MY LITTLE RED NOTEBOOK...

of which you will apparently see no pictures because my laptop is, once again, playing hard to get with my phone and ignoring it, is where I take notes from TV sermons I see. It is mainly my notes from Wednesdays with Beth on Life Today, but there are also notes from sermons by Brian Houston of Hillsong and James Robison of Life Today.
I don't know about you, but I have been know to take notes and then never look at them again. Much like some of my students. I mean I am great in moment. I have bold prints and arrows and bullets, and then I close my little red book and never look at it again. I did the same with my sermon notes for a bit, until I decided I needed to be a better student.
I decided last week I wanted to read back over my notes in the red book. I have 2 years worth of notes to look through. I ran across one over desire and desperation and felt the highlights were worth sharing. This material is from Beth Moore. Not Rhonda. This is Rhonda.

• What is it you feel you lack that would make you complete?
• wealth, fame, husband, kids, great friends, that particular friend, skinny thighs...
• Because right there is the place you are vulnerable.
• oh man.....
• Guard that area! That is where the heavenly war is raged.
• be diligent!
• John 1:38
• What seek ye? What do you want?
• Genesis 30:1
• What do you think you will just die if you don't have? (See bullet #1)
• My enemy is watching over my desire.
• IF UNGUARDED, MY DESIRE TURNS INTO DESPERATION.
• Get completion in God first
• Don't make decisions out of desperation.

That last line makes me think of those Direct TV commercials, especially the one with Charlie Sheen.


I don't need to give you a list of the examples we all see of desire becoming desperation in our very own lives, much less the ones played out on a national forum.
Eating disorders, money stealers, adultery, jealousy, lust,  murder...we can list all the examples we want.
Since reading this last week, I have been looking at my own life and found a few places where the wave of desire is trying to turn into a tsunami of desperation. Let's surrender those areas to Jesus. It won't be easy. Our flesh so wants what it wants, and sometimes it wants good things, but even our desire for good things can turn into a not so good desperation.
With Christ Jesus, though, we can choose.
Choose today.