"The Fifty"

I have been thinking about writing a blog for a long time but it has been only in the last 8 months I have been able to have the time to think about what to write. God moved me to a new place to be able to begin to share my thoughts. Another thing that happened was the result of the gas price increase. I started to take the bus to work. It is known as ,"The Fifty", traveling from Saratoga Springs to Schenectady. As I have been riding the bus, you get to know the characters who are regulars on the bus. "Big RED", "Jabber Talker". "NICKy, the cross dresser" and many more! We also had the police called 2 times for a potential fight and a crazy person.

What does this all have to do with our "Adventure in Life?"

Jesus dealt with "The Fifty"

A chronically ill woman
A tax collector
A divorced woman
A killer of Jews
A cripple

..And more

He dealt with people who had a need for him. People who were broken, down and out and "losers" by the worlds standards.

I am one of the people on "The Fifty", broken and down and out by God's standards. Nothing can repair this condition without the hope we have in Jesus. Without him, we can try on our own but we will not be "successful"

This condition is a result of the sin in my life which cannot be dealt with outside my relationship with Christ. The gravity of the situation and the answer is best summarized in Romans 7.

..From The Message

Yes. I'm full of myself—after all, I've spent a long time in sin's prison. What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary.

But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.

It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.

I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?

The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.

Something "Totally Different"

...That is the Adventure