How To Stop Worrying and Start Living

I was reading a chapter in the book by Dale Carnegie. I seem to be attracted to books and houses from the 40's. Imagine, we think the whole self-help movement is new! The first chapter is quite interesting:

Every day is a new life to a wise man.

Happy the man,
and happy he alone,
He, who can call to-day his own:
He who, secure within, can say:
To-morrow, do thy worst, for I have liv'd to-day.

Those words sound modern, don't they? Yet they were written thirty years before Christ was born, by the Roman poet Horace.

One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living.

"How strange it is, our little procession of life!" wrote Stephen Leacock. "The child says, 'When I am a big boy.' But what is that? The big boy says, 'When I grow up.' And then, grown up, he says, 'When I get married.' But to be married, what is that after all? The thought changes to 'When I'm able to...'"

And thus, we stop living for today. The infamous AA saying, "One Day At A Time," is actually quite Biblical in nature. Jesus said, "So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matthew 6:34)

In our weekly staff Bible study we had talked about giving 100% each day. You can't give more, and you can't make up for it tomorrow if you give less. That's what this is about. It's about being a good steward of each of your days. Letting bygones be bygones. Not fearing for the future.

Jesus was right: "Each day has enough trouble of it's own."

So, with Horace, I concur: "To-morrow, do thy worst, for I have liv'd to-day."

That is, if you can live... really live... in the present, you can say with Horace, "Bring it on!" I've done my best today and I'm ready for more!

Would You Live for Jesus?

Pastor Ron reminded us again this Sunday about living for Jesus. Well, dying, yes. But to die for Jesus, you have to live for Jesus, right?

I get frustrated with our attitudes of independance. That is, lack of discipline, taking shortcuts, and doing what makes us feel good. "It's all about me." We're so easily distracted, aren't we? It's either the world, the flesh, or the devil. It's so easy to drift, and we barely know it's happened.

This summer Melanie and I went paddleboating and as we were in "coasting" mode we realized just how far we'd drifted! Thankfully, a man and his family boated by and said, "You girls were in that same spot one hour ago! Need a tow?" Whoa. Did we ever!

So, if we're drifting, we're not living for Jesus, are we. We take our sights off God for the moment, and suddenly we find ourselves needing a tow into shore. Life is like that. We fret. We worry. We try to solve problems in our own strength.

Melanie and I were watching a suspenseful show yesterday. However, she had already seen it, so she said, "It's okay. I know what happens." Suddenly I didn't have to fear! And so it is in life. If we just keep our focus on God, He'll make sure we get to shore. He knows how it ends.

All we have to do is surrender into His presence. Would you live for Jesus?

Would You Die for Jesus?

Would You Die for Jesus? Last Sunday Pastor Ron challenged us on this point. Not a lot of pastors are asking us the tough questions like this anymore.

The Christian classic novel, "In His Steps," by Sheldon has been left to collect dust on the shelves. There was a revival of it's premise when everyone and anyone was plastered with "WWJD" on t-shirts, hats, jewellery, bumper stickers and more. But even amidst this fad, did we really stop to consider, "What WOULD Jesus do?"

Jesus said, "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done." (Luke 22:42) You know what He was talking about. Yes, Jesus became "obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." (Philippians 2:8)

So, again, the question: Would you die for Jesus? He died for you.

Feel Good Feelings

Relationships. Boys and Girls. The Birds and The Bees.

Tricky business, those relationships of life. Did you know there is an almost zero chance of a successful recovery to those who become involved in a relationship before one year of sobriety? I taught this to the residents on the LifeChange Program this week. Some of them are really being tempted in this area.

How easy it is to look to people to fulfill us. To use their affection and attention to stroke our egos or give us self-worth. But people aren't perfect. They let us down in big and small ways. Then what? Suddenly, I'm not only talking to addicts. I'm talking to myself. I'm talking to all of us.

Why do we get entangled in relationships when we aren't healthy? Because we want to feel good. It's selfish, really. Do we really think those feel good feelings are going to last? Any relationship worth it's weight in gold will be refined by fire.

If we need someone to make us feel normal, or complete, we're not ready for a relationship. If we skip from one relationship to another, we're not ready for a relationship. If what others say and do cause us to be insecure, we're not ready for a relationship.

If we ourselves are going through a hard time, getting involved in a relationship with the opposite sex is only going to make things worse in the end. You cannot use people to avoid the pain of life.

Colossians 2:10 says our completeness is ultimately found in Christ.