The Coffee Break

What's Your Intake?

What goes into your body? Have you ever really thought about it? I have. And I gotta tell you. It’s tough stuff to think about. Truth is, most of don’t like to think about it all that much because it challenges our way of life. What we like. What we want. But the fact remains, much of what we put into our bodies isn’t good for us.

Yet we keep on doing it. Honestly, most of the time, especially after eating at a fast-food restaurant, I’m mad that I even succumbed once again to the flashy signs, cool play sets, and the dollar menu. I leave unsatisfied and usually have uncomfortable movements in my stomach for the next few hours!

But this post really isn’t about junk food or over-eating or any of that really. Or maybe it is. Maybe that’s something for you that God is like, “Hey, you’re not honoring the body I gave you. Stop putting junk in your body.” I don’t know. I’m certainly challenged by that and am making very slow progress in that area of my life.

What I do know is that this concept is true in every area of our lives. We consume what isn’t good for us.

• We watch TV shows that are filled with trash and ungodly innuendoes.
• We listen to music that has become more explicit than anyone would have listened to 20 years ago.
• We look at images online and in advertisements that should be reserved for the bedroom.
• Our conversation is often off-color.

And then to make matters worse. There’s little or nothing going in that’s offsetting all of that garbage.

• We’re not listening to God-honoring, uplifting music.
• We’re not filling our minds with the Word of God and the God of the Word.
• We’re not reading books to challenge our thinking and expand our vocabulary beyond the 4-letter words.
• We’re not engaged in conversations that build others up and foster community, rather much of our speech is filled with deception, flattery, gossip, complaining, belittling, meddling, and other forms of life-sucking negativity!

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

God did not call us to fit in. He called us to stand out. Am I saying that we should we never watch TV, listen to all kinds of music, and live our lives in a bubble… NO. That’s not what I’m saying at all. We have to live IN the world and be very present IN the world but God calls us to not to become like the world. He calls us to become something much different than that.

He calls us to become like Jesus.

Here’s one example: I love Country music and I regularly listen to Country music but it’s become increasingly difficult to just turn the radio on and listen to every country song. I have to be selective. I have to use discernment. Many country songs talk about love for God, country, and family. I love that stuff! A lot of songs paint a picture of backyard bbq’s and spending lazy Sunday afternoons just chillin’. I love that stuff, too! But there are other songs that glorify drunkenness and drugs and sleeping around and you know what? I just can’t support or condone those messages. And a steady diet of messages like that desensitize me to God’s TRUTH that is found in His word and through the Holy Spirit.

It’s absolutely true that you become whatever you allow to influence you the most.

Just one other example. For a while I had changed my diet and was eating healthier. I felt happier, less tired, I wasn’t as irritable and then it had happened. I saw a bag of microwaveable popcorn and I just had to have it. I ate the whole bag!! My lifestyle change had been interrupted and I went on a 3 week relapse into eating whatever I wanted. I gained 25 pounds! I’m not proud of it. I’m very frustrated that happened actually. I’m just saying that if you allow that thing that isn’t good for you to influence you it will redirect the course of your life.

It’s time we practice more self-control. More discipline. More godliness.

The same goes for TV and Movies and other genres of music. We just need to be more discerning with what we put into our lives. We need to be more careful with what we allow to influence our children and the culture in our homes.

Why? Because your life puts out what your heart takes in. I want to encourage you to take in JESUS. Take in His word! Take in His character!

• Put out the name of Jesus!
• Make the name of Jesus famous! 
• Let your life ooze with the love of Jesus!

I promise you, you won’t miss a thing.

Check these passages of Scripture out.

Ephesians 5:11 (NLT)
“Take no part in the worthless deeds of darkness; instead expose them.”

1 Peter 2:24 (NLT)
“Jesus personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed.”

Psalm 119:11 (NLT)
“I have put your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

Just some thoughts from today’s coffee break!

Please, share your own!

Do You Want to Be Free?

I recently read a news story that was amusing, confusing, strange, and sad all at the same time. You can check out the actual story here: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/07/29/fbi-woman-robbed-wyoming-bank-to-return-to-prison.html

According to Fox News, Linda Thompson, who had just recently been released from prison walked into a bank with a sign that read, “I have a gun. Give me all your money.” The teller hands over thousands of dollars to this woman who then exited the doors of the bank calmly. Here’s where it got strange. On the steps leading up to the bank, the woman sat down and threw the money into the air!

I laughed out loud! Are you serious?!

She began giving money away to passers-by! No, she was no Robin Hood. She had no interest in helping the poor.

What she wanted was both simple and complex. She wanted to be arrested. When the police arrived she made no attempt of escape, she offered no excuses. She simply stated that she wanted to go back to prison.

It was at this point in the story when I felt something for the lady. I’m not 100% sure what it was. It was a mixture of pity, sorrow, compassion, and curiosity. There was also some introspection.

This might sound strange. But how often do we run back to our sin and its misery simply because it’s familiar and comfortable and in many ways much easier than taking responsibility for our lives and putting in the hard work of living through the consequences of our past mistakes?

I have a couple of thoughts that might help when we find ourselves unable to move forward in life.

First, desperation can be a good thing. Jesus is drawn to desperation. Are you desperate to control your anger issues? Do you run back to pornography and other sexual sins to cope with an unsatisfying relationship? Do you find yourself unable to prioritize time with your spouse and children? Do you feel helpless to change your situation, to change your life? If so, you're not alone. The reality is, we are ALL in desperate need of God on a daily basis.

All through Scripture we find examples of God meeting helpless people in hopeless situations and extending grace. When we stop desperately pursuing God we become self-sufficient. But the problem with self-sufficiency is that it’s only as good as we are. It only lasts as long as we can last. It only solves the problems that we are able to solve on our own. And then we fail. And when we fail, we sink back into the prison of despair and discouragement.

If you find yourself in despair and discouragement, don’t give up in self-deprecation or give in to self-gratification, but look up to Jesus. He is waiting for you. He wants you, in your desperation, to desperately seek Him with all your heart.

Second, you can never reach your full potential in prison. In prisons today there are opportunities to be somewhat productive. You can certainly reflect on life, build relationships, exercise your body, serve others, work for a small stipend, even enjoy entertainment from time to time, all in prison! And as nice as that may sound. You’re still locked up! You may not think the prison of your sin is all that bad. You may even enjoy it. But you’ll never live the life you were intended to live.

There are so many Christians walking around in prison today. I think you know what I mean. They’re enslaved to the rumor mill and gossiping about others. They harbor resentment and unforgiveness in their hearts. They think more highly of themselves then they ought to. They don’t show the love of Jesus to people who look different, think different, and act different, then they do. I’m telling you. You can live that way if you want. But you’re still locked up! You’ll never reach your full potential. You’ll never live the life God wants you to live until you throw your hands up in desperate surrender.

Crazy thing is, when you surrender to God, you don’t get bars, you get freedom.

Do you want to be free?