daily IMPACT by selahV

Without Revenge

Today I went to my flowerbed and picked up a ceramic bluebird.  By the time I got back to my patio, ants were swarming all over my arm.  They'd been living inside the bird, and I had disturbed their home.  It didn't take me long to put down the big bird and brush off all the ants before they could exact their revenge upon me.

It seems a natural inclination to get even for a wrong done.  I've done it in my lifetime.  I've thought of ways to get even for what another has done to me.  But each time I've done that, the revenge is not sweet.  It is bitter.  It left me with a nasty taste in my mouth.  I felt irritated, angry and hateful.  I did not feel good.  Yet each time I have waited for the Lord in the situations, He has delivered me.  He has given me peace where once there was turmoil.  He's given me forgiveness where once there was unforgiveness.  He's given me a prayer to pray for those who've hurt me.  He's led me to pray for blessings upon them.  He's given me a new heart, a new song for a new day.  Again I can rejoice in trials that come my way.

"Do not say, "I'll pay you back for this wrong! Wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you." Proverbs 20:22

WHAT A TESTIMONY!

It's so easy to get caught up in a great testimony.  A person comes to Jesus and they've led a life so contrary to Him that you think there would be "no way" they'd change.  Then Jesus fills their heart with conviction and they repent and follow Him in all their ways.  We tend to watch a person like that.  We tend to tell others about them.  And we say, "Wow, what a testimony!"

But what is the real testimony?  A person turned away from destruction and disgrace, or that Jesus is still changing lives?  Do we get as excited about a child who comes to Jesus or a Savior who still says "let them come unto Me"?  A teenager who has yet to rebel against their parents, or a teacher's instruction in Christ's word that keeps them on track?  A person living as a faithful follower--who ministers to the ill, the imprisoned, the stranger--or the Holy Spirit's conviction and leadership?  Do we get as excited watching our pastors who day-in and day-out live their lives by the precepts of God's Word and try to teach us all the same? 

"Your testimonies have I taken as an heritage forever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart."  Psalm 119:111

Where is my joy...the rejoicing in my heart?  In Jesus I have joy.  And yet Jesus loved the scriptures.  "Man cannot live by bread alone," He said.  He was the fulfillment of scripture.  The testimonies of God--the written word.  I cannot count the times a passage stilled my questioning mind, calmed my anxious soul and filled the brokenness of my heart.  Oh that we'd love the testimonies of God as much as our Savior.  selahV

IT'S UP TO US

Today.  Not tomorrow.  Today.  Not yesterday.  This moment.  This morning.  This afternoon.  It is what we have.  The Lord has made it for us.  In the rain, the fog, the sun, the humidity.  We are blessed to breathe one more time and rejoice in the pleasure of knowing God cares enough to give us breath to live in His presence.

"This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

Will we "rejoice"?  Can we show we are "glad in it"?  How will others know?  I have the joy of being with my family and friends--can I show them?  Will I appreciate them?  This new day?  I get to reach out to others and love them in Christ's name.  I can smile, encourage.  I get to listen...touch their shoulder...offer to pray with them.  I get to hug them, tell them I love them.

I get to see the beauty of the earth, experience the goodness of life and contribute to others as I have not done in all my yesterdays.  I can praise God for all He is and all He bestows upon me and mine.  It should take all day just to count my blessings.  How about you?  selahV 

SHOULD YOU MUZZLE IT?

Sometimes the greatest temptation on earth for me is to say what I think.  And so often what I think is not the most beneficial thing to be saying at a particular moment with a particular individual. There are times I want to answer as I've been spoken to.  There are times I want to engage and opine when what I could say would not persuade another one whit.  There are times I have answers to another's opinion that would make them think twice before telling their tales to me.  HOWEVER...

"I said, I will take heed and guard my ways, that I may sin not with my tongue; I will muzzle my mouth as with a bridle while the wicked are before me." Psalm 39:1.

Notice folks that the muzzle is like a bridle.  I want the Lord to guide my tongue, my emotions, my reasoning, and my discernment in dealing with those before me, especially when I am talking with those with whom there is no possible way one can converse.  May God keep me forever and continually pliant and yielding in His grace and humility.  I don't have all the answers.  Only He does.  selahV

[© SelahV Today, hariette petersen, 2008, reprint2009]

GLORY IN THIS

“But let him who glories glory in this,

that he understands and knows Me,

That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.

For in these I delight,” says the Lord.”  Jeremiah 9:24

Ever have someone praise you for what you do? Ever get all swelled up and feel great about it? Ever think that it is you who has accomplished so much that you are worthy of those words of praise? Satan loves to get us all puffed-up and thinking we are beyond reproach and revelling in past accolades.  The moment this happens we must check our egos, our pride, our attitudes. While it is good that we are validated for what we do, it is well that we remember for Whom we do it and why. For “a haughty spirit comes before a fall, and pride beforethe rich man in his riches destruction.”

“Thus says the Lord: ‘Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich in his riches;” Jeremiah 9:23

Our wisdom is of God. Our might is of God. Our possessions and the accumulation of those possessions is of God. He and He alone is our Sufficiency in all areas of our lives. His “delight” is that we recognize this and pay honor and glory due Him. selahV

[copyrighted, selahV Today, hariette petersen, 2007, 2009]

COMPLETING THE WORK

For three years now, I have battled wild Morning Glory vines in my back yard. They root deeper and grow faster than crabgrass. They grow beneath my barriers and up the stems of every plant I have, then choke the life out of them. I can weed them one day and they’ll be back with a vengeance the next day. I’ve even covered them in mulch in hopes of smothering them. I’ve dug, tossed and dug till I’m wearied with their continual growth. I was ready to give up and let them have their way in my flowerbeds. I was beginning to think that pristine beds of mums, daisies, lavendar and roses just aren’t worth my time or effort. Then I thought about myself.

What if God felt that way about me? Every time He weeds out something in my life, something else sprouts and begins to grow. I will never be perfect this side of heaven; none of us will. Yet, unlike me, God never gives up. Nor would He think of it. He knows what He wants to make of my life. He knows what He wants to accomplish through me. And He will dig till He gets to the root of my problems. He will weed out the things that seek to destroy His vision for me until I am complete.

“And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you.” Philippians 1:6

[copyrighted, 2009, SelahVToday, hariette petersen]

BEFORE THE EMBER DIES

My son was ten. He was watching me stoke the fire in our woodstove. I placed a new log on the pile of burning coals and one of the coals fell onto the stove front. I closed the door and placed the poker in the stand. My son picked up the poker and toyed with the errant red coal. Slowly its color lessened and turned black. When it did, Chad put the poker back into its stand. In its brightness Chad was drawn to it, intrigued. When it turned dark and cold, Chad lost interest. Does that happen to the world? Are they drawn to light or darkness? Positive or negative?

“But you are not in [given up to the power of] darkness, brethren, for that day to overtake you by surprise like a thief. For you are all sons of light and sons of day; we do not belong either to the night or to darkness.” 1 Thessalonians 5:4,5.

We can talk about grace and graciousness. We can write about being quick to listen, and slow to anger. We can preach the Word, and teach doctrines and profess all the right theology. But unless we live these things out in our own lives, we are but an ember set outside the hearth. Soon we go out, become black and cold, and no one gains any warmth from being near us. We must live in a world filled with darkness, but we are not darkness. We are light. To deny the Light within us is to deny the Life sacrificed in our behalf. Can we do this without communing with God through His Word? Can we glow without gathering regularly with other Christians who burn brightly, who are hungry to reach a lost world?  Before the ember dies, seek the warmth of His Light.  selahV

[copyrighted, 2009, SelahVToday, hariette petersen]

FINDING REST

Every morning I get up. Sometimes I have a plan for my day. Sometimes I’ve nothing scheduled. It is the days I have nothing planned that I often find God prompting me to do specific things. I wonder if that is because I am more open to His voice; I have no preconceived ideas. I don’t get annoyed when my schedule is interrupted, or circumstances cause me to change a course of action. Instead, I’m relaxed and resting in His Spirit. My days go so much better on those days. And for some reason I seem to get far more accomplished.

“Thus says the Lord, Stand by the roads and look, and ask for the eternal paths, where the good, old way is; then walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.” Jeremiah 6:16b

What is “the good, old way”? Could it be the commandments of the Lord? What does the Lord require of us, exactly? “To fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your mind, heart and with your entire being.”
I think if we follow that directive, our lives will fill with joy, love and contentment. I think our conscience would be clear and we’d have no guilt; the accuser could not penetrate the peace of God in our hearts. And as we walked in all His ways, our souls would be in constant rest. Yet, in our own power, we know we cannot be perfect in all His ways. We need Jesus. And Jesus is our peace. We can stand in the righteousness He has given us, then walk on in rest.

Stand.  Look.  Ask.  Walk.  Then rest.  Not such a hard thing when you look at it His way. selahV, hariette petersen

FROM ONE GENERATION TO ANOTHER

One of my favorite books in the Bible is the Psalms.  I love David.  He goes from utter brokenness to completeness. I relate well to David. His brokenness is in his reliance upon himself. His completeness is in the sovereignty and mercy of God. Over and over David extols the magnifigance and glory of the Lord.

Do we? Each day I think about what the Lord would have me do with my life. When I write I think about my grandchildren and their children reading what I’ve said. Will it make a difference in their lives? Will they want to know how God worked in my life–on a daily basis? Maybe. But even if they don’t, I must praise the Lord and give glory due His name. For it is written:

“One generation shall laud Your works to another and shall declare Your mighty acts.” Psalm 145:4

What works is the Lord doing in your life today that you can share with your descendants? What mighty acts is He working out in your life today that you can declare as His hand upon you? What is our generation leaving to the next?

[copyrighted, 4/2009, SelahVToday, hariette petersen] 

FRUIT OF THE VINE

My grandmother use to have the most wonderful grapevines behind her house as I was growing up.  We children would go out there and pick the grapes and eat them till we got sick.  Grandma made the best grape jelly from those clusters of grapes.  The vines didn't just happen.  Grandma planted them.  And every year she tended the vine.  She pruned it and watered it.  She cut away and cast aside the deadened, useless portions that robbed the main branches from life-giving water and sustenance.  Why?  To bring forth the best fruit for the best juice.  When Grandma made her jelly, she removed any green and unripened grapes from the bunch and tossed out the blighted grapes; only the choicest of the fruit was picked for processing.

"Behave yourselves wisely [living prudently and with discretion] in your world (the non-Christians), making the very most of the time and seizing (buying up) the opportunity."  Colossians 4:5

Jesus is the Vine; we are the branches.  He brings forth the fruit worthy of the Vinedresser.

As Christians, we must behave in such a way that the world of unbelievers will see the choicest part of the bunch and choose the best path for their own lives.  It's through our prudence and faithfulness that when we are squeezed by the difficulties and temptations in life, the world sees the sweetness of our faith and the best God offers through His Son.  As these doors of opportunity open to us, unbelievers will see the fruit  of God flowing through us as we abide in the Vine.    selahV

[copyrighted, 2009, SelahV Today, hariette petersen]