Thursday, September 8th, 2022
I posted this yesterday, but the graphic came out too small. I redid it.
I am using this as an illustration with inmates to explain how they can be born-again believers and go back to using alcohol or drugs or commit crimes again when they get out of jail. The message is that they need to stay in the 3rd or 4th quadrant to avoid returning to jail again. They may have more of God than themselves in the jail, but when they are released and get caught up in the distractions and busyness of life on the outside, they can slip back into the 2nd quadrant or even the 1st quadrant, and that’s where they fall once again. The same holds true for you. When you are so busy that you don’t have time for God and spend your time in the 2nd or 1st quadrant, that’s when you lose your temper or try to get even with someone or say cruel things to those you love.
This is not a one-time positioning. I may start off the day in the 4th quadrant during my devotional time and then fall back to a 2 in the afternoon when I get so busy I don’t have time for God in my life. Last week, during an afternoon, I was so full of myself that I said a very cruel thing to a member of our family. I was in the 1st quadrant.
The key in all this is to recognize where you are at all times. What I should have done when I was in the 1st quadrant was to read Scripture, pray, or call a spiritual partner to be encouraged to run to Jesus as fast as I could.
John 3:30 is the operational verse for all this. “He must become greater; I must become less.” The chart helps us understand visually how that affects our life.
September 8th, 2022 at 3:41 pm
Very good message, Pat.