Sylvester Stallone I am not.

There was a funny thing I saw on Facebook today.
It was a list of fun things to do if you wanted to add some excitement to your daily routine.

Things like, "go into Lowe's with a bucket of Lego's and ask the manager if he wants to "build something together."

Or run into a grocery store and ask what year it is.
When someone replies 2012, you then run around like a madman yelling, "It worked! It worked!"

Get it? Like a time machine?
That's funny because my daughter has been trying to explain to me why we can't DVR in "real time."

"You can't go forward in time...Seriously, come on mom, you're not that stupid."
I beg to differ.

The suggestion that got me laughing out loud was to follow joggers around in your car blaring "Eye of the Tiger."
I'm not sure why I find that so amusing.
I suppose because I can picture it in my head and I can see the look on their faces....that's hysterical!

And yet very motivational at the same time.

"Rising up to the challenge of our rivals...and the last known survivor...."

When I think about Eye of the Tiger, I think about boxing.
Which also reminds me of a "game" we used to play when I was a kid.

You know when someone grabs your arm forcefully and starts hitting you in the face with your own hand?
"What are you hitting yourself for? Huh? Whatcha hitting yourself for?

That's pretty much what I feel like doing when I screw up.
It's a milder version of Fletcher kicking his own butt in "Liar, Liar".

I tend to want to just beat myself up.
Today I woke with Romans 3 in my head, so I looked it up....Praying that it wouldn't be the "woe to you ya wicked sinner" verse.

Oh Thank God!
It is where Paul is talking about how God is faithful, even when we are not.
"No one is righteous...not even one."

He is right, when we are wrong.

"But God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law....we are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are..."

Does it mean we quit wanting to come up higher? No.
At first I typed "trying" to come up higher.

I don't know about you, but the harder I try, the harder it gets.
So I just have to give it up and turn it over to the one who is really able.

Do we stop wanting to live a life that more glorifies God?
I don't. I want to do that every day.
But I fail. A lot.

But still, God promises to continue the good work that he started in us...even if it takes a really, really, really long time.

In boxing, if the referee counts to 10 and the boxer is still down, the fight is over.
But Jesus steps in and stalls the count.
God is not standing there anxiously waiting to get to 10 and see us lose in a final knock out round.

Thank God!

I don't have to keep smacking myself in the face.
I don't have to throw on a burlap sack and sprinkle ashes all over my body walking around for days like the coming of the Zombie Apocalypse.

Downcast and outcast.

Conviction and condemnation are two totally different things.
The holy spirit convicts us when something is off.

If you're seeking and sensitive to God's leading, you can't get away with jack.
It makes you uncomfortable.

"Geez Louise!!" I say while trying to hide and sneak a smoke.

"Can you just go sit on someone else's balcony for a few minutes?"

"I will never leave or forsake you," is the loving whisper I  hear back.

Alrighty then!

I will accept the conviction...but not the condemnation that makes me feel like I should be spending the rest of the day giving myself a toilet swirly.

When my day in court arrives and I appear before the judge, I will totally be saying..."I'm a madman your honor.....a desperate fool at the end of his pitiful rope."