REPLACE CONDEMNATION WITH CONFIDENCE

 

Replace Condemnation with Confidence by Rick Warren   "Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God" (1 John 3:21 NIV). You've probably noticed that your confidence ebbs and flows. It varies greatly from day to day: one day you're up and one day you're down. What causes that? In part, it's about what is going on inside of you. The Bible teaches, "If our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God" (1 John 3:21 NIV). When we face life's hurts, habits, and hang-ups, it's important that we walk out of self-condemnation and into the faithful confidence that God forgives us. What causes self-condemnation? Unresolved guilt: King David wrote, "There was a time when I wouldn't admit what a sinner I was. But my dishonesty made me miserable and filled my days with frustration" (Psalms 32:3 TLB). This reminds me of a sign I saw the other day: A clean engine produces more power. That's true in humans, too. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the man who wrote Sherlock Holmes, once pulled a prank on twelve prominent Englishmen. He sent them an anonymous note that said, "All is found out. Flee at once." Within twenty-four hours, eight of those men had left the country! Guilt destroys your confidence. Unrealistic expectations: Also known as perfectionism--the feeling that I must be flawless, that I must be perfect, that I must please everybody, that I always have to do more, that I'm not allowed to relax. If you're a perfectionist, your favorite phrase is, "I should . . . I must . . . I ought . . . I have to." You're always doing more. If you're an average person, you have three things on your daily 'To Do' list. You get one of them done, you leave one of them unfinished, and the third one you just forget about. You go home and put your feet up at night and feel good about yourself. If you're a perfectionist, you have 29 things on your daily 'To Do' list. You finish 28 of them and you go home and feel like a failure! The Bible says, "Even perfection has its limits, but [God's] commands have no limit" (Psalms 119:96 NLT). Both guilt and perfectionism cause a lack of confidence in our lives.

An Invitation from Donnie Watson

You've been invited to play The Grocery Game by your friend: Donnie Watson. What is The Grocery Game? The Grocery Game is a fun, easy way to save hundreds of dollars on groceries each month. TERI'S LIST reveals the "rock bottom" prices on hundreds of products each week and matches them up with manufacturers' coupons for the best possible savings at your local supermarket. The Grocery Game has exclusive databases that track manufacturers' coupons along with weekly sales and specials, both advertised and UN-advertised. The Grocery Game does all the hard work and research, presented in a quick reference format on the internet each week, as TERI'S LIST. Members log in, spend a few minutes with a pair of scissors, and they're off to win The Grocery Game! The average savings for a family of four is 60%, or $512 a month! Start winning now, click here for your 4 week FREE trial. www.TheGroceryGame.com The Grocery Game respects your privacy. This is a one-time mailing initiated by your friend, Donnie Watson. You have not been subscribed to any mailing lists. *The Grocery Game, Inc. is not responsible for any store policy changes, price changes, misprints, errors or refused coupons. This publication is intended as a reference guide for what might be available at your local supermarkets. Published prices are for comparison purposes only. Your actual savings may vary. Teri's Shopping List is copyright protected and may not be sold, reproduced, or transfered. Each individual membership is to be used solely for the member's immediate household. Any other use constitutes fraud. © 2009 The Grocery Game, Inc. All rights reserved.

PEACE AMIDST UNPLEASANT CIRCUMSTANCES

 

Peace Amidst Unpleasant Circumstances by Charles R. Swindoll Acts 19:23-31 After Paul had been willing to stay at the task in Ephesus even with the dream of going to Rome on his heart (Acts 19:23), "about that time . . ." That's the way it happens. Just about the time you get out of your prayer closet and you've got it all worked out, everything breaks loose. Look at the rest of verse 23: There occurred no small disturbance concerning the Way [which was a first-century label for Christianity]. About the time you get things settled in your heart and promise, "Lord, I'm not going to panic; I'm going to leave those dreams with You," no small disturbance occurs. What was the problem? Verses 24 and following describe it. One day a craftsman named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, realized his business was taking a turn for the worse. Why? He tells his fellow craftsmen in verse 26: "You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying that gods made with hands are no gods at all." So the new Christians gave up their trinkets and spread the word. Now, perhaps by the thousands, people were leaving the worship of Artemis. There goes the silver trinket market! Suddenly the market for Artemis memorabilia takes a nosedive. You see, the closer you get to the authentic, the less you care about the artificial. You know the truth, so you don't need little replicas of what is false (to say nothing of what is true). You commit yourself to the living Lord who is not seen, who is not heard (audibly). So who needs little tin gods! Who needs religious souvenirs! When you're serving the God of heaven, who could care less about gods on earth? So now the craftsmen have it in for the missionary. They're saying, in effect, "It's all Paul's fault. He's to blame." Weird, isn't it? When you declare the truth you're often blamed for it even though you didn't write it. You're just declaring it. But people have no other source to turn to. They can't take a swing at God. So those who represent the Lord and His truth become the scapegoat . . . the verbal punching bag. This is the place Paul found himself in. He didn't make anybody do anything. God changed lives. But he was the voice box. Still, look at what happened. Now remember, this is the man who has said, "Lord, I give You my future. I'm relying on You to take care of it." Things got worse. Look at the unpleasant circumstances. "Not only is there danger that this trade of ours fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis be regarded as worthless . . ." When they heard this and were filled with rage, they began crying out, saying, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" (vv. 27-28) So they're chanting this great cry like you would chant a cheer at a ball game. "GREAT IS ARTEMIS OF THE EPHESIANS!" They're screaming it---thousands of them. I say that because of the next verse: The city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed with one accord into the theater . . . (v. 29) Eventually the word gets to Paul, "Your name is being used over there and are they mad!" In fact, verse 29 says they dragged a couple of his companions into this place that was normally the fighting arena for gladiators. Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's traveling companions, were forced to face this mob that was now intensely angry---an uncontrollable scene of panic. What would you do? Frankly, I'd probably take the night train to Memphis! I'd get out of there, like fast. Not Paul. Paul's at peace. Look at the next verse. A paraphrase of verse 30 would be, "Let me at 'em." And when Paul wanted to go into the assembly [there it is], the disciples would not let him. Also some of the Asiarchs who were friends of his sent to him and repeatedly urged him not to venture into the theater. (vv. 30-31) "Don't go out there, Paul! Man, that's bedlam out there. That's suicide. That's crazy." Yet Paul is ready to walk into the scene. Why? First of all, he's courageous. He doesn't want Gaius and Aristarchus taking the heat for him. Second, he has peace, which allows a person to experience a degree of invincibility. When you live free of anxiety, there is an "envelope of invincibility" in your spirit. It surrounds you, and you don't sense the intimidation of a mob or the fear of peril. It's nothing short of magnificent. This brings us to the second definition: Peace is the ability to stay calm in spite of the panic of unpleasant circumstances. Now, in case you choose to live like this and to lean in that manner on the living Lord, I want to warn you ahead of time, people won't understand. If you're in a situation that calls for panic, yet you don't panic, they're going to want to know what's wrong with you. Isn't that interesting? Our mind-set is so panic-oriented that when you aren't panicked, you have to explain what's wrong with you. Amazing! Are you facing an uncontrollable situation, an uncertainty? Something you just can't extract happiness out of? A situation that's unpleasant, uncomfortable, and dissatisfying? The Lord wants us to glorify Him and to walk in peace with Him, even though our surroundings are unpleasant. Excerpted from Stress Fractures, copyright © 1990 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.

YOU CAN BE CONFIDENT ABOUT THE FUTURE

 

You Can Be Confident About the Future by Rick Warren   "And I will live in the house of the Lord forever" (Psalms 23:1-6 NLT). How long is forever going to last? Forever! Some day your body is going to die, but you aren't! Your body is going to end, but that's not going to be the end of you. You're going to live forever in one of two places—heaven or hell. They?re both real places. You will spend eternity in heaven or hell. Your body is going to die, but you're not going to die. We were made to last forever. Why should Christians be the most confident people about the future? "Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. . . . We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:6,8 NIV). Death, for Christians, is a transfer, a promotion. It's on to better things; no more problems. You're not ready to live until you're ready to die. You don't know how to live until you're ready to die. Only a fool would go all through life, totally unprepared for something that everybody knows is inevitable. You're going to die—someday. If you've accepted Christ, then you're going to go to heaven. You'll be released from pain, from sorrow, from suffering, from depression, from fear: "He'll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone" (Revelation 21:4, MSG).