No, not me! (long one)

Thanks to a good friend, I have been encouraged to continue posting, though I just have not had the spiritual energy to do it. Life seems to be a constant barrage of beatings and battle scars and the worst part of it is that so many of the beatings and bruises are self inflicted. I told someone the other day that I cannot figure out for the life of me why I continue to do some of the same insanely ridiculous stuff and expect different results than before....yes, I know, that defines the word "insanity". I would not for a moment argue that fact!

However, through the church and God's Word, I still find glimpses of hope. Last night I was at Calvary Chapel Triad in Kernersville, NC. I have been in NC for just over a week, just spending some time here attempting to seek the Lord (without much success). At the Thursday night service, Pastor David teaches the Old Testament and was in 1Kings 7. At the beginning of the chapter it mentions that King Solomon spent 13 years on his "house", but spent 7 years on the House of God, the Temple. From a rather obscure verse, one that may not appear to have much significance today, he posed the question that many of us might tend to think "man I can't believe him, he is such a ....., he spent 7 years on God's Temple, but 13 on himself" and from there launch into a character assassination of Solomon, without even knowing that there were very legitimate reasons, or having any of the accurate details.

How often do we like to take things we don't even really know or understand about other people and turn it into an opportunity to beat them up verbally, and 99.9% of the time do it behind their backs? Without hearing it from the person, and based on pure assumption, we launch into some pathetic episode that really makes us the one with the issue! Be careful! Proverbs 6:19 clearly states that God hates discord being sown among brothers and sisters.

In addition, when we do this it is because we do not think we are capable of the same stuff. I was reading Mark 14 this morning and the Lord gave me a vivid reminder of a guy name Peter who thought the same thing. In the last days of Jesus' time with His disciples He expressed to them in verse 27 that "All of you will be made to stumble because of me." Basically, He is saying "all of you have pledged your faithful allegiance to me, but you will fall away, you will be faced with situations as my disciples that will be extremely difficult for you and YOU WILL BLOW IT."

Peter, who I adore, because I am his twin brother, makes the statement "Even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be" (v. 29). Man oh man, how many times have I looked with spiritual pride upon another, esteemed myself to be better than (in my mind of course), said how glad I was that I have victory over that sin, and no way would I ever fall into that again. How many of us, though only in our minds think, "I could never be that bad, that guy weirds me out, I could never....." We could increase the list ad infinitum!

Yet verses later Peter blows it again because he can't stay awake when Jesus commanded him to "watch and pray". "Be alert Peter, stay in tune with what is happening around you, recognize the spiritual battle, and pray." "That sounds pretty cool to me Lord, I am a disciple, I mean I go to Sunday School and church every Sunday, they gave me a pin for my lapel, but I think I will just nap instead, I don't really need that watch and pray stuff." Then Jesus has to lovingly rebuke him and remind him that though his redeemed spirit is willing, it is attached to an unredeemed flesh that isn't!

I love Dr . John MacArthur's note on this verse: "Because willing spirits are still attached to unredeemed flesh, believers are not always able to practice the righteousness they desire to do." Thank you Dr. MacArthur for reminding us of that! Be careful! The next time we go off half-cocked and ready to assassinate another for what we see or perceive to see in their lives, we MUST know that we are capable of the same, if not worse. It has only made matters much more devastating in my own life when I built up this false sense of "I am different" or "I am just not like that or like them", whatever the case may be, and then I blow it in an even more disgusting manner.

Believe it or not, we are all capable! We are all just one bad decision away from being in a worse situation than the person we gossip about, the person we alienate, or the one we see as so much worse than we are!