“Clinch…” (by Mel McGuire)

During boxing matches, from time to time, the fighters will stop punching and use a tactic known as the “clinch”. This is basically a hug, that prevents or limits the ability to throw effective punches.

Boxers use this when they are tired, or when they are trying to break their opponent’s momentum. Since the point of the match is to fight, the referee usually will eventually step in and separate the fighters, so they can begin punching again.

But there are also times when the referee, for a couple of different reasons, will tell the fighters to “punch their way out” of a clinch. This means he will NOT break it up, or separate them, they have to fight their way clear.

When you are winning a fight, a clinch can be frustrating, for it calls for a different strategy than what was probably working for you. If you are not careful, fighting out of a clinch can give your opponent an easy shot at you.

From time to time in my spiritual battle, I have felt like I was in a clinch. I was still in a fight, but there seemed to be a lull in the action. To be honest, most of the time I felt I was so close to a sin habit or destructive lifestyle pattern, I needed the referee to come in and separate me from it.

God, being faithful, especially early in my walk, would show up and push me away, protecting me in the process. Then the fight would resume. And before I knew it, I was in another clinch.

Eventually God stays back…He is close, but He does not step in. I can hear Him, like a referee tells a fighter, “fight your way out”. He expects me to break the clinch myself…by punching my way clear.

Repetitive or habitual sins are usually the ones with which we battle and wind up in a clinch. Whether we are winning or losing, it does not matter it seems. We are in a clinch and we must fight our way out.

We must keep our spiritual guard up lest we take an unsuspecting close range shot, and allow the momentum of the battle to swing against us.

Even though we are tired of the fight, and would love to “rest in the clinch”, boxers know clinching takes a lot of energy, it’s just used differently that actively punching. So even though you are not punching, you are not resting either!

Fight the good fight. Stay active as you battle in the spirit. Resist the temptation to rest in a clinch. Keep punching, keep moving, stay aggressive. Doing so makes it hard to “tie up your hands” and makes a clinch less likely.

But if you do find yourself in a clinch, don’t wait for God to break you free…punch your way out, fight your way clear.

Our battle is in the spirit; our weapons are not carnal. Protect yourself at all times. Stick and move…and avoid the clinch.

“Evacuate… (by Mel McGuire)

Corpus Christi,TX, 8/22/99 The threat of Hurricane Bret, being rated at a force four, led to Padre Island and Corpus Christi being evacuated. Here, wise residents under the advance winds and rains that lead the main storm, jam Hwy 37 heading NW towards San Antonio out of Corpus Christi. Photo by DAVE GATLEY/FEMA News Photo

I am writing this during “Hurricane season”. I just happen to live in “earthquake country”, so I am not directly impacted by the various levels of tropical storms and hurricanes that threaten our country every year. Even if I did, I wouldn’t be…because I would evacuate.

I marvel at the people, given ample warning and amidst threats of biblical devastation, refuse to leave areas that are almost certain to be hammered by Hurricane “fill in the blank”.

Evacuate. This year saw newscasters go to unprecedented lengths to convince or even scare people into leaving. And still, faced with all the latest and updated information, there are those diehards who refuse to evacuate.

The image kind of tells the tale. The majority of folks are going one way…out, away from trouble. But not all. And when they choose to stay, it forces others to stay as well, so someone will be available to come and rescue those who refused to evacuate.

Now, before I get blasted for criticizing certain people, I am NOT talking about those who get caught in hurricanes because they couldn’t get out. I am talking about people who choose to stay when they could have left. There is a difference.

There are some hurricanes in our lives as believers too. When everyone and everything around is telling you to evacuate, do you choose to stay? Some of us stayed in relationships…we thought we could “ride it out”, only to be devastated in the end. Evacuate.

Sometimes it is a habit, a sin (let’s be honest) that is giving warning after warning that we will not be able to withstand its effects…and we choose to stay. And our friends, our pastors, our family…have to stay close as well. So they can come to our rescue…again.

Evacuate. Stop thinking you are so different or indestructible that you will be able to fix stuff as it breaks. Like a man thinking he will simply repair his freshly damaged roof in one hundred miles an hour winds! Evacuate.

Think about it. Listen to those who have survived the very storms you are about to face, learn from our foolish mistakes. When God says go, pack your stuff and go. Period.

There are times we all need to rebuild, and hurricanes can force you into that place. There is no need for you to risk your life, spiritual or natural, to save something God has slated for destruction.

To evacuate is not a sign of fear, or of defeat. Often it is a sign of wisdom and obedience. Whether it be a relationship, an institution, a job, a residence, or a lifestyle…when hurricane season comes, and the word is to “get out while you can” …evacuate.

God’s way of escape is not always to walk through the fire, or to put the fire out. Keeping you from the fire is just as powerful a testimony. Evacuate.

“Dictionary…” (by Mel McGuire)

My daughter used to enjoy reading the dictionary. She would read aloud the definitions of common words and I was surprised at her enunciation and diction. I was really surprised at how different my definitions of words were from what the dictionary says.

Then she started asking me what certain words mean and I realized I had no idea of the “dictionary definition”. My excuse was “I don’t think like a dictionary, I know how to use the words to communicate.” She seemed…skeptical. The more I tried to explain, the more idiotic I must have sounded to her. She eventually left me alone and went back to reading…to herself.

I left that encounter wondering what God was trying to teach me, and this is what I got out of it. Too often we think we know what the bible says, but our definition or recollection is not really accurate. We think we know how to apply the principles, laws, techniques and practices outlined or illustrated in the word, but do we really?

Sometimes we need to go back to the word and “look up” what it is we are doing. I will give you some examples that I thought of. Repentance is not simply apologizing. Forgiveness has an element of forgetting that goes with it. Grace is unmerited favor, but it can be frustrated and abused. Love is a decision and more than a feeling. Marriage is less about you than you may want to believe. “Lord” implies a 24 hour, 365 day arrangement, with no Holidays or furloughs.

Humility is not a bad thing, and meekness is NOT weakness. Obedience is still better than sacrifice and a good name to be had than riches. Giving is God’s way of blessing you and money is not our source, but a resource.

We think we know what all these things mean, but how we “use them in a sentence” to communicate (through our lives and lifestyles) isn’t what God had in mind.

We are living examples of bible “slang” if you will. Our lives have become commonly accepted depictions of something that may not even closely resemble the original intent. We need to get back to the “dictionary definition” of some of these things so we can teach others the truth and the right way.

Walking in love is not the same as being in love is it? Intercession is different than gossip right? Submission is not a cuss word the last time I checked and it applies to more than just wives towards their own husbands.

The bible is more than a road map and an operating manual. It also is a dictionary, defining what God’s word says and means. Go read your dictionary and where needed apply some spiritual “spell check” to your life.

The bible, God’s word…where we go to find meaning and definition.