GOING THE DISTANCE

The other day I was sitting at my second office at Mermaids (a beach side cafe) watching my son surf and I was thinking to myself why is it that some people can go the distance in their Christian walk, they finish their race strong, they receive their crown.
Where for some others they give up half way through, they walk the final miles, they change races, or worse still they forfeit the race by not even turning up.

Is it their prayer life?
Is it their knowledge of the bible?
Is it the church that they attend?
Is it just easier for some?
Is it their upbringing?
Is it their DNA?

Luke 2: 36 - 38
36 Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. 37 Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. 38 She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem.

What a champion Anna was, now that's going the distance.

The more and more that I live in this life the more and more I realize that its a little to do with those things but more to do with a word called RESILIENCE.

Resilience means: The power or ability to return to the original form, position, etc., after being bent, compressed, or stretched; elasticity

There are many common threads in resilient people, one would definitely be that they don't make excuses.

EXCUSES ARE THE MORPHINE OF OUR DAY.

Luke 14: 16-20
16 Jesus replied with this story: “A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. 17 When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come, the banquet is ready.’ 18 But they all began making excuses. One said, ‘I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me.’ 19 Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.’ 20 Another said, ‘I now have a wife, so I can’t come.’

I can not come to the banquet don’t bother me now I have married a wife I have bought me a cow! How many young people do I see that are on fire for God and suddenly when they realise that the opposite sex is different they drop their commitments and start making excuses.
The church isnt growing because……
I can’t leave her alone because……
I can’t be involved because….
I can’t stay married because….
I can’t handle that person because……
Well I can’t change the way I am because….
“The reason people blame things on the previous generations is that there is only one other choice”
Some things excuses say about you:

1. THEY ARE ME FOCUSED.

All of the excuses given started of by each person saying I. I have to do this, and be here, me myself.

2. THEY JUSTIFY WHERE YOU ARE AT.


3. EXCUSES REFLECT A DEFEATED SOUL.

Excuses end up covering our own feelings of inadequacy and insecurity.

OVER THE FENCE

After some changes in my routine of late the ripple effect became evident in my commitment to the gym, so this week the attempt has been made to get back on track, I am sure feeling it now. When that alarm goes off at 4.50am and like today it was raining everything screams at you to pull up the blankets because you deserve a reprieve.
So how do we do it? How do you get out of a rut of anykind and get back into your groove?

Norman Vincent Peale the great Pastor and motivational speaker once said, "Throw your heart over the fence and the rest will follow".

What a great statement.
How do I make my marriage work?
How do I get closer to God?
How do I face my future?
How can I trust the church?

Throw your heart over "your" fence and the rest will follow!

DOORS

Rev. 3:20 (NLT)
"Look! Here I stand at the door and knock. If you hear me calling and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal as friends.

When I was a kid my mother would always avoid the JW’s or Mormons when they came knocking on the neighbourhood doors. One time she was in such a hurry to get the front door shut that she slammed it on my fingers.

When Jesus wants to come into the door of our heart do you think wants to:

· Come in and smash you – especially if He's been waiting outside long time.
· Re arrange your life
· Make it harder for you
· Condemn you

Jesus said that he wants to eat with you, share a meal together.
In this N.T time sharing a meal was one of the most intimate things that someone could do.

• Intimacy is what every person in life really wants
• Its when you can be with someone who you really are
• Its what we want in marriage
• Its what we want with God
• Its here I am take me as I am take me as I am

Our problem is that we can get so busy doing Gods work and miss the very essence of what God desires from us.
Most of us cant even sit down at home to eat, or take a lunch break and eat.
So if God wants to sit down and eat then it better be a good reason.

To be fully known and to be fully accepted without any fear of rejection.
A place where we can know everything about each other.

Take time today to get intimate with a God who wants to share a meal at your place.

PART 2 OF "HOW DO I KNOW WHEN MY SOUL IS GOOD?".

3. WHEN YOU ARE LOW A LOW MAINTAINANCE LEADER

Matthew 8:5-9 (NLT)
When Jesus arrived in Capernaum, a Roman officer came and pleaded with him, [6] "Lord, my young servant lies in bed, paralyzed and racked with pain."
[7] Jesus said, "I will come and heal him."
[8] Then the officer said, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed! [9] I know, because I am under the authority of my superior officers and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, 'Go,' and they go, or 'Come,' and they come. And if I say to my slaves, 'Do this or that,' they do it."

How much attention do you require? This centurion was what we call a low maintenance high yield leader that didn't need special attention.

· If you always need a pat on the back
· Always need to be told how great you are
· Or what an awesome job you are doing

If this is continually needed by a wife or a husband than your marriage will a long hard haul.

4. WHEN YOU SEE PEOPLE AS A GIFT

When people become a pressure to you then something in your soul needs rescuing.
If you get more turned on sitting in front of a computer than you do siting with a person and you are a senior pastor then your soul needs help.

5. WHEN YOU CAN LAUGH AT YOURSELF

You must know how to handle rejection.

“WHAT LIES BEHIND US AND WHAT LIES BEFORE US ARE TINY MATTERS COMPARED TO WHAT LIES WITHIN US”.
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)

6. WHEN YOU CAN CELEBRATE OTHER PEOPLES VICTORIES


7. WHEN YOU READ THE BIBLE AND PRAY BECAUSE YOU WANT TO NOT BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO