{"id":280,"date":"2016-05-12T16:58:38","date_gmt":"2016-05-12T16:58:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/?p=280"},"modified":"2016-05-12T16:58:38","modified_gmt":"2016-05-12T16:58:38","slug":"turning-deadlines-into-lifelines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/?p=280","title":{"rendered":"Turning Deadlines into Lifelines"},"content":{"rendered":"

And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.<\/em><\/p>\n

Romans 8:10<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>Deadlines create stress even in the most joyous of occasions. \u00a0\u201cDeadline\u201d is a negative word which first appeared in a Georgia Confederate prison camp. Confederates built a rail around the stockade where they held the Union soldiers. The deadline<\/em> loomed twenty feet from that railing. Death awaited any prisoners caught beyond that line.<\/p>\n

Though today\u2019s deadlines rarely result in actual death, the word speaks to the inner turmoil. A fixed point in time, when all work must be completed, can evoke serious stressful feelings. Nobody wants to fail<\/em> in any responsibility.<\/p>\n

Recently I was the best man in my son\u2019s wedding. Granted, the success of the wedding didn\u2019t depend upon me, but I felt stress as deadline approached. The house needed cleaning for out of town guests. I had to produce a bride and groom video for the rehearsal dinner. I had to plan the bachelor party. I had to prepare speeches \u2026 and \u2026. and \u2026.<\/p>\n

The wedding ended up being a joyous occasion, but leading up to it I fought to stay in the present moment and embrace life rather than duty.<\/p>\n

As believers, Christ is our life. When we embrace Him as our value<\/strong> and our source<\/strong>, He becomes our lifeline<\/em>, turning deadlines<\/em> into joy because of His presence and life.<\/p>\n

Value \u00a0<\/strong>One reason I dread deadlines is my fear of failure. I struggle seeing my value in what I do. In the wedding I didn\u2019t want to let my son down, but I also didn\u2019t want others to see me as a failure in my roles of best man and father of the groom. Truth<\/b><\/span>: My true value has nothing to do with what I do, but with what Christ has done.[1]<\/strong><\/a> It\u2019s by Christ\u2019s life that I\u2019m righteous, not by my own success.[2]<\/strong><\/a> My greatest value is being a child of God.[3]<\/strong><\/a> Failure has been nailed to the cross. [4]<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Source \u00a0<\/strong>When I strive to succeed in my own strength, I become very dutiful, and allow my work to steal my joy. I believe the familiar lie that it is all up to me. Truth<\/b>: As a believer, I was crucified with Christ. By His Spirit, He now indwells me. My life is now a moment by moment dependence upon His life in me. Apart from this yielding to Him, I can produce nothing of eternal value.[5]<\/strong><\/a> [6]<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Lord, I\u2019m sorry for seeking value apart from you and striving on my own. You are my value and my source of strength. When I see you as my life, the stress of deadlines are turned into the joy of your life in me. You have done it all, please help me to continue to rest in your finished work. <\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>Challenge<\/strong>: Think of a deadline you have coming up. Determine to work for God\u2019s glory and not your own. Ask Christ to be your strength by His Indwelling Spirit and rest in His finished work.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Ephesians 2:8-9<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> 2nd<\/sup> Corinthians 5:21<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Ephesians 1:5<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Galatians 2:20<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Galatians 2:20<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> John 15:5<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. Romans 8:10 \u00a0Deadlines create stress even in the most joyous of occasions. \u00a0\u201cDeadline\u201d is a negative word which first appeared in a Georgia Confederate prison camp. Confederates built a rail around the stockade where … Continue reading Turning Deadlines into Lifelines<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":281,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[78,83,73,82,80,79,58,45,7,75,77,74,76,81],"class_list":["post-280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-choosing-life-over-work","tag-christ","tag-christs-finished-work","tag-deadline","tag-dependence","tag-dutiful","tag-fear-of-failure","tag-gods-presence","tag-it-is-finished","tag-joy","tag-life","tag-source","tag-stress","tag-value","tag-yielding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}