Like most people, I have spent the last week being reminded of and expressing gratitude for all the ways I have been blessed.

I have expressed my gratitude for the abundance of really good food that I have enjoyed. I have expressed my gratitude for having a warm, dry place to sleep, to eat, and to watch television.  I have expressed my gratitude for having clean water to drink right out of the tap if I prefer and hot water to bathe with.

I have expressed my gratitude for cars that run, mechanics that keep them running, good streets, highways to travel and gas prices that have come down. I have expressed my gratitude for having a closet full of clothes... some of which are too small for me to wear because of all the good food that I have enjoyed. I have expressed my gratitude that I have an attic to store stuff that I use one time a year and some stuff that I don't use at all.

I have expressed my gratitude for a loving husband who works hard to provide for me and our family, for being a Mama and a Grandma, and for having a rich heritage of extended family that knows how to laugh, how to cry, and how to love, and for having friends who encourage me when I'm down and pray for me always. I have expressed my gratitude for being entrusted with the privilege of studying God's Word and the opportunity to share what I have learned.

I have expressed my gratitude for a good job that comes with benefits, and for the freedoms, rights and responsibilities of being a citizen of this country. I have expressed my gratitude for the Savior who was willing to die for my sins.

I acknowledge that I have been blessed, that I am blessed, and I have every reason to believe that I will continue to be blessed.

Yet, something is not right. Something is still missing. I am not where I want to be. I want to be more like Christ. I want to be a better follower of Jesus, a better leader of His people, and a better example to my neighbors.

I want to be a better wife.  I want to be a better Mama and Grandma. I want to be a better preacher, teacher, and counselor. I want to be better friend. Though real, my discontent is not unique. Paul expressed his desire like this:    "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.  Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."  (Philippians 3:1-14)


Father, You have blessed me beyond my wildest imagination, but it's still not enough. I still want more. I long for more of You in me.  More of You ... less of me.  That's my Christmas wish!


Have a great week.

Let God be God!!

During the making of the great epic movie "Ben Hur," Charlton Heston worked long hours with the stunt trainers to learn to drive a chariot for the movie's crucial chariot race scene. He improved greatly with His mastery over the horses and rig, but finally became convinced the task was more of a 
challenge than He had initially anticipated.

He approached the legendary director of the movie, Cecil de Mille about the scene. "Mr.de Mille," he said, "I've worked very hard at mastering this rig, and I think I can drive it convincingly in the scene. But I don't think I can win the race."

The director replied, "You just drive. I'll do the rest."

God has a way of orchestrating the various races we run during the course of our lives. He trust us to do our part in "manning the rigs." We must trust him to determine the result of the race.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2)
"The greatest act of faith is when man decides he is not God."
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

Have a great week!

Discouragement

Have you ever been discouraged?  Depressed?  Had the blues?  Felt like a failure?  Have there been times when you felt like nothing was going right; nobody was listening; and nobody cared?  You felt as though you were doing God's will - and yet everything still seemed to be falling apart.  Maybe you felt like God had His cell phone turned off or had blocked your number????

Do you know the greatest producer of discouragement?  Broken Dreams - broken promises - plans that have failed.

Nehemiah was charged with an enormous task - rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.  He could have easily become discouraged.  He could easily have given up.

The first six verses in Nehemiah Chapter 4 describe what is happening to the wall-builders.  Their enemies were angry with them. They had ridiculed them and persecuted them.  They were under verbal assault and attack.  Yet, in spite of the ridicule, in spite of the attacks, THE PEOPLE HAD NOT LOST HEART.    (4:6)  "So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart."

In the beginning, the wall-builders were doing  exactly what they were supposed to be doing - praying and standing watch. They were doing God's will and they were ready for any attack that might come their way.     (4:9) "But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat."

So what happened?  Why did they become discouraged?  What changed their hearts?  These people who were praying, who were doing God's will and rebuilding His walls.  What happened?

Three things caused them to get discouraged.
1. Fatigue(v. 10a)  Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, "Their strength was failing."
When are we most easily defeated by Satan?
When are most susceptible to temptation?
When are we the most emotional or irritable or grouchy?
When do we make the most wrong choices or say the wrong things?

When we're tired.  When we're exhausted.  When we're fatigued.

When we're tired, we make emotional decisions.  When we're tired, we're irritable and easily upset... we make snap judgments and  snap decisions and we snap at people.  When we're tired, we are most susceptible to discouragement.


2. Frustration(v. 10b)  "There is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall."
Have you ever been overwhelmed and said, "There are just too many problems. If it was just one, I could handle it.  But it's just way too many."    When you're frustrated - when you're overwhelmed, the simplest things can frustrate you - the simplest things that you could normally handle will overwhelm you.

We've all had it happen.  Simple things.  Something breaks, something spills, something won't open, somebody didn't do what they were supposed to do. Some little thing that you would normally laugh about or just clean up or quickly get over - now, it makes you frustrated, or upset or angry or makes you cry.  Prayers seem unanswered.  You feel like you're going through the motions; you don't feel like you have any joy any more.

If it had been just a little rubble, the wall-builders probably could have dealt with it; but, it was "so much rubble" (v. 10b).  Like the wall-builders, we, too, get frustrated - and then we get discouraged.


3. Failure(v. 10c)  "Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, "The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall."
Do you know what the greatest fear is?  THE FEAR OF FAILURE!

You feel as though you've let God down or that God has let you down. You feel like a failure - as a husband, wife, son or daughter.  You feel like a failure - as a father, mother, worker, friend.  You feel like a failure as a Christian.

It's amazing that so many people give up too soon.  They think that an early failure means continual failure.  They believe that one failure is fatal.

What if these people had listened to those who thought they were failures...
1.     "We don't like their sound. Groups of guitars are on their way out." Decca Recording Company when they turned down a recording contract with the Beatles in 1962.
2.     Isaac Newton did so poorly in school he was called "Unpromising"
3.     A Munich schoolmaster told a 10 year-old  boy  named Albert Einstein "You will never amount to very much."
4.     Thomas Edison was told in grade school that he was too stupid to learn anything
5.     A newspaper editor fired Walt Disney because he "lacked imagination and had no original ideas."
6.     Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team.

"There is too much rubble.  There are too many obstacles.  There are too many problems.  We can't do it.  We'll fail - we just cannot rebuild the wall."
The fear of failure WILL cause discouragement.

So, if those three things will cause discouragement, what are the things that Nehemiah did to overcome that discouragement?


Three Principles for Overcoming Discouragement
1. Reorganize(4:13)  "Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows."
What did Nehemiah do?  He reorganized.  He assigned specific tasks.  He reorganized and gave them a point of focus.

When you're discouraged, what is the first thing you can do? Organize! Organize your work.  Organize your home.  Organize your life.

How do you organize your life?  Discipline yourself .  Start on your projects now, not next week.  Get on a schedule.  When people are discouraged or have "the blues", the first thing a counselor will suggest to then is to get on a schedule.  Discipline yourself.  But don't try do it on your own.  Ask Jesus how he wants you to do it!  Ask Him to help you prioritize and organize your life according to His will.

When someone is discouraged - there is one question I always ask - How's your devotional life? Are you keeping up with your daily quiet time with God with prayer and Bible Study?  Almost inevitably, the person has stopped one or the other or both.   They've lost the "discipline" of a daily devotional.

Sometimes, they keep praying.  But friends, it has to be both.  We need to be talking to God (praying), but we need to be listening to God as well (Bible Study) 

 

One huge part of reorganizing is learning to deal with one thing at a time. One of the biggest reasons people get discouraged is that they are overwhelmed.  There's too much of everything - too much rubble, too many problems, too much "stuff".  They can't handle it all at once So, they become discouraged and don't even try.

What's the solution?  Prioritize.  Turn it over to God. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you."  Then, Reorganize.  With the Holy Spirit's direction and guidance, work on one problem at a time.  There's an old joke that asks, "How do you eat an elephant?  The answer. "One bite at a time."  That's what we have to do. Deal with one problem at a time.


2. Re-evaluate(4:14a)  "After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, "Don't be afraid of them."
What did Nehemiah do?  He "looked things over" - he re-evaluated.  He realized that there was nothing to fear.  God had plan.  God was in control. So, he told them,  "Don't be afraid of them.  Don't be afraid."

If you're not afraid of failing, there's no reason for you get discouraged. Nehemiah had done everything he was supposed to do.  He was doing God's will and even though the enemy was still there, he could say, "Don't be afraid - Don't worry".


3. Remember(4:14b)  "Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome."
Remember the Lord who is Great and Awesome
Remember his promises
Remember his blessings
Remember his grace
Remember his mercy
Remember the Lord

Remember!  2 Corinthians 1:10 reminds us, "He has delivered us...  He will deliver us...   He will continue to deliver us!"

Have you ever been discouraged or depressed and not felt loved or appreciated?  Then you picked up a scrapbook or a memory book and you were reminded how much you were loved and how valuable you were to someone else. The Bible is God's Memory Book.  It's a reminder of how great He is and yet, how much He loves you.  Nehemiah told the people, "Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome."

Our God is an awesome God, so Don't Be Discouraged.  Reorganize, Re-evaluate and Remember
"Do not be afraid, do not be 'discouraged', for the Lord your God will be with you - wherever you go!"  (Joshua 1:9)