Giving Up - Our Greatest Weakness?

 It can be easy to want to give up. We naturally are not attracted to doing something hard. Granted, some people enjoy a good workout that is extremely hard and pushes your body to the limit. However, that same person my not want to clean their car because it appears too difficult.

When I instruct my son to clean his room, he usually responds by saying that it is "too hard." Part of his whining is because he doesn't want to do it and part of it is due to how messy his room has become over time. Once he begins, he will often times find something to play with that has been uncovered in his cleaning.

Again, he doesn't want to keep going for he would rather just give up. Maybe you are a "cleaner" and not the "workout" person. For working out would be too difficult for you and you would want to give up. That brings us to this week's quote about giving up.

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up...the most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time," Thomas Edison

It is said that Thomas Edison had 10,000 failures. Imagine somewhere in the 2,500th and 7,500th try of an invention if he would have given up. Take a minute after reading this and look up all the inventions that are given credit to Thomas Edison. After that, consider if he would have given up on any of those. Some we may have never had the opportunity to see. Though some of his inventions have been modified from the original, they are still something that have brought happiness to many of us.

Let's take it back to us. How much do we want to give up...on life? your marriage? yourself? your kids? your job? your schooling? your church?

If you give up now, you will never know the possibilities that may come about if you keep going! DON'T GIVE UP! Keep going! You will never know the end of the story if you give up now! Stick it out to the end!

Have a blessed day!

“IF”–You Give Everything But Do Not Have Love

Ever heard the phrase, “attitude is everything”? It is generally used in situations where you are being inspired to do better – sporting event, scholastically, etc. Regardless, there is a lot of truth and depth to the phrase. There are tasks that I enjoy doing, but I have to be in the right frame of mind to do it because it is all about attitude.

When it comes to giving – money or yourself – that phrase also holds true. What is your attitude toward giving? Are you protective-conservative, protective-generous, or just generous?

Sunday, we looked at the last part of this series that dealt with giving all you have – possessions or yourself – but not giving it in love. One that gives, but in a showy or attention-seeking manner, gives without exhibiting love. Here are some applications to choose from to use this week…

• Why Give? ~ People have been made to feel guilty to give. Some feel cornered and there is no way out. Some prepare to set aside so much money to give to people/causes. There are so many worthy causes to give to in this world. Someone, some thing, somewhere need you – whether it is your money or your time/talents. May we take the time to think about why we’re giving. May the reason be as pure and caring toward the cause (not toward you) as possible.
• Give More ~ Just when it seems that there is nothing else to give, if you dig deep enough you will find that there is. The “extra” may not be in monetary value, but it would be measured in your time or talents. Look for ways to give a little extra to something else you feel passionate about.

Doing things out of guilt or obligation are not the means to be able to show love. Giving out of love is the only way to show love. It may sound simple but keep in mind attitude is everything!

"I Give Up...To Be Filled"

Emptiness is often used to describe something in a negative view. In the world of psychology a person who describes themselves as feeling empty would be susceptible to depression and/or hurting themselves. Speaking of your wallet it describes someone who is in deprivation. Used to describe a business location could mean they went out of business. On the contrary, used to describe the tomb of Jesus, it defines hope. Confident, living hope!

What does the tomb's emptiness mean to you? Is it a negative or a positive meaning? What makes it the one you chose?

Jesus gave up the comforts of heaven for the discomforts of earth. All the while, God gave up the comfort of having Jesus alongside Him for the discomfort of forsaking Jesus and seeing Him die! Imagine the emptiness that each of those two situations brought about. Does it ever cross your mind to give up something to feel an emptiness?

Yesterday we concluded our "I Give Up" sermon series by thinking about the filling we receive from the assurance the empty tomb brings to us. Here are some applications to choose from to use this week...

1. Create room for Him ~ in order for Jesus to be able to occupy a space then there must be an available space. That space could be in your heart/mind or it could be in your everyday. It doesn't stop with just giving Him a spot in your heart. If He doesn't have a spot in your day, you are really missing out!
2. Force an opening ~ If you can't find an opening for Him to occupy force something out so that there will be an opening for Him!
3. Life springs forth from death ~ Jesus' death and resurrection give use life. Life that is eternal. Also a life that gives you an energy through your everyday. Life you want to pass on. Whether you are experiencing a sense of death within yourself which you need to be resurrected or you can gain life through His death, His death gives a power which is incomparable to anything else!

As Easter trickles off to a past event for 2010, may the effects of the message of Easter continue on! The message is timeless and powerful!

Praise Him for the emptiness of the tomb as we are able to be continually filled from it!

Filling up daily from the tomb's emptiness...

E-mail Encouragement: Don't Give Up

Teamwork can happen whenever two or more people work on accomplishing a known task. I was more than pleased tonight when people worked together to accomplish more than one task. Some gathered things together for the Thursday School tent (and then went to set it up), while others folded a total of 300 flyers. I applaud all these efforts which caused both tasks to be completed in a reasonably short amount of time! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

The thought of teamwork brings me to this weeks quote of encouragement...

“Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it
together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true
strength.” ~ Unknown

It is easy to give up. I cannot say that I've never given up. With that said, I can easily relate to this quote. However, there is a lot of strength that is gained through working through self, adversity, compromise, doubt, and a host of other "things" you could name. I have been on that side of the coin, too. It allows you to see that it was worth persevering!

May we be a people of perseverance who show others that the "joy of the Lord is your strength" and not be ones who "give up" on God, Jesus, our church, ourselves, etc., no matter what life hands us!

Pressing on ~