A Pig With A Pink Ribbon Is Still A Pig

It's what they are.  

You can wash a pig and spray him with perfume and he's still a pig. You can put a pink ribbon around it and dress it in a pretty pig dress. They look good. They smell good. They look transformed! But let them outside and they will happily run straight to the nearest mud puddle they can find. Why? It’s their NATURE.

 

People with character issues will always disappoint you. 

Never put them in a position of responsibility unless you can keep a close eye on them. People can change but they really have want to and it won’t happen all at once. It’s great to give people a second chance but you better keep your eye on them.

Don’t put them in a position where their weakness can drag them and you down. You may think they are grateful and appreciative. They may even tell you they are, but what they are thinking is that they got away with it. They are thinking you are someone they can control and manipulate with excuses.

 

Don’t try to analyze or reason with them like you would a person you can trust.

The reason is, they don’t think like you do. You can’t really understand how they think and they aren’t even trying to understand how you think. They have their own agenda. They don’t understand give and take. They aren’t interested in fairness. They aren’t capable of considering what’s best for you. They’ll always cut any corners they can to give themselves and advantage. Trying to reason with them is futile. They don’t need you, they need professional help. But guess what? They don’t want help. 

 

If you doubt that, think about this.

One of the characteristics of people with character issues is that they live in denial. They don't take responsibility. They don't feel like they need to change. They are looking for ways to get ahead without working, without earning it. They see things you have and decide they need to have them. Why not? You have plenty.

If you catch them in a lie they will, on the spot, come up with another plausible sounding lie to cover up the first. I’ve always been amazed at the ability of people like this to effortlessly spin another bigger lie or rationalization whenever they are challenged. It’s at moments like this you realize you are dealing with someone who is not like you…AT ALL. Not only can they make up one lie after another, they seem to have the ability to believe it as truth as soon as they say it.  

That’s why if you insist on keeping them around you must keep your eye on them.  
Don't let their weakness hurt you. Sure it's great to give people a chance, but why put them in a position where they likely to fail? It's not fair to them, it's not fair to you.

Pay attention to character. You can’t let yourself be lulled to sleep by appearances. They may make an effort to look, talk and act better. They may make a great effort to act like they have changed. But stay alert. Any change will take a long, long time and they will probably have many relapses along the way. They may look pretty on the outside, but it’s what’s inside, their character that controls their actions. 

If they are rotten inside, they’ll act rotten because they can’t help it, it’s their nature. A pig is a pig is a pig - whether it's wearing a pink ribbon or not.

The Real Hall of Fame

What some call "God’s All Star Team"

In Hebrews 11:1–12:3, we see God and how He evaluates human performance. It becomes obvious that it’s not great personal effort and achievement that impresses him, but faith. It's those who realize and accept that they are not capable and as a result turn to Him. God wants to be active in our lives. He knows we are inadequate for the challenges we face yet He can only get involved if we operate from a position of trusting in Him to work through us.  Every time we try to “help” we interfere and shut His power down.  

He’s not looking for help He’s looking for our faith.
The normal challenges of life can be overwhelming by themselves; however God has specific purposes that he wants to accomplish through each of our lives. He wants to be able to accomplish things that are so far beyond our natural abilities that it will be obvious to all that they could have only been done if He was involved. If we trust Him and let him work through us He’s free to do what he wants, when he wants, the way wants. 

It takes a definite commitment to trust him and to keep trusting Him.
The people throughout history who have done this have been used to accomplish some amazing things and there are a lot more amazing things that can be done in the future.  As a result, Hebrews 11 gives us examples of these heroes to inspire us in our walk of faith.  Do you have overwhelming challenges in your life?  

Then trust the Lord to work through you His way, on His timetable, and prepare to be amazed at what happens.  

Hebrews 11 The Triumphs of Faith

¹ Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. ² This is what the ancients were commended for. 

 ³ By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. 

 ⁴ By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead. 

 ⁵ By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.”^[a] For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. ⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. 

 ⁷ By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith. 

 ⁸ By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. ⁹ By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. ¹¹ And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she^[b] considered him faithful who had made the promise. ¹² And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. 

 ¹³ All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. ¹⁴ People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. ¹⁵ If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. 

 ¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, ¹⁸ even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”^{[c] 19} Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death. 

 ²⁰ By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. 

 ²¹ By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. 

 ²² By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones. 

 ²³ By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. 

 ²⁴ By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. ²⁵ He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. ²⁶ He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. ²⁷ By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. ²⁸ By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel. 

 ²⁹ By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. 

 ³⁰ By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days. 

 ³¹ By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.^[d] 

 ³² And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, ³³ who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, ³⁴ quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. ³⁵ Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. ³⁶ Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. ³⁷ They were put to death by stoning;^[e] they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— ³⁸ the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. 

 ³⁹ These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, ⁴⁰ since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. 

Hebrews 12:1-3 — Jesus, The Example

¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

No Such Thing As A Secret

This says it all: "Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead." —Benjamin FranklinThere is no such thing as a secret. That’s the best attitude to have. Obviously a lot of people get away with hiding a lot of things but it's very risky.

It's hard to keep a secret.

Have you ever heard of the concept of “ if something can go wrong it will”? Also that when it goes wrong “it will go wrong at the worst possible time.”

You don’t need that hanging over your head. It's going to be impossible for you to continue to play at your best knowing there are things that could come to light at any time that could instantly turn your life into a nightmare.

One problem comes…
...when you get away with it for a while and then you think you are safe. You think you are above the law. Then you get sloppy. It's only a matter of time before the explosion comes. And once the toothpaste starts to pour out of the tube, it's not going back in.

Tiger Woods thought he was getting away with it. Enron executives thought they were getting away with it. NY Governor Elliot Spitzer though he was getting away with it. When the explosion came it was disastrous and totally destroyed all the positives of a lifetime that they had built up.

Another problem is…
...when the secret starts to come out it's so tempting to make desperate attempts to cover it up. These efforts almost never work and make the situation exponentially worse than they would have been if the mistakes had just been honestly acknowledged.

Isn’t it always said, as they lead people off to jail, that the actions that started the problem weren’t really the problem, it was the things done to “cover up” that ultimately got the offenders into real trouble.
So what is the best policy?

Always assume as you go through life that…THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A SECRET.

Does Worrying Help?

You're only wasting time...

Worrying never solved a problem and accomplishes nothing. Why not use that energy to pray, to trust in God, to take action? Being anxious doesn't really do anything, except hurt you.

The physical effects of anxiety and worry are very well documented and can lead to dire consquences. In addition to changing your appetite, sleep patterns and making it hard to concentrate, over the long term it can supress your immune system, cause digestive problems and even heart attacks.

Of course, it's easy to say, "Don't worry, be happy," but it is much harder to live without worry. But remember, when you worry, you're not trusting God. It's just the opposite. Stop and ask yourself if you're worrying about something that you have any control over. Probably not.

"Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life." 

—Phillippians 4:6-7, The Message Bible

The Eyes of the Lord

Feel all alone in the world? I know there are many times I do.

Do you ever feel that you have been abandoned, that for some reason you are being forced to go through some incredible problems and God is unaware?

Maybe he is preoccupied with some huge war on the other side of the earth, maybe a tidal wave or earthquake and he's forgotten about you?

Well, just like Apple has a saying "there's an app for that" it seems that in the Bible you'll find "there's a verse for that."

"For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His."
2 Chronicles 16:9

God is always watching. He does care. In addition, he will come to our aid and he will strongly support us.

The thing he's looking for is the attitude of the heart. At any given time in the world the vast ocean of humanity is busy trying to solve their own problems. They don't think they need God's help. They don't even really believe in God. They think they are self sufficient and can solve their own problems. The last thing they want is God meddling in their life. Because of this those who are trusting in God become very special to Him.

God has demonstrated his power and love for Israel by delivering them from the overwhelmingly powerful Ethiopians. Why did this happen? Because the Israelites relied on Him and called on Him for help.

However they decided they didn't need God's help with the next obstacle they ran into. King Asa decided he would just handle this one on his own. His heart had shifted from following God and being focused on what he wanted to what Asa wanted.  The result, God let him handle it on his own and the result was an unending series of more wars.

The lesson for us is clear - God is always watching.
He's paying attention to our hearts. He knows that when we follow our own desires and decide to go through life without his help the results will be bad. He can't support us when we are being selfish and self-centered.
But when we trust Him he can come strongly to our aid.

It won't always be on our time table. It won't always be in the way we wish.
He may delay things for a while to test us, to see if we'll keep trusting Him. It could be he delays his help for a while because he has some other purposes working.

But the word is clear, he will come to our aid if we continue to trust Him because His eyes are always watching.