All of us experience worry, anxiety and fear from time to time. This is a human experience. These issues become a problem when they become long-standing “friends” that seem to bring about a paralysis in our spiritual and emotional development. When the average professing Christian reads the New Testament the picture that is portrayed is one of victory and success. All too often believers in the forgiveness of Christ aren’t yet sold on how God wants to impart victory as well as forgiveness.

The topic of being spiritually and emotionally paralyzed will be covered in a total of 4 parts. If you have not read the first two parts, I would suggest reading them first. This is Part 3 and we will be covering a root cause that many fear looking at. It’s a target to look at when trying to figure out and overcoming the problem of being spiritually and emotionally paralyzed.  Keep in mind that all of us have a tendency to look for a “silver bullet” fix and resolve our problems no matter what they might be. The truth is that life is often more complex than we care to realize and so are the problems. That being said, there are answers to resolve this problem of being paralyzed in our lives and a passage from the Gospel of John is a good example.

Previously, I wrote an article titled “Are There Idols to Kill?” and since people commented about wanting more clarity on the subject please read that article before this one.

Unfortunately, in our modern culture we don’t recognize idols when they are present do in part to stereotyping them as statues in old movies or in books depicting ancient culture statues. Secondly, we miss identifying idols because we think it’s an Old Testament concept that doesn’t relate to the time of Jesus onward, which is far from the truth. It’s similar for many Christians to assume demons no longer torment people’s lives nor control certain behaviors. That they don’t typify the behavior of the man in the New Testament with the legion of demons. Satan is smart enough to mask his activities and warfare to fool the simple-minded and cover his deception.

If you have not read the previous three articles with the same title please do so before reading this one.

In the previous articles I dealt with the “Traps & Pitfalls” of leaders. One of the reasons for doing so was our need to see what causes leaders and believers in general to be great examples to follow and which examples we need to avoid lest we learn damaged values and try to emulate them.

This article has part 1 & 2 so please read the two previous articles with the same title before reading this one which is part 3. The purpose of the series is to look at the hunger amongst church people to embrace a leader because they speak well, while their conduct and treatment of the people in their congregation is less than Christ would expect from shepherds of his flocks.

If you haven’t read the first part on this subject of leadership, please read that first because there are four parts to this topic and to miss the first part would give a lopsided view of what a great leader is rather than a great talker.

Life has a way of showing us just how complex things are. I think when we are young we expect we can do almost anything until we have accumulated some failures under our belts. As bad as failure often feels, it teaches us what will and will not work; at least in the simple things. As we grow in knowledge and wisdom, we discover that some things can be challenged even when past experience has taught us otherwise. Failure is not always going to be failure if new elements are added, just as success doesn’t always work because something new has been added to change the outcome.

Early in our lives, we don’t know our limitations. Experience has a way of teaching us what we can’t do as well as what we can if we strive for understanding. If we are fortunate, when we are young, we have people cheering us on, though some have struggles from the beginning. The point is that we all have to determine whether to let life’s ups and downs control our future or whether we will reach for the understanding that will unlock the potential and purpose that we were created for.

Coming to Jesus in 1969 I understood that becoming a Christ follower was serious business and that’s why I resisted becoming a Christian for some time. You may ask how long I resisted and probably I would have to say all my life, though I didn’t realize it at the time.  Sometime we resist the “Presentation” of Christianity and of Christ. We call this religion. This happens when we color the meaning of Jesus’ words and life to suit our motives or lifestyle. In truth, this representation is a counterfeit though the people in it don’t see it that way.

Have you ever wondered why God seems to bless others more than you? At times, I know I do. Sometimes it seems I put more effort and heart into seeking God than those around me yet they seem to get more blessings.  They seem to get more from reading scripture, more from being generous, more from prayer and just about any other Christian discipline.