James 4:13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

How many decisions do we make everyday?  We probably make at least a thousand a day, from where we want to eat, to major life decisions.  In these scriptures God is giving us just a small taste of how presumptuous and arrogant we are in assuming.  Immediately when we get up in the morning our mind starts making decision, what to wear, what to eat for breakfast, which way to travel to work, who’s going to get the kids, what about lunch, and on and on.  Ironically, we can go through a whole day  and never stop and ask God about his will, or his direction.  We just go through the day assuming it is ours to do with as we please.  According to the scriptures above this is a huge mistake because only God knows if we will be here the next hour, or the next minute.  Every second people’s lives are changing.  One minute your life is going great, but then it is rocked by cancer, loss of a job, or it may be good news but comes with a hard decision.  My point is instantly your whole life can change in a second, and you never knew it was coming.

When we leave God out of the equation; we leave out our map and his grace.  You see God has mapped out our life as he sees fit.  Our job is to try to stay in the center of his will and not wonder off the path. Tim Tebow quotes “People often seem to think that when you're following the Lord and trying to do His will, your path will always be clear, the decisions smooth and easy, and life will be lived happily ever after and all that. Sometimes that may be true, but I've found that more often, it's not. The muddled decisions still seem muddled, bad things still happen to believers, and great things can happen to nonbelievers. When it comes to making our decisions, the key that God is concerned with is that we are trusting and seeking Him. God's desire is for us to align our lives with His Word and His will.” ― Tim Tebow, Through My Eyes

The thing I am learning more and more about God is that his timing is not our timing, and his thoughts are not our thoughts.  Sometimes it is so hard to seek God in every detail of our life, but it is a necessity.  When we follow God he gives us grace to do whatever he has asked us to do.  If we are on our own path, we do not necessarily have the same grace.  I love how Henry Blackaby puts it, “When you seek to perform what God has asked you to do, you will always find enough grace to sustain you.  If you begin to loose heart in what God ask you to do, God’s grace upholds you and gives you the love for God and his people you require to continue.  When you face criticism; God’s grace allows you to forgive others and to sense God’s pleasure even when others do not understand.  When you make mistakes in your task, God’s grace forgives you, sets you back on your feet, and gives you strength to continue.  When you have completed God’s task and no one expresses thanks for what you have done, the Father’s grace surrounds you, and reminds you that you have a heavenly reward. God does not promise to provide all you need for you dreams and projects.  He does assure you that, for every good work you attempt, you will never experience a shortfall of his grace in order to successfully complete the task he has given you”

2 Corinthians 12:9 “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

I cannot imagine my day without God's grace.  Let us remind our self not to boast in ourselves, and what we think we can accomplish, but in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ which is always sufficient.

Are you a person who longs for daily routine, or the person that dislikes the mundane of the everyday routine?  I like to think of myself as a free spirit.  If I am bogged down with too many schedules, or lists to complete it makes me feel stifled.  If I had to do the exact same thing everyday, I think I would just shrivel up. I think people with free spirited personalities are tempted more than others, to always keep things changing.

 When Chad and I first married he was on the SWAT team, which handled a lot of drug bust in Marshall County; and I worked on a surgical team in Huntsville.  Our friends always made the joke, his team kept us in business. We were adrenaline junkies to say the least. I guess that is why I loved working in the Operating Room.  You never knew what was going to come through the other side of the door.  It could be something tiny, or a full-blown trauma, you were always on your toes.  When I look at our lives now, we are in another spectrum all together.  Sometimes I long for an occasional adrenaline rush, or the excitement of the unknown.  Chad also has days where he misses the adrenaline of breaking down a door, going on a stakeout, or a high-speed chase.  (I know you are now thinking we are a little crazy, but somebody has to do it ;) My point is although sometimes we miss those days, God is not drawing us back to that lifestyle, which required a lot of sacrifice of time and safety.  I am sure there are plenty of days that we all think to our self “Did I choose this career?  I wish I would have………..”  The danger is when we start dwelling on the things that are not meant for us.   Although Chad and I do not have the big adrenaline rush everyday, we have wonderful jobs, and time to spend with our children.  Not to mention the fact, we feel we are in the center of God’s will.   Satan biggest goal is to try to get us to feel we are missing out on something.  He tries to tempt us, or lure us into the thought “ the grass is greener on the other side”.  My friends and I were talking about how Satan operates this way in marriages.  Sometimes a person starts thinking maybe this person would make me happier, or maybe this person would understand me better.  When people begin to dwell on these thoughts, they are lured in with deception, because most of the time the grass on the other side has its own set of problems.

Satan knows us well. He has spent a lot of time studying us. He knows our habits, especially our sinful ones. This knowledge puts him in a good position to tempt us. I want us to talk about three ways Satan tries to tempt us, and how we can withstand it.  First, he appeals to our physical desires.  Remember Genesis 3:1 He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You[a] shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  Satan tries to get our wheels turning in the opposite direction of God. He tries to stir our hearts in a direction that will appease our fleshly appetite, rather than God’s will.  By doing this we are taking our eyes off God, and placing them on our selves. Secondly, he attacks where we are most vulnerable.  Totally different things tempt us all, and Satan knows where we are individually weak.  Anyone can say they would never do something, but without God’s daily guidance, anyone can fall.   Thirdly, Satan tries to reinterpret the Word of God to us, just as he did to Eve.   When we start trying to tell our selves what God really meant, we are beginning to justify our actions.  My dad always told us, “if you have to justify your actions, then it is probably the wrong action.”  At this point Satan tempts us to try to find a loophole in scripture.  A loophole can be defined as “A way of escaping a difficulty, especially an omission or ambiguity in the wording of a contract or law that provides a means of evading compliance.”  Basically, we are looking for something to allow us to do what we want, without feeling guilty.

Although we would like to tell our self it is ok to sit on the fence, or indulge every once in while, the Bible is very clear.  We are to follow and obey the Word of God completely, at all times.  So if Satan wants us to believe things are always greener on the other side, how can we prevent being swayed? I read this from In Touch Ministries and thought it was a great summary. (http://www.intouch.org/you/sermon-outlines/content?topic=responding_to_temptation_wisely_sermon_outline)

III. How can we respond wisely to temptation?

A. Focus on the big picture. Consider how yielding to a particular desire will affect your health, finances, relationships, and God's plans for you. Also, look for a godly way to fulfill your longing. For instance, instead of stealing, work to earn the money to buy what you want.
B. Recall 1 Corinthians 10:13: "God is faithful [and] will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also." Claim this promise when temptation strikes.
C. Rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. As a born-again child of God, you have the awesome power of the Spirit to reset your thinking, change your attitude, and enable you to say no (John 14:15-16).
D. "Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth" (Col. 3:2). In other words, determine to live a victorious Christian life. Don't focus on desires that will draw you away from God 
(1 John 2:15-17).
E. Identify areas of weakness. When you and I know our limitations, we can be more sensitive to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in that area. For example, if you have a spending problem, avoid going to the mall "just to look."
F. Recognize times of weakness. Remember H.A.L.T.: don't allow yourself to become too hungry, angry, lonely, or tired. (I love this one)
G. Build a defense by reading God's Word. Study the Bible, and ask the Lord to build spiritual principles into your life as a protection against temptation. Don't reason with Satan; speak biblical truth, following Christ's example (Luke 4:1-12).

I thought this summed everything up nicely.  In closing, Jeremiah 29:11 tells us, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare[a] and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.   God has an awesome plan for us if we will only stay the course with him, and allow him to be in control.

Or for a couple ladies at church “Jesus take the wheel”  :)  I couldn’t resist!!

  

     How often are you thankful?  The Bible directs us to be thankful in everything (“give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18) Sometimes I find it difficult even in the little problems of life to give thanks, such as if my week is not going like I had planned.  Distractions can come in all shapes and sizes, by lots of different kinds of people, and things.  I started out last week with some pretty specific goals.  I am not a list maker by design like Chad, whom is definitely a list maker, and probably has a list to make sure he got everything on his other list.  However, this particular week I had a list because I was a little overwhelmed. I promise you the most random things happened to me that week.  Every time I turned around it seemed like another thing to do, other than what I needed to get done.  By Thursday, I was definitely on the irritated side.  I did not even get my devotion out, which I normally never miss. Then I thought to myself these are simply little things that have gone wrong, what about people who are experiencing crises in their life.  I want us to look at two things today.  One, how did Jesus deal with things that may have been considered distractions by us.  Secondly, look at ten men who were faced with a life crisis.

Luke 17:11-19
11 Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. 12 Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. 13 And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”14 So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show your selves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.17 So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? 18 Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19 And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

     First, I try to imagine Jesus’ life.  Once people heard that he could heal and preform great miracles; he was probably always surrounded by hundreds of people who wanted something from him.  It probably always took him twice as long to get where he was going, because of all the people. Yet Jesus never seems distracted.  He always takes every situation he is faced with, and seems to see it as a divine appointment. Jesus always knew how to answer people, when to preform miracles, and always had an overall gentleness.  The Bible says Jesus went often to pray in a secluded area.  He took himself away from everything just to focus on his father’s will.  I wonder how often we totally seclude our self for prayer, for giving thanks, and the studying of God’s word. No matter the demands of his life, he spent a lot of time praying to know his father’s will.  If Jesus is praying constantly, who is God’s Son, how much more should we be face down on the ground praying to know the father’s will?  If we do not enter the day with a peace of God’s word, then life will be tough at best.  We will always see things as distractions, and not be able to see them as divine appointments.  The truth is sometimes the biggest blessings are in the things we do not plan, or maybe even in the things we once considered distractions.

     Secondly, we need to look at the men asking for help.  There are ten men with leprosy asking Jesus for mercy. Leprosy is a terrible disease.  It is a slow death, as well as alienation from everyone they love.  It was also humiliating.  Every time they came near someone they would have to shout unclean. So Jesus had mercy on the ten lepers, and as they walked to the priest they were healed.  If the story stopped there it would not be unusual because Jesus had healed many by this time.  However, when one realized he was clean he immediately made his way back to Jesus.  He fell on his face before him glorifying, and giving thanks.  The ironic part of this story is that he was a Samaritan.  Jesus asks the man, “Were there not nine others?” Later in that same verse he says, “but all that returned was this foreigner.” It is quiet possible the other nine were Jews that had been driven out of their communities because of the disease. The only thing that would have been separating them from Jesus would have been the Leprosy.  They had every reason to turn in faith toward the Lord, but they turned away resuming their lives.  By contrast, a man who had every reason to stay away from Jesus returned and gave glory to what would have normally been his enemy.  Because he turned back he not only received physical healing, but was spiritually healed as well.  He was able to see Jesus for who he really was.

My final thought is these nine men have been set free from death and alienation, yet they did not once turn to give thanks.  Are we not like the nine lepers at times in our life?  When problems are resolved, people are healed; a job is gained, salvation is realized, where is the thankfulness of our heart? In the same respect Jesus has also set us free.  He has died on the cross to set us free for all of eternity. Romans 8:38-39 says, “38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[a] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  If Jesus has paid the price, the least we could do is “enter daily into his courts with thanksgiving and praise.”  The only thing that could separate us from God is our own choice to say no to his eternal freedom.  I ask you today do you know the Lord? If you do not would you accept his eternal freedom today?

John 10:10 one of my favorite verses

…. For I have come to give life, and give it abundantly!