What is the Object of The Symphony of Your Life?

                                                                    Matthew 13:44-46


Have you ever felt the terror of being stuck in traffic fifteen minutes from  home when your show is about to start in five? You have to fight the urge to run old ladies and school buses off the road in your frantic attempt to make it home before you miss something important. I have actually prayed till blood flowed that God would translate me home so I would not be late. Ok well not blood, but maybe a little pee since I drank too much water that day. For me it is anything DC Comics related on the CW that gets my blood pumping. In fact, tonight I have to work at my second job at Toys R Us which conflicts with the season finally of the Flash. I have actually thought about calling in or simply quitting in order to make sure I'm home for that momentous event. Don't judge me, you all know that you feel the same way. Whether it be the Season Finally of the Bachelor, Jersey Shore or Greys Anatomy everyone has their own particular vice. The thing is we waste so much of our lives on such trivial things. What?? I know it just doesn't seem right that ME Jason Kiefer would refer to the season finally of the Flash as "trivial". The truth is that it really is. As much as we love our trappings they are after all just simply that, entertainment. They provide no lasting value in our lives. They can not cure cancer or solve world hunger. Neither can our Facebook and twitter posts; but, that's a discussion for another time.

Now don't get me wrong I am a story teller and I understand the importance of stories to inspire and help us understand things we might not normally. In fact, Jesus often spoke in parable which are simply stories that are used to teach spiritual principles. Where as God has often used the Justice League to personally talk to me, I do realize that such things can take up way to much of my life. Moreover, what I eat, where I am going to live, what I wear, who does or does not like me and pretty much anything else that involves this life takes up way to much of all of our time and energy. There is a very powerful and true saying that I have often quoted: "What you spend your time on you purchase with your life." What have you been purchasing with your life? I know that when I look back at what I have bought with the five dollar bill that is my life I see that most of it is completely worthless. I can name for you almost everyone of Batman's villains; but, can I find the right scripture to help minister to a hurting person? I know everyone of Aragorn's titles; but, can I hear the Lord when he calls in the deep place of my heart? I think, that we spend way to much of our life's currency purchasing things that just simply do not matter. Yes, entertainment has value; but, the quantities that we purchase of them are way out of balance.

 Let me put it to you a different way. If you had a choice between the presence of God and an extra hour of sleep a day, which would you choose? Well that's an easy one, the presence of God of course. How stupid am I to ask you such a question; and yet, how many of us simply hit the snooze button every morning when we have set aside that time to pray. I know I am notorious for that. In fact, not since bible school have I been able to actually not hit the snooze button. I purchased one more hour of sleep with my life instead of one hour of the presence of God. Let me ask you this, if you had set aside a specific time for your spouse everyday and you choose to take a nap instead during that time, do you think you would still be married? If you were, you would most likely not recognize that your spouse was seriously unhappy that you felt a nap was more important to you then them. We do this to God all the time. We skip church, we skip our prayer time, we go back on our commitments to Him and then we expect God to simply understand. Don't get me wrong, He does love us anyway and continues to pursue us anyway; but, I bet we break his heart every time.

I have never been able to work out consistently and have struggled with my weight because of it. Recently I have become much more consistent in this area. What has changed? Well my son has finally grown old enough to work out with me and he is very excited about it. In fact, every time I skip out on my obligation to him he gets very disappointed. That look on his face when he is hurt and disappointed breaks my heart and makes me not want to ever go back on my word to him again. It was through this very dad experience that I realized that I do that to God often. Every time I choose something other then God I tell Him by my actions that what ever it is I would rather do is more important to me then Him. In Matthew 13:44-46 Jesus gives us the parable of the Hidden treasure and the Pearl.  We have often looked at this parable as one that refers to how much God loves us; but, it is referring not to how much He loves us but rather how much we love Him. The truth is that He is the pearl of great price and the hidden treasure. Jesus is what life is all about and nothing in both the eternal life or the earthly temporal life that we could ever pursue is worth more then He is. There is nothing both eternal or temporal that can satisfy but Him.  People we all sacrifice the things that are eternal for the things that are temporal. We all choose this life over God. There is more to loving this earthly life more then God then just the idea that you would die for God if it was asked of you. In fact, it is harder to live ones daily life choosing God over the temporal joys of this earthly life then it is to literally physically die for Him. To die is but a moment in ones life; whereas, to live is all of the moments of your life combined into one symphony. What is the object of the symphony of your life?

Lifes keys Chapter Three: Submit and Resist

                                                                          James 4:7
                                                                      Matthew 6:24
                                                                      Ephesians 6:13


In one of my previous posts I briefly mentioned that I felt that most people struggled with sin in their lives because they used sin as a form of self medication. I strategically dropped that bomb in the earlier post because I knew that I would someday return to that subject; and KABOOM, here it is. Mr. Kiefer where did this land mind come from that I just stepped on? Well good suh, I put it there in the back of your minds so you would eventually step on it. I hope you didn't lose a foot or something. Of course if you did, the bible does say it is better to enter into heaven missing a limb then to go to hell with all your parts intact. So that being said, lets tackle a subject that most people in todays Christian world like to simply ignore; or at best, simply skim over in hopes that it will go away. If you know anything about me, then you would know that I don't like to let things go. I am a bit of an obsessive person and I will pursue things like a blood hound if I feel they need to be addressed. In fact, it was prophesied over me that I was a drill sergeant who was sent to train Gods troops; so, after each sentence you all will salute and yell, "YES DRILL SEARGENT!"

I have found in life that one scripture we all so readily quote when dealing with problems is James 4:7 which states: Submit yourself to God, Resist the Devil and he will flee from you. As you can see this is a two fold scripture. It gives us two distinct steps that we must take before the Devil will flee from us. The first, and most important, is that we must submit to God. I think this statement is pretty self explanatory and I will certainly tackle it in detail in a future post; but, I will expound on this a little before I move on to the next point. We all know, I hope, that if we are in rebellion and not submitted in every area of our lives to God that we have already given the enemy place in our lives; and, if we have already given him place he has legal right to be there. For instance, if I look at pornography on a regular basis and then try to rebuke the demon of lust he most likely will not go. The reason he will not leave is because I have invited him in by my actions. My words and even my heart may not be to have this spirit working in my life; but my actions, however, have given him an open invitation to meddle with me. This is where submitting to God is the absolute most important action we must take when dealing with the enemy in our lives.

If we refuse to submit to God and give place to the enemy in our lives; then, we will always struggle with sin. In Matthew 6:24 Jesus expressly states that you can not serve two masters. He is referring to money in this passage, but it can be applied to any area of your life where we are un-submitted. How can you ever expect to resist an enemy that you have already let inside your gates? The truth is you can not, and this is why most of us fail. As my father always says, "It is the sins we like that we struggle with the most." I am not a murderer because I don't like killing people, and I don't need to go to Murders Anonymous or have a murder intervention. That statement may seem a little ridiculous; but, it is very true. We struggle with the sins we like and these are the areas where we allow rebellion and lack of submission in our lives. In America especially we often like to medicate ourselves instead of dealing with the deep routed issues in our lives. It does not have to be drug addiction or alcoholism, but it can be something as simple as allowing ourselves little fantasies about things we know are wrong. What ever your pet sin is, it needs to be submitted to God in order for you to ever be able to throw off the shackles that you have allowed the enemy to place on you. You have to admit to yourself that you like it; and, no mater how small it may seem it is something that must be cut out and dealt with immediately. Once you have done this you can finally move on to the next phase of the process, RESISTANCE.

I am going to be completely honest with you right now maggots. (Sorry the drill sergeant is coming out.) You can not council sin away. What? What did you just say? I will repeat it. You can not council sin away. I am not saying that counselling has no benefit. Counselling is a very good tool that can be used to help us see the deep areas in our lives that need dealing with or healed; but, there comes a point in time when we all must move past this. I find that in todays church we have become counseling addicts. We can not go through a day with out our counseling fix. In fact, I would say that we have almost created a system that perpetuates this idea that we are just simply sinners who are in constant need of counseling and healing. Sorry soldier but I for one am not buying into that malarkey and I wont let you either, because we are far more then that! There absolutely is freedom from hurt, sin and bondage and its found in Jesus Christ. Until we finally except that He has already healed us and given us all things that pertain to life and Godliness, we will never be able to live victoriously free lives. We will never be able to RESIST. You see resistance needs to be built on the foundation that if I resist then I will overcome. If we are constantly in a state of insecurity and failure then we can never rise up and resist the enemy. People who always feel like they need to be doing something else first will never be able to rise up and fight the enemy. In fact, this mentality has the opposite effect in our lives by actually giving us a license to continue to struggle indefinitely; and that, is not what Jesus died for.

 If you want freedom from the enemy, then YOU need to resist. This part neither God nor your pastor can do for you, you have to do it for yourself. You have to stand up and throw off the chains that bind you and resist. In Ephesians 6:13 Paul says, "that we should put on the full armor of God so that we might be able to stand and having done all to stand, stand." The kind of "standing" Paul is referring to here is "resistance". He is telling us that the full armor of God was given to us for resistance to sin and the enemy. To stand against him. He also says in Hebrews 12 that we should, "Throw of the sins which so easily beset us and run with endurance the race that is before us." Paul specifically states here that it is OUR job to throw of the sins which so easily beset us. I am not saying that we can do this in our own strength; but rather, what I am saying is that God has already provided us with the power an authority to rise up and overcome. People He already did it in us when he died on the cross and rose again. What Jesus did through His death and resurrection was far more then just provide forgiveness and atonement for sin. He also restored us back to what we were always designed to be. He made us new creations and heirs with Him to the household of God with all the rights, privileges and power that goes with that title. He provided everything we will ever need to live victorious overcoming lives. So people lets put just as much effort into resisting sin as we do in giving in and see what God can do for us. So soldier its time for you to join the RESISTANCE and overcome! YOU ARE DISMISSED!