Sometimes I think I’m the only one being tempted continually with one specific temptation. However, I know this to be untrue but I believe there are many more like me who think this way. The, what about temptation post. hopefully; will get us to open up to confidential christian friends to talk about our struggles with this spiritual epidemic.

In 1 Cor 10:13 Paul writes: No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. but when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

What does Paul mean? If, all my life I have been tempted to lust after women, which is  the history of men in my family, then this is common to man or in the case of women to lust after men? Paul had a thorn in the flesh which God did not take away from him because as Paul said,  2 Cor 12:7 “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.”

Please don’t misunderstand me when I say I lust after women. I can look at a woman and if I allow it this can turn into lustful desires such as David had. My father had an affair, which lasted for a few years and it had long lasting effects on our family. I made a decision that I would not follow in his foot steps. My wife and I have been married for 48 years and I have kept my vow, with God’s help, to be true and faithful. There have been innumerable temptations and fantasies that I have had to deal with, however; through prayer and not allowing lust to consume my mind I have dealt with my thorn.

I was just thinking of two very good friends of mine whose fathers committed adultery and their parents separated. My friends were both christians and they told me that they would not  do to their family what their father did to them. Sad to report that both men are now separated from their families because they had affairs.

My prayer is that I will be faithful to God and thus faithful to my wife.

My friend, Gord and I went to a local coffee shop for a break from a project.  A long time friend of mine was in the lineup behind us. I made it a point to introduce my old friend to Gord. It was an easy introduction as they both participated in conversation as we waited to be served.

My old friend, Ford, purchased his coffee and left but we decided to sit and have a chat. He asked me about Ford and or friendship. it was quite easy to tell some things about him and his accomplishments.  I had met him many years ago as we had lived across the street from each other. His younger brother was  a friend of mine and we would spend many hours, at his place,  shooting hockey balls and practicing our softball skills.

I played on a local softball team with Ford and his brother. We won many championships together and played in the provincial finals. Ford went on to become one of the top softball pitchers in Canada and was a top athlete in hockey. One year he was selected the provincial athlete of the year. He became a very successful businessman.

While in church, I thought about this chance meeting and how relaxed and happy I was to introduce my friends to each other and to talk to Gord about Ford. Then it struck me, my best friend is my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. For some reason I find it very difficult to introduce Him to others, especially to my friends. Why!

Am I ashamed of Jesus? No.

Am I afraid that they might misunderstand my relationship with Jesus? Yes.

In progress

 

 

On of the most quoted verses about a wise woman is found in Proverbs 14:1,, The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down. The NLT is one of the better translations.  A wise woman builds her home, but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands.

My wife is and has been a wise woman. She is not outgoing but would much rather work in the background.

This is just one example.

I’m retired and work part time as a maintenance man at a small motel. This business has new owners and the fire department had given the previous owners 14 days to correct five deficiencies, I was not aware of the letter. The new owners were contacted and I was put in charge of the work. Four of the deficiencies were corrected without any real problem. The fifth one became a challenge,

I was pressed by the owners to have a door installed to the electrical room in the basement. It had to be done within a day. The problem was the fire inspector told me it had to be a fire rated door. This door would have to be a special order because of height restrictions in the basement.

One of the owners kept pressing me to get the door installed immediately. I checked to see if there was one available at recycling depots and even put an ad on KIJIJI.

Eventually I went back to a lumber supplier,  that I was familiar with, that had been in business for years. I was praying and hoping that they would have an old wooden fire rated door in one of their buildings.  We found one but it was two inches too wide and six inches too long. It weighed about 100 pounds. I was told that they could cut the door but not the width. Panic time. They called around to wholesalers, however; there was nothing available. I made a decision to have them prepare another door which I hoped would be acceptable. I was doubtful but hopeful.

The following morning I was getting ready to pick up the door and my wife knew that I was stressed. I told her the problem and she in her wisdom said, “why don’t you widen the opening.” None of us had even considered this option. She prayed for me and I rushed to the lumber dealer. I told them to hold off until I checked to see if I could make the change. The room was finished so I had to cut away some drywall to see how it was built. It was wood on both sides. I could make the change and use the fire rated door.

The only problem was they wern’t sure if the core was wood fibre or concrete as it was over ten years old. They checked and they were able to cut the door and prepare it for installation.

My helper and I were finishing putting a self closure on the door when the inspector arrived.  He approved all the deficiencies and gave us the required letter for the authorities.

Thanks to a wise woman.

I remember both Elvis Presley and Willie Nelson singing Your Always On My Mind. The first verse of the song reads

Maybe I didn’t treat you
Quite as good as I should have
Maybe I didn’t love you
Quite as often as I could have
Little things I should have said and done
I just never took the time

You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind

I thought about that song as I was reading Our Daily Bread devotional and read the following statement

What we let into our minds shapes the state of our souls.

Here are a couple of verses that speaks about the christian having the mind of Christ.

Philippians 2:5  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

1 Corinthians 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

What if we could sing, with conviction and praise to God,  Lord, You’re Always On My Mind…You’re Always On My Mind.

I was doing some research and found this song by Misty Edwards..Always on my mind..

 

This morning, while doing my devotions, I was reading Psalm 57 and I was struck by the words of verse 3b. God shall send forth His mercy and His truth. My life has been based on truthfulness and there have been times where my truthfulness has been tested. I will say that there have been times where I have not been truthful, however; for me it has been a learning and a growing process.

If I tell an untruth now or am stretching the truth, that still small voice or my born again spirit or God’s spirit will alert me to the fact that I’m not telling it like it is or was.

This past week my truthfulness has been tested. This is the story.

I’m retired and work part time as a maintenance man at a small motel. The motel has a bar and some video games. Most of my work is building maintenance both inside and outside. Recently the motel was sold and they kept me on with the rest of the staff.

I was asked to make bank deposits. This didn’t bother me as I have managed businesses and am very familiar with the process and the bank is on my route home.

Basically I take the deposit and drive to the bank and in most cases there are three or four deposits within the deposit bag. A few days ago I was told that there was a deposit missing. There were three deposits put in the bank and there should have been four. I was the last person to have the deposit bag before putting it in the bank. The deposit bag was given to me by the manager and I went to the bank. I’m not naive. What would you think?  I can’t see the bank teller making a mistake as I stood in front of her as she entered the information and handed me the receipts. I don’t know if there were three or four deposits as it was a couple of days later before I was told about the missing deposit and I  had been to the bank again after this happened.

I know what I did so, did the teller make a mistake or was the deposit not in the bag when it was given to me. The people know me to be truthful and the owner had been told that I can be trusted.  So this morning I prayed, Lord send forth your mercy and your truth in my life today.

This is a study of Psalm 57: Click Here

We have cameras, in the building and after reviewing video there is strong evidence that an outside worker, doing an upgrade to some equipment, may have some information on the missing deposit.  The video will be reviewed, by the owner, to determine whether there is enough evidence to confront this person or pass it to the authorities.  Does this clear me of any possible wrong doing? Yes and no! People are people and they base their observation of a person on his or her performance or their social relationship with a person.

As a practicing christian what Christ like qualities do they see and have seen in my interaction with people?