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What do you do when someone lets you down?

I spoke to someone recently who was pretty disappointed with a few people.  People he had trusted and hoped would walk alongside and help didn’t follow through.  People from work, from his neighborhood and yes, even people from church.

When Jesus walked through this planet, he had his share of let downs.  In fact, his closest friends whom he spent lots of time with turned their backs on him.

As I said a prayer for him yesterday morning, a couple of things came to mind.

1. BELIEVE THE BEST IN THAT PERSON.

Jesus had no plan B.  If the disciples wouldn’t do it, no one else would.  He believed in them in spite of their misgivings.

That’s what’s great about Jesus.  He didn’t see them for who they were but for who they would become.

If Jesus gave up on me, I would’ve been gone a long time ago.

2. TRUST THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THAT PERSON.

People are people and they make mistakes.  We all do.  That’s life.  But if the Holy Spirit is alive in that person, we can trust Him to do His work and remind, nudge, convict or knock on that person’s heart.

Jesus gave people time to bounce back.  He allowed them to make the mistake and then with open arms receive them back.  Look at Peter’s life.  He outright denied Him.  But he came back.

We all are a work in progress.  He’s not done with us yet.  Not with them and certainly not with us.

There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears. (Phil. 1:6, The Message Bible)

Picked up a book by Larry Burkett, a financial guru.  Very interesting stuff.

Here are some of the insights I got.

- The simplest economic principle ever written: “If you don’t overspend, you won’t get in debt.”

- Greater Sucker Theory: “If you’re sucker enough to buy it, there must be a greater sucker around who will pay a higher price.”

- Remember, it’s NOT what you make that generates debt.  It’s what you spend.

- Everybody SHOULD live on a budget.

Early on in the book, he discusses a pretty interesting question: “Who is the bigger spender?  The man or the woman?”

After years of counseling married couples, he has come to the conclusion that majority of spending in marriage is not done by the wife.  Under an impulse, a woman will buy too much food or too many clothes.  Under the same impluse, her husband will buy a new car, a Plasma TV, a newer version of the latest game console, etc.

According to Larry Burkett, men don’t buy often, but when we do, we buy big-ticket items.  (Anyone agrees with that conclusion?)

He then gives 3 quick suggestions to battle impulse buying:

1. Don’t ever buy anything that isn’t budgeted, unless you wait at least 30 days.

2. Get at least 3 different prices on the item within that 30 days.

3. Never have more than 1 item on your impulse list at any time.

What will you find after you do this?  Dr. Burkett says you won’t buy on impulse, because first, before the 30 days are up, you’ll find something else you want more than the first item.  So you’ll scratch the first item off and add your new item.  Then you’ll have to wait another 30 days, and the impulse will pass (usually).

“The naive believes everything but the prudent man considers his steps. (Proverbs 14:15)

I’m excited about our new series we’ve dubbed as WWW.VICTORY. As we celebrate our 25th anniversary of Honoring God and Making Disciples, we are going to look at WHO we are, WHY we do what we do and WHAT we exist for, hence the title www.victory.

Week 1 – Honor God
Week 2 – Make Disciples
Week 3 – Multi-Generational

But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. – 1 Cor. 15:57