2 Things

First thing: Why is being disciplined so hard? More importantly why is sin so easy? Why can't going outside to pressure wash my house with Clorox be as easy as watching SportsCenter? What if waking up at 7 am and reading my Bible was just as easy as sleeping till 11. That'd be nice. Is everyone inherently lazy or just me?

Every time I do kick it into gear I feel great. I just finished totally renovating the inside of my house and now I'm slowly working on the outside and I love it. The house looks great and I'm saving money. But it was hard. That's my big question: Why are good things (productive things) so hard and unproductive things (bad things) very easy? I don't have to try to be unproductive: it comes very naturally.

Every time I am praying or leading worship or getting ready to do something for the Kingdom I feel sin attacking me harder. Sinning for me is very easy. I may just be the most undisciplined person in the entire world and that is a fact. But I have done some things to fight and I recommend them to anyone:

1. Get some friends. One real good one will do. Tell that friend what you are struggling with. Be completely honest and real. There is something so freeing about confessing your sins out loud to someone who loves you.

2. If you are a man you should look into www.covenanteyes.com or http://xxxchurch.com. These are programs that help you fight the porn battle. I don't know much about XXXchurch but I have read tons of good stuff about it. I use Covenant Eyes. It tracks where you go in the internet then sends a detailed report to 2 accountability partners of your choice. So it has totally taken away the option of messing up on the computer...which is a very nice feeling. By the way if you are a guy and are standing firm in this area - watch out. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). Pornography might be the grossest, worst sin around for guys but it is just so easy. Take that option away.


3. Read. Turn off the Braves game (they're going to lose anyway) and pick up a book. Straight Reading Rainbow style. I suggest Knowing God by Packer, Mere Christianity by CS Lewis, anything by Spurgeon, and Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller (don't hate...it's a good book). If that stuff is too deep for you then read some Garfield you baby. It doesn't matter what you read....just read. It is good for you. (oh yeah....read your Bible.)


4. Pray a lot. Be honest with God. He knows what you're thinking anyway. Praying is a very churchy word that means talking to God. So talk to Him. Then listen to what He's saying to you. It's pretty mystical but it's real. C.H. Spurgeon, England's best known preacher for most of the second half of the 19th century, said:

Do you feel the world entangle you? You may struggle against this evil so long as you please, but if it be your besetting sin, you will never be delivered from it in any way but by the blood of Jesus. Take it to Christ. Tell him, "Lord, I have trusted thee, and thy name is Jesus, for thou dost save thy people from their sins; Lord, this is one of my sins; save me from it!"

5. Don't forget that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Where sin increases, grace increases all the more. I'm not saying that we should continue willfully sinning and therefore cheapen grace. We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? (Rom 8:1, 5:20, 6:1, 2). Don't overwhelm yourself with guilt....sin has lost it's power because of Jesus. When you fall down, get back up and continue the fight.



Those are just things that have been very good for me. I have to fight everyday to do what is right, pure, and holy. I want to be disciplined in all areas of my life. I believe that there is a Good which means there is a Bad (or Evil) and I believe that Evil doesn't like Good. Henceforth the Evil will fight any Good that is around. That is why when I am praying or leading worship or whatever I feel evil creeping up behind me. The good news is that Good wins over Evil. Resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7). All we have to do is rely on Jesus. I do not have this figured out at all, by the way....or I'm not very good at it. I still like things I should hate and I don't do things that I should do. Doing what's right usually isn't very cool or easy. This is just what I have been thinking about lately. I'll get to thing #2 later...it's way funnier than this one.