Making Excuses

In John 5, Jesus approached a man lying by the Pool of Bethesda who had been paralyzed for 38 years. The Bible says that occasionally an angel would come down and stir the water and whoever was the first one to get into the water was healed. When Jesus approached the man, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"

At first glance, that seems like a strange question to ask a paralyzed man. "Do you want to get well?" One might guess the man would answer, "Of course I want to get well!" But that's not what he said. Instead, he answered, "I don't have anybody to put me in the pool when the water is stirred." Jesus hadn't asked the man why he hadn't already gotten into the pool. He asked him if he wanted to be made well, but the man responded with an excuse.

I've counseled people for over 35 years and have found that not everybody wants to be well. If they were well, they couldn't blame other people for their problems. They couldn't blame their circumstances. They couldn't blame themselves. They would have to assume responsibility and began to move forward in life. No, as strange as it may seem, not everybody wants to get well. Some would rather live as martyrs who think they just can't catch a break.

This man had given up hope. He had been in that same place for so long that he made the mistake of assuming his future would be just like his past. It was outside the realm of his paradigm that Christ might step onto the scene and change everything in an instant.

Many today make the same mistake. We think that nothing will ever change. After all, life has always been this way and we can't imagine why it won't keep being this way. When we adapt this mindset, we have lost sight of the greatness and grace of the One to whom we belong.

Maybe you've been given to making excuses in your life. Perhaps you've lost hope in the midst of debilitating circumstances. Take heart! Jesus sees you in your need and wants to help you. Cast off your excuses, trust Him and rise up and walk.

(This blog was taken from a message I shared a few weeks ago on Sunday Preaching. Last week there were over 500 computers logged in to watch the message. Some people gathered together in groups to watch. Join us this week at www.gracewalk.org at 5:00 EST for Sunday Preaching! If you can't join then, I leave the message up all week for you to watch at your convenience.)

What I've Been Reading

I just finished reading The Soloist by Steve Lopez. It is the true story of Los Angeles Times staff writer Steve Lopez friendship with Nathaniel Ayers.

Lopez first encountered Ayers when he saw him on Skid Row in L.A., playing a two-string violin. Thinking there may be a story there, he met Ayers and began to uncover an amazing story about the mysterious street musician. More than thirty years earlier, Ayers had been an up and coming classical bass student at Julliard. Little by little, he lost his ability to function as he was overcome by a mental breakdown.

Lopez sets out to change Ayers' life, only to experience one frustrating experience after another as he learned how hard it was to deal with Ayers mental illness. The book shows how that, in the process of selflessly trying to change Ayers' life, his own life is profoundly changed.

In the end, Lopez learns that the most important thing of all is to show love to Ayers. One doctor tells him, "Relationship is primary. It is possible to cause seemingly biochemical changes through human emotional involvement. You literally have changed his chemistry by being his friend."

This true story is a wonderful example of the redemptive power of love. It shows how unconditional love has the power to transform people's lives, even if it's a street person with serious mental problems.

The story will be told in a movie by the same name, opening in theaters in March. I certainly plan to see it.

Terrorized By The Law

I recently began to wonder what the actual meaning of the phrase, Al-Qaeda is so I looked it up to find its literal definition. The meaning of the phrase is "the base." Of course, it's the place from which terrorists plan and carry out their attacks against innocent people across the world.

As soon as I discovered the literal meaning of the phrase, my thoughts turned to the passage in Romans 7 that I have taught so many times over the past two decades. It's where the Apostle Paul talked about the law and how the power of indwelling sin uses the law to defeat us in our walk. In verse eleven, he said: "For sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me."

If you look at the word "opportunity" in a Greek Lexicon (a book that provides the literal meaning of Greek words), you'll discover that the Greek word used in this verse is aphorme. The literal definition of the word as it's used in Romans 7:11 is "a place from which a movement or attack is made, a base of operations."

What an interesting fact. The power of indwelling sin that resides in our body uses the Law of God against us to set up a base of operations to terrorize and defeat us. Indwelling sin in our bodies is the Bin Laden against our souls and the flesh is Al-Qaeda.

Remember that there is nothing wrong with the Law of God. God's Law was given to open the eyes of the self-righteous to their own unrighteousness. The fact is, though, that you and I have been released from the Law (See Romans 7:6) through our death with Christ on the cross. By His grace, we saw our own unrighteousness and, by His grace, we repented of the folly of our sin and turned to Him in faith. At that moment, we were born again and now have no connection to the Law whatsoever. (Read Romans 7:1-6 for the biblical explanation.)

If we don't realize that we have moved out of the bondage of Babylonian captivity, we will still live under the terroristic threats of legalism. But you have been delivered from Babylon. You aren't under the Law anymore. The religious Al-Qaeda have no rights or authority over you anymore. Your Liberator has set you free and "He whom the Son sets free is free indeed."

On this Martin Luther King day, maybe the best way to describe your condition might be to use His words. You are indeed, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, free at last!"

Sunday Preaching Every Week At 5:00 Eastern Standard Time

I want to make you aware of something I've begun doing that I hope will encourage you in your grace walk during the coming months. Every Sunday from now until the end of June, I plan to share a grace filled message online at five in the afternoon. (Eastern Standard Time)

I'm thankful for our Grace Walk Group Leaders who are studying with their groups each week. I see that as a sort of Sunday School approach to learning the grace walk. How these Sundays meetings will differ is that I am sharing a sermon each week, from a grace based perspective that I hope will encourage you.

Some are inviting others to their homes to watch the messages online together and then are discussing them afterward. I encourage you to think about getting a group together and being a part of this "online church service" every week.

You can watch me share the message on our home page at www.gracewalk.org. I just checked the counter on the console of the player and last week 335 people participated. That's a small church! Will you join us today at 5:00 EST as we move forward together to grow in our own grace walk? And let other people know about this opportunity.

The growing grace revolution will gain momentum as we each reach out to other people at every opportunity to let them know about ways they can grow in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Do You Know Your Own Heart?

I like this. Thanks to Ana Vincent, from Grace Walk Canada, for sending it along.

The Paraclete And The Marathon

My oldest daughter, Amy, and my youngest son, David ran a marathon in Orlando this past weekend. The distance is 26.2 miles. Amy is a personal trainer and had run a marathon last year. This was 29 year old David's first time. He had trained to do this for a year.

We arrived there at 5:00 AM and David's anxiousness about the race was palpable. He was fidgety and nervous as we approached the drop off point. Due to various circumstances, he had only been able to run 18 miles on his last long run. He should have been able to build up to 22 by then. Could he make the distance now? He had tossed and turned, finding it hard to sleep the night before. He hoped he would be able to finish the race, but doubts haunted him now that the morning of the marathon was here.

Amy took her cell phone with her to keep Melanie and me posted about their progress along the way. At 6:00, the phone rang. "We're off," Amy said, with obvious enthusiasm in her voice. After that the phone would ring every five miles. We would encourage them and onward they would run.

At 10 miles, Amy called. "David said he would speak to you, but he swallowed his tongue two miles back," she joked. At 13 miles, she called back to tell us that his shirt was rubbing the nipples on his chest raw and he was bleeding. The fun was wearing off of this event. He kept running.

At 18 miles, the phone rang again. By now they were both tired - too tired to laugh and joke as they had been doing.

At 23 miles, it all unraveled. David said it felt like he was running on shards of glass and that every muscle in his body hurt. He consciously had to tell his feet, "Step, step, step." His thoughts began to bombard him with the belief that he had to quit. "I hate to stop after coming this far," he thought, "but I can't make it."

Being an accomplished trainer, his sister Amy knew what to do. "You can go for 30 seconds more, can't you?" she asked. He thought he could, so they kept running. And he did. Then Amy said, "Only a mile more, David. Can you go just sixty more seconds?" With tears streaming down his cheeks, he did.

"There's the finish line ahead, David!" Amy said. "Don't stop now! There it is!" David forced one foot in front of the other. "Everything seemed so surrealistic," he would later say. "I only saw the finish line." He pushed himself a little more and finally, David and Amy crossed the finished line together. Now the tears were tears of joy.

The Bible teaches that the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives is much like that of Amy toward David during the race. In John 14:16, Jesus promised that another paraclete would come to help His disciples. The word "paraclete" comes from the Greek word paráklētos and refers to a helper who comes to enable us to finish the task.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. He lives in us, empowering us to keep on moving forward through the course of life even when it seems that we can't take another step. Looking toward the finish line, the Apostle Paul said, "I have finished my course,
I have kept the faith. Finally there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness,which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved his appearing" (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

As you and I move toward the finish line in this life, we have someone who runs the race with us. Or to be more specific, He runs the race through us. All we need to do to finish the race is to depend on Him.

I'm proud of my children. How long did it take them to cross the finish line? I don't have a clue and couldn't care less. They ran over 26 miles! The point wasn't their time. The point was to succeed by finishing. Many quit along the way. Some were carried away on stretchers. My kids kept going and kept going and kept going. And they finished. Finishing well - that's the victory of the race - not just on the race course but in all of life. Depend on the Spirit of Christ within you to empower you to keep running. Even when you feel like giving up, He will be with you to guide you across the finish line.

What I've Been Reading

Written by a clincial neuroscientist, psychiatrist and brain imagining expert, this book is a medical, scientific explanation of the power of our thoughts to change our life.

I recorded a teaching series last year called "Think About It." The subtitle is "How changing the way you think can transform your life." I wish I'd read this book before I recorded the teachings. Author, Dr. Daniel Amen (no kidding) explains in medical terms many of the things the Bible teaches.

For instance:

Five Steps To Improve Your Brain And Reality:

1. Do Not Believe Every First Thought You Have
Feed your brain accurate information, not just your gut feeling. Correct your perceptions and change your brain.

2. Realize That Your Thoughts Are Extraordinarily Powerful
Every time you have a thought, your brain releases chemicals. A positive thought releases chemicals that help you feel better. When you think miserable, negative thoughts your brain works less efficiently.

3. Recognize That Thoughts Lie, Are Easily Distorted, And Can Rob You Of Joy
People who suffer from depression, anxiety, and panic disorder are filled with automatic negative thoughts (ANT). If you suffer from this problem, it is important to develop an internal automatic anteater to rid yourself of these pests and their nests.

4. Use Your Placebo Effect
Your brain takes what it sees and makes it happen. Change your beliefs, change your brain.

5. Tell Your Brain What You Want, And Match Your Behavior To Get It
Take a sheet of paper and write down your major goals. Next to each heading, write down what's important to you in that area. Let your brain help you develop and implement your life goals.

I don't know if Dr. Amen is a Christian, but at many points in this book he clearly states biblical truths from a medical standpoint.