There is a story of a mean old ornery mule who fell into the farmers well. The farmer decided it would be more work than the mule was worth to get him out and since the well was dry anyway he could use his time better to bury the mule and fill the well at the same time so he just dumped dirt and rocks down on the ornery critter.

The mule bellowed and stomped at the bottom of the dry well, as we all often do when we find ourselves in a mess; but, you see God gave animals a different mind, a mind of survival.

That mule soon found that all he had to do was shake off the stuff that was thrown down at him and step up a little higher.

That’s what we need to do, shake off the wrong attitudes, wrong thoughts, and walk out of the pity pits we sometimes only wallow in, and most especially step up a little higher.

That’s what that ornery mule did, and wasn’t the farmer surprised when he saw the old mule climb out.

We need to do the same. Climb out of our pits of depression, anxiety, anger, etc.

I think that farmer's name probably was Balaam; but then that’s another story.

If you want to know more, read on.

WOE IS ME, THE ENEMY IS ME

Robbie L. Rogers

I’ve got good news and bad news. How many times have you heard that?  It’s always scary isn’t it?  To hear that.

Philippians 4:4-9:  "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy---think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."

I have often heard these scriptures used in teachings. I need to hear them often. Unfortunately it’s sometimes hard to remember what was said from one hour to the next.

Really, it's funny how little we remember, especially about what a preacher says. Part of the reason is that God designed us to think at somewhere around 2,000 words per minute while the spoken word becomes gibberish to our hearing at beyond 300 words per minute.

Recently studies conclude that we can listen at close to 1,000 words per minute when using a high speed tape recorder. It sounds sort of like the Disney characters though, the Chipmunks, and you have to train yourself to understand it. You think if the preacher sounded like a Walt Disney chipmunk we would listen better?  Something to think about when you're lying in bed and can't sleep.

However, look again at Philippians 4:7. "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

The Bible is saying here that the peace, that is God's peace, the peace that only God can give, a peace that will over-ride all the things you face, the peace that transcends all understanding; that's the peace that He alone can give you and it will guard you heart and mind, as long as you remain in Christ Jesus that is.

Have you ever felt that peace.  I have many times during perilous situations.

"Yeah, but what about just regular times, times when you are full of yourself, times full of worry, times when things weigh you down." You say.

That’s when you need to remember God’s promises, those written in the Bible. I often pray that God would bless me with a better memory and an attentive mind.

Howsomeever, God designed us to have a wandering mind.  Hopefully we can at least keep our mind on a Godly track when listening to righteous teachings. That would be good, huh?

Nevertheless, Always pray against your mind wandering, that is if it’s not following the proper path.

Some of what we are talking about is having courage out of ignorance, doing what we ought not instead of having faith, or instead of working out the problem actually denying its existence, therefore forgetting rather than forgiving.  We need to change that about ourselves.

How many praises did you give the Lord last week?  I hope a million of them.  We need to continually realize how often God blesses us and our loved ones.

I think, if we didn't have anything else, we could all look at people that God surrounds us with and see how God actually works amongst us. Nevertheless they, just as well as we, can stand in God's way in offering true happiness. Never forget we, as Pogo said, are most often our worst enemy.

You know, it's easy to dwell on the bad times while we're in them, forgetting the good, digging a hole deeper and deeper.

I think God gauges our spiritual maturity by how deep our pit gets before we turn around and walk out.  Mine were once pretty deep, often one right after the other.

Remember what it said in Philippians 4:4-6. "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

That's the good news, the bad is we are still our worst enemy!

The other night when I couldn't sleep,  I was thinking about how unworthy I was, and how much I had failed in my life. You know how it is... when you really want to you can dig up some fine "stink'n think'n."

When I finally drug myself out of bed, I felt I had ran two marathons instead of getting a good nights sleep.  I laughed at myself, I was worn out.  I was like an out-of-tuned carburetor clogging down a fine tuned engine, or better put like a mule in a pit.

How many miles did you put on your mind last night?

Let's look at a seldom read book in the Bible:  Zephaniah 3:14-20.  "Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem!  The LORD has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The LORD, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm.  On that day they will say to Jerusalem, "Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.   The sorrows for the appointed feasts I will remove from you; they are a burden and a reproach to you. At that time I will deal with all who oppressed you; I will rescue the lame and gather those who have been scattered. I will give them praise and honor in every land where they were put to shame. At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home. I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes," says the LORD. "

If God be for us who can stand against us... except we, ourselves our worst enemy.   He has turned back our enemies and even taken our punishment on Himself through Jesus Christ's suffering on the cross.. 

It says He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with his love, He will rejoice over you with singing.  Do you remember when you Mom did that to you; she held you when you had a bad dream, sang songs and loved on you, chasing away your fears?  That's what God promises He will do for you.

"Oh!"  You say. "That was them, and a long time ago."

No my friend, God's promises are for you today as well as for them too, and His Word never comes back void, without succeeding. However, we tend to forget His promises.

Many a research paper has been written on the perplexity of how the most joyous season of the year, Christmas, most often brings on the best and the worst in us all. Suicides are higher by far during these few weeks of the year.  How can that be when we have the best of everything then.  Well, most of us receive blessings while others are still on their way, at least we hope so. 

Why do we run about in confusion when the real value of such holiday times, that part of the year that includes Thanksgiving through Christmas is so simple. Still, the problem exists throughout the year... we allow the world to steal the true joy, making a mockery of it all.

Those times can be rough even for the most of us too; we do strange things, we go in hock in money, time, and spirit, and do what we should not, sometimes almost totally neglecting the purpose we are supposed to be about, that of doing the will of God and celebrating life in His Kingdom.

Look back at Philippians 4:6, again. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

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Even the big guys have low times too. Do you realize that?  I once watched Billy Graham,  noticing a subdued nature about him?  At that time there was a lot of adverse publicity about him being the rich television evangelist.  I don't know, but something had rattled his cage.

That same week I received something from Bill Bright. It told of a village, somewhere in the orient that was completely destroyed by a terrible fire. The whole village, save one bamboo post was completely gone.

The people there, being very superstitious were curious as to why the post remained. While examining it they discovered a hollowed out area that contained rolled up printed matter, Bible scriptures, and evangelistic literature that was distributed several years earlier.  An illiterate person who lived there had dug out the hiding place to protect what he knew was very special.  The elders read the evangelical message to the entire village to hear what was so important about it that it was spared.

The impact that God had miraculously protected His word produce unbelievable results, 200 people in that remote village committed their lives to Christ.   How could that happen... God promises that His word will not return void, doesn't He?

Why do we often find ourselves down during what should be the glorious time of our life?  Who do we let steal our joy?

Again look at Philippians 4:8. "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."

Let's be the witness we ought to be!  Let's be victoriously joyous during the remainder of our time on earth, remembering the mule, let us stand firm in faith that God knows where we are. And remember what Zephaniah said: Do not fear; do not let your hands hang limp. The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save.

Allow God to use you.  You might be seen as the only remaining symbol of His word to someone who has a desolate heart.  Someone who is watching you, to see how you take adversity. Let us strive to remain standing, never remaining in a pity pit for long.   In doing so when others around us fail the test of time we will be full of the peace that produces a joy that will cause others to say, "Why do you have such hopeful joy."

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If you desire to know more about this Jesus Christ who loves you, and you want to ask Him  into your heart, receiving His Saving Grace please click on this Salvation Prayer

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