![]() 5: You can pick where you fall. If you are going to fall, you have some say in where you fall -- if you give up on staying on. But as long as your energy is focused on staying connected to the horse, you will fall whenever your strength gives out. Lesson 5: Your strength will give out. It's your choice whether to fall into God's arms or not. As Moses said: Underneath you are the everlasting arms. Whether this Christmas is wonderful or hard or wonderfully hard, may God bless you with uncommon gifts, unexplainable peace, and unshakeable hope. Merry Christmas! 3. If the person you are riding with is falling -- you are falling. There is no way to stay aboard the horse if the person holding onto your waist is off the horse. Too often in life we think we are enough to keep everything together for everyone, we aren't. Lesson 3: Make sure the people around you are people you want to fall with. As Solomon said: The companion of fools will be destroyed.
4: Sometimes you are simply a projectile missile, unable to change course or do anything except cushion your fall. In life too, sometimes you just get bucked off. The danger is not seeing what is coming next. You got to open your eyes and look up to make sure the horse isn't coming down on top of you. Lesson 4: When you fall (or everything falls around you) open your eyes and look up toward Jesus. As Solomon said: For this is man's all. You have to fall off a horse 10 times before you really know how to ride...or so I have been told. I haven't fallen off 10 times yet, but I have fallen off quite a few times and here are some of the lessons I've learned:
1. You can either laugh or stay on the horse -- your choice. It's not that laughing is bad. This just isn't the time for it. Riding all about focus and balance. Lesson 1: Don't feel like you have to laugh all the time (even at Christmas). As Solomon said: There is a time for everything. 2. The horse is bigger than you. If he or she decides the ride is over...the ride is over. God is much bigger than a horse, but we too often want to fight Him, clinging to stuff we need to let go. Lesson 2: It's about letting go at the right time. As Solomon said: In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not withhold your hand. Everyone always wants to elevate 32 inches, hit the perfect angle, and slam that ball home at 120 mph. And that is what is celebrated. But the truth is: a kill is a kill. Regardless of the speed, angle, or placement -- if the ball hits the ground, it's a point.
In life it is similar, sometimes we are looking for that stunning victory -- the one that puts on national, or state, or at least local radar. The book deal. The TV appearance. Our big break. But the truth is as long as we are following Christ -- a victory is a victory. A Sunday School class that is eager to know Jesus -- that's a win. A child asking you to explain the gospel...again -- that's a win. Memorizing a Bible passage won't get you on TV -- but that's a win. Today, I hope you see and count your spiritual victories for what they are: Wins from God. "Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." -- Hebrews 12:1 |
The AuthorCome with me as we grow in fellowship with each other and our Savior to whom belongs the Amazing Escape from sin and death and the Amazing Journey into glorious life. Archives
January 2025
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