Bank of Bad Habits
Aaron Bull
Heres a confessionI listen to Jimmy Buffett. There are some songs I object to, but overall its the escapism of being at the beach anytime I want to go simply by listening to one of his songs that I enjoy.
Theres one song that I particularly enjoy due to its biblical basis. Its called the "Bank of Bad Habits." For those of you who listen to or have listened to Buffett in the past, it will be no surprise that its a bouncy song with a beach/blues sound.
The song talks about (I dont mean to point out the obvious) a bank of bad habits where we make deposits and withdrawals. However, at this bank its not money, CDs, etc. its a bank where we deposit and withdrawal our bad habits.
Believe it or not, the bad habits he lists are, as I mentioned before, in the Bible. They are pride, coveting, lust, anger, gluttony, envy, and sloth. One of the reasons I enjoy this song so much is that when I commit one of these sins a little song starts playing in my head. Can you guess which one? It seems almost as if its Gods comical way of reminding me of what Im in the midst of. For those of you who object to me inferring that God has a sense of humor, let me answer you with a joke. How do you make God laugh? Make plans. I digress.
Another part of the song has the following lyrics:
Bank of bad habitsOne by one they'll do you in
They're bound to take their toll
Heres the other truth of the song. These same habits, which at times can become idols we hide at all costs, will catch up with us some day. They will reveal us either at work, home, with our kids or spouse. Usually its at the most inopportune time.
Numbers 32:23 says, Be sure your sin will find you out.
How do we resolve these sins? How do we break free from them? Pray, pray and then pray some more. We have to ask for forgiveness for each of them. Identify them one by one as best you can. We also need to truly repent of each sin, going so far as to ask God to help you break free. However, the decision is still ultimately up to you as to choosing Gods will or your own. He will never let the temptation be stronger than what you can handle and He will always give you a way out. He promises it in scripture:
1 Corinthians 10:14
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
To give Buffett some credit, one of the other lines in the song is:
"So put away those alibis
You can't fool that Banker in the sky"
Boy is that the truth! So what will it be todaya deposit or withdrawalor possibly a permanent closing of the account?
cbn
Friday, November 23, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
bring on the guava!
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:3-6
I grew up thinking Christianity was all about what we “didn't do.” Living just to abstain from evil wasn't fun or fulfilling. The enemy deceived me into thinking that at least I could feel alive if I did what I wasn't supposed to do.
My family lived across the street from the high school when I was a child. My sister and I were such a handful that when we wanted to play school, we broke into the high school to do it. The simple fact that it was locked made us want to break in.
Think about this with me: Only one tree in the entire Garden was forbidden to Adam and Eve. Instead of surveying everything God had given and marveling, Eve was seduced by the serpent into thinking, Perhaps I'd rather trade all this in for the one thing God told me to avoid. He could be holding out on me.
We've paid dearly for believing this lie. In comparison to all that we've been given to enjoy in our earthly life with Jesus, what we've been called to avoid is like one measly tree in the whole garden. We don't even begin to eat the fruit of the endless groves in our garden. Ephesians 1:3 says we have every spiritual blessing in Jesus!
We reach for the forbidden trees because we're bored with a steady diet of nothing but apples and bananas. Some of us are doing the same things to fuel our Christian faith that we did years ago, and we're in a rut. It's time to wake up and smell the guava!
When you and I start taking Jesus up on all he made possible for us, we will be so much happier in our faith that abstaining from evil will not seem nearly so sacrificial.
When we learn to really enjoy our God, the craving for the world's pleasures is diminished. The need has already been met just as it was meant to be. Nothing will make you more consistently happy than a full-bore, flood-stage relationship with Jesus Christ. —Beth Moore bethmoore.org
seeking: Jesus, how have I experienced your many blessings this day? What praise will I offer to you now?
responding: Am I bored in my faith because I have not taken all Jesus has offered me? • How can I break out of my rut and enjoy my faith?
Lord, please help me broaden my spiritual horizons and accept every spiritual blessing in Jesus. Please take away my appetite for sin and replace it with a hunger and thirst for you!
following: Take Jesus up on all he has made possible for you.
our journey
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:3-6
I grew up thinking Christianity was all about what we “didn't do.” Living just to abstain from evil wasn't fun or fulfilling. The enemy deceived me into thinking that at least I could feel alive if I did what I wasn't supposed to do.
My family lived across the street from the high school when I was a child. My sister and I were such a handful that when we wanted to play school, we broke into the high school to do it. The simple fact that it was locked made us want to break in.
Think about this with me: Only one tree in the entire Garden was forbidden to Adam and Eve. Instead of surveying everything God had given and marveling, Eve was seduced by the serpent into thinking, Perhaps I'd rather trade all this in for the one thing God told me to avoid. He could be holding out on me.
We've paid dearly for believing this lie. In comparison to all that we've been given to enjoy in our earthly life with Jesus, what we've been called to avoid is like one measly tree in the whole garden. We don't even begin to eat the fruit of the endless groves in our garden. Ephesians 1:3 says we have every spiritual blessing in Jesus!
We reach for the forbidden trees because we're bored with a steady diet of nothing but apples and bananas. Some of us are doing the same things to fuel our Christian faith that we did years ago, and we're in a rut. It's time to wake up and smell the guava!
When you and I start taking Jesus up on all he made possible for us, we will be so much happier in our faith that abstaining from evil will not seem nearly so sacrificial.
When we learn to really enjoy our God, the craving for the world's pleasures is diminished. The need has already been met just as it was meant to be. Nothing will make you more consistently happy than a full-bore, flood-stage relationship with Jesus Christ. —Beth Moore bethmoore.org
seeking: Jesus, how have I experienced your many blessings this day? What praise will I offer to you now?
responding: Am I bored in my faith because I have not taken all Jesus has offered me? • How can I break out of my rut and enjoy my faith?
Lord, please help me broaden my spiritual horizons and accept every spiritual blessing in Jesus. Please take away my appetite for sin and replace it with a hunger and thirst for you!
following: Take Jesus up on all he has made possible for you.
our journey
Friday, November 09, 2007
Being Politically Incorrect!
John Fischer
Wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it; right is right even if no one is doing it. - St. Augustine
Notice how little you hear about right and wrong these days? When right and wrong are purely subjective (what's right for me may not be what's right for you), we lose any external standard for morality. We have a cultural expediency right now called postmodernism that allows for a great deal of ambiguity over right and wrong. Indeed, any external standard of right and wrong has now become politically incorrect. Now isn't that convenient?
Even the Ten Commandments have become more of a controversial symbol of a fight over church and state than what they were intended to be -- a standard by which human beings can behave properly and live long on the land. I read recently where one commentator suggested that with all the fighting over whether the Ten Commandments should be displayed at government sites, obeying them has been completely overlooked. I think he's right.
Based on the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20), lying is wrong. Stealing is wrong. Wanting what others have is wrong. Killing is wrong. Adultery is wrong (regardless of what the meaning of “is” is). Worshiping anyone or anything other than the one true God is wrong. Invoking God's name when you have no real thought towards Him is wrong. And then there are a couple things that are right: honoring your father and mother, and keeping one day of rest among seven
I don't know about you, but I have a long ways to go on just these. I tell people I'm going to do things that I end up not doing. It's always well intentioned, but it is a lie if I don't follow through with what I said. I steal by being in debt and not paying back. I was doing fine on killing and adultery until Jesus came along and redefined killing as hatred and adultery as lust. (Whoops!) And then there are those commercials that appeal to everything I want that I don't have, and I don't see a whole lot of resistance going on in my own life. I want as much as the next guy.
Meanwhile, God's idea of right and wrong hasn't budged an inch since the beginning of time. We would do well to get a little old-fashioned about this. These commandments are there not only to help us be better people, but also to remind us how far we have to go, and how much we need God's grace and forgiveness to get there.
When it comes to right and wrong, we could afford to be a little politically incorrect!
PDL
John Fischer
Wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it; right is right even if no one is doing it. - St. Augustine
Notice how little you hear about right and wrong these days? When right and wrong are purely subjective (what's right for me may not be what's right for you), we lose any external standard for morality. We have a cultural expediency right now called postmodernism that allows for a great deal of ambiguity over right and wrong. Indeed, any external standard of right and wrong has now become politically incorrect. Now isn't that convenient?
Even the Ten Commandments have become more of a controversial symbol of a fight over church and state than what they were intended to be -- a standard by which human beings can behave properly and live long on the land. I read recently where one commentator suggested that with all the fighting over whether the Ten Commandments should be displayed at government sites, obeying them has been completely overlooked. I think he's right.
Based on the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20), lying is wrong. Stealing is wrong. Wanting what others have is wrong. Killing is wrong. Adultery is wrong (regardless of what the meaning of “is” is). Worshiping anyone or anything other than the one true God is wrong. Invoking God's name when you have no real thought towards Him is wrong. And then there are a couple things that are right: honoring your father and mother, and keeping one day of rest among seven
I don't know about you, but I have a long ways to go on just these. I tell people I'm going to do things that I end up not doing. It's always well intentioned, but it is a lie if I don't follow through with what I said. I steal by being in debt and not paying back. I was doing fine on killing and adultery until Jesus came along and redefined killing as hatred and adultery as lust. (Whoops!) And then there are those commercials that appeal to everything I want that I don't have, and I don't see a whole lot of resistance going on in my own life. I want as much as the next guy.
Meanwhile, God's idea of right and wrong hasn't budged an inch since the beginning of time. We would do well to get a little old-fashioned about this. These commandments are there not only to help us be better people, but also to remind us how far we have to go, and how much we need God's grace and forgiveness to get there.
When it comes to right and wrong, we could afford to be a little politically incorrect!
PDL
Monday, November 05, 2007
not-so-rich uncle
7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! Matthew 7:7-11
In today's text, Jesus tells us only to ask and we shall receive. If we “seek first the kingdom of God” (see Matthew 6:33), can we expect God to add material things to our portion?
Certainly not with a demanding attitude. Those who promote a gospel of material prosperity are twisting the Scriptures. God always provides for our needs, not necessarily our wants. Yet, if you are a parent, you know the delight of surprising a child with a gift. And that's what God does sometimes.
A woman I know had struggled for years to save enough to trade in her old car for a new one. When she hoped that she had enough cash to make the switch, her uncle from overseas implored her to come for a special anniversary celebration. “Since I have no children,” he wrote, “it would mean a lot to me.” So, my friend used the car money for her trip.
Now, heading overseas, she was truly broke—but not worried. God had always supplied her needs. Her riches were found in God's “inexpressible gift” (see 2 Corinthians 9:15). He was her confidant. He alone knew about her desire that she might be able to buy a new car one day—maybe even a two-seater convertible. (Yeah, right! She couldn't even afford an economy car.)
But God already had a plan, and it was one that only he could author!
Her uncle was not rich. In fact, he lived very modestly. Therefore, what happened next was amazing. The uncle gave her his life's savings because of her faithfulness to him—an amount that would not only pay for the trip but allow her to buy a new car! “Why wait till I'm dead?” he said. And he handed her the money in cash!
Would you call that a coincidence? Or an example of the promise of Matthew 6:33? —Elfriede Mollon, California
seeking: Father, how have you just given me renewed hope? What good gifts that I've received will I praise you for?
responding: Why do I doubt God at times?
• How has he provided for me in amazing ways in the past?
• What happens to my faith when the gifts don't come?
Father, help me to see that you've already given me more than I deserve. With each gift that I receive from your hand, help me to bow down and thank you with real gratitude.
following: God gives good gifts to his children.
our journey
7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! Matthew 7:7-11
In today's text, Jesus tells us only to ask and we shall receive. If we “seek first the kingdom of God” (see Matthew 6:33), can we expect God to add material things to our portion?
Certainly not with a demanding attitude. Those who promote a gospel of material prosperity are twisting the Scriptures. God always provides for our needs, not necessarily our wants. Yet, if you are a parent, you know the delight of surprising a child with a gift. And that's what God does sometimes.
A woman I know had struggled for years to save enough to trade in her old car for a new one. When she hoped that she had enough cash to make the switch, her uncle from overseas implored her to come for a special anniversary celebration. “Since I have no children,” he wrote, “it would mean a lot to me.” So, my friend used the car money for her trip.
Now, heading overseas, she was truly broke—but not worried. God had always supplied her needs. Her riches were found in God's “inexpressible gift” (see 2 Corinthians 9:15). He was her confidant. He alone knew about her desire that she might be able to buy a new car one day—maybe even a two-seater convertible. (Yeah, right! She couldn't even afford an economy car.)
But God already had a plan, and it was one that only he could author!
Her uncle was not rich. In fact, he lived very modestly. Therefore, what happened next was amazing. The uncle gave her his life's savings because of her faithfulness to him—an amount that would not only pay for the trip but allow her to buy a new car! “Why wait till I'm dead?” he said. And he handed her the money in cash!
Would you call that a coincidence? Or an example of the promise of Matthew 6:33? —Elfriede Mollon, California
seeking: Father, how have you just given me renewed hope? What good gifts that I've received will I praise you for?
responding: Why do I doubt God at times?
• How has he provided for me in amazing ways in the past?
• What happens to my faith when the gifts don't come?
Father, help me to see that you've already given me more than I deserve. With each gift that I receive from your hand, help me to bow down and thank you with real gratitude.
following: God gives good gifts to his children.
our journey