I'm right

I’m Right- aren't I????

We love to be right.  We hate to be wrong.  Why?

We all think that we are right.  If we thought we held the wrong view we would change our minds.  We think we are right.  We hate to be wrong.

Well, sometimes we are wrong.  I am wrong.  You are wrong.   Be open to being wrong.  It is going to happen.  We just don’t see things as clearly as we like to think that we do.

I may be right, I may be wrong, I may be crazy.  Our life meaning, our value is not defined by how right we are.  It is hard to enjoy life when we always have to be right.

It’s a beautiful day in God’s world.  I am totally right about that.

better

It is better to suffer for doing right, than to suffer for doing wrong.
And a person can always choose to do right.
what are the choices that you face today?

It’s a beautiful day in God’s world, be sure to see the good.

made me cry

I was in Nicaragua a few weeks ago and I was given a packet of cards to read on the trip.  One friend wrote something that touched me very deeply.  He wrote, “I wish I was in Nicaragua with you.  Heck, I wish I was anywhere with you.”  It made me cry when I read it.  It is making me cry now as I write about it.  I am going to steal that line and use it.  

I wish I was there with you.  Heck I wish I was anywhere with you.

It’s a beautiful day in God’s world, be sure to see the good.

friend

A friend sent me this quote.............

I would rather walk through darkness with a friend, then walk in the light alone.
Helen Keller

Interesting quote when you consider it comes from a blind person. I want to ask her to clarify...... are you saying that I am ok, content as a blind person because I have friends walking with me?

Certainly friends make the difficult times more bearable and are of the most precious commodities in this life.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

spiritual help

 Someone asked, what will we do of a spiritual nature for the people of Nicaragua?

We can pray for them.  We can probably take them Bibles.  We can encourage them.

But let us remember that they are already Christians that deeply love and trust God.

How about we fly them here and let them give a sermon series to us on how to trust god when you have nothing.

4 weeks on…………

• How to trust God and not complain when you have substandard health care
• How to trust god when you live on $150 per month
• How to trust God when you don’t have running water, a shower, or air conditioning
• How to trust God when other Christians make excuses as to why they are not helping you.
• How to trust god when you never get a vacation from your life

How can we help them develop spiritually?

I don’t know.  Maybe they are the ones that need to help us.

It’s a beautiful day in God’s world, be sure to see the good.

Song

When I was a teenager I used to have a cassette tape of Bill Gaither music.  I thought of one of those songs the other day.  Here are the lyrics:

Something beautiful, something good.  All my confusion, He understood.  All I had to offer him was brokenness and strife, but he made something beautiful of my life.

 here is the link to the song on youtube

God can make something beautiful of your life.

Maybe you feel like you are on the wrong path.  Maybe you are lost in a maze.  Maybe you made the mess and maybe it just happened to you.  While I don’t believe that God fixes everything [I don’t believe that it is God’s purpose to fix things for us.] I do believe that when we allow God to come alongside of us, life gets better.

It is still a beautiful day in God’s world, be sure to see the good.

My friend

My friend is hurting.  They are tired.  They are pressed.  They are nearing burn out.  I wish I could help my friend, but I am powerless to change their situation.  All I can do it tell them that I’m sorry.  I understand.  I feel for you.  I love you.

My friend hurts.  I hurt for my friend.

I guess that there is something good, something beautiful about loving others and caring for them.  Who hurts in your life?  Do you hurt for them?  May we always be those who bear one another's burdens.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

bad taste

Siphoning gas

Talk about something that will leave a bad taste in your mouth.  When we lost power during the hurricane, I fired up the generator to run the refrigerator.  30 hours later when the power came back on, the generator had 5 gallons of gas in it. 

You can’t leave gas in engines that don’t run very often or the fuel will break down and the varnish will plug up the jets.  So you have to put in stabilizer and run the engine out of gas.

This begins with the process of siphoning out all of the gas that I can.  So I purchase a tube for this purpose.  The tube is clear so I can at least see the gas coming, but some of it gets in my mouth.  I have a bottle of water handy to wash my mouth out.  I gargle it, I spit it, I pour the water into my mouth and spew it out.  Now the gassy water is on my face too.  Oh boy I hope no one lights a match.

I did get the gas out of the generator, but oh that experience leaves a taste in your mouth that does not quickly go away.

It’s a beautiful day in God’s world, be sure to see the good.

Rejoice with me!!

So my daughter and her long time boy friend, Bobby are on a two week vacation in Italy.
I am jealous, just saying.

And after waiting and wondering, hoping and praying, he popped the question.... in Italy!!
And, she said, YES!!

Alli, my oldest daughter, is engaged!
So, exciting!!
Rejoice with me!!

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

warm fuzzies

We love people that make us feel good.

I have noticed something about how we interact with others. We tend to love people who make us feel good and lean away from those who don’t. We can take or leave those who give us no vibes, but oh, find someone that makes us feel valued, and we love them.

This tells me that we have great power to bless others. When we see people as special and treat them as such, we can help their hearts be full. Life is too short to give off bad vibes. Become a person that is deeply appreciated by others. Do your best to make them feel valued. You will be glad that you did.

It’s a beautiful day in God’s world, be sure to see the good.

Leaders

Leaders empower others.  They help others get it and they turn them loose in the organization.

Leaders do not inflict pain, they absorb it.

Leaders don’t just solve problems, they prevent them.

Leaders are not afraid to make tough decisions.

We are all leaders.  You and I are either leading people into success or into the abyss.

Leaders are not about gaining power or attention for themselves.  They sacrifice their time, their money and their life for their cause.

Where are you going?  Where am I going? What are we about?

It’s a beautiful day in God’s world, be sure to lead towards the good.

judging part 2

In response to my post on judging from Wednesday, October 12...................

Someone wrote in that I should never serve on a jury.  Ahh.  Good point.

It is hard to cover every angle of every topic.........

Let me clarify.  If I served on a jury I could listen to the evidence and decide with the other jurors if a person committed the crime or not.  They can be found guilty and sentenced to jail, and I still don’t have to judge them.  I can vote that they are guilty without looking at them as a loser, or a bad person.

That is what I mean. 

Sure.  Make decisions.  That person is a wreckless driver, but don’t punch them.  That person roots for the wrong team.  Maybe so, but there is no reason to hate them.

We can make decisions about what people do without hating them or judging them as somehone substandard.

This is a gift of God.  To be able to live without demanding that those who are not like me are the “bad”ones.

It’s a beautiful day in God’s world, be sure to see the good.

honor

It is better to shy away from honor than to need it, or seek it or worse yet demand it.

Honor cannot be taken from others- they must give it to you freely or it isn't honor.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

thinking of suicide?

My favorite fireman shared a thought with me the other day, "suicide does not put an end to the pain, it just transfers the pain to those around you."

Life is good.  Life is beautiful.
The pain will get better.  Don't pass it on to others.
God can help you deal with it.

It is yes, a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

friendship

My friend Carol asked me to write something about friendship.

Oh my, where does one begin?
A friend thinks of you often.  A friend offers grace.  A friend listens.  A friend offers advice, sometimes painful advice, but a friend offers advice.  A friend loves.  A friend laughs at your jokes even when they don't get them.  A friend holds you up.  A friend sticks closer than a brother.  A friend gives you space when you need it.  A friend doesn't always need to make it about them.  A friend joins you in a life mission.  A friend can just sit with you in silence.

I hope that you have a friend.  I hope that you have many friends.  No amount of money can replace the value of a friend.  If you are short on friends, look for some folks to invest in and invite them to lunch.  Start the process of making a new friend.

Life is better with friends.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

it is good

In the beginning God created, and when he was done, he said "it was good."  God created men and women and said, it was good.

Somehow over the centuries we have forgotten this.  How sad is that.  The church has tried to control people for years by telling them that they are bad.  But on the contrary, when we remind people of their original state of creation, it frees them to live.

You are good.  You are created in the image of God.  Bad choices, sin and all, you are loved by God.  God made you and he loves you and you are good.  He wants to spend your life with you.  You are loved.  It is the first message of the Bible.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

if I judge you

If I judge you, I am as bad as you are. If you judge me, you are as bad as I am. Scripture is clear- we are not to judge others.  We can and should hold our values, but we do not judge or shame others.

"But, but, but, but.......... they are so bad" we think.

And the scripture is clear. We are not to judge others.

John 8:7 - you that are without sin, cast the first stone............

Mt 7:1-5  "Do not judge so that you will not be judged. "For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. "Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?"

Romans 2:1  Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.

Romans 14  Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only. The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him.

James 4 11-12 Do not speak against one another, brethren He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?

I don't understand everything that everyone else does.  I don't agree with what everyone else does.  I don't condone everything that everyone else does.  But our job is to love others and let God take it from there.  Life is too short for our hearts to be filled with hatred for anyone.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

two word prayer

I know that we are not supposed to pray with vain repetitions, but this did not feel vain.  The other night at Celebrate Recovery [a Monday night worship service at our church for those who are looking to recover from a hang up, a habit or anything..... we all should go right?]  anyway, I was there and I found myself praying this two word prayer over and over.  From the bottom of my heart, like I just wanted to make sure that God was hearing me.  My soul was begging for him to hear me.

What if you found a two word prayer.  What would it be?  And what if you repeated it over and over until  you felt like God heard you.....

Help me.  Help me.  Help me.
or
Heal him.  Heal him.  Heal him.
or
Forgive me.  Forgive me.  Forgive me......
or
I'm sorry.  I'm sorry.  I'm sorry..........
or
I'm lost.  I'm lost.  I'm lost...........
or
Find me.  Find me.  Find me.......
or

Maybe one of those would be yours.  Maybe none, but maybe you have your own.
Take a few moments now and ask yourself what is really going on deep in your heart.  Boil it down to two words and pray them, over and over until you feel that God has heard you.

It seemed to work for me.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

power

We give other people too much power.  When you give people power over you, they can hurt you.  Some people will steal your joy if you let them.

So don't let them.  Does your mom have power over you?  If you are 9 years old, yes.  But not if you are 39, unless you give it to her.  Does your boss have power over you?  Only if you need the job.  Imagine a world where we can submit to authorities, without allowing their rejection of us to cut so deeply.

I am ok.  You are ok.  When we are set aside by those who seem more powerful than we are, we can still choose to see the good.  We can accept that we did not get the promotion, did not get the trophy, did not win Star Search, and did not get the nice compliment.  We can accept that we drew the short straw and still love life.

You don't diminish Niagara Falls by spitting into it.
You are Niagara Falls.

Don't give people power over you.  Lean into God.  He loves you very much.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

at my table

At my table there is no judgment.  I welcome you.

I may not agree with everything that you have done, but you will never be turned away.  You may have killed someone.  You may have 101 terrible problems.  You may be in trouble with the law.  I may not understand your actions, but my table is open to you.  Come.  Sit.  Have a cup of coffee.

Do you remember the story of the great banquet in Luke 14?  The friends were too busy to attend.  One got married, one bought a cow.  The master sent the servant to the highways and the byways and invited the poor, the lame, and the outcast.  It is a great story of how the kingdom works.

Everyone has done something that they think they should be thrown away for.  Yet we all need a place where we are welcomed and accepted with no judgment.  No matter what you ever do, I will welcome you.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.