Struggling to find the words to say today. My heart is broken for the family of one of our former youth. He died in a hit and run accident last night. There are no words to say that will bring comfort. No words will help them deal with this pain. The best thing to say is "I'm praying for you." ...and I have been all day.
Today would have been my dad's 72nd birthday. When he died, no words brought me more comfort than "I'm praying". I was flooded with email's and cards of precious friends telling me they were praying for me.
Isn't God the only One who can truly bring us lasting comfort anyway? He promises us "Peace that surpasses all our understanding". I truly found peace after my dad died.
But when it's your CHILD. Oh my heart just breaks for Mary and Bill. I cannot imagine the hurt they feel. I wish there was some magic word that would ease their pain. But I will pray. I promise to pray.
Jehovah Rapha, pour out Your Peace that passes all understanding.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Bitterness
Bitterness = Choosing Resentment
Wow! That definition really hit me today. I was reading Romans 12:9-21 this morning and the title of that section was "Behave Like A Christian". I started taking the verses apart, underlining words or phrases that outline what I'm supposed to look like. Love without hypocrisy. Abhor evil. Cling to good. Be kind. Give preference to others. Be diligent and fervent. Serve the Lord. Hope. Be patient. Pray. Meet the needs of the Saints. Be hospitable. Bless those who persecute me. And that's where it hit me, I'm holding on to bitterness towards people who have "persecuted" me. Not so much persecuted, but hurt or offended me.
Why do I hold onto hurts and offenses? I say the Christianese thing by saying "Yes, I've forgiven them" but have I really? If I have really forgiven them, then why do I think about it still? Why, when I think of them, do I start feeling angry and disgusted? Because I'm "Choosing Resentment"! Either I choose to forgive or I choose to dwell upon the wrong doing until I become bitter. When I become bitter, I become enslaved to the person who hurt me. I can't think of anything less pleasant than being enslaved to this person. But I'm choosing to be enslaved! What am I doing? Stupid head!
As I talked this over with Jesus today, He reminded me that I have made a choice to be His bondservant. I have chosen to bond myself to him, as a servant, for the rest of my life. I choose a worthy Master. But "No one can serve two masters"! So which one is my master? Jesus or Bitterness? They both can't exist together! Talk about a huge revelation. (I know it seems so simple, like such a no-brainer.) By choosing to be a bondservant of Christ, I cannot enslave myself to another. I must forgive and choose to be "better". My amazing friend Mical Masterson used to say "Don't be bitter. Be better".
I don't want to think about this particular person who hurt and offended me, much less be enslaved to them. Their words are like "arrows that fly by day" and "destruction that lays waste at noonday", like a "plague in my dwelling place". Sounds like a nice place to live huh? Well, I'm choosing today to "be better"! I will be a good servant to my Master by serving Him only. No more bitterness towards them. I even have a hard time thinking about them without getting bitter - so no more thinking about them. No more letting their words pierce my heart, no more letting their opinions shape my day-to-day, no more thoughts of "what the heck is wrong with you", no more bitterness! NO MORE! 2 Timothy 2:15,16 says "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and idle babbling, for they will increase to more ungodliness." I don't want anything to lead me to ungodliness. I want to be a worker who God is proud of!
Jesus help me moment by moment, day by day.
Wow! That definition really hit me today. I was reading Romans 12:9-21 this morning and the title of that section was "Behave Like A Christian". I started taking the verses apart, underlining words or phrases that outline what I'm supposed to look like. Love without hypocrisy. Abhor evil. Cling to good. Be kind. Give preference to others. Be diligent and fervent. Serve the Lord. Hope. Be patient. Pray. Meet the needs of the Saints. Be hospitable. Bless those who persecute me. And that's where it hit me, I'm holding on to bitterness towards people who have "persecuted" me. Not so much persecuted, but hurt or offended me.
Why do I hold onto hurts and offenses? I say the Christianese thing by saying "Yes, I've forgiven them" but have I really? If I have really forgiven them, then why do I think about it still? Why, when I think of them, do I start feeling angry and disgusted? Because I'm "Choosing Resentment"! Either I choose to forgive or I choose to dwell upon the wrong doing until I become bitter. When I become bitter, I become enslaved to the person who hurt me. I can't think of anything less pleasant than being enslaved to this person. But I'm choosing to be enslaved! What am I doing? Stupid head!
As I talked this over with Jesus today, He reminded me that I have made a choice to be His bondservant. I have chosen to bond myself to him, as a servant, for the rest of my life. I choose a worthy Master. But "No one can serve two masters"! So which one is my master? Jesus or Bitterness? They both can't exist together! Talk about a huge revelation. (I know it seems so simple, like such a no-brainer.) By choosing to be a bondservant of Christ, I cannot enslave myself to another. I must forgive and choose to be "better". My amazing friend Mical Masterson used to say "Don't be bitter. Be better".
I don't want to think about this particular person who hurt and offended me, much less be enslaved to them. Their words are like "arrows that fly by day" and "destruction that lays waste at noonday", like a "plague in my dwelling place". Sounds like a nice place to live huh? Well, I'm choosing today to "be better"! I will be a good servant to my Master by serving Him only. No more bitterness towards them. I even have a hard time thinking about them without getting bitter - so no more thinking about them. No more letting their words pierce my heart, no more letting their opinions shape my day-to-day, no more thoughts of "what the heck is wrong with you", no more bitterness! NO MORE! 2 Timothy 2:15,16 says "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and idle babbling, for they will increase to more ungodliness." I don't want anything to lead me to ungodliness. I want to be a worker who God is proud of!
Jesus help me moment by moment, day by day.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Honesty
Honesty is important to me. I've known many honest people. In turn, I've known some dishonest people. From both sets of people, I have learned a lot. I have learned that an honest person gains my trust. The most effective honest people are those who know how to coat their honesty with grace and love. Don't get me wrong, some times I need a good honest smack down! But on the whole, I take to heart what the honest, merciful, graceful person has to say. My papaw, Hayward Watts, was one of the most honest people I have ever known. I listened to everything he said to me, applied it to my life, and thanked God for it. He knew how to coat his words with grace and mercy while being totally honest! I knew that if my papaw said it, it was true. So when he said "You cook those shrimp in lots and lots of garlic, butter and fresh lemon juice and you won't go wrong", I did it! And boy are those shrimp good.
I want to surround myself with honest people. People who will encourage me, challenge me, pray for me, confront me, uplift me, and be my wise counsel. I have a few close friends and mentors of whom I am so very grateful.
I want to be a person of utmost honesty. I am not a good liar anyway :) I want people to be secure in the fact that if I say it, they can trust me. I want to coat my words with honey though - I want my words to be full of grace and mercy. Believe me, I can be brutally honest and upfront when I need to be, but I still want to be full of mercy.
I am very strong in what I believe and sometimes THAT honesty offends people. I don't like that. I don't like offending people. So this has been a struggle of mine with blogging. I think differing viewpoints are good - they make us dive deep into searching out why we believe what we believe. I know what it is I believe and I know why I believe it and I can stand firm in God's Word.
So with that being said, I will be honest in what I write, but I will strive to be covered in grace and mercy.
I want to surround myself with honest people. People who will encourage me, challenge me, pray for me, confront me, uplift me, and be my wise counsel. I have a few close friends and mentors of whom I am so very grateful.
I want to be a person of utmost honesty. I am not a good liar anyway :) I want people to be secure in the fact that if I say it, they can trust me. I want to coat my words with honey though - I want my words to be full of grace and mercy. Believe me, I can be brutally honest and upfront when I need to be, but I still want to be full of mercy.
I am very strong in what I believe and sometimes THAT honesty offends people. I don't like that. I don't like offending people. So this has been a struggle of mine with blogging. I think differing viewpoints are good - they make us dive deep into searching out why we believe what we believe. I know what it is I believe and I know why I believe it and I can stand firm in God's Word.
So with that being said, I will be honest in what I write, but I will strive to be covered in grace and mercy.
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