TAKE TWO...?

     

      “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgement, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.”  Hebrews 9:27-28 

     If there was one thing that I loved most about being in theater, it was this one thought: you don’t get a second take.  I was remembering my senior year performance of Dracula, the last UIL competition, for many of us.  From the moment the curtain rose, to the final fade out, I was on that stage, save for a couple of minutes.  What if I had to sneeze?  What if I started hiccupping?  A number of possible outcomes, leading to my embarrassment, entered my mind.  What’s worse: What if I forgot a line?  Now, I was pretty decent at recovering from a forgotten line, or throwing in ad libs.  However, portraying a doctor, there where terms that I could NOT fake, if I tried!  I had to get it right.  I couldn’t run behind the set, if something went wrong.  Yet, something did go wrong, right at the very beginning of the performance.
     As I stood in my position, frozen, I heard a THUD, that was not part of any of our sound effects.  One of our props, in this case a mirror, took a nose-dive off of the back of one of the set pieces.  The curtain was up, lights still dimmed.  The audience saw this.  Our competitors (the various other schools) were watching.  How did we handle it?  As if nothing had happened and the mirror never existed, in spite of the fact that the mirror was a vital part to the story.  The show had to go on.    
     In live theater, there are no directors yelling “Cut!”, “Action!”  There is the ONE take, the ONE chance to get it right.  Regardless of what happens, the show must go on.  It tests the will of the actor.  If something falls out of synch with the script, a stealthy recover must be made, so the audience is none the wiser.  To me, that was the fun part of theater.  The moments of needing to think on your feet.  You can’t rely on the director telling you what to do or say.  It is all on you!  NOOOOO PRESSURE!  The secret is, we were prepared to handle these situations.  It was embedded in us.  We didn’t go around practicing for things going wrong.  We just learned to think quickly, to absorb ourselves into the situation and respond as naturally as we would as if it were real life.
     Guess what?  We are all standing on a stage (Earth).  We are all given a role (our lives).  Here is the kicker: we aren’t given a script, per se.  We are given the guidelines, the “Rulebook to Acting on the Stage of Life”.  God’s word.  The Bible.  From it, we are to learn our part.  We are to learn how we are to behave, and treat others.  From it, we learn our “character study”, how we are to present ourselves as God’s children.  God is the director but, this is live stage.  The show must go on.  If you make a mistake, you must learn how to recover, on the go.  After all, when the final curtain falls, the show is over.  There are no redo’s.  No second take.  After the “performance”, we will stand before the Almighty and be judged on our performance.  “I didn’t know…” won’t get us excused from a poor performance (Romans 3:20).  We had the guide, all along.  Read Revelation 20:11-15.
     While the “show” continues to go on, I am thankful that I am given the opportunity for my “character” to grow.  Like many stories on the big screen, often you see someone dealing with personal conflict and corrupt nature, finding themselves and their place in life.  That is what God is trying to get us to see.  Use the guidelines, so that we may learn how we are expected to portray our parts, while the “show” is going on.  We only have until the final curtain.  Then, it will be too late to hope to go back and “fix” our performance.

Ultimate Strategy

   

 

     “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.”  1 Peter 5:8-9

     Moves and countermoves.  Cause and consequences.  Those that think chess is a boring game haven’t really experienced the game.  What other game requires such concentration?  What other sport demands a planning of so many attack/counterattack outcomes, before you make a single move?  It is a game of the mind!  A game of foreshadowing.  A game in which one attempts to outwit their opponent, forcing the other into moves of defeat.  Satan is very good at this game!
     Like moves in chess, Satan makes small moves, carefully setting all the pieces in just the right places.  A single move, alone, is not meant to draw attention.  It is often meant to distract the opponent from seeing the impending attack.  As a master player, Satan does not draw attention to himself by “boldly announcing himself.”  He is sneaky and he is very patient.  People often notice the typical “big, bad sins” and practically ALWAYS miss the small ones.  Those are the ones that Satan uses to set his plans in motion.  Small moves.  A collection of one small sin after another.  Each seemingly insignificant that it is easy for us to “excuse” it.  Then another sin is made, and another, and another.  Small moves.  A crafty plan.
     How does Satan do it?  While I have written on this subject before, I researched some various points of views, for today, and I came across an article by Todd Strandberg, Playing Chess with The Devil”, and I would like to share a section of how he described “Satan’s favorite moves”:

Divide - A standard strategy is to divide the enemy force in order to make it easier to conquer. Satan loves to create division so he can pick off the weak and weak-minded people.

Doubt - The Bible says, "Without faith it is impossible to please God." Once Satan can persuade people to question God's Word and His goodness, forgiveness, and love, he is ensured of victory.

Discourage - This strategy involves getting us to focus on our problems rather than entrusting God to provide a solution. It can also be someone else’s problem that creates discouragement in our own lives.

Diversion - Not all problems are equal. The enemy may come at us with an attack of lesser importance to distract us from his main attack. He may also distract us with good things. For example, parents may become too focused on their careers, enabling their children fall into rebellion.

Defeat - The devil is at his best when he causes people to feel so overwhelmed by failure that they don't even try to resist his onslaught. If we’re not resisting the devil, he will move in for the kill.

Delay - In the game of life, Satan wins by default. We are all born in a lost state, so unless we come to faith in Jesus Christ, we will perish. Because procrastination doesn't require doing anything, this strategy is an easy path for victory. 

      I could not have described these any better, myself. 

     How does God win this game?  Easily, it has already been won.  Victory was made through nails piercing the hands and feet of our Savior.  Jesus defeated Satan by conquering death and rising up, three days later.  So, why does Satan continue?  It is a futile attempt, right? 

     On the one hand, it is futile because, it is a game that Satan cannot win.  However, he can set up the pieces to be sacrificed by his deceptive moves. While he has no chance of winning the war, Satan is attempting to triumph over the small battles.  Those are fought on the individual level, one person at a time.  That is what we must allow God to use us to fight against.  Yes, God will win this war.  Whether God wins this, with each one of us still standing on His side of the board, entirely depends on us allowing Him to move us as He will; forcing Satan to relinquish his hold over us. 

     Whose hands are controlling your moves?  Is it the hand of one who practices “world views”, accepting practices contrary to the Bible, and making excuses for remaining publicly silent?  Or, is it the hands of one that teaches the truth and light, giving us the will to stand up and publicly declare that only God’s teaching will prevail in your life?

     Think about it.

Disciples and Lemmings

        “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?  For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.”  Matthew 16:24-27

     Are you a disciple?  Do you choose to be one?  Are you certain of what being a disciple means?  Jesus called for us to be disciples.  Not only that, but to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19) Still, what does it mean to BE one?  Mr. Webster defines a disciple as “someone who accepts and helps to spread the teachings of a famous person”.  Did you see that?  Not only accepts but, SPREADS the teachings.  This is Jesus’ instruction to us: “Spread my word.”  If we are not spreading His word, and I mean ALL of His word, doesn’t it stand to reason that He WILL hold us accountable for our negligence to obey Him? 

     Instead, many choose the way of the lemming.  Now, there is nothing extraordinary about a lemming.  It’s just a furry, little rodent.  What is notable about these critters are their mass migration habits.  A few start heading off in one direction, the ENTIRE herd follows, regardless.  Because of this “blind following” the term has further been used to describe people that choose to go with the flow.  The Urban Dictionary uses terms, as: “A person that has no opinion of their own.  They only act like other people in their group because they think that if they act like themselves, they will lose their ‘friends’ …” and “those that mindlessly follow the actions and behaviors of the masses.” 

     I am quite certain that many will argue, at this point, that they are NOT like lemmings.  They base their actions on their OWN thoughts.  Still, I would attest that their thoughts, are just following the popular thoughts of society so, just how “self-minded” are these thoughts?  Those people are still just following the popular opinion of the crowd.  People are voicing that it is perfectly fine to engage in premarital affairs, void the sanctity of marriage between man and woman, make excuses for neglecting personal and family responsibilities, or choosing to speak out for the crowd and be silent when it comes to the word of God.  These are not individual-based thoughts.  These issues are what society chooses, as a whole. 

     I am amazed at how people can speak up for those that willfully commit a life of sin.  We hear “Jesus accepts us for who we are” and “It’s not my business to intervene in their affairs”.  However, Jesus says to INTERVENE and to FOLLOW HIS TEACHINGS.  Isn’t it time that we stop the saying “Society changes, so must God” and start saying “I will answer Jesus’ call”?

     Disciple or lemming?  What choice will you choose?

Reminiscence

     “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, "I have no delight in them".  Ecclesiastes 12:1

     Grandpa, tell me ‘bout the good old’ days.  From one of my favorite songs, performed by The Judds.  A perfect song speaking of looking back to younger days.  I have definitely been experience that, as of late. 
     I have been processing and archiving photos and manuscripts from my maternal family line.  My thoughts are a constant blur of motion every time I see a photo of my brother, cousins, aunts, and uncles at my grandparents’ citrus farm.  How young everyone looked…. how young I was!  Geez!  Where did the time go?  While I may not remember every tiny detail, I will not likely forget the scent of the citrus trees, the leaves crunching under my feet, as we were walking in the woods or, the click click click of “Spider’s”, grandma’s Chihuahua, toenails as it would be running up and down the steps of their house.  The reflections of cold winters with pot-bellied stoves providing heat or the perils of an outhouse, continues to bring happy, and even hilarious moments in time, back to the surface.  Those memories are good for the soul.
     The memory marathon didn’t end there, for me.  Spending a nice evening with my cousin Becky, and her family, I’m looking at their kids and remembering my own godchildren at those ages, the youngest now having been out of high school for a year, at this point.  There were some moments, last night, that I felt that old lump in my throat.  That familiar feeling that my godchildren are no longer kids, but adults.  No doubt, the same lump that my cousin and her husband are feeling as their oldest is about to be starting college, far away from home.  That feeling that we just want to freeze frame those moments and hold on to them just a little longer.
     There is a satisfaction when these feelings come.  It is the satisfaction that Satan has not prevailed in erasing the moments from my heart.  Instead of saying, “I have no delight in them” as Ecclesiastes warns, I still delight in EVERY moment that I reflect.  These past events are part of who I am and always will be.  They should never be forgotten, or a burden to remember. 
     They are also moments that our own children should inherit.  Becky’s kids were engulfed with stories of the past that caused their eyes to widen; ways of life that kids in this generation have no clue about, as they couldn’t even fathom that type of life.  It is a good experience for them to given.  Family heritage is lost nowadays.  No one has time for it.  Everyone is too busy to care about it.  Again, these days should be remembered and passed down.  Too many lessons of values are lost, when we “blow out” those memories as if we were extinguishing a candle. 
     Take heed to the advice that Solomon gave, in the Ecclesiastes.  Keep those precious moments and blessings that God has enriched you with, long ago.  They are not blessings that fade with time.  They are blessings that are collected within one’s own lifetime.
    
     By the way, I'm the one in the red coat, along with my brother, cousins, and my beloved Sheltie.  :)