Nothing is more irritating in my little world as forgetting a password to an account so I can simply pay a bill or research information!  I could be a loyal customer for years but if I don’t know (forgot) the password—I’m out of luck and no longer exist.  I am “dead” to them unless I know the way in.  Why make it so hard?  I know you are going to tell me, “it’s a security protection for me”, but if I just want to pay my bill, let me.  And, by the way, who’s going to want in to pay it for me?  Seriously, if someone wants to pay my bills—let them in!

The tech world is now run by passwords and with double security checks!  They ask questions that force me to remember my childhood playmate from first grade or who made me mad in the church nursery as an infant.  Life gets even harder when what I thought was my password is no longer is the way to get in! Sometimes our bank will tighten up their security by no longer accepting my password, requiring me to come up with an entirely new password that is original, unique only to me, never been used, unforgettable, and must contain about a thousand characters!  Ugh.

This and other irritations of life come from being too busy, too much in a hurry, seeking all that is crazy and mostly insignificant.  We don’t allow ourselves any margin for error in our lives.  This song, “Breathe,” convicts me this morning:

Alarm clock screaming bare feet hit the floor
It’s off to the races everybody out the door
I’m feeling like I’m falling behind, it’s a crazy life

Ninety miles an hour going fast as I can
Trying to push a little harder trying to get the upper hand
So much to do in so little time, it’s a crazy life
It’s ready, set, go it’s another wild day
When the stress is on the rise in my heart I feel you say just

Breathe, just breathe
Come and rest at my feet
And be, just be
Chaos calls but all you really need
Is to just breathe

Third cup of joe just to get me through the day
Want to make the most of time but I feel it slip away
I wonder if there’s something more to this crazy life
I’m busy, busy, busy, and it’s no surprise to see
That I only have time for me, me, me
There’s gotta be something more to this crazy life
I’m hanging on tight to another wild day
When it starts to fall apart in my heart I hear you say just

Breathe, just breathe
Come and rest at my feet
And be, just be
Chaos calls but all you really need

Is to take it in, fill your lungs
The peace of God that overcomes
Just breathe (just breathe)
let your weary spirit rest
Lay down what’s good and find what’s best
Just breathe (just breathe)

Just breathe, just breathe
Come and rest at my feet
And be, just be
Chaos calls but all you really need
Is to just breathe
Just breathe

Source: LyricFind, Songwriters: Jonathan Smith / Jonny Diaz / Tony Wood

No passwords with God, knowing Jesus is seriously to Way to God!  Then do what God says!

Matthew 7:13-29, The Message

Being and Doing

^13-14 “Don’t look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don’t fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention.

^15-20 “Be wary of false preachers who smile a lot, dripping with practiced sincerity. Chances are they are out to rip you off some way or other. Don’t be impressed with charisma; look for character. Who preachers are is the main thing, not what they say. A genuine leader will never exploit your emotions or your pocketbook. These diseased trees with their bad apples are going to be chopped down and burned.

^21-23 “Knowing the correct password—saying ‘Master, Master,’ for instance—isn’t going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doingwhat my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, ‘Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our super-spiritual projects had everyone talking.’ And do you know what I am going to say? ‘You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don’t impress me one bit. You’re out of here.’

^24-25 “These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.

^26-27 “But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.”

^28-29 When Jesus concluded his address, the crowd burst into applause. They had never heard teaching like this. It was apparent that he was living everything he was saying—quite a contrast to their religion teachers! This was the best teaching they had ever heard.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Be before Doing.  Be still before God, let go of our will, so we can hear the will of God.  Then do it! 

To be before doing means talking with God first.  Jesus taught us how to talk to God in pray in this same powerful sermon on the mountainside. 

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”                          (Matthew 6:9-13, NIV, emphasis mine)

Breathe in God’s Holy Spirit with each breath we take.  Listen to our Helper who leads us to take a beat in our efforts to manage our lives to get to know God better so we can do life His way for our best! 

Read Psalm 46:10-11, slowly, and take all the time needed to just breathe.

“He (God) says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.’

The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Let’s break down what God is saying to us—

• Be still and know that I am God.
• Be still and know.
• Be still.
• Be.

The password is BE then DO.  You’re welcome.

Lord,

I’m taking deep breaths physically right now in order to let go and be still before you.  I am emptying my mind of today’s agenda so I can hear your plan.  I am being before doing anything which I am learning actually saves time and effort on my part.  Doing what you say after being with you brings peace and joy in the doing.  Thank you, Lord, for lessons in what we really need—to be at your feet with eyes fixed on you.  Help me to breathe.

In Jesus Name, Amen