I remember an old sitcom, The Jeffersons, where the character George Jefferson was the perfect son to his mother.  She would even say that from time to time.  The problem was that she never had a problem with George, but she always had a problem with George's wife, Louise.   A mother is like the lead off runner a the relay race.  In time, she hands the baton of leadership off to her husband and they work together raising their son.  When a new woman comes into the picture as wife to the son, the mother takes on a new role.  They all have the potential for closeness, harmony, love, and respect or for conflict, power struggles, and confrontation.  If a mother feels her son can do no wrong, and lets the daughter-in-law know this, trouble is on the horizon.    The mother is living in denial.  She probably believes that her son is perfect because any indication that he is imperfect is a direct reflection of flaws in her parenting. 

Oftentimes, a mother may seek some sort of fulfillment through her son's marriage because of frustrations that occurred in her own marriage or because of a frustation that stems from her having never been married to the son's father.  In the sitcom, Louise was always blamed by her mother-in-law for George's problems.  So, oftentimes when a son doesn't do what mom expects him to do, it is the daughter-in-law who will become responsible for any shortcomings of her husband. 

When I was in high school one of my least favorite sports to participate in was track and field.  I had to participate in many different events and among the most dreaded was relay racing.  The relay race caused you to be dependent upon the ability of the other person to either pass or receive the baton.  A mother will sometimes not pass the baton off in the right way to a father.  Instead she maintains the role of leadership.  By refusing to pass off the baton of leadership, even when there is no father present in the son's life, a developing male fails to become the leader that he was purposed to be.  The problem is not always in the mother, but the lack of participation of a father in a child's life is like the runner who doesn't know how to receive the baton in the right way.  The children suffer from this malfunctioning team and are unable to complete the race with a win.  When we learn how to work together to reach the finish line everyone benefits from knowing that they played their part to the best of their ability.

Some people are just lazy which is why they never see anything accomplished with their lives.  They blame that lack of success on this, that, and everything but themselves, but God is no respecter of persons.  What He does for one He will do for all.  Hebrews 11:6 says, "But without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."

The key factors that make the difference are not about God, but about a person's level of determination and his/her willingness to do whatever is necessary to achieve a goal.  This is a hard fact to face, but ultimately we are all responsible for our success, or lack of success.  We all possess the same promises, the same faith, the same power, the same spirit, and the same Jesus who sits at the right hand of God to make intercession for us.  The main thing that determines who succeeds and who doesn't succeed is our attitude.  You have to want success in order to get it.  It doesn't float on clouds and it takes hard work to achieve it.  Because most people are willing to do only average work they reap average results.

When I was in the military years ago, I quickly found out that in the beginning stages it was a place where you could do average work day after day and get by.  What I found out was that there were some promotions that came automatically because of your time in service but the higher promotions came because of hard work and diligence.  To achieve super results, one must do super work, be deeply committed to the task, and be willing to do whatever is necessary to realize goals and aspirations.

Hebrews 11:6 says that God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.  According to this verse, even God rewards diligence.  In fact, He only rewards those who diligently seek Him which means people with a lazy--lethargic, do nothing, take it easy--attitude will never be greatly rewarded by the Lord.  This verse says that God rewards the diligent seeker.  Diligence is required for any success. 

The phrase "diligently seek" is taken from a Greek word that means to zealously seek for something with all your heart, all your strength, and all your might.  It presents a picture of one who seeks something so passionately and earnestly that he literally exhausts all of his power in his search.  Because this word portrays such an determinant effort, the ideal of being hardworking, busy, constant, and persistent in one's devotion to what he or she is doing is also included.  What this tells us about Hebrews 11:6, is that God is a reward of those who put all their heart, strength, and might into seeking Him.  Those who are so committed in their search that they are willing to exhaust all of their natural powers in their search for Him, they are the ones who will find what they are seeking. 

You see, you have to be diligent to be rewarded by God.  So, it should be no surprise that diligence is going to be required in order for you to succeed in every area of life.  It is just a fact that the lazy, neglectful attitude will never get you where you need to go.  If you take your life's assignment lightly and approach it with a casual, easy-going, take it easy, relaxed attitude, you will never go far in the fulfillment of your call or your dream. 

_It appears as though we are in the midst of a marital season.  A lot of young couples are getting married.   Most of the time that is a good thing; however some who find themselves a bridesmaid and not a bride can find themselves being troubled or depressed because of their marital status.  If you find yourself in a situation like this, the worst thing to do is to become jealous of the person that is getting married. This message is for all of us who are waiting on God's promise to be fulfilled in our life.  Whether you're waiting for a spouse, financial independence, a job, house, car, etc. remember that God is not a man that He should lie.  No matter what you are waiting on in life, make sure that it is a promise made from God and not one that you or someone else has dreamed up for you.

I find that there are a lot of people who say that God has said something when in actuality He hasn't said anything at all.  All of these things are good things, and I believe that God would desire for us to have them; however we must possess our souls with patience.  As we are waiting on the manifestation of the things that God has promised, don't compromise your convictions while waiting.  I have seen so many times that a person wanted a thing so bad that they were willing to compromise their convictions.  They got the thing, but lost it later on.  Said another way, they got what they wanted, but they lost what they had.  The truth of the matter is that when God blesses us with something, the Bible says that it maketh rich and addeth no sorrow. 

I have spoken on numerous occassions of wanting something so bad that I convinced myself that this was the thing that God wanted me to have, or that God was telling me to get that particular thing.  Upon receiving (the car, for example), I praised God for it because I convinced myself that it was God.  Later on, I found out that it couldn't have been God because it was never a blessing to me.  It gave me trouble after trouble.

God's desire for me, and all Christians, is to rejoice with them that rejoice.  I find that in doing that it combats the spirit of jealousy that resides in all of us.  So, instead of withdrawing get involved and help that person who seems like they are getting what you have been wanting and see how God blesses you in the process.

Everybody desires increase.  We want to have more, go more, do more, be more.  The fact of the matter is increase doesn't automatically come because you ask God for it.  I know that this may surprise (or sound strange to) some because a lot of us have the mentality that if we ask and just believe it will happen.  Years ago, I was praying for increase and God plainly told me that if He gave me more, I wasn't able to handle it.  He told me that He wasn't going to give me more than I could handle.  That disappointed me at the time, but as I thought about it, it made a lot of sense.  I knew of people who suddenly came into large sums of money and found themselves after a few years broke.  Why?...because they didn't know how to handle it.  The statistics show that even in things like weight loss, the large majority of those who lose it will gain it back because they don't know how to discipline their appetite.  There are also all types of resolutions that are made in January and by March those resolutions are gone by the wayside.

I began to research scripture and I found several places that address these matters.  I don't have the space to discuss all of them here now, but one in particular in Luke 16:10 says: "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much:  and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much." What I saw in that scripture is that the way to the increase is to manage what God has already given me; to manage that well which is already in my possession.  During the early part of my adulthood I was frivolous in spending.  I was a poor manager of what God had allowed me to have.  My credit was a mess and it was just a reflection of my attitude toward scripture at that point in my life.  I didn't see the connection between how I managed that material things that God brought into my possession and my integrity.  I definitely didn't see how that would hinder what God would trust me with in the way of increase, and I was a pastor at the time.  It was the small things that were hindering me like not paying my bills on time and buying things that I didn't need. 

I had to learn how to become a better manager, and that was not easy.  Coming to the realization of that was powerful, but to put it in operation was very difficult.  It requires a life-change.  One of the major keys to increase is managing well what God has already given you, whether it be money, time, talent, or relationships.  Are you preparing yourself for increase?  Prepare to be blessed by learning how to appreciate and best use what you already have.

Giving up is an easy thing to do when you're under pressure.  In fact, for many of us, we become convinced that it is God; convinced that it was the will of the Lord for us to give up and quit, especially after we have fought for a while.  There are some immediate benefits that we gain by giving up:  We get rid of the pressure; We don't have to deal with the test anymore;   It feels like God has given us relief from our pain; It's just outright easier; There is a short-lived peace that you quickly obtain;  You are free to put your energy into something that seems like it's better; and It gives the impression of moving forward.  

However, we all need to understand that nothing happens to us unless God allows it.  Scripture says. "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it" (1 Corinthians 10:13).   Note that in scripture, escaping the temptation is not quitting (unless you're practicing sin), but it is bearing up under a burden.  Why? Because this is one of the many ways that God has chosen to strengthen our faith.  There are two ways to come out of a trial.  The first one is to give up.  The second one is to bear up. Both routes out end in the word up, and they both will seem like they are taken you in an upward motion.  The truth is that one is deceptive; it's a lie and won't lead you up and out...it could just take you out.

It has been my experience that when I have chosen the first way out that I usually find myself right back in the midst of the same set of circumstances a little later on.  But when God brings me out,  it means that I have learned the lesson of faith that the Holy Spirit was teaching me and my faith is ready to move UP to the next level.  Consider what I have said and may the Lord give you wisdom.

Growing up in my house there was never a dull moment.  When I was younger, my daddy taught us all to work.  We had to work.  There was no option.  He was self-employed with his own construction company, so we all had to learn how to do construction work.  Back in the early years, My father worked a lot of men who couldn't get jobs anywhere else.  Some of these men didn't have the opportunity to go to school because they had to enter the workforce really young in order to take care of their family's needs.

I remember distinctively two men who could not tell time.  One of them always wore a watch, even though he couldn't tell time.  Well, the one who did not have a watch and couldn't tell time went to the man who had the watch on but couldn't tell time.  (Remember this would have been before there were digital watches.) So, when the man without the watch went to the man with the watch he asked him, "What time is it?"  thinking that it was about time for lunch. The man who couldn't tell time held it up in the other man's face and said, "There it is right there!"  The gentleman who also couldn't tell time looked at it knowing that he couldn't tell time either and said, "I'll be dogged if it ain't".  They both walked off not knowing what time it was even though there was a time piece there to tell them, but they just couldn't read it. 

The Bible says, that we have not because we ask not.  In this scenario, there were two men who could have not only gotten the right time if they had asked, but they could have learned how to tell time, if they were not too proud to admit that they couldn't.  A lot of Christians are like that.  They would rather look like they know something knowing that they don't know it rather than to admit that they don't know and learn what they really need to know.  The temptation is always there to look better than you really are.  You can't get help like that.  You have got to admit:  "I don't know." Once you admit it, you can go to the right person (or the right place) to get the right answers, and equip yourself to know exactly what time it is!