Thursday, May 31, 2012

Real Life


Who (or what) pulls your strings? Gets your heart quickened? Excites you? Makes you think you can't get by without it? Sounds out the cadence you march to?

Do you mistake lust for love? Neediness for need? Loneliness for passion? Pride for assurance?

It's amazing how many people are substituting the fullness of life found in Jesus Christ for a cheap knockoff.

It is evident that the world cannot exist sufficiently without love. So much so that much of the crimes of the world are committed for love. Psychiatric wards are filled with jilted lovers, perverted lovers, lovers of forbidden things, etc. The world in its cravings for what is good, chase after what is wrong.

A true paradox. 

What do you love. 

Or who?

I've got a tombstone hand and a graveyard mindI'm just twenty-two and I don't mind dyingWho Do You Love?~Bo Diddley~

Let's get it straightened out this morning. Okay?

No one should run your life. No thing should run your life. If you feel your life is unhappy or out of control this morning it's because it is. Admit it. It is.

Now if you want to reverse it and get out of the syndrome take steps to fix it.

First of all, stop relinquishing control of your life over to others.

That's right. This is the reason for the difficulty. You have allowed others to make you dance to their song.

It's wrong. It's abusive. It's plain evil. 

Think about it. Does your happiness rest upon other people? Are you dependent upon others to feel good about yourself? Do you feel trapped but are afraid to call it what it is?

After ascertaining that and honestly looking at yourself as basically being taken advantage of and abused (this could be by a spouse, a job supervisor, a parent, a fiancee, your children, siblings, neighbor, friend, relative, the list could go on and on), know that you have a choice.

No, it's not the psychologists couch. No, it's not the pill vial, liquor bottle, or joint.

You'll just become morbidly attached to those things.

You see the problem is with you, not all of the other things. YOU have given control of your life over to your emptiness and the things that give you momentary satisfaction and comfort. Even if they kill you. 

No, your one and only choice is Jesus Christ. Sorry if that sounds too simplistic, but it is.

1 John 2:16-17 - "For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh [craving for sensual gratification] and the lust of the eyes [greedy longings of the mind] and the pride of life [assurance in one's own resources or in the stability of earthly things]--these do not come from the Father but are from the world [itself]. (17) And the world passes away and disappears, and with it the forbidden cravings (the passionate desires, the lust) of it; but he who does the will of God and carries out His purposes in his life abides (remains) forever.

Tell me that passage doesn't nail it.

There are no quick fixes to the pains and sorrows of life. There is only Jesus Christ and His comfort and peace. Abiding in Him results in many benefits for living now, but with the knowledge of a greater reward eternally.

I guarantee that if you are going through yet another major upheaval in your life a detachment from Christ is at the root of all of it.

The devil has designed it that way.

Restore your commitment to Jesus Christ and your life will be restored as well. Allow Him to order your steps and you will find newness of love and peace and renewal of your spirit.

Keepin' it Real.

Pastor Kevin <><
www.reallifect.com

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