Shake It Off and Step Up! There was an old farmer who had a mule... the mule was getting old and his eyesight was going bad... an the old farmer let him roam around the farm at will. The old Mule fell into an old well. He started baying and hee-hawing for all he was worth. The farmer heard him and went looking for him. When he found him he did all he could to get too him and save him but there was just no way to get him out! He was sick about it, he loved that old mule… but there was nothing he could do to save him. He got a few of his neighbors together and his son and they looked at the situation and they all agreed there wasn’t anything they could do. So, to put him out of his misery they started to cover him up. When the dirt starting hitting that mules back he went berzerk, he was hysterical! Baying, kicking, and doing all the things mules do when they get hysterical! But it didn’t help... that old mule was still in the same situation, same circumstance… in a Pit! All he was doing was getting upset, and worn out in the process. The only thing he could do was shake the dirt off that was being thrown on him and as it piled up around Him.. step up! And that’s what he did. He would "Shake it off and Step up... Shake it off and Step up... Shake it off and Step up!" He wasn’t going crazy, he wasn’t hysterical now, and wasn’t in a "panic” he just kept “SHAKING IT OFF AND STEPPING UP!” Several hours went by and it wasn't long before the farmer saw that old mules ears pop up out of that well! So they started shoveling harder and faster! Eventually that old mule took one last kick and jumped up out of that old well! The moral of the story? From time to time every one of us will find ourselves in a PIT! WHEN that happens… Don’t Panic, get all Hysterical and go berzerk! Shake it Off and Step Up! Hebrews 12:4-13 NLT - 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. The Chapter before Heb. 12 is 11, it’s the “HALL OF FAITH.” The Writer of Hebrews mentions those in the Bible who persevered, endured, were steadfast in their Faith (Belief, Trust) of God and Obedient to Him! These weren’t perfect people and at times they were in some horrible situations and PITS of their own. But they “Shook it off, Stepped up” to Honor and Glorify God! Look at Hebrews 12:4-13 - 4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart (give up!) when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens (disciplines) everyone he accepts as his son.” 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline —then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been tra...
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