Weary Yet Pursuing

Posted on February 16, 2011 by James Gorton

Wednesday February, 16, 2011

I find myself on certain days or seasons of life experiencing weariness in the day-to-day routines of life.  Every day I have to get up and get breakfast for Carter, making him a daily lunch and taking him to school.  I try to work in my physical workout before getting a shower and getting ready for work.  I seek to have a quiet time with the Lord before beginning my work day.  After a long day at the office, I come home and the first words I hear from Carter is, “What’s for supper?” I am learning how to make quick and easy meals that are nutritious and include different food groups.  It’s not the most creative, but by that time I am weary of all that has happened throughout the day.  Weariness can set in when we have a lot on our plate, but weariness can also set in due to the routines that keep coming at us day after day after month after year.

I was reminded of this weariness when I read Judges 8 and the story of Gideon.  This was an experience in which Gideon and 300 chosen by God men were pursuing the army of Midian with 120,000 swordsmen.  By the way that is a ratio of 400 Midianites to one Israelites–uneven odds to say the least.  But in this passage Gideon and his army are pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, Kings of Midian.  It had been a long battle and in verse 4 it says the they were “exhausted yet kept up the pursuit” of the kings.  In verse 5 it says that the “troops were worn out and I (Gideon) am still pursuing.”  In verse 12 it says that “Gideon pursued them and captured them routing their entire army.”

Can you imagine the odds of 400 to 1 and yet Gideon led his army on in pursuit of the Midianites while being very weary. His example of being weary and yet pursuing instilled hope and strength in his troops so that they followed and ultimately routed the entire army.  I’m sure that he and his troops wanted to give up the fight, but he had a task and purpose and he didn’t give up, no matter what.

It reminds me of Winston Churchill when he was asked to give the high school graduation commencement address where he had graduated years before.  World War II had been completed and he got up and gave this word for word address.  “Never give in!  Never give in!  Never, never, never give in!”  And with that he sat down.

Do you find that you are experiencing weariness in your life due to circumstances beyond your control and sometimes think of giving up.  It may be a marriage that you are finding weary sledding.  It may be a child that is rebellious and is causing you to be weary.  It may be a job that is tough.  Or a relative you seem not to be making headway with.  If God has called you to pursue and given you a promise of success, I would urge you to pursue.  When God has called you to pursue like He did with Gideon, there was success for Gideon and there will be success for you.  Persist in the journey.

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Compromise

Posted on February 15, 2011 by James Gorton

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Compromise! Give a little, take a little! Tolerance! Negotiate! Settlement! Bargain! Words of our present culture. I am struggling with it this very day in one area of my life. And yet as I share this area I am being convicted by what I am about to share. As I looked at my goals for the coming year and have led a bible study group on gaining balance in our lives, the one area that needs balance is the area of my nutrition and my weight control. I have been fairly consistent in my exercise and my trainer said to me the other day that every part of my body is in shape except one. My stomach! My legs are in shape. My arms are in shape. But my stomach needs work.

I do exercise my stomach but I have a problem and that starts in my mouth. I don’t have only one problem but I have a whole mouth full of sweet seeking teeth. I love sweets and carbohydrates and more sweets. Even as I write this I am being convicted about cutting out the very things that keep my stomach from looking the way it did when I was in college.

And yet there is a story that I ran across today in Judges 1 where the phrase is repeated 9 times in one chapter. You see God gave the Israelites a command to go into the promised land and utterly destroy the enemy so that their gods wouldn’t be a temptation to compromise their walk with Him. And yet the phrase that is repeated nine times is “yet they didn’t drive out the enemy from the land.”. The Israelites compromised what God wanted them to do because it was too hard; or they had iron chariots; or they were too tough; or there were too many of them. They had excuses up the wazoo and used the excuses to live in compromise. As a result they never truly experienced true fulfillment.

When I make excuses for eating a small bite sized candy bar or maybe two or three, I am compromising my life and not experiencing all that the Lord wants for my life. Starting today I am going to begin to change my choices so that compromise is turned into obedience and dependence on His power to be victorious. What about you? Is there compromise in your life that God wants to root out of your life? It does take a decision from you to transform that into obedience and dependence but what a journey we have in store for us when we turn those things over to Him. Come and enjoy the journey with me.

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The Bad With The Good

Posted on February 13, 2011 by James Gorton

Sunday, February 13, 2011
I experienced the ends of the spectrum on Friday night and Saturday morning. Carter’s Outlaw lacrosse team was tied for first in the state and was playing Alwatoukee Lightening for bragging rights for the best in the state. I could see in the warm ups that it could be a long night. The lightening team was bigger, stronger, faster, more skilled and older than our team. It was like the David and Goliath story with the exception that Goliath was the victor 12-3. The parents could only talk about the fact that we were out manned and outplayed. It was a discouraging night to say the least and caused us to lose perspective of what we had done previously in winning our first five games without a loss.

How easy it is to lose perspective of positive things in life when one bad thing happens in our life. We were hoping that the boys wouldn’t be flat and discouraged in the morning when they were to play the Scottsdale Eagles that had beaten us the previous year.

The Outlaws came to play and we scored the first four goals in the first three minutes of play. We went on to win 12-7 but the game wasn’t that close. The boys were excited and were back to focusing on their great season.

I’m encouraged today in realizing that my life is like the ups and downs of this weekend and I need to recognize that days will come when there will be set backs in my life but God is gracious in giving positive experiences in my life to keep my focus on walking on his path. That’s enough for today as I need to rest for what He has in store for me tomorrow.

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Living By My Convictions

Posted on February 11, 2011 by James Gorton

Friday, February 11, 2011
In my reading today I came across one of my favorite characters in the bible. In fact I wanted to name my son after this person but I was overruled by the majority of woman living in my house at the time (there are three males in the house now including Monty our resident dog and the men rule). He has always impresses me with his unwavering character and focus on staying true to his convictions. He was one of twelve spies that were sent out initially to spy out the promised land God was going to give Israel. He was one of two spies that came back and reported to Moses to go in and take the land. The person I’m talking about is Caleb.

Caleb (Joshua 14:7) was speaking to Joshua and was remembering forty years earlier in his life. He was speaking of his responsibility to spy out the land and bring back a report to Moses. He said that, “he brought back a report according to his convictions.”  How easy is it today to just go with the flow. Not speak up when our principles are challenge because it might start an argument. How many have heard the saying, “I don’t want to say anything because it might hurt that person’s feelings. We know that what the person is doing or saying isn’t healthy, but rather than say something that might help that person grow in some way we find it convenient to go with the flow and are silent.

It would have been easy for Caleb and Joshua to go with the majority and ultimately the nation of Israel, but they stayed and spoke on their convictions. Going according to your convictions won’t win you friends at times. In fact you might be singled out and ostracized and ridiculed for your convictions. Sometimes your verbalized convictions that are not followed by the crowd can cause you to have to experience long-term consequences. Caleb had to wonder out in the wilderness for forty years before he was allowed to go into the promised land

Living by your convictions is often a lonely road. I went to a very small high school that included 40 in the high school in eastern Colorado. I was the only high schooler that went to church and was known as the preacher. There were times when I wasn’t invited to parties because of my convictions of not drinking or smoking. But as I look back on my life I feel good knowing that I lived according to my convictions and still try to live by my present convictions. That’s why I love Caleb so much because he didn’t back down from what he believed.

It’s important to ask ourselves what are our convictions and do we live according to them. Today is a good opportunity to change those areas that we have compromised and begin the process of living what we talk about. Sometimes it is a hard journey and a lonely one but there is always someone who has promised to be with you always no matter what you  are faced with.

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D-Day

Posted on February 10, 2011 by James Gorton

Thursday February 10, 2011

The day has finally come. D-day!!!  The dreaded day Carter replaces his herbst appliance for braces.   Pain!   Soft food! Grumpy behavior!   Pain pills!  D-Day for a parent.

Actually the pain has been there for me when you look at the number of times to the orthodontist, the rearranging clients to take Carter, and the cost. Did I say the cost. Let me reiterate that last point. It seems like a never-ending monthly bill attached to my credit card that hasn’t stopped yet. This doesn’t even include the future pain of  him getting his braces off and encouraging him to wear his retainer and brush his treasure in his mouth

This day started with a good breakfast of southwest eggs and bacon, a shower and two sandwiches with homemade brownies and cheese balls. Carter was concerned about the pain involved in this day of changing his mouth from the herbst appliance to wires. He was nervous and so we talked all the way to school. I got a text midway through the morning wanting to go out to have his last meal before D-Day.

As I picked him up he had eaten his lunch but wanted a number 7 from Taco Bell which he promptly consumed. And here I sit waiting for 2 hours for this transformation to occur.

And I overwhelmed with the thought that I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but with my son and support him this day. Tears come to my eyes as I am so grateful for having family and getting to experience connection with my son as he goes through his D-Day experience. For me it is a dramatically wonderful day!!!

Enjoy the journey

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God’s Imprint

Posted on February 9, 2011 by James Gorton

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Have you ever forgotten something that happened 40 years ago.  Or do you have a tendency to forget over time what the Lord did in your life in the past.  At this very moment I am trying to remember aspects of answered prayer back that far and for the life of me cannot come up with a single thing, although I know that there were many things that He did.  I just can’t remember them.

I was struck this morning as I was beginning to read Joshua of an incident when two spies were sent out by Joshua to look over the land and especially Jericho just before the nation of Israel crossed over to take possession of the promised land.  The interaction of the Rahab and the two spies are recorded in Joshua 2:9-14.  Rahab begins to tell the spies that she knew that the Lord had given the Israelites the land because of what had happened 40 years before with the parting of the Red Sea.  Think of that statement for a minute.  The news of the parting of the sea 40 years ago had come to the promised land and the people living in the promised land and they had thought about what God had done for 40 years (God’s imprint).  And their hearts melted away when they heard the news.  God’s plan was for the nation of Israel to go into the promised land 1 1/2 years after being released from Egypt.   He had gone before them to take the promised land by causing the hearts of the people in the promised land to melt away.

The nation of Israel didn’t experience the promised land for another 40 years because they didn’t trust what God had already gone ahead of and prepared the way.  Unfortunately the Israelites didn’t trust God or His word to go in and take the promised land and so they suffered the consequences of wandering in the wilderness for 40 years and died there without ever experiencing what God had already set up for them to enjoy.

I wonder in my life how many promises have gone unopened that God wanted for me to partake in because of my unbelief as I looked at the circumstances and pulled back from opening the promises that He was ready to give me.  I guess the lesson for me and for all of us is that when we see a promise and command from God, it is important to move on that command with faith in Him that He has already gone ahead and imprinted His plan on all that are part of that plan.

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The Effects of Pride in Relationships

Posted on February 8, 2011 by James Gorton

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

I have recently been studying the first five books of the Old Testament and especially the life of Moses as he was called by God to lead the nation of Israel out of Egypt and into the promised land.  Most of you are familiar with the burning bush that wasn’t burning that caught Moses attention when God first called him.  You are also aware of the various plagues that happened in Egypt thru Moses in order to have Pharoah let the people of Israel go.  You have for sure heard of the Red Sea Experience where God split the sea and allowed the Israelites to go thru on dry ground while the Egyptians drowned in it as they were pursuing the Israelites.  You might be aware also of the manna (white breadish substance) that God placed on the ground for 6 mornings for the Israelites to eat and be nourished along the way to the promised land.

What struck my mind as I read the passage this time is the incident that caused Moses not to be able to enter the promised land.  The people were thirsty and had no water to drink and began complaining.  God said to Moses to speak to the rock as compared to an earlier time where God told Moses to strike the rock.  Moses was angry with the people and rather than speaking to the rock to bring forth water, he struck the rock and water did in fact come out of the rock, but God was displeased with Moses for not treating Him as holy and said because of his actions Moses would not be able to enter the promised land with the rest of the Israelites.

What struck me recently in reading Deuteronomy 3-4 was something that I had never seen.  In Deut. 3:23-26, Moses blames the Israelites for not being able to go into the promised land.  Also in Deut. 4:21 Moses says the same thing that God was angry with him on account of the Israelites.  What I hear Moses doing is blaming the Israelites and not taking personal responsibility in not doing what the Lord wanted him to do.

It reminds me of the story of Adam and Eve after they ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  When God asked them what they had done, Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent rather than taking personal responsibility.  It was Adam and Eve’s pride that got in the way and didn’t allow them to humble themselves and take responsibility for what they had done.  It was Moses’s pride that caused him to blame the Israelites and not humble himself by taking personal responsibility for what he had done.

With Adam and Eve, they were kicked out of the garden and didn’t experience the promised garden of God.  With Moses God wouldn’t allow him to enter the promised land because he blamed others for his own mistake.

In relationships we often are not experiencing the connections we want with God or with others because we often fail to take responsibility and humble ourselves for what we have done.  It is easier to blame others for our own mistakes but that pride stops us oftentimes from experiencing the promises that God wants to give us in our relationship with Him and with others.

It might be helpful to check our pride at the door and begin looking at how we might humble ourselves by admitting mistakes so that we could begin to experience the promises God has in store for each of us this day.  Things to think about as we go on this journey together.

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Coldness Has Different Perspectives

Posted on February 4, 2011 by James Gorton

Friday, February 4, 2011

Phoenix Arizona and the rest of the country has recently gone through a cold front that brought snow and wind, dropping some of the country to its knees.  Phoenicians felt the coldness as the temperatures in the night hovered in the 20’s and 30’s.

On Wednesday night at 5 p.m. Carter had a lacrosse game in Mesa which lasted til 8 p.m.  The temperature outside was 34 degrees with a wind chill that brought the temp down to 20.  It was cold as we parents stood on the sidelines and cheered our boys to victory (Carters team is now 4-0).  While we watched the game much complaining went on as to frozen feet and tingling fingers and quivering lips.  Most of the parents had come from the northern sections of our country along with our neighbors to the north.  Yet our growing up in the cold climates didn’t help us adjust to the frigid temperatures that we were encountering.  The coldness of the night brought out the worst of our negative thoughts as we could hardly wait for the game to end so that we could jump in our trucks and thaw out our bones.

The next morning I was driving out of our neighborhood and went by a fountain to see one of the more beautiful pictures that I had seen in a while.  The ice sculpture that had formed by the coldness of the night brought about a brilliant picture of the sun as it caused the ice crystals to show various color shades.  I began to muse on the ways in which we look at life and see various negative aspects of our life and circumstances and don’t stop to look at the possible positive aspects of our negative circumstances.  Maybe today you can stop and ask God to give you some positive thoughts about where you are in life so that you might see a Godly different perspective.

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Hello world!

Posted on February 4, 2011 by James Gorton

Hello to those who are reading this blog.  My oldest daughter Debi has blogged for some time and so when she flew home for the weekend from Virginia Beach, we found ourselves drinking coffee and talking about life.   What a rich time to catch up face to face for a few hours and drink in the richness of our love and respect that we have for one another.  As she was sharing her latest blog topic, I had to ask some very basic questions:  what is it?; why would anyone blog?; how do you set one up?; etc.  I decided to jump into the pool of blogging and here is the first one that word press set up for me that I can add to or drop.

I hope you enjoy the journey with me as I think about life and relationships and journal my musings and hopefully insights into how relationships grow, develop and deepen.  By the way I along the process of getting into blogging found out the blog stands for “web log” or “blog.”  I know that is not new to most of you who are reading this but it was to me.  So I am toying with the idea of calling my blog  “jlog” for “Jim’s log.”  How novel.  Enjoy the journey with me.

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