The Golden Goose

I said my piece
and my side lost
Now we sit
and assess the cost

Fifty percent
Said "I want him."
Now they get their way
as hopes soon dim.

The other fifty
Opposed his plan
But lost the vote
As it all hits the fan

Just how much longer
Can the private man keep up
His supporting the ones
Who hold out their cup?

Eventually more
Will rely on the goose
Whose golden eggs
They'll never set loose

But kill it they will
By demanding too much
And they will not find another
To come through in the clutch

Then the whole of the nation
Will look to the man
They put into office
To do what he can

He did what he wanted
He achieved all he tried
To take our great nation
And destroy all it's pride

We deserve what we get
We made our own bed
So sleep in it we must
The goose is now dead.

The Spirit within and how it gets us through

James 1:12-18 ESV

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.

Romans 5:3-4 ESV

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.

How to Not Give up - How to Persevere In Hard Times

Faithful Christians Persevere Through Obstacles and Tests.

There are many inspiring true stories of men and women throughout time who have accomplished fantastic and impressive things. However, they were not always great athletes, business people or military personnel, but sometimes-average people, people who were highly motivated by a cause they deemed greater than their own lives. With perseverance, they were able to achieve astonishing successes, and sometimes-stunning victories against seemingly insurmountable odds. In addition, perseverance was the key ingredient in every success story.

 

After more than 10,000 attempts at inventing the incandescent light bulb before he was successful, Thomas Alva Edison said, "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

Perseverance is steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, especially in spite of difficulties or discouragement. Determination, tenacity and patience also are closely related qualities.

Many examples of this kind of resolve can be found in the Bible. Genesis gives the account of Noah who built the ark over the course of 120 years, surrounded by corrupt and contemptuous unbelievers. Moses led the hardhearted Israelites for 40 years in the wilderness. The Apostle Paul, however, serves as a superstar example of perseverance.

 

Paul's ministry, from his unique conversion to his tragic execution spanned about 30 years. During that time, he took three missionary journeys. According to Christian History Magazine, he covered about 14,000 miles, mostly on foot. In two years and three months, under the ministry of Paul, all Asia Minor heard the word of the Lord Jesus, according to Acts 19:8-10. Throughout his travels, Paul was constantly dealing with obstacles. Some scholars say he was stoned to death, but was revived and continued to preach.

 

Second Corinthians 11:24-27 describes in vivid detail the hardships that Paul endured: "From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fasting often, in cold and nakedness." In addition to all of this, Paul always had in mind a concern for all of the churches and the people he had won to the Lord.

Paul spoke often of fighting the good fight. His fight was against the flesh. That aspect of us that is weak, that gives in to pain, to discomfort, to pessimism, to discouragement, to rejection, to loss, to loneliness, to anything the adversary or the Satan puts before us. That fight was the faith within him that there is something greater, something his misfortunes were grooming him for that God was waiting for him to fulfill. He wanted more than anything to please his lord. To please the messiah that met him on the road to Damascus and blinded Saul, giving birth to a man who saw the world most differently after a symbolic removal of the scales in three days. This man was no stranger to crisis. No stranger to strife, to discouraging events, to hatred, to threats, to the struggles he endured to create the very church Jesus would need to make his salvation for the world a reality for all who accept him.

 

No one on the face of the earth has had to endure all the things that Job endured at one time. He lost everything in one fell swoop, his children, his livestock, his servants, his livelihood and his health. All he was left with was a bitter wife who added to this poor man's misery. One day he had it all and the next, nothing. Job's reaction was not to curse God, but to worship him and the first words out of his mouth, "The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised." Job 1:21 What incredible faith this saint of old had! There are not many who would echo Job's words given the same scenario in their lives. If all this was not enough for poor Job to suffer, he had a wife who wanted him to curse God and die and friends who were sure Job had sinned greatly to bring such devastation upon himself. While those around him tried to "help" by pulling him down, his faith remained sure. He trusted God to see him through and he knew the outcome would be gold! Job knew that if gold was put into the fire, not only would it come out still gold, but it would come out purer and more luminous. Job went into this furnace of affliction an innocent, righteous man and he came out the same, only better, more pure, stronger. In the end, despite the sad treatment of his "friends", he came out stronger, more sure of God and His faithfulness. Fire does that; it burns off all the dross and makes the gold purer, more valuable. Job's trials did have a clarifying effect on his life and in the end made him even more valuable to His God. So with us; when the fire seems to consume us, let us not lose heart, for we will come out purer and more valuable to Him. Let us, like Job, praise the

name of LORD for all He places in our lives, both the good and bad, for if we allow Him to have his way in our lives, we, like Job, will come forth as gold.

I have heard individuals say that God will not test us by his own intent and action. However, we may ask God to test us (which is a testy situation in itself). The Psalm is a demonstration of this. Psalms 26:2 (NIV)

 Test me, LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind;

Also, it seems that God allows us to be tested:

Job 1:12 (NIV)

 The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

Another verse that shows that God allows temptation:

1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. In addition, God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. Nevertheless, when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

A favorite verse of mine and one I have used on numerous occasions in this class

Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless, of course, you fail the test? 2 Corinthians 13:5

It lets me know that every moment in our life is an opportunity to see just where we are in our relationship with God. We should all know at this stage of our Christian walk that we are two beings in one body. The Spirit and the Flesh. The Spirit is God in his image with in you. It is that individualized expression of God that when we are functioning in this form we are in perfect tune with the grand scheme of things no matter how chaotic, happenstance, and random they may appear to us. But when we are living in the spirit our soul is at peace with what we are going through and somehow knows just how to react when faced with hostility, negativity, trials, misfortune, the wrath of nature upon the earth, and any other opportunity to reflect God with in.

The other half, the flesh, gives us our most trying and difficult times because we are poorly prepared to react to anything we did not expect, plan for, or agree with. It makes us feel depressed and hopeless. It diminishes our faith and at times makes us question the very existence of God. We see it all around us as people lash out at one another, act in selfish ways, and behave in a self-serving way. The scriptures warn us about the flesh. The flesh after all, is a very temporal aspect of who we are and it, like the earth, will become dust and fall away, leaving no trace that it was ever here.

I ask you to say a prayer for those who live in the flesh today. In New York and New Jersey as frustration mounts and desperation reveals itself. I ask that God remind us in an internal way. In a prodding of the heart of who we are. I pray he convicts us of our sin and compels us to repent and return to the Lord. Our lives would be so much more meaningful and permanent if we realize this before we ever take that

first action. He is with you now at this very moment. Take advantage of this time to realign your soul with God.