I talk a lot about character traits. I have identified 26 character traits in the Bible, and my goal is to grow in each. I evaluate myself, ranking the 26 from top to bottom, and I ask Patty to do the same, and occasionally I ask friends. Several character traits I have considered significant strengths in my life have taken a nose dive lately, and I don’t know why. It definitely concerns me, and I am making a herculean effort to reverse this trend.

Self-control has been one of my strengths for years, but now it is quickly sliding to the bottom. I am not sure if it is old age or what, but I don’t like being a wimp when it comes to things controlling my life. One of the areas is with my eating. I am allergic to gluten and white sugar. A year ago, I discovered that they were what was giving me my Parkinson’s symptoms. I didn’t have Parkinson’s; I had Parkinson’s symptoms caused by food allergies. I quit eating all gluten and white sugar, and I started feeling really good compared to what I had been experiencing. However, I discovered that I could fudge a little bit on my diet and not be affected, so I would have an occasional bowl of ice cream. At first, I was good and kept the occasions at least a week apart and a small bowl. But I started increasing both the volume and frequency, and I end up back where I was in my tremors, loss of balance, muscle cramps, and rigidity. So, I repent and go back to zero sugar and gluten. It takes a few days to get it out of my system, and I do it all over again.

It makes me feel like such a weakling to have something control me like that. It is funny how messing up in one area also seems to slide into other areas. I have started missing an occasional day of Bible reading. It has been years since I have missed a day, and now I have suddenly missed several days. Not all together, but a day here, another last week, and one this week. I have been occasionally missing my bike riding and weight lifting as well.

1 Corinthians 9:25-27 are some of my memory verses; I better start meditating on them daily.
“Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”

Monday morning, I was planning on going salmon fishing on the Alsea River. I was going to get up at 4:00 am so that I could get dressed, brush my teeth etc, eat some breakfast, and fill my thermos with coffee. Patty put the coffee pot to start automatically at 4:00 am. Sunday, I blogged about my birthday, and Sunday evening, my daughter in Hawaii read my blog and realized that she had forgotten my birthday, so she quickly called me. It was 8:30 pm their time and 11:30 our time. Because I was getting up at 4:00 am, I went to bet at 8:00 pm. When my cell phone rang at 11:30 pm, I woke up and thought my alarm was going off at 4:00 am. So, I got up, got dressed in my fishing clothes, brushed my teeth, went to the bathroom, ate some breakfast, and then went to pour the coffee into my thermos, except that it hadn’t been brewed. I went back into the bedroom and asked Patty, barely awake from all my noise getting ready to fish, why the coffee wasn’t brewed. She said, “Because I set it to brew at 4:00 am, it is now midnight.” I looked at the clock, and sure enough, it was midnight. How did that happen? I looked at my phone and saw that I had a missed call from Sally and that my phone alarm was still set to go off at 4:00 am. So, I took my clothes off and went back to bed. It seemed like the alarm went off 30 minutes later.
 
Has that kind of thing ever happened to you? There isn’t much you can do but laugh and tell others about the dumb thing you did so they can get a good laugh as well. It is nice when you make a blunder, and it doesn’t cost you anything but 30 minutes of sleep. Most mistakes have a consequence that is more severe than that. Wisdom is knowing the consequences of bad choices and the blessings of the right decisions. When we genuinely have wisdom, the awareness of the fruit of our actions, good and bad, steers our choices in life. Wisdom comes into the heart of the person who seeks it diligently and prays for it constantly. Being a good learner from our experiences and the experiences of others is a significant way wisdom enters our hearts. I also read one chapter in Proverbs every day as part of my strategy for pursuing wisdom.

Today is my birthday, and I received several hundred happy birthday wishes on Facebook, email, texts, in the mail, and in person. Even though I am now 76 and probably should be past enjoying the attention and honor of all those congratulations, I still enjoy it and feel very loved and honored by all for remembering my birthday.

The Bible says that we ought to honor God. We also ought to honor the aged. Husbands are to honor their wives and children their parents. We are to honor our bosses and those over us in government. It also says that we ought to honor those in our church as fellow believers and even work at outdoing each other in giving honor. That is a nice kind of competition. God says that he will bring honor to us in this life if we glorify him with our life and also on those who humble themselves.

The primary emphasis in the Bible on receiving honor is at the Judgment Seat of Christ at the end of our lives. After we die and switch locations from earth to heaven, we switch bodies from this earthly one to our glorified body, which is like the body of Jesus. We will stand before Jesus, and He will honor us for what we have done with our lives. Some people will get very little honor, and others will receive a lot. Paul says that as star differs from star in glory, we will also differ in glory.

It takes faith to keep your eye on the finish line and be motivated by that event because we can’t see it and have never experienced it. It is easy to be motivated by earthly honor and glory because we see it, have experienced it, and have seen others get it. But the one who sets his mind on the heavenly finish line will live a life well pleasing to the Lord and will hear Him say at the Judgment Seat of Christ, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Today, I taught at a church in Washington at a men’s event. It began with breakfast and ended with lunch, both of which were delicious, and I was in between. One of my messages was entitled “Getting Rid of Ten Dirty Habits.” One of the ten was anger, and I used a dozen verses from Proverbs to teach from; one of them was Proverbs 16:32: “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city.” I zeroed in on the phrase in the verse, “he who rules his spirit.” That phrase describes a strong man, and it appeals to me. Another way I have said that phrase over the years is: “You don’t have to act the way you feel.” Much damage is done to relationships by emotionally driven conversations, better-called shouting matches, or, in our current cultural setting, “political debates.” We all get emotional from events, circumstances, and words, but the goal should not be to let our emotions control us but to rule our spirit or emotions. Strong people can do that. When Jesus spoke, the crowds marveled because He spoke as one with authority. That means that they listened and responded to His words. We can speak with authority if we talk with self-control, always speaking with the other person’s edification as our goal. I can’t think of an area of my life that I have blown it as much as here. It grieves me to remember some of those events, but I am determined that in the future, I will rule my spirit and always speak so as to give grace to those who hear.

I am speaking at a church in Washington at a men’s gathering tomorrow. Patty and I drove up tonight and are staying in a motel. So, I got to watch the first game of the World Series. It was a good game and fun to watch. I don’t watch baseball during the season, so I don’t have a favorite team, but my good friend Al’s favorite team is the Yankees because he grew up in New York State, so I am rooting for the Yankees. They lost the first game tonight because of a grand slam homer in the bottom of the 10th inning. I wonder how the pitcher felt. They brought him out of the bullpen to face this batter with the bases loaded, and whammo, game over. A lot of people saw him throw that pitch. I am guessing that tonight will be a tough night for him to get to sleep.

Have you ever had one of those kind of experiences where you wish you could just die? Probably, none of us have had as bad of an embarrassing experience as that Yankee relief pitcher, but we all have experienced shame, which isn’t fun. I have had group conversations with many pastors, and we get started telling some of our most embarrassing experiences. Some of them are hilariously funny. While playing a basketball game in High School, my brother grabbed an offensive rebound, dribbled down to the other team’s basket, and made a layup, giving them two points. Everybody in the stands laughed and the coach yelled, oops.

Often, our most shameful experiences are sins we have committed. I am glad that my worst ones are in the past. The Bible says that when Jesus died on the cross for our sins, He not only paid the penalty for our sins, but He also felt the shame of them. Because He has felt all of our shame, He understands us and will help us conquer those shameful experiences.

Self-talk is very powerful in leading us to become a more productive person, a more holy person, and a more in love with God person. How we think determines how we act and who we are. Thinking the same thing over and over, again and again, shapes our attitude. Scripted self-talk does all of that, not just random thoughts we have throughout the day. Our random thoughts are tremendously influenced by the world, our flesh, and the devil. Those thoughts do nothing positive in our lives.

Scripted self-talk are words that I have heard or thought of that motivate me to a higher level of living. Once I come up with them, I set a trigger point to remind myself to think of them. My new line is, “I am not dead, not even close, I am not done; there is so much more in me that I can do for the Lord. He will give me the strength and the wisdom to do it.” My trigger is my chairs and seats. Whenever I sit down in my recliner at home, at the dinner table, on my truck seat, or in my office, I repeat that line in my head and keep it up until some other thought crowds its way in. At first, I forgot most of the time what my trigger point was, but as I reread this goal each evening, pretty soon, it started to happen. In a couple of weeks, I will come up with another motivational thought concerning something in my life that I want to change.

Another way that I do this is with memorized Bible verses that have a pointed message to me. I meditate on memorized Bible passages day and night, and they shape me.

It isn’t hard and it is very effective, try it, come on now, you can do it, tell me about your experience when you do.

I brush my teeth every day. I can’t remember a day that I missed. I am sure I have, but it is far enough in my past that I can’t remember it. I don’t particularly like brushing my teeth; I get no thrill that keeps me motivated. It started with my mother telling me to brush them and has become a habit I hardly think about. My daily Bible reading is close to that kind of habit in my life now. I want it to be, so I am determined not to miss a day until it is. I know I missed days, but I can’t remember when. God loves to bless His children when they do His will. In Psalms 119, there are about 50 blessings given by God to those who read, meditate on, and honor His Word. Those blessings motivate me. Psalms 119 starts with, “How blessed” are those who observe Your Word. There is “blessed,” and then there is “How blessed.” I think that means double blessed!”

I spend time with God in Prayer every day. I thank Him for the day and the blessings of the day, I pray for different people in my life, I ask Him for direction, for protection, and that He will use me. I ask for strength and wisdom. And I confess all known sins to Him: every day, every day, every day.

I have other daily disciplines, but reading my Bible and praying are the most important. If I can keep those two faithfully, everything else in my life will fall into place.

Think about the blessings that come into your life from God when you faithfully keep these spiritual disciplines to maintain motivation. There is nothing wrong with being motivated by God’s rewards. He wouldn’t have made those promises to us so much if there were.

Sometimes, I get discouraged writing my blogs, especially when I am tired and can’t think of anything to write. I then get thoughts like, “This is a lot of work for nothing,” or “I don’t think anybody really takes the time to read these,” or “I don’t think these blogs change anything or anybody.” I was incredibly down about the whole blog thing last night. Then today, a couple of good friends sent me some text messages telling me how the recent blogs about Sherri’s illness had influenced a non-believer toward Christ and greatly encouraged another person who was going through trials. I want to continue influencing people toward greater faith in Christ and spiritual growth in their walk with Christ. Writing seems an excellent way to exercise my desire to make a difference in people’s lives as I get older and less energetic. I pray daily for wisdom and anointing from the Holy Spirit as I write and that He will draw people to read and open their eyes as they do read. It was great getting those text messages today. I will continue to pray, “Dear Lord, keep me motivated to keep running the race You have set before me with endurance.

I said in my last blog that Luke 1:15 was referring to Jesus, who was filled with the Holy Spirit while in His mother’s womb, but it is actually referring to John the Baptist. Thank you to those who pointed out my mistake. I wasn’t paying attention.

We got our ballots in the mail today. Patty and I will have a 30-minute date to review it and vote. She likes me to explain things on the ballot to her, especially the State Measures and Initiatives. They are not usually written in an easy way to understand. I will also explain some of the views of people running for various positions that she is not familiar with as well. Two positions have no candidate, and no one filed to run. I think I will write in my son-in-law, Mike Hatfield’s name, just for fun.

I was surprised to read recently the high number of Christian people who don’t vote because they don’t like either of the Presidential candidates. No perfect person is running for any office, so we must go with the best. The best is the one whose views are closest to what the Bible teaches. Abortion is the big deal in this year’s election. Abortion is clearly murdering a living soul. Jesus did not become the incarnate son of God at His birth but at conception. The Bible, referring to Jesus, says in Luke 1:15, “he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb.” There are many things wrong with our country, but nothing is as bad as our support of abortion as a personal right. Voter guides report on every candidate’s views on abortion. There are some offices where every candidate has some degree of acceptance of abortion, but one is less objectionable than others; go with the best.

If you read the books of 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles, it is easy to see that God blessed and worked through some Kings who had some faults but that the entire country suffered under the leadership of evil rulers.

I believe it is a responsibility for us to vote. God uses faithful people; faithful people do the right thing because it is the right thing, faithful people do their duty, and faithful people do what is best for all those around them. Go on a voting date; it is lots of fun.