daily IMPACT by selahV

WHY BEND OVER BACKWARDS?

"If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." Romans 12:18

We do not bend over backwards and try our best to tolerate others, to keep peace with others, or to appease others because we are weak, or afraid of confrontation.  We do everything within our power, means, intelligence, wisdom and resources to live at peace with everyone-- even with those who do not want to live at peace with us.

HOWEVER... this does not mean we hand others the sword to slice us in two.  It does not mean we give them a bat to beat us upside the head.  It does not mean we are to let them treat us in a manner which is life-threatening to us.  "If it is possible", and "as far as it depends on you", we are to make every effort.

Therefore, peace depends, not just on me, it also depends on others.  It takes two to tango, and two to fight.  When there is no give, no compromise, then one must decide what is "peace" in their lives.  Once we understand that peace for us is not always peaceful for others, we pursue what we must to live as Christ would have us live.  The rest of the world answers for their actions.

If you keep taking your marbles and going home, or if you keep taking your marbles and mine, too, then don't expect peace to reign supreme in the world between us.  Why bend over backwards just to break your back? selahV

WHEN WE ARE THIRSTY

we may not need what we think we need.

When we need a friend, we may need to be a friend.

When we need comfort, we may need to comfort another.

When we need encouragement, we may need to encourage another.

When we need love, we may need to love another.

When we need acceptance, we may need to accept another.

When we need mercy, we may need to be merciful.

When we need forgiveness, we may need to forgive someone.  WHY?

Because God says: "he that watereth shall be watered also himself." Proverbs 11:25  SO......

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Fearless Comfort

in the face of threats.

Is it hard to believe you take comfort in the midst of frightening threats?  Many times in my life, I have cowered at the threats and predictions of doom.  Yet, it is possible to find comfort and peace.  Who would know this better than Moses as he made his way toward the promised land of God?  He'd seen God's hand move against the Pharoah of Egypt when God wanted the Israelites to be released from slavery and captivity.  Moses witnessed the power of God as He parted the Red Sea so millions of Jews could cross in safety.  He saw it again when the Egyptian army with all their swords and chariots and horses chased after them and were drowned in the sea when God unleashed the walls of water He'd held in place so the people of Israel could cross. Moses knew God protected from enemies.  He encouraged Joshua when he saw his enemies before him:

"Don't be afraid of them, for the LORD your God fights for you." Deuteronomy 3:22

We each have our enemies.  Some are not as visible as those Moses and Joshua saw.  We face enemies of our faith, our dreams, our goals.  We have threats we face daily-- the unknown, the illnesses, the disease.  We fret over pressures and think we cannot endure the weight of those pressures.  But we can take comfort.  We do not have to be afraid.  Our Lord will fight for us.  He will intervene when we have no where to go and no one to turn to for help.  May we each trust in our heavenly Father and take refuge in Him and His promises.  May we be comforted by the things we know are true and rest in the hope He gives us by faith.  selahV

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Holding On

We sometimes wake up and begin to face our day while still holding on to yesterday.  We cling to the mistakes.  We replay the bungled conversations.  We beat ourselves up and waste the best part of the day fretting.  We try to move forward, only to be pulled backwards like we are in some kind of tug-of-war with our thoughts and emotions.  We allow the negative things others say about us to color our world.  We give permission for discouragement to walk alongside us and let it mar the joy we might experience if we'd but look beyond the hurts of yesterday, the disappointments, the blunders.

Jesus said, "...don't worry about tomorrow... Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Mt. 6:34),  He told us not to take thought of tomorrow, of what we will eat or drink or wear.  Do you think God wants us to drag every yesterday into today?  Should we dwell on that which is impure, unhealthy, unholy? Must we harbor the grievances we have against others?  Shouldn't we forgive and live in the freedom of that forgiveness?  Lamentations 3:22-23 says God's mercies never cease and are new every morning.  And surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.

Today is a new day.  This is a new hour, a new moment.  Do not waste it considering that which is lost.   Stop hoding on.  Let go.  Give yesterday to God and live in His grace today.  selahV

Give Thanks for THIS?

Ever feel like asking that?  You read your Bible verse for the day:

"Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:15

"In all circumstances?" That's a very hard saying to comprehend, sometimes.  When the the car breaks down, the electricity is shut off, the computer goes beserk?  When your husband is laid off, the insurance bill goes up, and you wish Christmas was twelve months away instead of one.  When medications do not relieve the pain and doctors give you no hope.  Giving thanks is not really on your mind.

It's particularly hard when it comes to relationships:  When we are not able to be with those we love.  When we've lost someone.  When our child is rebellious and seems to hate us--the child we carried in our womb for 9 months, labored to give life to, and raised to walk in the ways of God.  It's hard to be thankful in that circumstance.  One may think: "Surely, you don't mean me, Lord."

How can one be thankful when they are rejected, ignored, or betrayed by a spouse or friend?

How can one be grateful when a chair at the Thanksgiving dinner-table is empty and will never be filled with that missing loved one again?

"Be thankful in all circumstances?" Is it really God's "will" for me to have the heartache I am having?  The difficulty?  Sometimes we wonder how this could be.  I know.  But there is a reason God says for us to be thankful in all circumstances.  For we who know His Son, we have a greater hope.  We have a greater blessing.  We have a permanent future-- one filled with joy-- without pain, sorrow, and heartache.  This thing we deal with today: the grief, loneliness, rejection, or the fleeting fear.  This too shall pass.  We are sojourners in a foreign land.  This earth is not our home.  We may not be thankful for the circumstances, but for the fact that Christ is with us in, and during the circumstances.  God understands our pain.  His grace is sufficient to meet our needs. As we turn our eyes toward Him and his goodness, our circumstances pale in significance.  He is so much larger than all our problems.  He is so much greater than all our fears.  He has more love than all the people we know.  And His love never wavers, never rejects, never fails.  So, yes; in this we can be thankful.

Take a few moments and look around you, beyond the looming obstacle of circumstance.  Savor the memories of yesterday; appreciate the blessings of the moment.  Rejoice in tomorrow's hope and eternity's treasures.  selahV

When Arrows Come...

and pierce our souls.  When criticisms are unending.  When we are falsely accused and stand in the chambers of our private thoughts, we are reminded that:  God has done great things; and none is like Him--above or below.  He shows us great troubles sometimes.  But...He also is the One to revive us again as Psalm 71 tells us:

"You, who have shown me great and severe troubles, Shall revive me again, And bring me up again from the depths of the earth." vs. 20

More than simply bringing us up from the depths of our despair, and plunking us into the crowded streets of greater adversity, He takes the thousand pieces of hard and broken  pieces of clay and adds His Living Water to our parched, thirsting spirit.  He softens the dry shards of our self-worth in the center of His palms...

kneading, ever-kneading--sometimes gently,

sometimes with great pressure, till we are made anew.

Then we are altogether strengthened by His grace.

Meadows of glory bloom. For what purpose, we sometimes wonder.  Why do You care when I am broken and crushed?  Why do seeds die, then struggle to reach the top of the earth?  To burst forth in glory for the pleasure of You, O, Lord.  You have a plan for each seed that dies and you have a plan for me each time my heart is broken.  From the depths of my pain are pods of stronger seeds to share with others.  To give away.  To flutter in the wind, sometimes.  To be picked up by some passing bluebird and carried across the oceans to land upon a land I've never seen.  And in that land, another meadow begins to grow. selahV

"You shall increase my greatness, And comfort me on every side." vs. 21

Remind me, Father, of the flowers I have found along the way.  

Kindness

It's more than a word.  It is more than opening or holding the door for someone. It's more than offering to get someone a cup of coffee when you are on your way to get a coke. It may or may not be done without thinking, yet it is done without pretense or expectation.  Spirit-filled kindness is selflessness.

It reminds me of the kindness and mercy Jesus had when He approached the city of Nain and saw a funeral procession coming through the gates. He went up to the bier and had compassion on the widowed mother whose only son was gone.  I'm reasonably sure the mother wondered what she would do now.  How would she provide for herself?  How would she live?

Jesus understood.  He stopped the processional and raised her adult son from the dead.  He did this and brought glory to God.  His every action brought glory to God. Kindness provides.  When led by the Spirit, kindness always meets a need. (Luke 7:11-16) 

Jesus had the ability.  He had the power.  He had what was necessary to really help this lady.  More than condolences for her loss.  He provided the ultimate.  We do not have the power to raise someone from the dead.  But when we have the ability, power, means to intervene, and ignore the plight of others, we fail to show the kindness that the Spirit of God bestows upon us for His glory.   Many times we are not even aware of the need that our kindness meets.  Sometimes we never know.  Other times we are blessed with the knowledge of how God uses it.

My friend Barb once helped her Chinese neighbor whose husband was abroad.  Barb was there in the delivery room when the lady had her second child.  Barb was there to help organize and conduct the lady's yardsale.  Not long ago, this Chinese lady emailed Barb and told her she had become a Christian and was attending a church in China.  Kindness beyond the recliner reaped a reward Barb will never know this side of heaven as her friend, neighbor, and now, sister in Christ, grows in her faith.  

May God give us the ability to see the needs of others and act with kindness and mercy. May the kindness within us grow and produce the visible fruit of His indwelling life to daily impact others for God's glory.  selahV

A Bit of FRUIT Introspection

I love fruit. Almost any kind of fruit. My absolute favorite is fresh pineapple.  If I were stranded on an island, I believe I could eat pineapple for years and never tire of it.

I suppose we all prefer some fruit over others.  With canned fruit, I buy pineapple chunks and sliced peaches. Hubby likes fruit cocktail. I pick out the cherries. There isn't a canned fruit cocktail that compares to a fresh fruit salad (for my recipe). 

We can pick and choose our favorite fruit. Pineapples are best if they are a bit yellow but not browned. If hard and green, they aren't as juicy and sweet.  I'm careful not to buy much fruit when it's not in season.  With Christians, God is manifested through us by the attributes His Spirit gives us.  Paul tells us the fruit that is evident in the Spirit-filled Christian:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."(Galatians 5:22,23)

It takes all the "fruit" to be Spirit-filled.  As we yield our lives to God, we exhibit the Spirit's fruit.  When we do not manifest the fruit, it's likely because we are seeking our own way, resisting--rather than relinquishing our will to the Spirit.  When people come near us, we're a lot like the outside of that pineapple, it's leaves all prickly and irritable.

We can say we love someone, but love is not stagnant.  Love moves.  Love acts upon the heartfelt feelings and will and lets go of itself for the benefit of others.  It purposes to exhibit the heart of God that is implanted in us upon our trusting in Him and relying on Him to sustain us and provide all we need to walk in His will.   

Paul referred to the various attributes of the Holy Spirit as being fruit--not fruits. Yet, I've come to realize that each attribute is connected to the other-- kinda like the fruit-salad I make for special potluck dinners. Each fruit has its own characteristics with distinct flavors and becomes one salad.  When we look at the various attributes of the Spirit's fruit, we can see how one without the other is not complete.  Can you imagine love that is impatient, stingy, or hateful?

In the next few devotionals I want to explore the individual "fruit" attributes we are given.  I find it amazing that the Spirit combines all these things so we are more fully completed in image of God.  I hope you will, too.   

[If you have any insights, please feel free to share them.  If you like the series, please share it with others in your social network.]

Photo provided by Maui Pineapple Farm   

More Than Anything, I Want

...to know Jesus in all His fullness.

Can you imagine the day you see Him face to face?  Sometimes I see Him in people.  I saw Him today when a dear friend showed up to help my son-in-law hang sheetrock.  He's in his eighties.  He greeted me with a big smile and hug.  I asked, "are you here helping us build our house?"  He chuckled and replied, "Oh, I'm just here playing."  That was so funny.  He could work circles around men half his age.  A true servant of the Lord is Bob Martin.

I saw Jesus in my daughter as she helped the only waitress in the little roadside restaurant where we ate lunch today.  Every table was packed.  While we waited for our burgers and salads, my daughter got up and served a few soft-drinks to customers, then began clearing away dirty dishes from the tables.  A heart of mercy beats inside my daughter.

"We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body." 2 Corinthians 4:10

I want to be more like Jesus.  I want to, not only give a drink of water to a thirsting soul, I want to be eager to give with all my heart, soul, mind and strength.  I want to be the one that others cannot see because they're looking at Jesus in me.  I want to comfort more than I seek comfort...to console more than be consoled.  To serve more than be served.  To give more than receive.  It is possible to know Jesus in all His fullness.  When we look at Christ in the lives of other Christians, we see Him.  We just need to watch for Him.  selahV

When Words Do Nothing

Ever have a conversation with someone and receive nothing but criticism?  Or everything you say is questioned, judged, or second-guessed?

So you back up and try to figure out why they misunderstand what you say.  You begin to analyze your own words and what you meant by what you said, or wrote?  When you do your best to explain yourself and find yourself with less understanding than you when you begun, it may be time to turn a deaf ear or blind eye.

I love to open an email from someone and see positive statements, and find encouraging words.  I have some great friends who send me uplifting thoughts all the time.  I like to visit blogs that comfort me, assure me, and help me see the goodness in God.  It's how I am.  Most folks are like me.  They want affirmation.  When they share the depths of their hearts, they like wisdom, hope, and kindness returned.  Sometimes people think they know you and no matter how much you share about yourself, they only have a glimpse of who you are...yet, they have an abundance of grace and mercy in their words. 

Every now and then I get a person who boggles my mind.  They interpret things I say in a cloud of mystery.  They judge what I say by what they "think" I'm saying, and when I explain what I mean, they still go back to what they think I meant originally and go on and on about how I couldn't have meant what I said.  It gets so confusing, I lose all desire for conversation.  Sometimes they apologize for saying things that they believe offend and when I fail to answer how they thought I should, they turn that around, too.  Sometimes I wonder if all a person wants to do is dissect and parse words.  This gives me the feeling they don't trust me; that they think I am deceitful or embellishing a situation or circumstance-- that I am simply trying to eat my words by spewing new ones.  When an impasse comes, I figure it's time to just let things be.  Let others think what they want.  Inevitably, when I think the air is cleared on the whole thing, a few weeks later it happens all over again.  That is when I am so very grateful for the majority of people in my life.

Any given day I have several people share words of encouragement, pithy quotes of wisdom.  They make up for the one who doesn't really understand where I'm coming from.  They impact my life for the better.  Scripture has a lot to say about speaking to one another.  For instance:

"A man has joy in making an apt answer, and a word spoken at the right moment-- how good it is!" Proverbs 15:23

I get a lot of "joy in making an apt answer".  I try to speak as I want to be spoken to.  I seek to speak as God would have me.  But sometimes...well, sometimes I just don't pick the right words.  Or I say the right words at the wrong moment.  But "how good it is" when someone tells me I said just what they needed to hear.  Joy explodes and is its own reward.