We Can Do This, Too

Pride is Ugly

When I was in Jr. Hi, I had a thing for a girl named, Diane.

She kind of like me too. It was mutual.

Whatever 9th graders did, we did that. I don’t know what you call it. We weren’t dating.

We’d meet before school and talk, at lunch, talk on the phone occasionally in the evening. That was it.

She was cheerleader, I was on the basketball team. A match made in heaven. We were perfect for each other. For a second, anyway.

It was a long-term relationship, whatever relationship it was. I think it lasted a couple of months. Basketball season, the beginning of track season.

By the end of track season it was over. She was starting to flirt w/ a sprinter on the track team. That didn’t work for me.

Still, at that age, that was a long time to be committed to one person.

Anyway, one day her family invited me to go water skiing with them. They were avid water skiers.

I’d never been water skiing in my life.

Her dad asked me if I knew what I was doing. Did I know how to get ready in the water, get up on the skis, balance, how to hold the rope, what to do w/ my rear end.

I didn’t have a clue. But, I wasn’t about to admit to him in front of her. Sure I can do this.

I was an athlete. How hard could it be? I wasn’t about to admit the truth. In my mind, I was an old pro and I was about to impress the socks off them.

No, I wasn’t going to tell them I didn’t know what I was doing. I just proceeded to show them.

Tried and failed several times. Didn’t get up once. I drank a lot of lake water.

I was the only one who didn’t see what I was doing wrong. And there was a whole lot to see that I was doing wrong.

In fact, I don’t think I was doing anything right.

It’s funny looking back at a prideful 9th-grader. Too proud to admit I’m doing it wrong even thought I kept doing it wrong.

All I had to do was ask. Then, b/c I was an athlete, I probably could have been successful.

It’s funny when a 15-year old acts like a 15-year old.

It’s not so funny when an adult acts like a 15-year old.

The stakes are a lot higher than just a jr. hi crush.

Why do we keep doing the self-destructive things we do and wonder why our lives, relationships, health is in such bad shape?

Dr., Dr., it hurts when I do this! Well,...

Why can’t we see past our tough situations, get thru them, and learn from them?

Learn to do things differently. See the value in what it produces in us?

Why can’t we see what others have done that worked for them that will work for us if we’d only ask for help and try another way?

Pride. We’ve all got it. Until we rein it in, we will continue to suffer from it.

Faith and pride are like oil and water. They don’t mix.

Pride believes I have all the answers. Or, at least, I can figure it out on my own and don’t need any help.

Faith, by definition, believes I can’t see everything, don’t know everything, so I need help w/ it.

I have to know that I don’t know and be okay w/ it.

Faith is not something we turn on and off as we think we need it.

Faith is something we live by. Genuine faith, real faith that saves, is always there.

Since our faith is always there, so is our understanding that we done’t know everything and are not perfect.

Living by faith is having confidence to know I need help.

By faith, I need to know what I can do, I need to know what I need help with, and when I get the help, I need to know what to do w/ it.

Ch.11 is a list of ppl who did this. They lived their lives by faith in very hard times. They set examples for us to follow.

We’re in ch.12 today. This passage says we can do everything the people in ch.11 did, even if we don’t think we can, and here’s the way to do it.

We can live by faith, successfully in the toughest situations.

We don’t have to have all the answers.

We only need to know One who does. He’s been there, done that, and He will show us how we can do it, too.

Being able to do this requires 2 types of discipline.

2 Timothy 1:7 NIV

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

The first kind of discipline required is self-discipline.

What I Can do

Hebrews 12:1–2 NIV

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

It starts out, “Therefore” What does that mean?

The previous passage is connected to this one. In this case, ch.11 was the list of ppl who successfully lived by faith in hard situations.

Ch.12, Therefore, we can, too. And, here’s how.

I can do the things he talks about her b/c God has given me help to do it. The Holy Spirit has given me the self-discipline I need to do this.

I just have to use what I’ve been given.

We have to have the self-discipline to watch those who successfully went before us and set good examples.

You see the sports metaphor he uses here. A race. And he described the cloud of witnesses in the previous chapter.

You might think they are spectators, watching us race.

But, that’s not what he means. They aren’t around us to look at us. They are around us for us to look to them and the examples they set.

Have the humility and self-discipline to look around and realize there are others who are better at what you’re trying to do than you are.

Learn from them.

There are better husbands than me, better fathers and g-fathers, better bible teachers and pastors. Living by faith means believing God put these people around me to make me better. I don’t have to know it all or try to figure it out on my own.

My faith helps me w/ my security knowing there are ppl out there better than me at this.

I can be okay w/ it. And I can learn from it.

I have to have the self-discipline to lose the excess weight tie up the things that can trip you up.

Soldiers would ‘gird their loins.’ That is, tuck their skirt into their belt so it couldn’t trip them. Freedom of movement.

Everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. Another word, ambushes.

We are free to behave in just about any way we want to. But some of the behavior we choose can turn around and tie us up.

Like having an affair. You can get away with it for a long time. One day, it will eventually ambush you.

You can drink and drive. Likely, get away with it many times. One day, it will ambush you and someone may die.

Stop the behavior before you get ambushed. Surprised by it. It would be nobody else’s fault, and you shouldn’t be surprised.

Get the things out of your life that slow you down, trip you up, and wipe you out.

Have the self discipline to put in the effort.

Pride says you don’t need to try hard. It will just happen.

There are stories of athletes, who, when they were younger, the game they played came so easily to them they did not need to work hard in practice.

Eventually, they got to a level, college or professional, where everyone else caught up and the needed to go to work.

They didn’t know how. They couldn’t. As talented as they were, they washed out.

There are times in our lives when things come easy.

Parenting is a lot easier when you’re bigger than your kids and can force them to do what you want them to do.

Then, it gets hard. If you didn’t put the relational work in when it was easy, then it may be too late when it gets hard.

If your health was easy to maintain when you are younger and you don’t get in good habits, then when you get old you will pay a price.

Work hard, put in the effort to stay close to Jesus when life is easy so you’re ready when life gets hard.

It’s like we are in a race and the course has been set up for us. We follow someone else’s design. It takes work.

Successfully navigating the situations described in ch.11 did not come easily for anyone.

Max effort is req’d to successfully navigate the tough situations we face. If we’re not working hard at the right things then we won’t succeed.

Have the self-discipline to fix your eyes on Jesus.

One of the more challenging things about teaching young children to play baseball is to coach them not to watch the ball after they hit it.

If a kid hits a ball to left field and watches the ball bounce around and roll to the fence, he will run to left field and miss first base by a mile.

That’s because we run to where we are looking. A baseball player has to have the self-discipline to fix his eyes on the next base.

Whatever you are looking at is the direction you will run.

What are your eyes fixed on? Staring at? Fantasizing about? A different spouse? A house you can’t afford? A body you don’t have?

Stop staring at things that will take you places you don’t want to go.

Fix your eyes on Jesus.

He fixed His eyes on the joy of the throne he now occupies. He looked past the suffering to the glory and got thru it successfully.

Had he focused on the suffering it could have ambushed him and prevented him from completing his work.

That’s what happened to Peter when he was walking on the water. Once he took his eyes off Jesus and focused on the storm he sank.

Jesus never sank.

He is the pioneer of faith. He went where no man had ever gone before, like Capt. Kirk, Spock, and the Enterprise for all our Trekkies!

But many now can follow.

He is the perfecter of our faith. He did it perfectly and gave us a perfect example to follow.

So, now, if our eyes are fixed on Jesus, where is He?

On the throne in heaven.

If our eyes are fixed on Jesus, what are they not fixed on?

Our trouble. Here on earth.

Focus on the trouble and sink.

Watch the ball fly to left field, and run in the wrong direction.

Fix your eyes on someone else, or something else, and you’ll sink your family.

Fix your eyes on Jesus and run toward Him to get thru the trouble you’re in.

We have the self-discipline in the HS that God gave us. The question is, are we using the resource we’ve been given.

Whatever insecurities you’re battling, maybe you just need to hear someone say to you, “You can do this.”

Well, here it is.

You Can Do This

Hebrews 12:3–4 NIV

Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

By focusing on Jesus and seeing the success he had, you will not grow weary and lose heart.

That’s what hope does.

If we see not way out, no good outcome, a minor difficulty can take us out.

But, if wee see a great outcome on the horizon, we can manage thru big problems.

But God has given you everything you need to successfully navigate the hard time you’re facing. Including, the assurance of a good outcome.

Stress and pain are relative. It may be the worst you’ve ever gone thru.

But this is where perspective helps. You don’t have to look far to find someone who is worse off than you.

As bad as you’ve got it, it’s not as bad as you think.

There are those who’ve gone before you who have bled for what they believe. They stayed faithful to the end. You can, too.

When Israel came out of Egypt and were on their way to the PL, they sent out 12 spies to check out the land.

Their questions were, was it really as productive as God said it was? And, were the occupants as powerful and Israel feared they were?

The spies’ answers to both questions were, unequivocally, ‘yes’.

The land would be a spectacular place to live, grow herds, flocks, and crops. But, it would be impossible for them to take it away from those who currently own it.

2 of the 12 spies, Caleb and Joshua, agreed to all of the above. But they added one more important thing.

Yes, impossible for them. But, they had faith that God would fight their battles for them and would defeat the occupants so Israel could take possession of the land.

They believed and were ready to behave appropriately. But, they lost the vote 10-2, and the ppl sided w/ the majority.

They could have done it. And eventually, the would do it. But not until they paid the price for their pride and lack of faith.

That was when God decided to make them wander for 40 years, until every last one who didn’t believe was gone, and the next generation would take the land led by Joshua.

Maybe you just need to hear this. You can do this.

Maybe you just need for someone to believe in you. Jesus believes in you, even if you struggle to believe in Him.

2 Peter 1:3 NIV

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

We have everything we need to successfully navigate our tough times.

We don’t have all the answers to our questions. And we don’t have all the solutions to our problems.

But we have what we need b/c we know the One who does.

We can redeem bad marriages. We can make the best of our bodies as they age.

Relationships w/ kids and parents can be restored.

Tough conversations can be had w/ good outcomes.

If only we ask for help and use the help we’re given.

Don’t quit. Don’t fold up your tent. Don’t take your toys and go home. Stay in it. Focus beyond it. Fix your eyes on the One you know who can lead you thru it.

As successful as we can be, we will never be perfect. And this is where the 2nd kind of discipline that is req’d comes into play.

This is another way we get help from God.

God’s Discipline

Hebrews 12:5–11 NIV

And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

So, what’s it like t/b disciplined by God? It hurts.

But, like any parent who loves their children, when their kids do things that can hurt them, a little negative reinforcement from mom and dad can save them.

The root word of discipline is the same as disciple. A disciple has a teacher. And discipline is intended to teach recipients how to avoid more trouble.

The hardship you can find yourself in may not even be your fault. But we get into more trouble when our response to the trouble comes from our pride, not our faith.

We have an enemy who is constantly trying to take us out. The trouble he brings into our lives is intended to break us down.

When God uses these situations to teach us, develop our character and perseverance, He builds us up.

Living in faith, living with faith, keeps us open to God’s discipline.

Be humble. Admit it. You’re not perfect. We don’t respond perfectly to troubling times and need to learn better ways.

Be teachable. Recognize mistakes and correct them. If it’s not working doing what you’re doing, try something different.

See the value in the hardship. Hard is good.

Working hard in the gym. Studying hard in class. All lead to good things.

See the value in the hardships.

Living by faith means you’re okay not knowing everything.

It means knowing the One who does and being willing to ask for help when you need it then using the help you get to do it.

I eventually learned to water ski. I’m not very good. I have ingested more lake water than I care to remember.

If I can learn to water ski, you can learn just about anything.

You can do what you need to do.

Applications

Self-Discipline

You’ve got it. Use it. Stop making excuses.

You know what you need to do.

You know what you need to stop doing.

Let’s go.

Work Hard

Sometimes life is hard. We always need to work hard.

The time to prepare for war is not once the war has started. We prepare for war while we’re at peace.

What in your life needs a big effort?

Dedicate yourself to it and get it done.

Dogs and Tricks

We aren’t dogs and these aren’t tricks.

I don’t care how old you are, you’re not done learning better ways to behave.

Be humble. Be teachable. Let God teach you better ways.

Living by faith means you’re okay not knowing everything.

It means knowing the One who does and being willing to ask for help when you need it then using the help you get to do it.

Why do we keep doing the self-destructive things we do and wonder why our lives, relationships, health is in such bad shape?

Dr., Dr., it hurts when I do this! Well,...

Why can’t we see past our tough situations, get thru them, and learn from them?

Learn to do things differently. See the value in what it produces in us?

Why can’t we see what others have done that worked for them that will work for us if we’d only ask for help and try another way?

By faith, I need to know what I can do, I need to know what I need help with, and when I get the help, I need to know what to do w/ it.