Wake-up Checklist

Step 1.       Check you are still alive?  If Yes – continue to step 2.
Step 2.       Is God still supplying your oxygen?  Take a deep breath, if Yes – go on to step 3. If No –you have only minutes to set your affairs in order – get to it.
Step 3.       Look out the window.  Is God still in control of gravity and governing all the laws of science and nature?  If Yes – continue to step 4.  If No – pinch yourself as you may still be dreaming.  Wake up and start from Step 1.
Step 4.       No matter what has gone wrong or how you have failed in the past, if you have completed Step 1, God can make all things right.  Proceed to Step 5.
Step 5.       God still has a plan and purpose for your life. Advance to Step 6.
Step 6.       Choose whose plan and purpose you wish to follow.  If you choose to follow your own plans, go to Step 7.  If you choose God’s plan, go straight to Step 8. 
Step 7.       Stay in bed.  What’s the point of getting up - you’ll only be a test for yourself and everyone around.  Anything you gain today will eventually be lost.  If you ever wake up again, start from Step 1. 
Step 8.       Get out of bed.  If God is for you (and He is) who or what can stand against you.  Everything that happens in your day, good or bad, will be for your advancement and eternal profit.

Seeking Shortcuts

A shortcut is a deviation from an established route that enables one to arrive more quickly at a desired destination.  The problem with shortcuts is they sometimes end in disaster.

Many seek a shortcut to PROSPERITY by lying, cheating and criminal behaviour.  Many seek a shortcut to JOY by using drugs.  Many seek a shortcut to LOVE through unrestrained sexual activity.  We think these shortcuts will get us to our destination quicker, but these deviations always end in disaster.
God wants us all to be fulfilled and happy.  To reach our destinations we need to follow the established path He has made.  God’s way is long for a reason – capacity must come before blessing.  We often think God is trying to stop us having a good time.  This is not true – He is actually trying to lead us so we can experience real JOY, LOVE and PROSPERITY.  God knows that our shortcuts end in disaster (He’s been watching the human race for a long time).  When we seek shortcuts, we only hurt ourselves in the long run.  If we trust in God and follow His established path and do our best not to deviate (sin), we will find true JOY, LOVE and PROSPERITY and ultimately arrive at our desired destination.  

Entertaining

When friends call, it is good manners to welcome and entertain them – the more they feel at home, the more they’ll visit.  However, if we warmly welcome ‘undesirable visitors’ into our lives it can often be a difficult task to get them to leave. 

Entertaining visitors is similar to entertaining thoughts.  We have to be very discerning as to what thoughts we choose to let in.  If we welcome undesirable thoughts into our mind they’ll soon become unwelcome guests.  Entertaining thoughts such as worry, judging, jealousy, bitterness, lust, pride, etc, encourages them to make themselves at home.  Once entrenched, it is immensely difficult to get them to leave.
God has given us a golden rule: entertain noble, graceful and charitable thoughts, but should undesirable thoughts come knocking - it’s best not to answer the door.

Focusing on the Problem

A storm raged through a little community and flooded the river destroying their only bridge to the outside world.  Next day the people gathered at the broken bridge and began to moan of their plight.  ‘The river is impassable, how will we get to the markets now?’ cried one.  ‘Without the bridge we’re completely cut off,’ stated another.  ‘It’s impossible to fix this bridge!’ injected a third.  ‘If we can’t get across the river, we will all perish,’ prophesized the fourth.
As the people moaned they became aware of children playing on the other side of the river and it came as quite a shock to realize they were their own.  The parents shouted to their children, asking them how they had crossed over when the only bridge had been destroyed.  The children pointed down river.  Because the parents had so focused on the problem of the broken bridge they failed to notice a great tree had fallen across the river during the storm, making a better overpass than they’d ever had before. 

A problem in our life only becomes ‘a problem’ when all we see is the problem.  By focusing on a problem, we often don’t see the solution.  We must remain childlike exploring all possibilities and regard problems as new opportunities just waiting to be discovered.  When we spend time worrying about a crisis without searching for the solution - the crisis will eventually overwhelm us.  God does not close a door without opening a window.

Lost in Life

So a person does not become lost in the bush, they need a compass, a map and three fixed positions (such as a hill, a lake and a road).  If they take a bearing from their compass, seek three fixed positions then relate it all to a map they will quickly find out exactly where they are.

If we are lost in life and don’t know who we are or where we are heading, we firstly need a compass (a positive desire to know the truth). Then, we must seek three fixed positions (the immutable God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit).  Finally, we need to relate it all to a map (the Bible).   If we follow this simple procedure whenever we feel disorientated in life we will never become lost again.

Cleaning Dog Poos

Dog owners know the unpleasant reality of picking up after their dog.  It’s a continuous job.  If the poos are not picked up daily they soon mount up and mess the yard.  In our busy lives, we are often guilty of scooping up the big ones and leaving the little ones.  Usually, it’s those little ‘left-behind’ doggy-dos that are stepped on - at the worst possible moment.  

Every person (except Christ) has a sin-nature.  Sins are the dog-dos it produces.  We can’t leave them lying around.  We must deal with our sins daily (1 John 1: 9) or they will soon mount up and mess our lives.   Obvious sins need immediate attention or they will quickly become obstacles and stink things up.  However, we must also deal with the little sins (sins of the mind) that don’t seem to harm anyone.  If we brush them aside, those seemingly harmless sins will haunt us later.  If they are not dealt with promptly when they first come to our attention, we are going to step on them at the worst possible moment.

The Unhelpful Helper

A hungry boy sat on a river bank looking longingly at a tree laden with fruit on the other side.  A canoeist paddling by asked the boy why he looked so sad.  The boy explained how hungry he was and how he had found this tree that would feed his entire family but his father had forbidden him to cross the river.
The canoeist assured the boy his father was just being over-protective because he didn’t want his son to drown.   Wishing to be helpful, the canoeist then suggested that the boy hop into his canoe and he would row him safely to the other side to pick the fruit and then row him back again.  He reassured the boy that his father would be so pleased when he saw the food that would feed his hungry family.
The boy eagerly jumped aboard.  Soon he was safely on the other bank climbing the tree and picking fruit.  As the canoeist watched the grateful boy pick the fruit, a grin spread from ear to ear – so happy he was to have done a good deed.  However, his grin immediately vanished when he saw a lion jump into the tree and devour the boy in one gulp.

God allows and forbids certain things to happen in our lives that may seem unfair or unreasonable.    However, God has a reason for everything He does but sometimes it’s not made clear to us.
As Christians, our intercessory prayer and service is designed to help the spiritual advancement of others - never to hinder them.  We often rush in, with our good intentions, where angels fear to tread.  If we are ever in doubt whether or not our good deeds will have dire consequences, we should do what the well-meaning canoeist should have done - consult the Father first. 

The Ripple Effect

If a rock is thrown into a still pond we see ‘the ripple effect’, where circles of small waves ripple out from the centre of impact.  The ripples continue to spread until they are stopped by an obstacle or until they encounter ripples moving in the opposite direction.

The world we live in is no still pond - everyone is making ripples.  When a person is angry, their anger spreads to people around - who in turn spread it to other people around them.  When faced with rudeness, people feel justified in being rude in return.  When a person is inconsiderate, selfish or bitter it causes ‘the ripple effect’ that spreads until it hits a barrier.
God has called Christians to be that barrier.  He likes Christians (by their focus on Christ) to start ripples of grace and tolerance to counteract those waves of depressions and hostility that are swamping the world.  Generally, people are caught off guard when their rudeness is returned with kindness.  It makes them stop and evaluate their behaviour. 
Always question the sort of ripples we are sending into the world?  The ripples Jesus Christ sent out in His life on earth were so gracious they continue to ripple throughout eternity.  

The Heavy Rock

A farmer took his son to the top paddock.  He bent down, picked up an enormous rock and carried it to the other side of the paddock.  He then turned to his impressed son and commanded, ‘Do as I have done, lift that rock with your bare hands and carry it to the other side.’  The boy tried but it would not move - no matter how he strained, the rock wouldn’t budge.  Eventually he fell down ashamed saying, ‘It’s too heavy. I’m not strong enough.’   ‘Don’t worry,’ encouraged his father, ‘every week - try it again and you will find that strength will come.  Just don’t give up.’
For many years the boy went back to the heavy rock.  As he grew in strength, the rock started to move.  Soon, he could lift and carry it a short distance.  When the boy changed into a man, he finally fulfilled the task his father had set him those many years before.  On becoming a father, he took his son to the top paddock, showed him the heavy rock and gave him the same command. 

God gives us many commands.  Some commands we are not able to do effectively until we have built the capacity.  God commands us to love Him - how can we love someone until we know them? To be thankful, merciful, long suffering, joyful - how do we fulfill these commands when we are spiritual babies?  We are also commanded to love one another as Christ loves us - a seemingly impossible rock to lift.  There are so many commands that seem impossible to accomplish.  However, when we grow in faith, always persevering - never giving up, we will find that God has given us the strength to fulfill all of His commands.  

Plugged In

When we turn on an electrical appliance and nothing happens we generally look for the problem.  Most of the time, it is due to the appliance not having been switched on at the power point or plugged in.  No matter how good the appliance is, without power it becomes a useless piece of machinery.

If our spiritual life does not seem to be functioning, maybe we should check if we are plugged into the divine power source.  If not, we are just like the unplugged appliance – taking up space and good for nothing.

Adversity

Rock climbing can be an immensely difficult undertaking.  It requires determination and a lot of patience.   It has a high casualty rate for those that are unprepared, ill equipped or go unaided.

During our lifetime, there will be stages when things go bad.  It may happen because of our own stupid mistakes or simply the unfair result of life in the devil’s world.  Adversity can rise like an impassable wall and if we wish to move forward – we must climb.
Overcoming adversity is no easy task, particularly if we go it alone and start ascending without aid or support - one slip (into depression) can be fatal.  God never likes to see us fall - He wants us to rise above adversity.  For each of us He has given an unbreakable line of support (His promises), which we should attach to our harness (faith).  However, if we are without faith, God’s promises will be of little help. 
Climbing adversity can be a slow tedious journey.  We often tire and think we won’t make it.  For this reason it is necessary to continuously lock in our line of support (remember to claim God’s promises daily), for if we slip (get depressed) our fall will not be far.  Eventually, with much perseverance, we will rise above adversity and be stronger Christians for the climb. 

Prosperity

Descending is so much easier than ascending - it takes little effort on our behalf (gravity does most of the work).  However, if our descent is not controlled, there will be devastating consequences when we hit rock-bottom.

In so many ways, prosperity can be more testing than adversity.  It is natural to think - Test me with prosperity any day.  However, the highest suicide rates and suffering from chronic depression occur in prosperous nations.  Almost daily, we hear of celebrities that have completely lost the plot and wrecked their lives.  Statistics show us that an overwhelming majority of lotto winners wish they had never won.
Prosperity wrecks more lives than it improves. The problem when things are going well is we tend to let down our guard.  Most of us leap into times of prosperity thinking - we can fly – instead we plummet.
When arriving at prosperity, we should approach with caution – if we simply leap in, it will end in disaster.  As with adversity, God gives us a life line (His promises) to attach to our harness (faith).  When we start descending into an ‘opening of prosperity’ and feel we are moving too fast or out of control, we must lock in God’s life line (promises) and this will immediately control the descent.
When we finally reach the end of prosperity, we will not be ruined like so many others.  The experience will have refined and improved us.  At this point, many may wonder how we managed to go through prosperity without being affected.  That’s our opportunity to point to God’s life line and tell them how to connect (the Gospel).

Peace of Mind

There was a very old saying coined in a time when strong nations constantly invaded weaker nations, ‘If you want peace – you must always prepare for war’.  It was understood that the only way a nation could be left in peace was to be so strong no one could take their peace from them. 

If we want to keep our ‘peace of mind’ in a world that strives to take it from us, we must be prepared to fight.  There is a spiritual war going on and God has given us the armaments to defend ourselves.  We must put on our spiritual armour (Eph 6: 13-18), we must exercise in God’s word daily and rely on His promises within.  In a nutshell, God is our armour, our strength and our sword.  When we start using Him to fight our battles, we are prepared and our ‘peace of mind’ can not be taken from us - even when we find ourselves among enemies. 

The Roads We Travel

Life is a journey.  In regard to our physical, mental and financial wellbeing - where we find ourselves today generally depends on roads travelled yesterday and where we find ourselves tomorrow depends on roads taken today.  It is obvious, if we wish to reach a certain destination we must find the roads that lead there.  If we travel on paths leading in the opposite direction our desired destination will never be reached.

If we desire to become strong, inspirational Christians who lead many people to the Lord, we must travel on roads directed in God’s Word.  His way leads us to Salvation and the eventual arrival at Spiritual Maturity - a great place of integrity, poise and inner happiness.
However, if we walk on contrary paths of Laziness, Lust, Inordinate Ambition, etc - don’t be surprised when our destination is Failure, Loneliness and Misery.  No one plans to end up at a dead end, but if we are heading in the wrong direction (by bad daily decisions) we should not be shocked at where we finally end up.