Ceremony is fine. Pagentry is alright. Ritual can be meaningful. Decorations are nice. Sermons contain good information. Religious services are sometimes helpful.

However, if we don't have an ongoing, personal, obedient relationship with the living Jesus Christ -- haven't we missed the whole point of Easter?

If you are walking down a hallway and hear 3 or 4 people talking about an evil, self-destructive, or vulgar subject; are you guilty of wrong doing? No! You cannot control and you are not responsible for the conversation of others.

If you are walking along and suddenly an evil, self-destructive, or vulgar thought drops into your mind; are you guilty of wrong doing? No! You cannot prevent a thought from entering your mind and are therefore not responsible for it.

It you stop and begin to listen to the wrongful conversation of those people; are you responsible of wrong doing? Yes, indeed.

If you begin to entertain and ponder that wrongful thought that suddenly enters your mind; are you guilty of doing wrong? Yes, indeed.

In both of these cases -- the evil conversation and the evil thought -- you cannot help being exposed to it. So don't accept guilt for what others say or for thoughts that pop into your mind. However, always remember that once you engage the thought or conversation, you have become a party to it.

So here is a key to a happier and better life. Flee every evil conversation whether in person or on sickovision. And resist and flee every wrongful thought the very moment it enters your mind. Try this and see if you don't feel much better about yourself.

I don't know why, but people tend to sell motivational books, CDs, and posters in yard sales. I guess they get tired of having that inspirational material around so they decide to get a quarter or a dollar for it. But for me, inspirational material is priceless.

I bought an antique post card for a quarter at a yard sale once. I know it is antique because it says "3 cents" where the stamp goes.

The front of the card contains the picture of an oak tree and a man standing on his head and pointing to the tree. It reads: "If your troubles are plentiful and your rewards are few, remember the mighty oak was once a nut like you."

Now that encourages me. If an oak tree can go from a nut to greatness, so can I. (And you can too!)

A Zulu proverb says: "Blessed are those who can please themselves." Oh, how much time we human beings spend displeasing ourselves. Paul of Tarsus put it this way: "What I want to do, I do not do; but what I hate, I do . . . For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do -- this I keep on doing." (Sounds like somebody trying to stick to a diet.)

So, why do we humans do things that we don't want to do and then feel bad about ourselves and wallow in quilt and shame (sometimes for the rest of our lives)? Why can't we please ourselves? Why are we into such self-condemnation?

Good questions! I'm glad I asked them.

I believe that almost everybody sincerely wants to do good and to be good -- but it is so difficult! It is like there is a magnet inside of us pulling us into self-destructive thoughts and behaviors. We resist it for awhile, but we finally give in. And then we feel messed up -- like we are evil -- and we often think: "I've already messed up, so why should I try to do right in this area any more?" So we jump into our negative thoughts and behaviors about that particular part of our life, "whole hog". Meanwhile, deep inside of us, we feel really bad about what we are doing, but we attempt to medicate away the guilt with activity, work, TV, drugs, drink, sex, money, and on and on.

Whew! It wears me out just writing about this. Can you imagine living it? Of course you can. We've all been there at some point, in some area of our life -- "What I want to do, I do not do; but what I hate, I do."

Is there any hope? Yes! Yes indeed! Like the Zulu proveb says, we can please ourselves. It takes faith and it takes effort. (As James said: "Faith without works is dead.")

You have not just displeased yourself. There is a God, and you have offended Him as well! He offers His forgiveness if you will go to Him in sincere repentance. He paid the debt of your sin through the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross. (Oh, by the way, Happy Easter!).
(For more on being forgiven read I John 1:9 in the Bible).

Once you are forgiven you are clean from that self-destructive behavior. Now comes the effort. Stay clean. Do right. Get help. Avoid temptation. Confess to God and to another human being the very moment you even lean toward that behavior. (That would be a great use for your cell phone -- a confession line. "Help me, dear friend, I am thinking about that behavior again.") Now don't wimp out to those inner forces. Stand up and fight them for the rest of your days. You can win within if you will make the effort. And as you begin to please yourself, you will feel so blessed!

I find in my inner life -- in my thoughts and emotions -- forces are attacking me and trying to coerce me into negative and self-destructive behaviors. And I am not alone. Other people tell me similar forces are at work in them. And I also observe people acting and speaking in ways contrary to their own best interest.

Sometimes, however, we fail to notices those forces because we are cooperating and flowing with them. But if we decide to think or act in a more wholesome way, those negative forces can be ferocious. They can literally yank us back into our familiar self-destructive behaviors.

Many people rationalize and justify their yielding to unwholesome inner forces. They say things like: "That's just the way I am," or "Everybody does it," in order to explain away their defeat to their compulsions.

And yet, as humans, we have the power to act and think as we choose. We don't have to give in to any inner self-destructive desire. It is not easy, but we can overcome our inner enemies.

What good does it do us if we win honors and awards; if we make millions and live in a mansion; if we are in bondage to negative inner forces?

True victory must be within, where only we see. Everybody may think we are doing fantastic, but if in our own mind and heart we are unhappy then we are defeated -- we are losing the game of life.

The negative forces at work in you and me are not our masters! We are the masters of those self-destructive forces and we have every right to cast them down and live a life of joy, peace, and victory.

But it won't happen automatically. It involves a fight. Are you up for it? Why not declare war on your inner enemies today?