I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately: This first great sin of man was not adultery or stealing or swearing. The first great sin of man was actually just ‘doing nothing’ when he should have done just the opposite. The Scripture points out that Eve was truly deceived by Satan in the garden. Adam, on the other hand knew and saw what was taking place; he just went along anyway. So, when he should have stepped up to the plate and been the man, he didn’t. She was deceived; he sinned with his eyes wide open. Guys, the first big sin of our forefather Adam was none other than PASSIVITY. Do you see yourself yet in this story? I sure do, and it hurts. It is important to know that Adam’s DNA and his tendencies flow through every one of us and must be eradicated by our submitting to the Holy Spirit. Samson and King David became great warriors when the Spirit came upon them. We, men, in this dispensation have a privilege they didn’t have; we can have the Holy Spirit ‘reside and abide’ in us constantly, not just ‘come upon’ us every now and then. In other words we can be warriors every day.

This paragraph by John Eldredge sums up a lot:

“The heart of the warrior says, “I will put myself on the line for you.” That is why it must come before the lover stage, for he will need to do that time and time again in his marriage, and it is passivity that has broken the heart of many women. The warrior nature is fierce, and brave, ready to confront evil, ready to go into battle. This is the time for a young man to stop saying, “Why is life so hard?” He takes the hardness as the call to fight, to rise up, take it on. He learns to “set his face like a flint,” as Jesus had to do to fulfill his life’s great mission (Isa. 50:7).”

~ Paul Stubka

“Aren’t you glad that we as Christians don’t have to live under the circumstances. Because of Christ we can live above the circumstances of this life, and yes, some of them can be extremely tough . Let’s do life together today consciously living above the circumstances. I assure you , you’ll have a much better day. Don’t let the troubles rent space in your head. Soar high today my friend. It’s a brand new day.”

~ Bobby Williamson

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”

Colossians 3:1

Jesus’ disciples had EVERYTHING they had built their life on to completely fall out from under them by Jesus being crucified. Now his body was not even in the grave. Their life as they knew it had ended. Then… the Life Giver appeared.

“On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!””

John 20:19

He didn’t say, “Let’s Celebrate!” or “Why are you sitting around not believing?” or “Here I am to get you out of here!” No, his announcement was, “PEACE be with you.” Whatever you’re going through today, He offers that same invitation to you – right where you are – if you will fix your gaze and your hope on Him! He is worth it all!

“God’s faithfulness has never depended on the faithfulness of his children. God is greater than our weakness. God’s blessings are dispensed according to the riches of his grace, not according to the depth of our faith”- A Gentle Thunder by Max Lucado.

It’s not about us!!!

Joe Shelton: “I hate it when I sin. I even hate myself when I sin, which really doesn’t help with the problem. I wish I never sinned, but I do, and so do you by the way. However, truth be known, I would rather sin and trust in His grace for my righteousness than not sin and trust in my righteousness for His grace… because Galatians 2:21 says,

“I don’t want to frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness comes by keeping rules and regulations, then Christ died in vain. (King James and Joe version)”

1. Strengthen me to wait patiently.

2. Awaken me to the glory of today.

3. Keep me from foolish shortcuts.

4. Make me want the future you have for me.

5. Remind me of what I’m really waiting for: the return of Christ.

~ Desiring God

“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

Psalm 27:14

“I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.”

Psalm 40:1

“I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.”

Psalm 130:5

“For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.”

Habakkuk 2:3

“The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;”

Lamentations 3:25

“Sing happily, people of Zion! Shout loudly, Israel! Celebrate and rejoice with all your heart, people of Jerusalem.” Zephaniah 3:14

The LORD your God is among you; He is mighty to save. He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you with His love; He will rejoice over you with singing.”

Zephaniah 3:17

What a wonderful rush of exuberant gladness there is in these words! The very words seem to dance with joy. But more remarkable than this is the parallelism between the two verses. Zion is called to rejoice in God because God rejoices in her. She is to shout for joy and sing because God’s joy too has a voice, and breaks out into singing. For every throb of joy in man’s heart, there is a wave of gladness in God’s. The notes of our praise are at once the echoes and the occasions of His. We are to be glad because He is glad: He is glad because we are so. We sing for joy, and He joys over us with singing because we do.

“When we lean on God as the source of our contentment rather than the opinion of man or success in the world, we will have a sure foundation on which to experience JOY.”

Craig Denison

“My friends, consider yourselves FORTUNATE when all kinds of trials come your way, for you know that when your faith succeeds in facing such trials, the result is the ability to endure. Make sure that your endurance carries you all the way without failing, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

James 1:2-4

“Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! Because of his great mercy he gave us new life by raising Jesus Christ from death…

Be glad about this, even though it may now be necessary for you to be sad for a while because of the many kinds of trials you suffer. Their purpose is to prove that your faith is genuine. Even gold, which can be destroyed, is tested by fire; and so your faith, which is much more precious than gold, must also be tested, so that it may endure. Then you will receive praise and glory and honor on the Day when Jesus Christ is revealed. You love him, although you have not seen him, and you believe in him, although you do not now see him. So you rejoice with a great and glorious JOY which words cannot express,”

1 Peter 1:3, 6-8

“Let your HOPE keep you JOYFUL, be patient in your troubles, and pray at all times.”

Romans 12:12

”These things I have spoken to you, that my JOY may be in you, and that your joy may be FULL.” John 15:11

“For if the gospel we preach is hidden, it is hidden only from those who are being lost. They do not believe, because their minds have been kept in the dark by the evil god of this world. He keeps them from seeing the light shining on them, the light that comes from the Good News about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4:3-4‬ ‭~ Russell Moore

In getting saved, you come to Jesus with submission, for forgiveness, and with repentance. Repentance: you don’t just repent of the bad things you’ve done, you also repent of doing the right things you’ve done for the wrong reason… you repent of seeing yourself as a self-Savior, a self-justifier. ~ Timothy Keller