Get Over It!

You’re a marine and you just landed on Omaha Beach. Bullets are flying all around you as well as bombs exploding all around. As you are lying down under cover, the sergeant yells, “Move out!” However, you stay right where you are. The sergeant comes over to you and asks, “What’s wrong private?” You tell him, “I just feel like I’m not supposed to be here and I want to go home.” Immediately the sergeant calls the company psychologist over to help you work through your problems. NO! He would tell you to get your butt moving, because if you don’t soon you’re not going to feel anything.

This is where I lived for many years, stuck and not going anywhere while bombs were exploding all around me. I was afraid to move forward and was always looking to the past for comfort. Even though my past had many hardships there were no surprises there. I was stuck in my comfort zone.

The other day I got to thinking about the veterans of WWII and the horrors they were exposed to and the tragic things they witnessed. When they came home they fell right back into civilian life leaving the war behind. They got jobs, went back to the farm and worked, got married and raised families. My dad was in the worst part of the war. He was in the infantry that was a part of the Normandy invasion. He almost froze to death during the Battle of the Bulge. I would have never even known my dad was in the war except he told me. He as well as many of the veterans rarely talked about it. I wasn’t that interested back then, but oh how I wished I could ask him many questions now.

During Vietnam and now you have many soldiers that come back with PTSD (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder). Why? I asked an old WWII veteran what his thoughts were concerning this. He said that during WWII they knew their purpose and why they were there. There were fronts and they knew who they were fighting. In the other wars everything is not as defined and they see no purpose. Maybe they do at the beginning, but they see no end. Do you realize we been over in Iraq and Afghanistan for almost 10 years.

I don’t know if this is the reason or not, but the main difference I see is the WWII veterans moved on. If we live in the past we get stale, bitter and stagnate. Many don’t want to move on because it gives them excuses and justification to do the things they want to do. As long as we blame the course of our lives on past circumstances, such as parents, abuse, hardships and hurts of all kinds we will be stuck and never mature. It’s time to GET OVER IT!

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, 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 3:12-14

I’ve attached an Eagles song and/or lyrics that I feel is appropriate.

Lyrics - http://www.lyrics007.com/Eagles%20Lyrics/Get%20Over%20It%20Lyrics.html

Song - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kslHr7_9Zac

What is Reality?

This is a fairly broad question for many people. Some believe what they can see and hear is reality while others believe in many alternate realities. It’s really sad when those who believe this is all there is and all that will ever be. When you die you go to the dirt and that’s all there is. This is why so many are driven by money and materialism. They think there is only one shot and they are going to get all they can and enjoy life to the fullest. “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” Matthew 16:26

In the last few years my body has been falling apart. Every time I turn around it seems like something else is going wrong. If I believed this was all there was, then I would probably fall into a very serious depression or do some really crazy things. I know this body is only temporary and one day I will be free of this confinement. I work with some elderly people and it makes me feel fortunate that I don’t have as many issues as they have now, but it’s not enough. It’s a glorious thought when I know this is not reality. Eternity is reality.

I’m amazed even at myself when I’ve invested so much into the secular life. I know we have to provide a living and there are certain rules of our natural lives we have to follow, but to become committed to this life believing that this is all there is. “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” James 4:14

The truth is that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are the reality and everything else is fantasy. When we become absorbed into this world it only stands to reason that it takes so little to crush us. Any type of hardship or adversity sends us into a tailspin. This is why alcohol, drugs and other man made devices are so popular. If I believed this was all there was I would be tempted to the same devices. Psychiatrist, psychologist, counselors and doctors are having a field day with people who put their all they are into this life.

Time to Grow Up

When I think back to the vacations that we as a family went on when the children were young I wonder how Karen and I survived. As much fun as we had and the experiences I also remember, the fights in the back seat, are we there yet, noise, and I need to go to potty. I’m sure you had your own special situations. Not only did you experience these situations on vacations, but also in other places.

Even though we enjoy our children so much when they are infants and we may even made the remark, “I wished they would stay this way forever.” We know this isn’t a true statement. After many sleepless nights of feeding and changing diapers we are ready to move on.

By the time they are teenagers we are looking for the light at the end of the tunnel awaiting graduation and having peace and control over our house again. When we realize this is not the light we hoped for, then death starts becoming attractive.

Now imagine that your children never grew up and never matured. It really doesn’t matter what age. It could be 0 – 18 and this is not a place any of us wished they would stay. If you do wish for this then you need to take a look at yourself. If our children never matured you would probably see more suicides and murders.

I have come across many adults that are stuck in their childhood and never matured. They are extremely dangerous to themselves and others. Like a 4 year old with a loaded pistol. They are everywhere, in our churches, our jobs and in our government. They get married, appointed to high positions, managers of business and leaders in our churches.

These people moan, groan and complain and are full of themselves. They are also very gullible and can be drawn to disaster. There are predators out there that prey on these people, by taking advantage of them by conning them out of their money, drawing them into cults and leading them easily from the path of truth.

If we refuse to grow up and open our eyes to God’s truth, then we can very likely be the next victims. We may not have a choice about birth, but we are responsible to grow up. “No prolonged infancies among us, please. We'll not tolerate babes in the woods, small children who are an easy mark for impostors. God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love—like Christ in everything. We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy in God, robust in love.” Ephesians 4:14-16

The New and Improved

Ten Commandments

ONE: 'You shall have no other gods before Me.' Isn’t it possible that God goes by many names and to believe your God is the only one is arrogant. I believe that science is the modern answer to all questions. I believe God was a creation of man to help him deal with life’s problems.

TWO: 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.' If people need something tangible to look at or some kind of pendant to help them then it’s not necessarily idol worship.

THREE: 'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.' I know you don’t really mean what you are saying, it just helps you to express your feelings better.

FOUR: 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.' If you have to work six days a week then you deserve to live it up on your day off and why should you have to spend this time sitting in church.

FIVE: 'Honor your father and your mother.' Only if they deserve it.

SIX: 'You shall not murder.' This is what makes you a good person. However, if you do, make sure you have a good reason.

SEVEN: 'You shall not commit adultery.' You’re only human and I know you have needs. Get divorced first is the best way to handle this, but who am I to judge.

EIGHT: 'You shall not steal.' It’s not really stealing if someone accidentally gives you too much change or if you find it. Consider it a blessing from God.

NINE: 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.' Lying is a natural part of life and we are all guilty so who am I to judge.

TEN: 'You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.' We all need to have dreams and I don’t see anything wrong with having a dream to do better for yourself.

We always have to remember it has nothing to do with our interpretations or personal beliefs. We can distort the truth and rearrange it to our liking, but in the end the only thing that really matters is the real truth and what God thinks.

You do well when you complete the Royal Rule of the Scriptures: "Love others as you love yourself." But if you play up to these so-called important people, you go against the Rule and stand convicted by it. You can't pick and choose in these things, specializing in keeping one or two things in God's law and ignoring others. The same God who said, "Don't commit adultery," also said, "Don't murder." If you don't commit adultery but go ahead and murder, do you think your non-adultery will cancel out your murder? No, you're a murderer, period. James 2:8-11

A Little Justification

It has been said that diet drinks make you gain weight. Think about it. Have you ever seen a skinny person drinking diet drinks? I don’t know if there is a physiological result in this, but I know there is a psychological reason behind it. A diet drink will make a person feel justified in eating more because they believe that the diet drink balances the food they eat, but they keep gaining weight. It’s the sin nature in us that makes us think this way. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. Galatians 5:9

It continues to amaze me how little justification we need to sin. If we don’t have the justification, then we seek it. There are people who feel justified to steal from where they work because they feel they should be making more money. There are men and women who look for faults in their spouse to justify having an affair and there are many who continue to blame their parents so they can justify the shape their life is in. These are just a few examples.

Instead of trying to justify our sin and behavior we need to just admit to God that we’ve have sinned and we are sinners. We can’t do this only with the mouth, but we have to confess from our hearts. That’s the difficult part. It’s no different as telling a sibling to apologize to their sister/brother for hitting them and they say, “Sorry.” You know they didn’t mean it and it didn’t come from their heart. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:10

God will not get serious with us until we get serious we Him.

Compartmentalization

I know you are all surprised that that I know such a big word. I am too. It’s a word I learned a few years ago and I think I’m just starting to understand it. We may not know it, but we all compartmentalize. We put sections of our life in different categories and arranged them in order of priority. Such as: Family, job, finances, recreation and entertainment, friends, house and car maintenance and church.

For the most part this is wise unless our priorities get out of order. Our job should never come before our family. I know there are circumstances when it may be necessary because without a job it’s difficult to support your family. Our entertainment and wants should never come before out finances. That’s called responsibility.

We never need to make our family our job or even recreation a job. What about church? Going to church and doing things at the church should be an area in our compartments. Remember the church isn’t our life; it’s somewhere we go for learning and worshipping.

However, our Christian faith and Jesus should not only be a part of our church responsibility. Our faith should encompass all areas of our lives. Our Christian faith should be our life and go wherever we go with the Holy Spirit leading us and influencing us along our path with our family, job, finances, our recreation and so on. I’ve seen too many combine their Christian life only with church and they take it off as soon as they walk out the door. Christianity is not something we do, but what we are.

I think this is what King Solomon was saying here.

There's an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth:

A right time for birth and another for death,
A right time to plant and another to reap,
A right time to kill and another to heal,
A right time to destroy and another to construct,
A right time to cry and another to laugh,
A right time to lament and another to cheer,
A right time to make love and another to abstain,
A right time to embrace and another to part,
A right time to search and another to count your losses,
A right time to hold on and another to let go,
A right time to rip out and another to mend,
A right time to shut up and another to speak up,
A right time to love and another to hate,
A right time to wage war and another to make peace. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Our Need for Justice

Planted deep within all of us is a need for justice. I know many of you have seen movies that create a desire for us to see the villain get what’s coming to him in the end. They usually have him die some horrific death to please the audience. If he escapes, then it leaves us with an emptiness and anger. It could also mean there is going to be a sequel.

In real life I know there are stories of someone being arrested of a horrible crime such as raping and murdering a little girl. They have indisputable evidence, but it becomes inadmissible because they misspelled his name on the arrest form. I don’t know of a specific situation at this time, but I know it has happened. Many despicable people have been released due to crooked judges. This is where vigilantes come from.

I recently watched the documentary called Auschwitz. Auschwitz was one of the major death camps of WWII. The horrors there were unprecedented. Rudolf Hess was the commandant of this camp. He testified that over 3 million people (mostly Jews) were executed there. They were executed for no other reason than for being a Jew. After he was hanged for his war crimes one man said, “It really doesn’t seem to be much justice. One man for 3 million.” Cowards like Adolf Hitler took their own lives so they didn’t have to face judgment. This infuriated many people.

The one thing we have to remember is NO ONE escapes judgment. Some may escape it while on this earth, but all of us will stand before God. For those in Christ will stand judgment at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

“But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written:
“ As I live, says the LORD,
Every knee shall bow to Me,
And every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.” Romans 14:10-13

Those without Christ will stand before The Great White Throne Judgment. I pray that none of you are in the latter. There will not be any greater horrifying judgment than this ever.

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. ¹⁵ And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:11 & 15

There has always been injustice in this world we live in. The greatest injustice ever was when they crucified Jesus. A perfect man, who never committed a sin, loved all and was mutilated for our sins. I’m so grateful He did this for me, but not how He had to do it for me. Our need for justice I believe is something that God implanted within all of us and someday we will all see perfect justice.