I’m going beat the crap out of those ignorant kids. They know better that to have that junk in the house. Yes woman, for the love of God I hear you. The whole neighborhood is hearing your loud mouth right about now. Is there anything else you would like them to know about our situation? My God could this day have gone any more wrong!! What do you mean you called the repairman? Well call him back and tell him I got it. No,I don’t have it but I will. Any other time it would take these guys three days to show up, but on the day when I don’t have a stinking dime to pay them, they’re here in 10 minutes. Yes, I’m mad at you for calling them. I know it wasn’t your fault the unit broke but you didn’t help it any. God what did I do to deserve all of this? My whole world is falling apart and I don’t know why. Do you hate me for some reason? What have I done? Son of a motherless goat, $400.00 for 1hr of work on an A/C unit. To heck with this I’ve just got to get away. What do mean where am I going? Just shut up and go back in the house I’ll be back later……….
WHAT JUST HAPPENED?????????????????????????????????????
If you are honest with yourself, you can connect on just about every level of that story. At one time or another we have all fallen short and if you would be completely honest most of us have been through a similar scenario more than we care to admit.
We have often had to come back and do a lot of unnecessary apologies. If we had only kept our minds clear and our mouths shut in the first place, there would be no need for them.
Why do we find it so urgent to vomit words of disdain and corruption in a situation that we know is already volatile? Personally I think some of it is learned behavior. I watched my Dad get upset and curse things that weren’t as he thought they should be. So, in my subconscious, I accepted it to be the way to handle it because that was how I saw it done. Now that being said I can no longer use this excuse. We are grown men with the knowledge of right and wrong and to hang the health of our physical and spiritual relationships on the nail of “learned behavior” is simply a coward’s way out. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 that as Christians we have been given a new level of wisdom which is God ordained. We have been empowered with the mind of Christ. So now that we have eliminated a lack of knowledge from our list of excuses, where does this leave us? My personal opinion is lack of determination. I have found from my own experiences that if I “talk” my way through a matter in a determined fashion that I have a higher rate of success than when I mindlessly allow the matter to control me. I simply speak to my situation. No matter what the problem it can only pull out of you what you allow. It’s your mouth, your tongue and your mind. You control all that goes in and comes out.
When we read about creation in the book of Genesis, we see that God spoke all creation into existence. It doesn’t say that he screamed at it or smarted off at it, He simply spoke. We have been given this same power to speak life into existence. We must be determined to simply speak life when we speak. I know your thinking that’s easier said than done and you’re correct. But we must be determined, determined to start, determined to speak and determined to see the change. We will always be reminded of those who have tried and failed. We will always be reminded of our own past failures. Sometimes we even look into the future expecting failure. Shame on us! But if we will just become as determined to speak life as we are determined to remember failure we will become some life breathing world changing men of God!
Just food for thought, most have heard of the many struggles of the apostle Paul. He had to have been an awesome man of God to endure all that he went through in his ministry while here on earth. So one would immediately think that he must have had it all together. He never had any problems that upset him or he couldn’t handle. He most certainly was a very strong man of God. I am humbled and awed then to read that his greatest weapon in his ministry other than his faith in Christ Jesus was his determination to see the change. No scripture reminds us of this as well as Philippians 3:12-14 when Paul said, “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Paul had learned to live determined….
Never is it more important to live determined than now. You will never be able to change this moment in time ever again. Once it passes it is gone forever. We must step up our game as men of God and learn to live every moment determined to be different. Anyone of us can see the things in our lives that are no different than the rest of the world. Why? If we were truly set apart then shouldn’t we see more of what makes us different than what makes us the same? This will only come about when we become determined to have a different life than we have ever had, different thoughts than we have ever had, different reactions than we have ever had, different relationships than we have ever had and be determined to be that way. God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalms 46:1. You have been equipped for such a time as this; learn to take advantage of it. Learn to use the tools God has given you to live determined. Because God is determined to see you succeed.
M.U.S.C.L.E. 