In the mid 1700s a young Prussian King named Frederick the Great coined the word audacity.  Against overwhelming odds, when any other European monarch would have locked themselves up in the castle and sent emissaries to negotiate terms of surrender, the young Frederick attacked winning the day and eventually the war.  It was a surprise attack because nobody expected light cavalry to charge into a force twenty times their size.  King Frederick’s success against such an overwhelming force still stands today as one of the greatest achievements in military history and is why he is called ‘The Great’.

There was another great man in history that also had the audacity to enter into an overwhelming situation.  His name was Aaron, the brother of Moses.  After an extended ritual Aaron entered the Holy of Holies where he stood totally transparent in the presence of God!  He faced death dressed in a beautiful long robe with golden bells sown onto hem and a cord tied around his ankle.  The bells dragged along the floor signaling to those in the outer chamber that he was still alive; however if any sin was found in him he would have dropped dead.  The cord in that case would have been used to drag him out of the chamber.  To be sure, it was a brazen act of boldness much more daring than Frederick the Great to stand bare before your Creator.

It is all about a pure heart.  As the Creator, God knows how we work.  The reason we need a pure heart to approach God is not because He is ‘The Law’ but because He is The Father.  He is absolutely pure.  He is love.  He is forgiveness.  When we step into His presence without a pure heart He hears us alright and desires to give us our every desire but unfortunately we don’t believe it.  If we don’t believe it we can’t receive it.

Unanswered prayer gets down to mechanics.  The paradox is created when we come to God in need but don’t allow Him to help.  Like Adam we feel too guilty.  Sin creates the guilt.  We feel like we don’t merit help but that doesn’t stop us from asking.

The book of Revelations gives us a great picture.  Jesus is standing at the door of our heart knocking (Rev 3:20-4:1).  He wants to come in but we have the key.  We are calling for help but He can’t do anything unless we open the door.  But we don’t want to open the door because that would expose our messy little lives.

Unfortunately this door is the only way that help can come because it is the door to the things of the Spirit.  Every single thing that God gives to us must come though this door because God is Spirit.  Every thing begins in the Spirit, our healing, our joy and even that new car.  Spiritual things manifest themselves into the flesh.  That is how Jesus was born of Mary; the Spirit becoming flesh.

So we go though the vanity of asking God for stuff we don’t think we can receive.  We keep asking and asking, going through all kinds of formulas and gyrations but with the safety of having the door locked.  God gets a bad rap about not caring or being cruel when we are the ones at fault.

Aaron gave us a great example.  He cleaned up before an audience with the King.  He went through a complete cleansing, sanctification, purification process to insure that he was right with God which meant that he was right with himself.  This is what gave him the confidence to talk with God and the faith to receive.  Even though the tabernacle in the wilderness was under the law, it is a great way to rehearse what Jesus has provided for us in the Spirit.

Rocky J. Malloy

“Hedonic Adaptation” (adapting to pleasure) is a biblical doctrine.  The premise is used both by economists and sociologists to explain why we rapidly and inevitably adapt to almost everything we experience eventually taking it for granted.

If you live in a world in which you experience misery more often than joy, adaptation is very beneficial.  It may be the only thing that gives you the strength and courage to get through the day.  But if you live in a world of plenty, in which sources of joy outnumber sources of misery, then adaptation defeats your attempts to enjoy your good fortune.

Whereas adaptation does nothing to negate improvements in our lives it does much to negate the satisfaction we derive from those improvements.  An example of hedonic adaptation would be walking into an air-conditioned building on a hot humid day.  At first the feeling of the cool dry air is very refreshing and pleasant but within a few moments we no longer notice it because we have adapted.

Pleasure derived from positive experiences does not last.  What’s worse, people seem unable to anticipate the process of adaptation.  The waning of pleasure or enjoyment over time always seems to come as an unpleasant surprise.  That high quality sound system, luxury car and the 10,000 square foot house will not provided the same level pleasure it gave when first experienced.  Once the excitement of the “new thing” wears off our happiness index falls back to where it was before we had the experience.

Faced with this inevitable disappointment, what do people do?  Some people wise up realizing that lasting pleasure is not derived from things.  However most are driven instead to pursue novelty, to seek out new commodities and experiences.  They are captivated by the “grass is greener somewhere else” syndrome.  In time, these new commodities lose their intensity.  Ignorant of adaptation, people get caught up in the chase, a process that has been labeled the “Hedonic Treadmill.”  What follows is a vicious cycle of materialism: obtaining more and more stuff while experiencing less and less joy with each acquisition.

Jesus called it the “deceitfulness of riches” (Matt 13:22).  King Solomon said, “He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase” (Eccl 5:10).

Being aware of adaptation makes us more prudent in our decision-making processes understanding that the “high” we get from new things will not last.  Many times we are still paying the note on things that no longer bring us joy.  That leads to buyer’s remorse: the guilt we experience for trying to find satisfaction in the accumulation of things.

The only antidote to the unconscious process of hedonic adaptation is gratitude!  Expressing gratitude makes us physically healthier, and more optimistic, alert, enthusiastic, and energetic.  Giving thanks makes us feel better about our lives and more likely to achieve personal goals.  By focusing on how much better our lives are now than what could have been, or how bless we really are we can defeat the adaptation process allowing us to truly enjoy life at levels no material increase can provide.

The Bible tells us to give thanks continually and express our gratitude praising God for all He has done for us.  As Americans I believe we should be doubly grateful for the freedoms we enjoy and the liberties we have.

Rocky J. Malloy

PIG is a term used in modern physiology to describe the Problem of Immediate Gratification i.e. the ‘PIG’ and refers to the universal principle that causes people to choose a small reward now at the expense of a much a larger reward later.  Another version of the PIG is to avoid a small punishment now only to get a bigger punishment later.

The Bible also has a name for the problem of immediate gratification and it is called the “Old Man” sometimes referred to as “the flesh” (Rom 6:6, Eph 4:22, Col 3:9).  Having dealt with the Old Man for many years I think the term PIG is just because it so well defines a creature that is totally self-centered and self-indulgent.  The PIG cares for no one but himself

Some incentives to maintain godliness such as physical health, professional success, or loving relationships may have giant rewards, but they do not always have a quick payoff.  In contrast the gratification produced by incentives such as drugs, alcohol, sex or food is immediate and for that reason exert an influence on our behavior that is completely out of proportion to reality.

I have found that at the moment of decision, to sin or not to sin, reality is bent in favor of sin.  At that moment we can not appreciate that what we are about to do is foolish, wrong or unhealthy – a perspective that would be obvious to an outsider.  The closer we get to temptation the more blind we become until a total eclipse of reason and righteousness transpires.  We actually believe that we are perceiving reality objectively but alas we are not, we are in the arms of sin.  The problem is once sin is sitting in your lap, it is hard to say no.

Conquering the PIG is more about distance than magnitude. Even though the gravity of the sun is millions of times more powerful than that of the earth’s we are more affected by earth’s gravity because we are closer to the earth.  In the same way the magnitude of eternal damnation seems so far away when compared to a crack pipe or another man’s wife.  Immediacy is the PIG’s pen!

We fail because we allow ourselves to get too close to temptation thinking we can handle it but we get sucked in as if we had just orbited too close to a black hole.  Perpetrating the sin is inevitable; escape is not even a consideration!  Immediacy to the ‘feel good’ accelerates the process.

After the fact, the guilt and all of the, “How could I have been so stupid” comments our actions seems foolish because we are farther away from the temptation.  The physical presence of crack exerts a tremendous influence on an addict’s behavior in a way he does not – and cannot – appreciate until he is removed from the temptation.  The same is true for all temptation.  Will power is only as powerful as the distance between you and sin in either a physical or a spiritual sense.

Controlling the PIG: First and foremost establish boundaries.  You know what your limits are so make them known to your friends and family so that they can help keep you off the ropes.  Finally, when you see sin coming – get out of the way.  The farther you are the easier it is to say NO!  Don’t trade today for eternity!

The pig is a disgusting creature used in the New Testament to portray life at its lowest ebb.  Don’t get caught living with a PIG.

Rocky J. Malloy

Risk homeostasis (also known as ‘risk compensation’) is a subconscious mental process that regulates risk assessment.  It explains why we slow down on sharp turns and then speed up on straight-a-ways.  This process feels so natural we fail to realize our actions are on autopilot.  Anytime risk is perceived to change, we automatically adjust our actions either increasing or decreasing to maintain a predetermined ‘target level’ of risk.  Each person is different and every individual has their own acceptable level of risk.  Almost every aspect of our lives is influenced by this ‘risk thermostat’ – how much money we make, how we drive, who we marry and how we treat other people – every thing related to risk.

In a Munich taxicab experiment half of a fleet of cabs were equipped with an antilock braking system (ABS); the other half had standard brakes.  The accident rate for both types of cars (ABS and non-ABS) remained the same.  The drivers with ABS took more risks to compensate for the increased safety afforded by the superior braking system.  The “target level” of risk remained unchanged.

Similarly, in the late 1970s a province in western Canada undertook a massive anti-drunk driving campaign.  They succeeded in reducing the accident rate due to drunken driving by nearly 18%.  However, during the same period accidents caused by other factors increased by 19%.  People become more aware of the risks involved while driving under the influence but drove more dangerously at other times to compensate.

The same phenomenon appears in Christianity.  Many denominational beliefs have a powerful reciprocal action.  For example groups that believe “once saved always saved” seem to have a much higher propensity for sexual sin and perversion.  Pornography among these groups is very high.  The risk of losing salvation is eliminated so the odds go way up on other factors.  Why not if there is nothing to lose?

The primary reason most Christians don’t drink is not because they think it is a sin, but because they believe it is a bad witness.  The risk of alcoholism to either themselves or to those around them is just too high.  Correspondingly obesity among non-drinking Christians is significant.  The lower risk of accidents or death due to alcohol is offset by increased risk of stoke or heart attack due to fats and sugars.

Risk compensation helps explain why there is such a large turnover rate in churches.  Typically 50% or more of new converts drop out of church within the first year.  Risk thermostats set by the world are difficult to change.  People’s subconscious response to godliness is to automatically increase risk (otherwise known as desire) in other areas of life which challenges their new faith.

The new arenas of risk catch the newborn Christian completely off guard and many times cause them to fall or backslide!  The devil gets a lot of press for attacking the new guys but the truth be known it is our own internal mechanisms that are destroying us.  2 Peter 2:20 says so clearly, “after escaping the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.” A good question might be, “Do you have negative reciprocals?”

The greatest obstacle to change is the status quo as established in our own subconscious.  The Good News is we can be transformed into the image of Christ by the power of His word and our true desire to change.

Rocky J. Malloy

One of Winston Churchill’s most legendary speeches came after series of devastating defeats in Europe.  His country was in the heat of the Battle of Brittan and he said, “Never give in, never give in.  Never, never, never, never – in nothing great, small or petty – never give in.”  His words inspired a nation standing on the brink of destruction.  Alone in Europe against overwhelming odds Churchill stared down Hitler as he threatened invasion time and time again.  Churchill never, never, never, never gave in!  His courage inspired the English to victory!

Too many times in my life I have seen people give in or give up too quickly.  How many times have I heard people say, “God said” only later to hear that God changed his mind?  How many marriages have ended in divorce because one of both parties gave in too quickly?  How many people have given in to the pain of sickness or disease and died hours before a turn around?  How many great ideas have failed because they were never acted upon or given up before proving themselves?  How many people have entered eternity without their reward because they gave in to the circumstance, peer pressure and the status quo never achieving what the Lord had for them?

Paul gives us the Word of God in Hebrews 12:1-4 on how to finish our race never giving in to the negative circumstances or demonic attacks:

• Analyze and investigate others that have gone where you want to go.
• Stop everything that would distract you, slow you down or take you off course.
• Know that the devil knows exactly what would cause you to quit.
• Understand that time is a necessary ingredient to success.

• Jesus wrote your life plan and he has empowered you to fulfill it.
• Look past the reasons to quit to the thrill of victory waiting on the other side.
• Draw energy and strength from the forces arrayed against you.
• Hate the resistance but love the challenge
• Use Jesus as your ultimate example; He overcame the world in his quest for the throne even though it caused his own blood to flow.

As a missionary I have had wonderful opportunities to quit!  Living in another country, speaking another language and dealing with different customs have brought me to my knees in frustration many times.

I have come to understand that worry is one of the devil’s greatest weapons.  It creates anxiety and gives birth to doubt and unbelief.  It destroys self confidence and opens the door to discouragement!  Worry is nothing more than belief in an undetermined future event.  I believe more people have given up because of worry, the mere anticipation of failure, than failure itself.

To stay in the fight and finish strong one must understand that worry is nothing but torment from the devil; it is never an alert from God. God does not communicate that way.

If the devil was going to do anything to you he would never warn you; he would just do it.  Remember Goliath screamed and threatened but he never killed anyone.  The temptation to worry then actually brings relief because it reveals that the devil is incapable of defeating you.

Faith never quits it out lives the problem!

Rocky J. Malloy