INTRODUCTION:

Subject: FW: INNER STRENGTH

If you can start the day without caffeine or pep pills,
If you can be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,
If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,
If you can eat the same food everyday and be grateful for it,
If you can understand when loved ones are too busy to give you time,
If you can overlook when people take things out on you when, through no fault of yours, something goes wrong,
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,
If you can face the world without lies and deceit,
If you can conquer tension without medical help,
If you can relax without liquor,
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,
Then you are probably a dog.

MAIN BODY:

1. It's time to get serious.
1. Here is another bit of verse that begins with "IF"
2. Verse that creates the necessity of thinking about life in terms of challenges and response.

IF-, Rudyard Kipling [1865-1936]

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master;
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap. for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings;
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man (Woman), my son (child)!

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1. If is a potent word and a challenging one.
1. It strikes right at the heart of the matter of who we are and what we are about.
1. It challenges identity.
2. It tests purpose.
3. It tries faith.
4. It taxes belief.
5. It gages attitude.
2. If you area child of God what kind of life could you live?
1. You could live with peace and security.
2. You would overcome the doubts that interfere with the successes in life.
3. You can create a life filled with joy and contentment.
1. You notice that I have not mentioned happiness.
2. Happiness is an illusion, a chimaera, a mirage.
3. To accomplish these potentials you can use the same means that Jesus used.
2. Jesus is being challenged by the devil.
1. If
1. Here is this word that creates the potential for doubt and confusion.
2. If you are?
1. Who are you?
2. What are you?
3. If you are the Son of God.
1. The Son of God should not be found in this condition.
2. It is so easy to change your circumstances.
2. If you are the Son of God, turn these stones into bread.
1. This is the same temptation that confronted Adam and Eve in Genesis 3.1.
1. Did God say?
2. You can ignore what God said.
2. The temptation is to take control of life by believing that you can provide for your own sustenance and comfort.
3. It is an appeal to satisfy one's own appetite and passions.
4. The danger of this position is clearly described by John in 1 John 2.

¹⁵Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world; ¹⁶for all that is in the world--the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches--comes not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever.

1. God is not needed.
2. You can turn these stones into bread.
3. You have the power to fulfill your own needs.

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1. Jesus, even in near exhaustion in his emaciated state responds with the only alternative.
1. So he answers: ⁴..."It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
2. This is a quotation from Deuteronomy 8:3. To paraphrase:
1. The Israelites were humbled by their hunger.
2. They could not provide for themselves.
3. God fed them with manna which neither they nor their ancestors were acquainted.
4. This was done to help them, "understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD."
2. Jesus does not live by bread alone, "but by every word that comes from the mouth of God."
1. What does this mean for us?
1. We do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
1. On one case we call this the Bible.

A father was approached by his small son, who told him proudly, "I know what the Bible means!

"His father smiled and replied, "What do you mean, you 'know' what the Bible means?"

The son replied, "I do know!"

"Okay," said his father. "So, Son, what does the Bible mean?"

"That's easy, Daddy. It stands for Basic Information Before Leaving Earth."

1. It is also basic information for living and growing and relating.

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1. Word that comes from the mouth of God.
1. The Word according to John 1:1-3 in Jesus.
2. He is "the living bread which came down from heaven" (ch. 6:48-51).
3. Paul spoke of tasting "the good word of God" (Heb. 6:5).
4. Peter referred to the "sincere milk of the word" (1 Peter 2:2), by which the Christian is to grow.

CONCLUSION:

1. In a September 1998 newsletter my Thoughts from here and there...offered a contrast between good nutrition and fast food.

Elly says: "The dinner I'm going to starts at 6, John so I've prepared everything for you here. There's a nice casserole in the fridge just put it in the microwave and then into the oven at 350º 'till it bubbles...Put frozen peas into a covered Pyrex dish and microwave on high for three minutes, stir and heat again. I bought buns, there's a fresh garden salad , for dessert there is..."

Elizabeth interrupts, "We'll be fine, mom--honest."

Mom waves goodbye. John, Elizabeth and April are seen leaving through the front door. They go to a local burger restaurant where they are eating burgers, fries, and a soft drink.

Behind them on the wall is a menu board with headings which read: "Burgorama," "Dogorama," and "Spudorama."

1. This is an episode of "For Better or Worse," featuring the Patterson's as drawn and written by Lynn Johnston.
2. As I read the pictures and the dialogue, I wondered why?
1. In this age of health-consciousness, why?
2. Why the fat and sodium?
3. Why the calories?
4. Why not stay at home and eat the delicious and nutritious meal that Elly had prepared?
1. It is typical, is it not?
2. It gives us something to think about.
1. Just think of the table that God has spread.
1. We have a choice between the bread of heaven and the food of this world.
2. The food of this world may be characterized as,
1. "Deceitful," (Proverbs 23:2-3);
2. "Ashes," (Isaiah 44:20);
3. "Unsatisfying," (Isaiah 55:2);
4. "Like corn husks," (Luke 15:16);
5. and "Perishable," (John 6:27).
2. People consciousness of their nutrition needs would certainly seek that which satisfies and nurtures; they would wouldn't they?
1. What Lynn Johnston reveals is that is not always the case.
2. A sign outside a church in Indiana read:

If you don't feel strong enough, maybe you're not eating the right kind of bread. Try the Bread of Life.

1. That's very good council indeed.

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