Where are you headed? It’s not like I am going back.

We always have a choice. That has always been a part of God’s plan. FREE WILL!

Philemon 1:1

Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker— (Bold my emphasis)

Paul could have said. You know what? I have had enough. The results of what I am doing are not good. I have been in prison, they have beat me literally to death, I am constantly blasphemed and no one is listening to me! I mean… You could make logical sense out of that and if Paul had stopped, he may have gone on to live a peaceful ending to his life. That may have looked like good fruit eh? 

Peaceful circumstances aren’t necessarily good fruit. Difficult circumstances aren’t necessarily bad fruit. Your trajectory isn’t measured by how easy or difficult your life is. Your trajectory is measured by your Faith in JESUS.

It’s all about where you focus your energy.

My sponsor in my 12-Step program told me this short story. It’s the story about two dogs fighting. There are two dogs. THEY ARE IDENTICAL – in every way. However, when they fight, every dog has its day. Which dog wins?

THE DOG THAT YOU FEED MORE

Galatians 6:7-8

⁷ Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. ⁸ Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

Romans 8:5-6

⁵ Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. ⁶ The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.

Stuck – unable to move, set in a particular position, place, or way of thinking.

Is that a negative term? I THINK NOT. It just is. 

I am stuck.
I am stuck with Jesus.

Is that a bad thing? Well, I am certainly not going back! Where I came from before I found Jesus is an ugly place. Was it all bad? Not necessarily. Only because I came to. I came to the enlightenment that the way I was living was not what God wanted. The results of the way I was living made it obvious that I had to JUST STOP. 

There are some things we should be willing to be stuck with.

Stuck with grace.
Stuck with truth.
Stuck with forgiveness.
Stuck with love.
Stuck with Jesus.

Ya know? Sometimes repentance means stopping. Sometimes healing requires intervention.

If you are stuck watching porn and you believe that you are entitled to sex with your wife just after she has a baby and that she should view your sexual satisfaction as equivalent to her feeding the baby, well maybe you just NEED TO STOP. Because afterall – that is the answer. However, if this is your thinking, there may need to be some interference that you need to get to help your thinking. THEY CALL THIS THERAPY. Or AKA – YOU HAVE TO DO THE WORK TO STOP with the help of others. 

However,

If you are sick, and your intestines are wrapping around themselves and causing you immense pain like no other human being could imagine, the answer is NOT just stop. It doesn’t work that way. You get this? You can’t stop that! A doctor has to int4rvene. A skilled and wise surgeon who cares about you and your family must be provided by the hand of God. A prayer warrior has to step in and petition God for your comfort and mercy. God must heal you in his time. 

In these two scenarios, your journey and the results are the fruit. The path to get there is different. In either case, you can be a slave to sin or a slave to Jesus. 

Romans 6:16-18

¹⁶ Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷ But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. ¹⁸ You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

One trajectory offers the flesh.
The other trajectory offers The Spirit.

A Christian’s trajectory isn’t determined by whether life is getting easier. It’s determined by what or Who/Jesus – we are moving toward.

Are you stuck? What is Your Trajectory?

I am Stuck with Jesus.