Ephesians 4:2
Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love. (NLT)
One who is humble is said to show meekness or modesty in behavior, attitude, or spirit. They are not arrogant or prideful and show submissive respect. Being gentle is about being considerate or amiable. And patient is about being tolerant; showing understanding and handling whatever the situation is with calmness.
I bet you know someone who displays those traits. I wish I could say I do all the time. In low pressure situations, we all can put on those traits. We know how to act so we tailor or reactions to fit what we know to be correct.
When someone makes a mistake in front of us, how do we react? Do we move on and help them or jump on them telling them how they should have done it?
When the clock is running and we have to be somewhere, how do we react to that slow driver in front of us, or the one that cuts us off and makes us miss the green light?
When someone compliments us do we humbly accept it or does pride show its face with an "of course I was great" look?
"Holy Spirit, show me what I have to do to change; to be able to more easily show these traits in all my interactions with others. Make me more Christ like. In Jesus name, I pray."
Monday, March 25, 2013
Monday, March 18, 2013
Hide and Go Seek
Jeremiah 29:11-13
For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. (NLT)
Remember playing "hide and go seek" when you were a kid? Or maybe you do now with your own children or grandchildren. The game has been around of hundreds of years and does not require an Internet access or a cell phone! One person is "it" and closes their eyes for a count of whatever while all the other participants hide.
Remember shouting out "Olly olly oxen free"? That was the phrase used to indicate that anyone still hiding could safely come out into the open.
An offshoot of that game is called "sardines" where one hides and all the others look for them. When the person is found, that seeker hides with them as well until all but one seeker remains. The number of those hiding in one place is likened to a can of sardines.
Our Lord knows the plan for our life, but He is not playing "hide and go seek." He will not come looking for us. We are to look wholeheartedly for Him and we will find Him. He will lay out the best plan for each day of our life, a plan to walk with Him into the next layer of life, one step closer to eternity with Him.
For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. (NLT)
Remember playing "hide and go seek" when you were a kid? Or maybe you do now with your own children or grandchildren. The game has been around of hundreds of years and does not require an Internet access or a cell phone! One person is "it" and closes their eyes for a count of whatever while all the other participants hide.
Remember shouting out "Olly olly oxen free"? That was the phrase used to indicate that anyone still hiding could safely come out into the open.
An offshoot of that game is called "sardines" where one hides and all the others look for them. When the person is found, that seeker hides with them as well until all but one seeker remains. The number of those hiding in one place is likened to a can of sardines.
Our Lord knows the plan for our life, but He is not playing "hide and go seek." He will not come looking for us. We are to look wholeheartedly for Him and we will find Him. He will lay out the best plan for each day of our life, a plan to walk with Him into the next layer of life, one step closer to eternity with Him.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Actions are Louder
1 John 3:18
Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. (NLT)
We think we can tell all about someone by what we read about them and what they have written. And we have all heard the words of Napoleon Bonaparte that a picture is worth a thousand words.
We tell everyone we love them as we walk around and shake hands on Sunday morning. We make sure we do not hang up the phone with our friend until we say "I love you".
Truth is no matter what facade someone presents to us, the real person comes across by their actions.
When an event happens in their life, a catastrophic event or even just an illness that puts them at home in bed for a few days, where are we? Sure, we say and probably do pray for them. Do we show up to help? Do we bring a meal or two? Do we call others to have them pray or be part of a food chain? Do we offer to come and clean?
The fact is, actions do speak louder than words. If someone were to take our picture, what would those thousand words say?
"Lord, help me be the person you made me to be. May my actions speak your love to others in all circumstances of life:"
Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. (NLT)
We think we can tell all about someone by what we read about them and what they have written. And we have all heard the words of Napoleon Bonaparte that a picture is worth a thousand words.
We tell everyone we love them as we walk around and shake hands on Sunday morning. We make sure we do not hang up the phone with our friend until we say "I love you".
Truth is no matter what facade someone presents to us, the real person comes across by their actions.
When an event happens in their life, a catastrophic event or even just an illness that puts them at home in bed for a few days, where are we? Sure, we say and probably do pray for them. Do we show up to help? Do we bring a meal or two? Do we call others to have them pray or be part of a food chain? Do we offer to come and clean?
The fact is, actions do speak louder than words. If someone were to take our picture, what would those thousand words say?
"Lord, help me be the person you made me to be. May my actions speak your love to others in all circumstances of life:"
Monday, March 04, 2013
Words of Encouragement
Ephesians 4:29
Don't use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. (NLT)
Why is it that when people visit someone in the hospital they talk about all the other people they know that are sick or have been in the hospital? And even about people who have died with the same condition the person they are visiting is dealing with.
It reminds me of the story about the person who comes to work feeling really good. Had a good nights sleep and a great breakfast. The drive in was uneventful and he is ready for a good day. The first person who sees him remarks, "Are you feeling alright? You look like you had a tough night!" Wow, he sonders to the restroom and checks himself in the mirror.
My mother used to tell that "if don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all." And yet we find it so easy to say just the wrong thing so often. God, forgive us.
The definition of foul or abusive language sure has changed over the last half century. What a commotion it caused when those words "I don't give a damn" were used in Gone with the Wind. What an uproar that made. Then look where we are now. Todays PG-13 flicks are filled with much worse language. It is like the movie could not tell the same story without the expletives. I don't think so.
So we should be watching our words in a couple of ways. Simply stated, we need to keep them clean and encouraging. Anything less is not shining the light of Jesus everywhere we go.
Don't use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. (NLT)
Why is it that when people visit someone in the hospital they talk about all the other people they know that are sick or have been in the hospital? And even about people who have died with the same condition the person they are visiting is dealing with.
It reminds me of the story about the person who comes to work feeling really good. Had a good nights sleep and a great breakfast. The drive in was uneventful and he is ready for a good day. The first person who sees him remarks, "Are you feeling alright? You look like you had a tough night!" Wow, he sonders to the restroom and checks himself in the mirror.
My mother used to tell that "if don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all." And yet we find it so easy to say just the wrong thing so often. God, forgive us.
The definition of foul or abusive language sure has changed over the last half century. What a commotion it caused when those words "I don't give a damn" were used in Gone with the Wind. What an uproar that made. Then look where we are now. Todays PG-13 flicks are filled with much worse language. It is like the movie could not tell the same story without the expletives. I don't think so.
So we should be watching our words in a couple of ways. Simply stated, we need to keep them clean and encouraging. Anything less is not shining the light of Jesus everywhere we go.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Keep Away
1 John 5:21
Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God's place in your hearts. (NLT)
Remember telling your child not to touch the stove because they would get burned? Maybe you even remember getting burned when you touched it. Most do not listen to those warning words. It seems like something inside makes us do what we know we shouldn't.
Have you ever gone into a store and come out with more than you paid for? By that I mean that the good deal was because there was more in your shopping bag then what was rung up by the cashier. Did you think of it as a hidden blessing or go back in and pay for that extra item?
Then you were a teenager and all your friends were involved in things you knew from your upbringing were not right. The quandary was should you remove yourself from them or ignore that inner voice reminding you of what was right and wrong.
God wants all of us. He wants to be first in our life. Our relationship with Him is not a Sunday morning thing or even worse a Christmas and Easter date. Anything that takes our focus off of Him is sin. He wants us to be happy and to enjoy things while we are here on Earth. However, He does not want those things to replace our relationship with Him.
So let's not keep away from God. Let's seek Him out in all we do talking to Him throughout the day while we do what He has provided for us to have.
Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God's place in your hearts. (NLT)
Remember telling your child not to touch the stove because they would get burned? Maybe you even remember getting burned when you touched it. Most do not listen to those warning words. It seems like something inside makes us do what we know we shouldn't.
Have you ever gone into a store and come out with more than you paid for? By that I mean that the good deal was because there was more in your shopping bag then what was rung up by the cashier. Did you think of it as a hidden blessing or go back in and pay for that extra item?
Then you were a teenager and all your friends were involved in things you knew from your upbringing were not right. The quandary was should you remove yourself from them or ignore that inner voice reminding you of what was right and wrong.
God wants all of us. He wants to be first in our life. Our relationship with Him is not a Sunday morning thing or even worse a Christmas and Easter date. Anything that takes our focus off of Him is sin. He wants us to be happy and to enjoy things while we are here on Earth. However, He does not want those things to replace our relationship with Him.
So let's not keep away from God. Let's seek Him out in all we do talking to Him throughout the day while we do what He has provided for us to have.
Monday, February 18, 2013
Open The Book
Matthew 7:7
Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. (NLT)
It is not what you dig out of scripture through research and debate. It is what Holy Spirit digs out of it just for you; what jumps off the page to fit your circumstances today! He knows what you need and all you need to do is Open The Book!
Having the intellect we possess because of how God made us is a good thing. However, He did not give that to us to circumvent relationship with Him.
Before I was Spirit filled, I would read the Bible and see the history and moral lessons it contained. And that was all good. Psalms and Proverbs were good sources of godly information. The Gospels showed me about the life of Jesus as He walked the earth in His ministry. And the rest of the stories in the New Testament gave me examples of others walking out their faith as they shared the Good News and then discipled those that came to Christ.
After the infilling of Holy Spirit my reading changed. I read the same passages but truth I had never seen before would jump out at me. It was not that the stories changed. No, they took on new meaning that spoke to me about my life circumstances. Holy Spirit was guiding me and teaching me truth through the same book I had been reading for many years.
I am saved, you say, but when will Holy Spirit begin to make these things available to me? I can only tell you what happened with me. When I took the time to ask, He presented Himself to me in new ways. Of course I also had to make an effort to stop what life was luring me do and listen to Him.
Take the time to ask for the infilling of the Holy Spirit and get ready to have the words jump off the pages as you Open The Book.
Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. (NLT)
It is not what you dig out of scripture through research and debate. It is what Holy Spirit digs out of it just for you; what jumps off the page to fit your circumstances today! He knows what you need and all you need to do is Open The Book!
Having the intellect we possess because of how God made us is a good thing. However, He did not give that to us to circumvent relationship with Him.
Before I was Spirit filled, I would read the Bible and see the history and moral lessons it contained. And that was all good. Psalms and Proverbs were good sources of godly information. The Gospels showed me about the life of Jesus as He walked the earth in His ministry. And the rest of the stories in the New Testament gave me examples of others walking out their faith as they shared the Good News and then discipled those that came to Christ.
After the infilling of Holy Spirit my reading changed. I read the same passages but truth I had never seen before would jump out at me. It was not that the stories changed. No, they took on new meaning that spoke to me about my life circumstances. Holy Spirit was guiding me and teaching me truth through the same book I had been reading for many years.
I am saved, you say, but when will Holy Spirit begin to make these things available to me? I can only tell you what happened with me. When I took the time to ask, He presented Himself to me in new ways. Of course I also had to make an effort to stop what life was luring me do and listen to Him.
Take the time to ask for the infilling of the Holy Spirit and get ready to have the words jump off the pages as you Open The Book.
Monday, February 11, 2013
The Reruns
1 John 2:27
But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don't need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true-it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ. (NLT)
Okay, we enroll in a course at college or wherever. That gets us permission to attend. We have no opportunity to learn by just enrolling. Then again, showing up for class does not mean we learn anything either. Sure, the teacher has a lot to say that could be beneficial, but we have to pay attention and participate.
And to really gain something out of the course we have to put our own time into reviewing the notes we took, doing the homework, and reading the material in the textbook required by the instructor.
If we do not take the time to do our part, we will gain nothing from the class. Our commitment and participation is necessary to our success, to our goal of learning the material we signed up to learn.
Sure, we gave our life to Jesus and He had the Father send Holy Spirit to live within. He can teach us everything we need to know. But. we must participate. We need to have a true relationship with Jesus and take time to read and reread His Word daily.
The first time through the Bible is great, but the re-runs are even better. Holy Spirit teaches us as He reveals new truth to us right in His Word.
But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don't need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true-it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ. (NLT)
Okay, we enroll in a course at college or wherever. That gets us permission to attend. We have no opportunity to learn by just enrolling. Then again, showing up for class does not mean we learn anything either. Sure, the teacher has a lot to say that could be beneficial, but we have to pay attention and participate.
And to really gain something out of the course we have to put our own time into reviewing the notes we took, doing the homework, and reading the material in the textbook required by the instructor.
If we do not take the time to do our part, we will gain nothing from the class. Our commitment and participation is necessary to our success, to our goal of learning the material we signed up to learn.
Sure, we gave our life to Jesus and He had the Father send Holy Spirit to live within. He can teach us everything we need to know. But. we must participate. We need to have a true relationship with Jesus and take time to read and reread His Word daily.
The first time through the Bible is great, but the re-runs are even better. Holy Spirit teaches us as He reveals new truth to us right in His Word.
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