You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence... Psalm 16:11

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Entangled

Jesus is the only perfect person that has EVER lived!

I read that this morning and I must confess that I took a big breath and felt a "whew" coming on. Obviously, I know that statement to be true but the pressures of the world can cause us to pile some guilt onto ourselves to be perfect. After the guilt, comes the performance. It reminds me of professional ice skating. The skater poses until the music starts and with the first note, she begins. Can she pull it off? The commentators critique every move followed by the judges' individual scores. "Flawless performance" or "Oops, she slipped as she landed". At the end, the worn out athlete sits trying to catch her breath as she waits for her big number. 9.0.....Almost.

My music starts the minute I wake up. "She's off". I am my own worst commentator. "Oh Lisa, there's a point off". "Great! Big mistake." "Can she recover?" At the end of the day, I plop down in the bed as I picture my family sitting in the judges' seats holding up cards with my score for the day. 9.0....Almost.

"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect" (2 Samuel 22:33). I read that too this morning and there was relief in those words. Another "whew". God doesn't make ME perfect. He makes my WAY perfect. I have full responsibility to invite Him to do that and responsibility to let Him. I can't just invite Him and then not let Him in. I have to do my part.

I thought back to a conversation that Ridley and I just had at the end of last week. We had a quiet moment to share what our temptations are. I immediately started praying when the topic came up because I really do want to know so I can be a better prayer partner but I also wanted to be sure to receive the information. I want to create an environment where my best friend can and wants to share. It isn't always easy to hear those things from your spouse, but it does make the relationship better and stronger. He then turned the question to me. I will tell you that I hadn't thought too much about it lately. Big mistake! We have to know where the pitfalls are and stay far away from them. For some reason, we tend to think that men are the only ones with temptations. We chalk it up to lust and sexual temptations being a "guy thing" but the Bible is clear to say that temptation is to entice someone to sin. Plain and simple.

Women can struggle with sexual temptations too. Don't be foolish to assume that only men are "visual" and you and I can't be tempted by some nice biceps or a whole football team playing with their shirts off. You seriously don't think those cologne samples in magazines are just for your nose to do some Christmas shopping do you? They are glued right next to the cute, young man that looks like he just worked out for 12 hours and has been tanning for the other 12 hours.

Then there are the not so obvious temptations of anger, greed, money, gossip, jealousy, loneliness, or our words. If you are like me, you should be squirming about now. Some of these tend to slip into the crack of "not as severe" sin. That is what Satan wants us to believe. They become such a part of our everyday lives that we find ourselves entangled and comfortable with sin.

We can't be perfect but we can be better. We can't be perfect but God can make our way perfect. One way to do that is to think about the pitfalls that entangle us daily. Matthew 26:41....."watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation." If we do not abide in prayer, we will abide in temptation and become entangled. Jesus was tempted. He knows it is tough stuff for us. It is all about what we do with the temptation. The temptation itself is not the sin. Our reaction to the temptation is where we make the choice to step away or fall. The second part of that verse in Matthew says "the spirit is willing, but the body is weak." He is saying there is no way you can do this Lisa without me. You can never be perfect but I am willing and want to make your way perfect.

Stop performing and keep praying!

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