JUGGLING CHAINSAWS

DOC LYNCH

That’s what life is like for way too many people. A DANGEROUS game.

When you commit to JUGGLING CHAINSAWS there’s a better than average chance you will lose some fingers. Or worse. Especially when you are trying to juggle too many of them.

What are your CHAINSAWS this morning? One is not a juggling act, although no less dangerous. One could be running your life. Two is demanding balance. Three or more borders on “OK, who hid my Prozac?”

By the way, Prozac (or any witch doctor magic potion) is a CHAINSAW. Why? Because it is overprescribed and usually improperly so. Most people who suffer some form of anxiety do not need CHEMICAL BRAIN SURGERY which incidentally is exactly what SSRI’s, SNRI’s, and MAOI’s (naming just a few types) actually do. They rewire and reconfigure a persons brain. Often it misfires and the person hurts themselves or others, or both.

Alcohol is a CHAINSAW.

Opiates (prescribed or otherwise) is a CHAINSAW.

Relationships is a CHAINSAW.

Work. Bills. Illness. Responsibilities. Parenting. ALL are CHAINSAWS.

They are CHAINSAWS because they are not just something to be juggled and balanced, but because if you drop one or mishandle one, it causes major issues in your life.

Let’s face it. CHAINSAWS were never designed to be juggled.

Neither was your life issues.

2 Peter 3:17 (AMP) – “Let me warn you therefore, beloved, that knowing these things beforehand, you should be on your guard, lest you be carried away by the error of lawless and wicked [persons and] fall from your own [present] firm condition [your own steadfastness of mind].”

Peter warned us about living our lives. While it can definitely be about hanging out with the wrong crowd, I think what Peter was speaking about here is that we who are believers should not suffer life issues like those who have no such affiliation with Jesus.

Since this letter is written to the Church, Peter is sort of writing from the presumption of those being addressed have, or at least started out with, a stable mind (remembering the mind is our soul), after converting to Jesus.

Those who do NOT have a relationship with Jesus have no such stability and are living by their own wits and various self help fixes from folks such as Oprah, Dr. Oz, Dr. Phil, Dr. Fill-In-A-Name. Talk about CHAINSAWS? Try to keep all of that advice juggling in the air at the same time while sensing your sanity is slowly slipping away.

Peter says something that we should grab onto. “Let me warn you…”, “Be on your guard”, “Fall from your own firm condition”.

Yes, even those of us who KNOW JESUS, and have had productive lives with Him can become sidetracked. I’ve seen it. A believer can indeed get their eyes diverted onto things that even if it is not flat out self destructive and evil, can at the least be unproductive and serve to dull the shine of your glory in Jesus. In other words, if it doesn’t flat out kill you, it could render you ineffective. An ineffective Christian is as good as dead because you revert back to who you were without Him.

Your “firm condition” is the steadfastness of your mind, which incidentally is the gateway to your spirit. It is often the battlefield where the war with demons and evil take place.

I am always shocked at how often I see believers taking care of their own bodies better than taking care of their mind and spirit. How does a believer forget that the body goes back to dust and the spirit and soul (mind) live eternally? Your body can become a CHAINSAW against you, especially if you take care of IT more than what really matters.

Mark my words. No matter how “in shape” you get, your body will one day betray you. It will break down. It will die. It will go back to dust. HOPEFULLY you took care of what mattered more than your body, and upon the great day of RESURRECTION you will receive a NEW BODY that will make anything you could have crafted in this life look like a Walmart suit.

Listen to this piece of advice from the Master Himself:

Matthew 6:33 (AMP) – “But seek ( aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness ( His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.”

No one knows how to take care of us like Jesus. He put you together after all. What He has crafted He can maintain. He can make your brain fire on all it’s burners properly. He can even out your life. He can give you perspective. He will give you hope. And faith. And love.

In other words: keep the main thing the MAIN THING.

Hope can be a CHAINSAW by the way when it is not connected with Jesus and FAITH. That’s because hope without Jesus and FAITH are nothing more than unfulfilled empty pipe dreams. Each day your hope remains unfulfilled is another day of sadness and passive anxiety.

Are you hearing the deafening roar of your CHAINSAWS today? Why not start to shut them off. One by one, give them to Jesus. Listen to the quietness start to replace the static noise.

Peace. Love. Joy. Happiness. Real Hope.

All yours today in Jesus. Get to Him, or return to Him. Now. Today.

I’m Pastor Doc Lynch of Revival Life Church, 21 Executive Center Drive, New Milford, CT 06776. I can help you with that. Church is on Sunday at 10:00 a.m. I can’t think of a single thing that we could not help you with, because we believe in trusting Jesus for all of our needs. And that’s because we know that…

JESUS NEVER FAILS!

~Pastor Doc Lynch~

Reviving the Church