I am beginning to think that certain holidays and three-day weekends are bad for my health. It started a few years back on Mothers day when my nephew ran me over with a golf cart. The next year, my brakes went out right as I came up to a stop light at a busy intersection. Surprisingly, I emerged unscathed both times. On Memorial Day this year, my mother fell down and broke her hand – compound fracture. That same day, I broke a tooth while flying into New York City airport.
Yesterday was Labor Day and hilarity ensued again. I was heading down to Sarasota (80 mile round trip) when some guy passed my on the shoulder of the road. Of course, my natural reaction is to comment on this "idiot" who thinks that I'm going too slow so he's going off road just to get around me. Instead, he motions for me to roll down my window. When I do, he informs me that my back tire is completely flat. Great, now I'm going to be late for my appointment and probably have to shell out money that I don't have in order to get new tires. But sometimes we can learn a lot about what God does in our daily lives if we just step back and look at it from His perspective. First of all, I learned, or at least was reminded, that we should be quick to listen and slow to speak, and slow to become angry. If it wasn't for that "idiot" that risked getting a ticket in order to ensure that he had my attention, I would have been facing repairs a lot more costly than just a couple of new tires. Not to mention the safety of my daughter and I. The other lesson is that God will put us in circumstances where we have a chance to interact with people that we would not have an opportunity to talk to otherwise. I have a friend of mine who had a disagreement with me a few months ago. A couple of weeks ago he sent an email apologizing. I have been meaning to write him back but due to bad timing and poor planning on my part, it just hasn't gotten done. Well yesterday, because of the circumstances with the car, I ended up eating at McDonald's. I have only eaten at McDonald's about five times in the previous year due to my new diet. If it were not for the flat tire, I would not have eaten there yesterday. But while my daughter and I were eating, around the corner comes this gentleman with the un-returned email. We were able to talk and he apologized once again. The whole experience reminded me of a lesson I learned many years ago – be careful of the excuses you make, God may remove the excuses. In this case, I wonder that if I had just emailed this guy in the first place, maybe I wouldn't have had the trouble with the flat tire that forced me to be in exactly the right place at the right time? Something to think about.
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Ezekial 14:14 (NLT) Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were there, their righteousness would save no one but themselves.
This verse is a "who's who list of righteous men" Noah - a man singled out from the whole earth. A man who alone sought to serve and obey God. Job - A man who lived so intentionally as a righteous man that he became a spiritual target of Hell itself. Daniel - A contemporary addition to this list as he lived during the same time as the writer. We all know him as a man who stood and refused to bow down to any other God and faced the lions as a result. What most of us don't realize is that the den of lions came late in his life. He had already been honing his spiritual habits and choices for over 50 years. The true test of his character came when he was just a teenager. Before most of us start making any significant choices in our life, Daniel was taken captive and transported over 500 miles from home. We can travel that distance in just hours today but then it would have taken weeks to return if he had tried to escape. While in captivity, he had no parents around to keep him accountable to follow Gods laws but he deliberately chose to obey God first and foremost, no matter what the consequences. We see this evidence in the first chapter of Daniel. The 8th verse sums it up perfectly - "Daniel PURPOSED in his heart that he WOULD NOT defile himself..." Q: How did these three men make this elite list? A: Through intentional, deliberate, repeated decisions. Know Gods commands Psalm 119:9 How can a young person stay pure? By obeying Gods word. (NLT) The first step in becoming a righteous person is to know Gods commands. How do you get to know His commands? By reading his word. Do this daily. Obey God Twice in the flood account of Genesis chapter 6 and 7, it is recorded that Noah did exactly as God commanded him. Daniel was not afraid to make the tough decisions, even if it meant risking his life. The same word is used to describe both Noah and Job - Blameless. Do not compromise In Job chapter 1, Job runs toward righteousness and away from evil. Daniel applied Gods standards to every nook and cranny of his life and was not willing to settle for just getting by. He knew where the line was and was not willing to cross it. We can also learn from Daniel that it helps to have men standing by you with the same standards - all of us need an accountability partner. If you don't have one, get one. A chord of three is not easily broken. We all need to follow Christ as the perfect example of how to live our lives. Few of us have not heard of WWJD - What would Jesus do. If you need some extra encouragement from some men who committed the same faults and experienced the same failures that you and I do, take a good long look at the lives of Daniel, Job and Noah By doing so, discover the principles of what makes a righteous man. |
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I start every day by digging into Gods Word. I try to journal what I learn so that I can remember it and apply His principles to my daily life. I challenge you to do the same. Archives
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