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The Chronic Lemon Sucker
I adore the title of this
chapter! You’ve heard the
saying “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade”. It’s a lovely sentiment really, but what do you do if you don’t want to make Lemonade? What
if you think you have the RIGHT to be snarky and jaded and you actually want to
be offended and angry…Well now, I’ll tell ya. You can and will
develop a chronic case of being an embittered chronic “Lemon Sucker”.
Some of the characteristics of any Chronic Lemon
Sucker are as follows:
- Depressed,
- mean,
- self absorbed,
- defensive,
- walking in Offense,
- critical,
- gossiper,
- sarcastic,
- rude,
- ignorant,
- mean spirited and lets not forget...
- spiteful
Some CLS (chronic lemon suckers) are even abusive physically but more so
with their mouths. They can tear a stranger down in less than a minute for
simply looking at them the wrong way. They are always on guard and ready for a
fight, even if they are in the wrong. Especially if they are wrong, because
they know and have something to prove!
They have a strong need to defend themselves,
due to the fact they probably never had anyone stand up for them or have come
out of one dark and horrible life.
The Chronic Lemon Sucker can be any age, gender
or skin tone.
Now, if you are reading this and are being
honest with yourself and find yourself saying, yeah that’s me! Don’t worry, you are not alone. I
took all those traits from myself personally. I am a recovering “Chronic
Lemon Sucker”. And if you don’t see yourself in any of the aforementioned words, Congrats because
you are able to be living a Godly life and or are in denial!
Gal 5:22-23
“22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such
there is no law.”
There are 9 fruits of the spirit…Do
you possess them ALL? (I know I don’t) IF not, I
suggest you keep reading.
Unfortunately, not all of us want to exhibit
the Godly fruits of the Spirit simply because we don’t want too. It’s far easier to be miserable and
self loathing then it is to be happy and cheerful, even the Godliest of people
fall short of this goal at times. We all get into a bit of self pity here and
there and it is in reality Lemon Sucking! There are days when you want to be in
a bad mood. It’s purely a choice.
BUT HAVE NO FEAR!!!! There is a cure to being a Lemon
Sucker. Do you recall poor little Elijah sitting out there in the dessert
throwing himself a pity party and no one was invited because they were all
supposedly dead or gone, and something came an ate his shade while he was
snoozing? If Elijah can have a bad day, I’m sure the
rest of us can too. Even Isaiah had bad days! He stood before the LORD in
chapter 6 and admitted he was a "man of unclean lips and lived among a
people of unclean lips!"
Let’s take the time to look at the
life of Lemon Sucker.
When you are a Lemon sucker, you are miserable
all the time! The JOY in your life is pretty much nil and that tends to put people off. You seem to push people away
because no one can stand to be around you for very long. Nastiness breeds
nastiness. It’s like a contagious disease. You
seem to have a dark cloud over you all the time and feel hopeless like there is
just nothing and no one out there that can help you.
You tend to blame every little thing on your
past experiences, every Negative thing that have ever happen to you. All the
chance encounters all the abuse (physical or other); has drawn you towards the
bitter juice of the lemon. And eventually what you put into yourself will come
out of yourself. Garbage in, Garbage Out.
Luke 6:45 “45 A good man
out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of
the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of
the heart his mouth speaks.”
I knew this woman; I met her in high school. She
came from a very nice background. Her house was so big; I got lost looking for
the front door! Her parents did everything for her. When I met her she was 16
and her mommy cleaned her bedroom! My mom stopped doing that when I was 6!
Anyways, reflecting back, I don’t ever remember this girl smiling. She always came to school with a
scowl on her face and a chip on her shoulder. Her very countenance was dark. As
years passed, she ending up getting married and have 3 kids and then ended up
divorced in a matter of 7 years, although she never actually celebrated a
single anniversary with her husband.
Her excuse was this…My step dad was
mean to me, he didn’t give me everything I want.
My
mother was mean to me because she wouldn’t let me do
what I want.
My
mother in law was mean to me because she wouldn’t let me do what I wanted.
My
husband is mean to me because I’m expected to be a wife and
mother.
My kids expect too much from me and I'm too tired to give.
She blamed everyone for her problems. And to
this very day has never allowed for happiness to enter her life. She is very
bitter, right to the core. She even attended church with me for a couple of
years but even the Love of Jesus was too hard for her to handle. She is a
CHRONIC Lemon Sucker. Today, she is still bound by those lemons and
honestly, you can see it in her physical appearance, bitterness has covered
every inch of her, But there is still hope for her as
long as she has breath in her body. People like this need one thing, lots and lots of prayer.
In essence a Lemon Sucker is heading the wrong
way on the right road regardless, of their Christian walk. I’ve been born again since I was 4 years old, but I still manage to
step out of God’s protection and into bad things
while still attending church. I can get gossipy, I can get mean... I can fall.
It wasn’t till I was in my 20’s that I realized that I was actually putting myself in danger of
Hellfire. And for someone like me, that scared the snot clean out of my nose! I’m a pastor’s kid for heaven sake! I thought I was 100% safe! WRONG! I can just
as easily choose hell as I did choosing God! That’s a personal choice and God will honour it...up or down, my choice.
I spent a
good many years being offend at every chance I got, in church, on the street,
to even school. It was super easy at school! I blamed my classmates for not
liking me because I was a Poor little Christian half breed Indian girl. I
figured that was a good reason to be mad. After all, these white kids had the
best of everything, and I had to wait forever to get anything because money was
tight and boy did they loved to taunt me and make fun of and bully me.
Then as I got older, I figured I could hold
offence to how I perceived people treated my family. I come from a single
parent home and around these parts and at that time, it was looked down upon –times
have changed eh. Even in the churches you were treated differently because
there wasn’t a man in the house. So again,
I used that as an excuse to be angry.
Next, my mother remarried this “super
neat” guy she had been dating – note the sarcasm. When they got
married holy cats! Did all hell broke loose! He turned into an evil, physically
abusive man over night! So I drew more anger from there. Because why? I was
abused and my mother couldn’t stop it? And my mother was
abused and I couldn’t stop it! And my brothers were
abused and nothing could be done because we lived in fear! Waking up in the middle of the night to a man you view as father choking the life out of your mother...makes up for a messed up mind.
From then on I knew something was different. I
was in a constant depression. I literally felt dark. Like the joy in my life had been sucked right out of my body. The light was snuffed out. There was something in my life that
made me feel miserable. And I didn’t do a thing to change it. In
fact, I embraced this darkness. Imagine
that a “PK” who isn’t
perfect! (PK is Pastor’s Kid)
Not that I had any understanding at that time. I
didn’t know or realize that I was doing anything out of
the norm. It was normal for teenagers to be depressed. It was normal for
teenagers to act out. These things were accepted as a part of growing up.
Actually statistically speaking, our generation and our kids, today are the
most depressed generations ever to live! The rates of suicide are extremely
high compared to say 50-100 years ago.
How wrong was I! These things are not normal!
And it’s high time that we start to address these
problems. Especially with our kids today! They're Baby Lemon Suckers in training!
Lemon Sucker is a nicer term then what it really
means. A Lemon Sucker is a Spiritually Oppress or even possessed person.
Spiritual oppression can start any age. It usually stems from a negative
experience that has happen to you. Something as simple as getting your bottom
tanned for being caught with your hand in the cookie jar to something painful
that actually scares your memory like sexual abuse. Weirder still, it can be
something that happens to your mom that she passed down to you unknowingly.
Generational Spirits.
Generational spirits are like a witch's cat...a
familiar. Something that knows your family history back to the dawn of time and
who likes to bring all the bad stuff from the present to the future. I am part
Indian. Even though I never suffered alot of the abuse that my ancestors did, I
still get pangs of anger when I see things like residential schools or even
documentaries on things like Wounded Knee. Not that I suffered, but my
ancestors did and their junk is packed neatly into my families emotional trunk
that has been dragged through every preceding generation. BUT I don't have to own the junk in the trunk... more on that in a bit.
The sad thing is that these negative things take
full control over our lives because we don’t have the tools to deal with them or are under the delusion that it’s acceptable. It is not acceptable. It’s in fact very dangerous.
A lot of lemon suckers actually end up
committing suicide. They are so involved in their feelings of loathing and
worthlessness that they can’t see the light at the end of
the tunnel. (I mention this earlier in the book - see, it needs to get to print!) They’ve been embittered for years and it’s overtaking them. So much so that it’s a final solution to the question “Why was I born
if I was only meant to suffer?”
I know this because I have attempted suicide and failed,
thankfully, but I did have to spend time in the nut house for that one.
Personally, it took me a long time to get over
things that I experienced in my life and even today, I’m dealing with these issues as I remember them. I’m sure that I have blocked out a lot of memories that I don’t want to deal with. But I am an over comer through Christ Jesus!
AMEN!
I had a lot more control in my life when I was
miserable because I used it as a tool to get my own way. As with a lot of other
disorders, people use them to manipulate other people to get what they want. It’s a sick reality that we have to deal with. There’s a new saying now “Hurt people, Hurt people”. Read it over till you get an
understanding.
I was hurt. And all I wanted to do was hurt
people in return because they shouldn’t be allowed
to feel good when I was hurting. I actually resented happy people. I felt that
everyone ought to be miserable and suffer with me. I couldn’t stand to have happy people around me. I like to find people who
were worse off them me, because I felt better. It’s like a skinny girl hanging out with fat girls to make herself feel
better about her body.
I made my choice to be a Lemon Sucker. No one
had to ask me or force me. I did it of my own free will.
Lemon Sucking is a CHOICE. You don’t have to sit there and blame God or the world for all the hardships
you’ve had. You don’t have to go around hurting people because you’ve been hurt. You have a choice! It’s up to you.
Other then walking in all this Lemon Sucking offense, try walking in love. If more people did that, we would be way better
off.
Now how do I walk in love? Get an understanding
first. If you have this background of Lemon Sucking then understand that there
are others out there just like you who are having a bad day or life; other than
being ready to beat the stuffing’s out of someone, be ready to
give a shoulder to cry on. Empathy goes a long way.
I just finished reading a book called Driven by
eternity, by John Bevere. I hated every page in that book because ever word
condemned my actions. I now realized that I really don’t have a RIGHT to do as I please. I have a RESPONSIBILITY to live a
Godly life. And I’ll tell you the truth- It’s hard! I fail every single day. But I don’t stop and give up, I keep trying.
You don't have to OWN the JUNK in your trunk!
What you are doing when you’re walking in love is in essence breaking old habits. You are dying
to your old nature and ways of doing things and learning new ways to combat
your bad behaviour. I wouldn’t think twice about telling someone off. Now I actually think before
I speak but not all the time. And I do use the WWJD –What would
Jesus do. It’s a real eye opener. But like I
said, I’m not perfect. I’ve been a miserable sought for a good many years; I am not going to
change overnight and neither will you...BABY STEPS!
There’s this new
craze going around our Christian community it’s called Inner Healing. I personally think every single person on
the planet ought to go through it. We need to start dealing with our past hurts
because they are what cause us this present pain. They affect ever single
aspect of our lives, from how we relate to family to spouses.
There are some things in our past we need to repent from. Other things we need to ask
forgiveness for. And still other things,
we MUST let go of. We can’t walk in love if we have a suit
case full to over flowing with Garbage. It’s impossible. It’s dragging us downward and away from our goal of total freedom!
We must make choices now and live with the
consequences of our actions. And the most important thing is to stop blaming
ever man and his dog for all the problems in our lives. We are the ones that
make our decisions we are the ones that mess things up so now we need to get
out the broom and dust pan and start cleaning it up and dumping it into the
garbage bin where it belongs.
If you have been abused physically, sexually or
emotionally, it’s going to be hard. But your
first step to healing and drinking lemonade is to forgive the person who hurt
you. Even if you never speak to this person, make it an act of your free will
to forgive this person. YOU TAKE THAT FIRST STEP AND FORGIVE THEM FOR HURTING
YOU! LET GO! You don't need that baggage anymore. Don't own that junk any more. They have NO MORE POWER to hurt you when YOU forgive them!
You really don’t need to hold onto that resentment because all it’s doing is tearing you up inside. Forgive – Forget – Move on! That’s my new motto. What I'm saying
here is this...Chose to forgive that person, Forget what they've done and move
on. You don't have to be buddy,buddy with them you just have to Love them with
the Love that Only Jesus can give. Love - you won't harm them, you won't
slander them, you go about your life free from the chains that bounded you to
them. There is nothing that you can do today that will ever change what happen
yesterday, but we have JESUS who can take the hurt away faster than you can
blink! And that’s more then sufficient to cover
over those hurts.
The things that we hold onto inside will
eventually make themselves present in our lives by influencing behaviours and
reactions to certain situations and even into our physical beings. We will
start to literally feel the sin in our bodies. And I truly believe that a lot
of the sicknesses we deal with today are a direct result to things like
un-forgiveness, hatred, anger etc. All these negative emotions are hurting us.
They are literally causing cancer, arthritis, and heart disease. It’s not just the 3 packs of cigarettes that are killing you it’s your emotional well being as well.
Look around. You see it every day everywhere.
You’ll see a person all twisted and misshapen and find
them to be harboring a lot of hatred in their lives and because it’s coming out in their bodies, they are worse off and some are beyond mean!
As an act of your free will start forgiving
people! I’m going to say that over and over till you get it!
I want you to make a list here, on this list
will be the people who have ever done you wrong, and as you write down that
person’s name, I want you to write ONE positive thing
they have done for you. Then, when you are good and ready, I want you to take
each person, one at a time before the LORD and by an act of your free will,
forgive them. It’s high time you and I start to
focus on the good thing people have done for us and not the negative. If you
can't find anything nice to write, then write beside them this "The nicest
thing this person ever did for me was to unknowingly lead me to the loving arms
of Jesus"
If the
person has passed away, put them on your list still, you don’t have to go and meet everyone individually; you just have to
forgive them. And while you’re at it, ask the LORD to
forgive you for your Un-forgiveness.
Mark 11: 25-26, 25 “And whenever
you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your
Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. 26 But if you do not
forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
Notice that if you don’t forgive the mistakes of others, God will withhold His forgiveness
of you? This is very important because you are stopping God’s favour and blessing from flowing in your life.
How important is it to you to have your own way.
How important is it to harbour hatred in your heart towards someone. Do you
really have to be angry? Do you really need to be justified because no one has
justified you? The answer is NO! These things are not important.
Jesus is our advocate. He sees what is going on.
He knows how we are feeling. He knows our hurts and the thing is we don’t have to suffer those hurts anymore because when Jesus died on that
cross 2000 years ago, he died for our hurts, our pain, our SINS! He justified
you with the shedding of His precious blood!
We can STOP lemon sucking! It’s not that hard. All we have to do is start rolling these hurts onto
Jesus and let him deal with them. Yes, I know, you probably went through some terrible
ordeals in your life, but there is nothing impossible for God to change!
You still need to let them go, they really aren’t doing you any good anyways. If you want that ABUNDANT life that
God is offering to you today, you have to let them go! They are holding you
back from becoming that person you were meant to be and they are able to
destroy you from the inside out.
I personally decided that fighting with certain
members and ex-members of my family really wasn’t worth stopping the flow of God’s blessings on me and in my life. I finally, after 20 years figured
out that God will justify me. (I'm a slow learner) I even went a step further and asked forgiveness
from these people for any offense I caused them, and not for
any other reason than I was sorry. I don’t want to rekindle any relationship with these people, nor do I have
too, all I’m required to do is apologize,
forgive them, and forget the history. It is easier for you to say you’re sorry then for them to hear it. Heaping coals of fire on them may
just burn that resentment off them. What they do afterward is not your problem,
if they wish to harbour ill will, it's not your problem. The LORD just wanted
you to be obedient to Him.
There is way too much drama in this world, and I
don’t want any part of it. All I want now is to have
my sanity. I want to be happy for a change. I’m tired of being stuck under that grey cloud sucking back bitterness
and un-forgiveness. I like being in the warmth of the sun. It’s beautiful. Nothing is grey and miserable anymore, I see colours! I
see flowers! I see everything that God created for what He created it for, my
enjoyment!
Yes I know that life is full of bad situations
but really, I can’t control that, but what I can
control is how I react to it. When someone hurts me I have to remember “water
off a ducks back”
… let that hurt roll off me. I know that the person who
is saying it is hurting themselves. I can see my former self in them and I
should know by now how not to react to them. It’s not important whether I’m right or
wrong, what is important is that I let God defend me and I must now start to
act in a manner befitting a Godly woman. God is going give you every
opportunity to change. He will put situations in front of you for you to react
too. How are you going to react now? Same old, same old? Or have you found that
New way of thinking?
Like I’ve been
saying it’s an uphill battle ever day because of my sin
nature, but if I keep at it, everyday will get easier for me and it will become
second nature eventually.
You don’t have to be
a lemon sucker. You don’t need to allow bitterness to
take root in you; you don’t have to be miserable! You can
have your lemon and make Lemonade if you want too. Make that choice today.
Are you
done with your lemon yet, you
wanna finish it? I have a garbage pail here for you. (I’ll touch more on forgiveness in chapt 8)
Let’s Do Something Proactive! So, Life Gave us lemons…you and I are
going to do something productive with them icky things…we are going to
make us some Lemon-Aid!
Ingredients for
Lemon-Aid:
A
cup of love:
❖ Prov 10:12: Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins
❖ 1 Peter 4:8: And above all
things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”
A cup of Compassion:
❖ Matt: 18:33: Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow
servant, just as I had pity on you?
❖ Matt 5: 38-40: 38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’39 But I tell you not to resist
an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to
him also. 40 If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have
your cloak also.
A dash of understanding:
❖ Prov. 18:2: A fool has no delight in understanding, But in
expressing his own heart
A Pound of forgiveness
❖ Mark 11: 25-26:25 “And
whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him
that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. 26 But if you
do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
And a little bit of time... for
yourself to sit back, put your feet up and learn that walking in love is not an
easy thing to do but know it can be done IF you allow Gods principles to take
root in you and start to grow and soon you will be able to bear the fruit of
the spirit and never mind the lemonade, why not have a pitcher of Fruit Punch!
Gal 5:22-26
22 But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such there is no law. 24
And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with
its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the
Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one
another.
Be G.O.D blessed!
***Bonus excerpt from an upcoming chapter***
Getting blessed by God is a great reward for
your "Faith in God" Mark 11:22, but there is a reason for it... you
have been blessed to be a blessing! Not as some think and claim to
"feather your own nest"... No, that's just more of that genetically
altered religious nonsense trying to say that God cannot trust you with His
blessings!
See when Jesus cursed that fig tree in Mark 11,
He did so because it was NOT a blessing to Him when He WANTED!
In like manner, what good are we if we can not
be a blessing when others want?
We need to G.O.D Bless!-
GIVERS ON DEMAND!
You know God is the greatest giver ever and
works on the Law of Sowing & Reaping...See, the devil is legalistic, there
are protocols that must happen or else the devil can move! Natural laws states
you have to sow first before you reap a harvest! God knew that! So He had to
follow this law too...
For God so loved the world that He GAVE...God
SOWED His only son so that He could REAP all of us as His sons and daughters!
We are the HARVEST that The SEED Jesus produced!!!
So, if you want all the Blessings of God, start
your giving! You MUST SOW before you can REAP a harvest!
Today, Ask the LORD for the opportunity for you
to be a blessing! A Giver On Demand!
Grow Up Already!
I think this is going to be my favourite section
of the entire book, next to the Chronic Lemon sucker… We are now
going to talk about Maturity!
Now, there is absolutely nothing wrong with
having a bit of fun now and again. In fact I urge you to play at a park or do
something fun. I still watch and enjoy cartoons! Some people like to go for
rides on bikes or fishing –
anything (well anything that is good for you) as long
as you can let your hair down and chill out for a bit. You can’t always wear a 3 piece suit!
You know what, I love getting all gussied up to
go to church on Sunday, but when I get home, I’m in a pair of track pants and shirt that probably smells like
yesterday. I just want to chill, and toss my socks in the corner so my lovely
painted toes glisten in the sun light.
Men…there is nothing worse than high
heels. I don't own any! I rather wear my
camo girly crocs or sketchers Mary Jane’s …I love my Mary
Jane’s. I’m all about comfort now. When I
was young, I couldn’t wait to wear high heels…what
was I thinking…? But looking good on the outside doesn't actually mean we are grown up on the inside...
So what does the bible have to say about growing
up? Maturing?
1Cor 13:10-11 “But when that
which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. 11When
I was a child, I spoke as a child; I understood as a child, I thought as a
child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”
Heb 5:12-14 “For though by
this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the
first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not
solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of
Righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of
full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to
discern both good and evil.”
Spiritual Maturity is not an option, it is a
requirement. You must grow. Even in the natural, no one stays a new born.
Everyday our physical bodies grow and change, and soon before you realize it,
you’re watching your own kids grow up.
Maturity starts when you take the initiative.
You must be the one to step up to the plate and seek God and His will for your
life. Maturity, just like everything else takes time. I told you all that I’ve been saved virtually my entire life. Even so, it doesn’t mean that I could preach when I was 8 years old. I had to grow up
in Christ. Likewise a new born Christian must grow up in Christ. Sound doctrine
is essential to growth.
Step by step by fall by step you will begin to
grow in Jesus. It’s a difficult journey but you
are more than able to do it. Phil 3:13 says to strain towards the goal! So
press in! While we are beginning to mature, we must not only seek God but start
to take responsibility for our actions too. For years we have walked in sin and
did things our own way, and where has it gotten us? No closer than when we
first began.
YOU MUST COMMIT YOURSELF TO GOD!
You have too. 100%. Your flesh will start to
give you trouble as you begin to walk in God’s will because your Spirit is trying to take over. And Lord knows
how that will go over right. Too bad, so sad, you got to put down those old
things like in Treasure two, breaking those chains of your life. The very best
place to start is by getting into the word daily. Once you have your foundation,
you can start to build on it. If you can
commit to reading the bible every day, you are able to take a lot of ground
back from the devil.
Remember Plan A and Plan Me… Plan
A is Gods way, Plan Me is messed up. You have to start being “Transformed
by the renewing of your mind”. Romans 12:2 Prepare your mind for action, and as I’ve said before, take EVERY thought captive into the obedience of
Christ! (2Cor 10:5)
I kind of like verse 6 too, “6and
being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.” There
it is again, Obedience! Everyone knows that a key to raising a godly child is
obedience. We have to be taught to be good for heaven sake!
You know just by reading the Word of God alone
every day, you will begin to see a difference in your life. When you add some
good solid foundational teaching, you will flourish like a well watered plant!
I call theses “signs of
Maturity” I am working on them too, daily and I figured why not share them
with you.
1. A Christian should be a person with only
ONE face!
One HUGE problem we as Christians have today is
back stabbing. We are kind and friendly to ones face but the second they turn
around, we start. Let’s take a lesson from the movie
Bambi "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."
Thumper had it right there!
1 Timothy 5:13
At the same time they also learn to be idle, as
they go around from house to house; and not merely idle, but also gossips and
busybodies, talking about things not proper to mention.
2. A
Christian IS his brothers’ keeper.
Yep, you heard me, we are to make sure our
Christian brethren are always on the right path, and we should restore them
with LOVE when they faultier. Raise them up to their former standing in LOVE.
That means to Forgive, Forget and Move on. If we cannot forgive, how then will
the Father forgive us?
Mark 11:25-26
And when you stand praying, if you hold anything
against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your
sins."
3. Christian should be THE example.
If Jesus was perfect why can't we be? He was
just a man, flesh and blood...why then can't we strive for the same? It's really not all that hard...all we have
to do is die to ourselves and be born in Him! Choose his nature over our own
sin nature. It's not easy because we struggle daily with our flesh but we have
one thing...Forgiveness. We can do it if we put our minds to it. Be ye Holy for
I am Holy!
1 Corinthians 15:49 And just as we have
borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man
from heaven.
4. Christians should do good to please God.
Who rightly cares what man thinks of You! I
don't, I only care what God thinks of me. He’d love me even though I dressed like a FREAK and my hair was blue!
You know when you stop bowing to the will of man and seeking the will of God
things will change drastically for you.
REMEMBER if the Devil can't steal your joy he
can't get your goods!
Hebrews 13:16 And do not forget to
do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
5. Don't expect to be liked.
Hey the world hated him first! Why should you be
so lucky??? Just remember the most important thing here is to belong to God,
not man, what can man offer you? Misery? Loneliness, broken hearts? The LORD
offers you Love, Happiness and Life eternal!
John 15:18-19 If the world hates
you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world,
the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose
you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
6. Be Doers of the Word.
Make it a guide book to living, a "How
To" book for your new found life style! Study it, live it, share it with
everyone. The bible is full of helpful tidbits on how to get through this life.
James
1:21-22
Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow
of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implant word, which is able to
save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving
yourselves.
7. Our
Characters should be above reproach.
Start cleaning out that closet, you don't need
anything in there besides a broom and dust pan. Confess your sins to one
another and forgive yourself your sins because God has the moment you ask for
forgiveness. And remember not to fall into the trap of the devil, who will try
and remind you of your sins even though our Father has forgiven them.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.
8. Be proud of being a Christian!
Blab it baby! The world needs to know! Scream
it! Sing it! Paint it on your car! Wear your t-shirt, Advertise for Christ! "WE
WILL NOT BE UNDER-SOULED!!!"
If people can cuss in public, you can Praise the
Lord in public too!!!
Matthew 10:33 But whoever denies Me
before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.
9. Love the UNLOVEABLE
Yeah the hardest one...love those who would
rather punch your day lights out. Love those who smell so bad your nose hairs
burn off, Love those who aren't in your "circle" of friends. Jesus loved them all, even when they killed
him; he still loved them enough to ask God to forgive them! Now that is love!
(I struggle hard with this one!)
Matthew 5:44 But I say to you, LOVE your
enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for
those who spitefully use you and persecute you…
10. Do
what is right in God's eyes.
You don't need to follow the crowd...go and do
it the right way, Gods way! Stay on that Narrow Path! It's difficult but the
rewards are many and you know what its fun! Don't think that just because you’re a Christian that you ought to run out and by the first pair of
wooden underwear you come across, no way! It’s just the opposite, laugh, have fun and revel in Christ!
Matthew 7:14 Narrow is the gate and difficult is
the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
...I'll be sending out them termites for them gungies soon!
It’s time to plug into the cross
and time to start growing up. We can’t sit in the
pews forever; they are getting to small for us! We have to grow up! Get up and
do something productive. God wants you, are you ready to answer that call? Besides, Lemon Sucking is just too bitter to keep up. Bitterness rots the soul, let it go and let God do a healing work inside you.
