SelahV Today by hariette petersen

What's In A Name?

Apparently, far more than I imagined.

When I first began blogging in 2006, I had no clue why I would blog.  I had a friend who set up a blog for me and told me to "write".  In fact, he told me repeatedly to "write".  At the time, nearly a year had passed since I'd lost my 33 year-old son in a tragic 4-Wheeler accident on Mother's Day of 2005.  My brain was mush.  I felt like a puddle on the floor.  Reason and purpose seemed frozen in time.  Desperately I clung to temporal things to ground me between earth and heaven.  I grasped for memories of my son's presence.  I searched Scripture for answers.  I buried my sorrow in the pages of Job and sought comfort in Psalms.  And I wrote. 

And wrote. 

And read.

I gave my mind to debates I saw bandied about in the blogosphere: Calvinism, Arminianism-- predestination, tulips, regeneration, faith and all things related.  I met some marvelous folks from all sides of the spectrum.  By some twist of God's divine plan, I gained a bit of recognition from various folks in the blogging world-- attention filled with approval as well as disapproval.

It was okay.

It was instantaneous diversions from the heartache and depression I fought every day.  I made some friends. Friends who remain to this day. Friends (other than a couple) I've yet to see in real-life touchy-feely time.  These friends prayed me through one crisis after another.  They helped financially to keep me on the internet, friends-- virtual strangers-- who provided computers.  Friends who asked that I join their collaborative blogs-- which came and went through the years-- as most things do. It's been a great ride.  From SBC-Impact (now defunct), to SBC-Voices (which dropped all aggregate links), to Devotional Christian (which also faded away), and even a couple of appearances on SBC-Today (in its infancy)--and since revitalized for greater impact.  I wrote a few book reviews for Hannibal Publishing and wrote a few guest-devotionals for SBC-Tomorrow.  I had blogposts from here at SelahV Today and SBC-Encounters reblogged and emphasized.  I went from 1 hit a day to 50,000 hits in one day. Yeah... fifty thousand. But that was no achievement.

It had little to do with my voice-- my words-- my thoughts.  It was merely because Hobby Lobby was going to court to protect their religious freedom.  And several folks wanted to know what was going on.  A couple of folks denounced the whole idea.  Others (many others) tried to hack my site with pornography links in response.  Such is the reality of posting anything in support of other Christians who seek to keep their religious rights as guaranteed by the United States Constitution.  Go figure.  The very thing oppositional voices are allowed to do-- visit and freely promote their smutty sites-- they are intolerant of when others promote traditional values.  Values, by the way, that support the economic strength of our country. 

So, here I am.  Nearly 3,000 posts later.  My name, once googled and found in multiple sites, finds itself on the lower end of the spectrum of voices to read. Partly because I stopped writing daily-- partly because the aggregator that carried my link dropped all links to their blog. Sad, when you think my link and others helped build it. Ah...cest' la vie; that's life.  I joined Facebook and Twitter and linked my blogs to it.  I still get traffic-- but nothing like it use to be.

I know if I wrote provocative posts like Ann Coulter, or controversial subjects in the SBC world countering famous folks, that my "name" recognition would grow. I might even be able to add advertisers to my site and build upon it--especially if I did crafty posts with crafty things and featured cute kids doing those crafty things (which happens to be what's trending hot on my blog right now-- an old post). But... that's not what I want.  Not even close.

Right now I'm praying about SelahV Today, and Hariette Petersen-- and where I fit into this world of public value.  I still write my little weekly newspaper column, Common Matters, for our county paper. I've no clue what subscribers to that paper think of me-- or if they even read my column. I suppose there's some draw or the editor wouldn't give me so much space each week.  However...

I am at a crossroad-- an intersection with blogging.  I don't want to be part of the political landscape in religion.  I've all but stopped writing on my blog regarding my affiliation with the Southern Baptist Convention.  The "voices" who supposedly represent me, do not speak for me anymore.  So, I've separated myself from the heart of what it once was and from blogs that once carried my voice.

Physical liabilities limit my involvement in many things.  But I know, I'm more than my liabilities-- my inadequacies, my failures-- and even my achievements.  I am more. I'm more than a Twitter identity. I'm more than a Facebook status.  I'm more than an email recipient-- or even my online profile.  I'm more.

I am significant.  In Christ-- in His body. 

Now, I'm trying to figure out-- after 65 years of life, eight years of blogging and nearly 32 years of publishing my words-- just where I fit into His plan and purpose for the remainder of my days.  I truly believe there's more to me than I know or can possibly conceive.  And so are you.

"A good name is to be chosen over great wealth;
favor is better than silver and gold." Proverbs 22:1

We have more to offer than what government says.  We are more valuable than the receipt of a wealthier person's leavings and crumbs.  We are.  We're more than one vote in one election or another.  I'm more than the mother of an adult daughter and a dead son.  I'm more than some church's former minister's wife.  I am a child of the Most High God.  And today-- that is enough.  selahVToday by hariette petersen

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Purpose, Plan and Discovery

"In almost everything that touches our everyday life on earth, God is pleased when we're pleased. He wills that we be as free as birds to soar and sing our maker's praise without anxiety."~A.W. Tozer

Okay.  I think I've got this. I have a purpose and the only thing on my writing agenda this year is to meet new folks God brings across my pathway via internet or real life touchy-feeling five-sense happenstances. Take all those and write about them according to how God predestines the consequences of the choices I make in follow-through, avoidance, or neglect.  Then feel free to be me and be happy because when I am happy, God is happy. That is (and this is a slight difference of opinion between me and Tozer), unless what pleases me is totally out of sync with God's pleasure. Then...

ain't nobody gonna be pleased.  That's a fact.  And I can fly to whatever heights I want but if I fail to recognize the everyday touches of God in every situation... I'm gonna get my wings clipped.  Then, I'm gonna need time-out in the prayer closet or a Xanax for sure.

 "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you." Matthew 6:33

I've had an interesting day. Tweeting. Facebooking. A trip to Red Lobster where I held open the bathroom door for a little old man who'd obviously had a stroke and couldn't get into the men's room because the door was so heavy he could barely inch his way through while trying to hold the door ajar.  I used my cane to push it open so he could pass through. Afterwards I returned to the table and had my husband go back and check on the little old man so he could get out of the restroom.  One good "happenstance" of the day. We also made a quick stop at Lowe's to purchase a hundred lightbulbs that the government is banning in the U.S.A.  Had some very interesting followers on Twitter... got some good advice about writing. And well, this is a teensy part of where I'm ending my day. I didn't follow all of David Swindle's points for getting this post on the screen, however, tomorrow I'm buying me a new journal and a shiny set of colored markers. Then I'm going to go back and copy down David's ten rules and try and see how many I can master by the end of the month. Who knows?  I could end up with a book by the end of 2014?  All that aside, I do know one thing: I can say without one doubt, I am singing my Maker's praise without anxiety.  Should sleep well tonight. Hope you do, too. selahV by hariette petersen

NOTE--TO ALL MY WRITER & WANNABE WRITER FRIENDS OUT THERE: Loved this article by David Swindle, Associate Editor at PJMedia. You'll like it too if you want to get serious about writing. I learned a bunch of stuff from his piece as he spliced and diced it on his Twitter account/link.  Worth following there, too.  Believe me.

How to Be Victors in Life

is only as possible as we define victor.

To some, "to the victor goes the spoils".  It's a war in which we become victorious over another person--an enemy who seeks to destroy us.  However, that's not exactly the kind of victor I am interested in being.  To do whatever it takes to win?  To ignore that which is pure and holy and godly to end up with all the goodies via whatever means it takes to obtain them?  No. That doesn't mean you are a victor.  That just means you are the most deceptive manipulative bully. In that sense, a victor gains the "spoils"-- the enemy's treasures and belongings.  The victor assumes possession of the enemy's material gains. I don't want my enemy's spoils.

My enemy is Satan. Anything he has is not worth owning.  Satan is everything that is ungodly--he is the opposite of God. Why would I want to have anything he has?  In fact, the Lord instructs me to resist him so that he flees. To put on the whole armor of God so that I may "stand"-- to plant my feet in the solidity of God's grace and salvation-- and not waver wherein Satan and his minions seek to devour me.

"The Lord’s slave must not quarrel, but must be gentle to everyone, able to teach, and patient, instructing his opponents with gentleness. Perhaps God will grant them repentance leading them to the knowledge of the truth. Then they may come to their senses and escape the Devil’s trap, having been captured by him [Jesus] to do his will." 2 Timothy 2:24-26

It's important to realize as I tweet on Twitter and toss my sarcastic barbs that what I say must align with God's instruction. All too often I allow my flesh to control my fingertips as I respond to various folks and agree with some who see things the way I see things. I cannot be a victor if I walk outside of God's pleasure and instructions and mingle with those who seek to live for position and power outside of God's divine plan and purpose. 

I wholeheartedly believe I am living in the last days as prophesied in God's Word:

"But know this: Difficult times will come in the last days.  For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good,  traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to the form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid these people!" 2 Timothy 3:1-5

How does one avoid these people?  How can we avoid them when they are at every turn in our lives?  When every program we watch on television has their influence in every commercial, every news report, every sitcom and every reality show?  when every social media we join has their "voice" and intrusion? When every magazine screams at us with headlines as we check out at the grocers?

Well, for me, I think it is to avoid entering the fray of their conversations. To avoid walking where they walk.  To avoid listening to their music, their entertainment, the diatribes on their networks with their analysts and slanted reporting. To refuse to attend ther movies and support their lifestyles and ability to spread their poison in my life. I've come to see that playing on their playground can lead to throwing dirt and kicking sand.  To be a victor in this time of history, I must climb to higher ground.  I must stand on the Rock where my refuge is above the world.

And yes.  I will run into many of those Timothy warns me to avoid on my journey. You will, too.  The key in being a victor among them is to avoid their "kind" of conversations and speak up when necessary. If they do not hear my voice and become hostile, I kick the dust from my feet and move on. When necessary, I delete, unfriend, and block.  I pray for the scales to be removed from their eyes. Then I share the "good news".  Speak goodness with kindness and love.  I must refuse to tolerate the intolerable.  I cannot accept their arguments as instructions to preserve some politically correct position.  I will refuse to fall for their accusations of hatred in the face of truth.

Above all, I cannot let them define or redefine God's Word from society's flawed understanding or culturally acceptable opinion. A victor is only victorious who rests solely upon God and His unchanging Word--regardless of world opinion and attack. He alone is our resource and refuge.~~ selahVtoday by hariette petersen

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The Duck Dynasty Debacle and Me

I'm no better than anyone else in this world.  I learned that a long long time ago/link. 

The past few days, I've been caught up in the whirlwind of opinions regarding Duck Dynasty and A&E. I tweeted and retweeted.  I copied and pasted articles and posts (just like millions of other people).  I got followed by several on Twitter and stopped following a few on Twitter. 

However, I do not watch Duck Dynasty on a regular basis. What I have watched, I really think is funny and fun. They exemplify what families should be about-- though they squabble and quibble, they make up and poke fun at one another and reconcile. They love work, one another and God. Though I don't see every episode, I'm tickled pink they've worked hard and built a dynasty from duck calls and ingenuity.

I don't watch anything on television religiously, or faithfully. Life is far more than what goes on inside a 60-in box.  Yet, I disagree with folks who try to decide for me what I should say, read, think, or watch.  My interests vary from babies being aborted to Pastor Saeed's imprisonment, from healthcare to the stripping of COLA pensions for Vets. I tweet about James Rosen's interviews and Megyn Kelly's Santa controversy. I'm not a fanatic follower of everything Ducks--nor a Bill O'Reilly groupie. But I do like to know what people think.

Folks have very interesting takes on the world and I like to hear their take.  Even with those I disagree.  Why do they think the way they think?  Do they disagree with me because I'm just like all those other "thems" in the world they disagree with?  Not sure.  I am me-- I'm not completely like anyone else.  I may have similarities, hold some same opinions, some similar beliefs-- but I do not consist of all of anyone else. I can't see that ever changing--not for me--nor anyone else.

This deal over Phil Robertson has never once angered me. I've simply shared what I thought when I read something someone said. I've held the beliefs I have for a very long time.  And while I totally agree with Phil on the depravity of man, I would never have chosen to express myself as he did about sin. I would have defined it differently. Why?

Because I am me. I express myself differently. That's probably why Phil is on a reality show and I'm just boring little me. Phil is Phil and he bluntly expresses himself as he chooses-- just as you choose to express yourself.  Knowing what little I know about Phil, I can call him a brother in Christ because he seems to believe what I do about Jesus.

Some folks look at the world through a clouded lens-- without the knowledge or understanding of the presence of God in their lives. Some judge every syllable and phrase Christians say through the lens of what they have determined a Christian is, and what all Christians should say or do.  It may or may not be valid, but it is their interpretation; they are entitled to think whatever way they choose, just as I am. The reason Christians can make particular statements about sinners is because we know we are all sinners.  Each of us. We know sin well. We battle it ourselves. But we know we have a Savior who has paid the ultimate price for our sin and became the substitute for our punishment so we could live forever with Him.

Many articles and posts I've read recently have addressed why we think what we think and how we should assign motive and intent to the reasoning behind actions of A&ETV and those defending A&E and those defending Phil Robertson. Those are think pieces-- opinion articles to provoke more thought. Many are written to inflame, to incite, to encourage further debate. Few are written to bring peace or understanding or reconciliation.

I'm not all that interested in "thinking" anymore about the why or how in this debacle.

Of greatest interest to me is the heart of the matter-- as in the heart of the Believer and follower of Jesus Christ.  As in me--my imperfect fleshly self and my part in it all.  In fact, I thought about deleting every single post I had written on facebook and every tweet I'd tweeted on Twitter regarding Duck Dynasty.  I even considered deactivating my Twitter account altogether.

You see, as a Christian, when we allow our minds to supercede our hearts, the Spirit of God begins to check our spirit and poke us in places so we become painfully aware of portions we need to address. In Romans 12:2, it is written:

"be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

God wants to purify and sanctify us in order that we might be a "light" to Him, not away from Him.  My mind wanted to fluff off what I'd been thinking; my heart wouldn't let me. Words matter. It's important that we're careful choosing our words and being responsible for what we say.

I've been pondering the "us" and "them" in this war of words between A&ETV, Phil Robertson, GLAAD voices, the fans, and Christians who have spoken out about "them" and "us".  Mostly, I'm thinking about the ones in between "us" and "them".  They are the ones who are neither in the whole conversation--they are onlookers.  I wonder, how do they see "us" as we react to "them"?  as we one-up the other in tit-for-tat tweets?

I think about me.

For me, that is worth considering in depth, considering all I've tweeted in the last few days. Mercy is my favorite word next to Jesus-- though how can one say Jesus without simultaneously thinking of the word mercy is beyond me.  He is mercy. I'm glad He has mercy on me and His mercies are new every morning. I need that clean slate. And while He allows sin because we live in a fallen world, He doesn't condone it, nor will He tolerate it (especially in His children)-- even if it is the simple sin of thinking we know more than someone else and must let them know it as well. 

When You Get Good News

it's so heartwarming.

Sometimes we fail to recognize good news.  We are so accepting of the mundane, the routine, the every-day situations which the whole world goes through that we simply don't notice.  We're busy.  We're hurting.  However....

my good-news moments come smack dab in the middle of bad news sometimes. 

For instance:

When my husband got a chip of some kind in his eye, it led us on a chaotic, painful journey to the emergency room (expensive), and to the eye-doctor the next day (not so expensive). After a rather miserable night with a scratched cornea, my husband got relief with steroid drops to his eyes this morning.  Finally, his swelling has subsided, his pain is gone, and the perpetual feeling of sand in his eye has dissipated.  THAT is good news.

I went to the doctor for my own appointment, after I got my husband taken care of at his emergency appointment... I wondered.  Will my tests be bad?  worse?  better?  Never have I had a doctor so encouraged by my test results. After months of personal chaos, painful muscles and lack of sleep, I really was expecting bad news.  Generally, stress and turmoil breeds bad cholesterol counts, high blood pressure and lousy numbers.  In my case, my auto-immune diet offset all the opposing factors to those numbers.  My cholesterol dropped over 50 points.  Bad went down and good went up.  Triglycerides dropped too.  Folks... this is good news for me.  Really good news.  I'm in a health battle extraordinaire at the moment.

Encouraging words.

We all need them.  Some come in this form I've illustrated--with health matters.  Often overlooked in the scheme of life.  Little blessings which make all the major difficulties a little less difficult--those are the ones we need to count.  We need to focus on that which is pure and good.  When we do, we see so many more good things than bad.  Our hearts are strengthened rather than crushed.

A few days I wrote a post in the midst of some overwhelming circumstances going on in my life.  Rarely do I get many comments on my posts.  It's fine.  I don't write for comments.  I write because God's called me to write. Sometimes I don't think He's all that happy with what pumps out on the screen from my fingertips.  But this time, a stranger took the time to comment on the post and tell me how encouraged she was from it.

FRIENDS... that blew my mind.  She lifted my spirit.  It's like God rubberstamped my thoughts about someone being out there somewhere who was just like me, and who might feel the same way and we'd cross paths and encourage one another.  SHE DID IT.  Mary from New Zealand.  It was an awesome God-thing moment for me.  Had no clue how she'd found my little blog.  But there she was.  A God-filled encourager.  See how God blesses us?

"A word spoken at the right time is like gold apples on a silver tray." Proverbs 25:11

I need to practice this more.  I need to be one who speaks a word at the right time that helps others.  Take today.

Today I wore this funky macrame beaded necklace that looked like a throw-back to the hippie era.  Compliment after compliment came my way on that necklace.  I put it on at the last minute to accent my jean skirt and vest that made me feel like I was a big fat walrus.  Yet, the necklace was noticed.  Perhaps no one really noticed my bulging body.  Perhaps my God knew I needed to hear that to make me feel better about myself today.  I don't know-- but I like to think He cares that much.  He loves me.  He loves me as I am.  I need to love me like that, too.  And then I need to love others likewise...no matter what I'm going through.  Why?

Because... most likely, they are going through something, too.  Just like me.  I need to remember that.  I'm not alone on this planet.  Others may need my compliment, too.  Others may need a bit of good news.  Don't you think?

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Broken, Bruised and Bewildered

When our spirits are broken and our emotions bruised, it is easy to become bewildered.

"Is it our fault?  Jesus made it very clear that it is impossible to live in this world and not have the opportunity to become offended.  Yet most believers are shocked, bewildered, and amazed when it happens.  We believe we are the only ones who have been wronged." ~John Bevere

Don't know about you.  But when I find myself licking my wounds over a situation, I invariably question my own part in the scheme of things.  I look forward, backward, and wallow around in the present.  I analyze my feelings before the situation, during it, and the present.  I think long and hard. I search my soul for that wicked way that must be inside me.

I blame myself. 

I do it all the time.  It's me.  I am the worthless one.  I deserve it.  Do you do this?

Perhaps it's because life often blames us for our own troubles.  We make choices.  We decide the course of our lives, don't we?  Not so fast.  Sometimes things are beyond our control.  Aren't they?

Not long ago I found myself in the deepest hole of sadness I'd faced in a long time.  It's like I was carrying a tray of precariously stacked dishes and all of a sudden they toppled and fell to the concrete floor.  I could give you all the nitty gritty details, but it would take forever to explain how each dish, plate, and cup fit on the tray before they exploded all over my world.  Suffice it to say, things pile up.

Pressures.  Trials.  Troubles.  Issues.

When our lives are stacked with too many things, when we assume one more thing will fit on the tray, we are bound to lose something, if not everything, we have stacked without greater thought and consideration.

What causes the first cup to fall?  sometimes it's a word spoken too quickly.  Maybe we get too comfortable with someone and we say something in a clumsy way because we are in a hurry, tired, emotionally exhausted, and are....well, just clumsy. Other times it is the spoon someone else adds to life's tray that starts the free-fall.  So the first cup teeters and we try to right the tray to still its movement and then... uh oh... the entire tray wobbles and begins to pitch.  We stand there looking at the mess and wonder.  Did I say something wrong?  What did I say that created such disaster?  What did I do?  should I have walked slower?  left off that last cup?

"I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood."~Audre Lorde

That's a nice quote-- in theory.  However, what is most important to me may be the least important thing to another.  No matter how tired I am, or how mindless I've become, I must weigh my thoughts in light of anothers.  If...

if I want to keep the tray of life balanced.

if I want to keep from shattering all the peace and tranquility I enjoy.

if I do not want a broken relationship, a broken heart and a bruised soul.

I must remember:  It's not about me.  I tend to forget that-- no matter how hard I try to show compassion, mercy and tolerance... the big "I" has a way of sneaking back into my life. 

Ever wonder how long it takes to die to self?  To decrease so He increases?  I do.

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Don't Throw Pebbles in a Rock Fight

It just won't work.  You'll come out scathed, scratched, scarred and bloody.  Some folks don't need stones.  Sometimes all it takes is a word or phrase to fell an opponent.  You've heard the old addage: "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me."

That is such a load of bunk.  Of course words hurt.  We aren't made of steel and iron--we have emotions.

A primary catalyst for pulling me out of bed each day is communicating with others.  It fuels my life and motivates me to turn on a computer, to pick up a phone...to talk.  I love chatting, writing, emailing, facebooking, and such.  However, there are times when communicating becomes nothing but drudgery.  Ever feel like that?

For me, it feels like I'm on an uphill trek wearing shoes made of lead.  On these occasions, I do not like chatting, because chatting becomes a task, an exhausting mental trading of words which are not heard...which are dissected and tripped over and kicked out of the way...

like an unwanted stone in the middle of a pathway.

It often occurs when the world has been exploding all around me. I'm heading up some conversational hill and an avalanche of words come rolling down on top of me.  I just say, whew...forget about it.  I'm going back down.  No sense trying to talk or explain when it is such a strain on the brain.

I was talking to a friend about this and I happened to visit her blog and found a post she wrote a few days ago.  It was as if she was reading my mind.  Appropriately titled: "Leaving Crazyville" (link), Victoria's words of thought are an inspiration for we who find ourselves tired of struggling to be understood by folks who already have all the answers. selahV

Do YOU Desire to See GOOD Days?

Do you love life?

Do you want to see days where the sun shines and rainbows form from crystals in the rain-blessed sky?

Do you want to see your seeds sprout, your corn grow, the tares controlled, and reap a bountiful harvest of "good" days?

1 Peter 3:10-12 offers some help:

" For whoever desires to love life
              and see good days,
let him keep his tongue from evil
              and his lips from speaking deceit;
let him turn away from evil and do good;
let him seek peace and pursue it.

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."

I thought about this passage a lot in the last few days.  I wondered when I shared the heartaches I had, the brokenness I felt, the misunderstandings and false perceptions of others toward me.  Does anyone really know what I desire with the words I use?  Is what my tongue utters "evil"?  I wonder this because, when I feel no animosity, nor anger in my heart, nor any ire, nor wish no ill-will against anyone, how are my words "evil"?

I think if I do my best to be as forthright, forthcoming and honest with my words, not hiding behind flattering phrases or pacifying language, is that "speaking from deceit"?  If not, then what must I do to have better days?  Days empty of angry emails, days where the emails do not notify me of canceled subscriptions to my words, days where people are as friendly as the waitress who hopes to gain a tip for serving me.  Days wherein folks I know who hold a different opinion than I, find I have not changed my heart, simply because I share a thought or two from my mind.  Where are those days if my words are not intent on doing the work of Satan in a faith-based community?

Could it be?  Could it be I am in the midst of evil, and darkness and had not seen the forest for the trees of ego-mania and self-centeredness towering over me?  Could it be I am in a meadow filled with thistles, tares and poison ivy?  Perhaps that is it...perhaps the problem rests in turning away from that attractive meadow of brilliant colors, where stately cactus stand ready to prick the life out of me as I pass through.  Perhaps, another path is where I need to turn.  I need to get out of the briar-laced thickets.  I need to get back on the beaten path, one walked by the saints before me, then "seek peace and pursue it".  At all costs.  No matter what seeds are carried and implanted around me.  Then I will find the "good" at the end of each day.  I will find the peace and joy and love by the still waters.  And my heart will overflow with God's grace and love.  Do you desire "good days", too?  Let's see if we can make a few together...okay?  selahV

Some Folks...Can't Be Friends

Some folks are friends, some are not.  Some are better friends than others.  Some folks are better off not pretending to be friends.  Friendship is so much more than facebooking, texting, and internet socialization.  I have some true true friends in life and I cannot begin to thank God enough for them.  They are the kind who will drop everything for you when you need them.  They'll sacrifice their time, and put their lives on hold, just to fly across the country and help you when you lose a loved one.  Friends who live near you will meet you for lunch a couple of times a week to listen to you share the grief in your heart--the questions in your mind.  They'll pray with you and for you.

You probably have friends like this, too.

Some friends truly care what we think about various things in life, and how we are when they ask.  I realize life has a way of revolving around our own thoughts and personal struggles, needs, joy and pain.  I try very hard to be that kind of friend for others.  I really want to be for them what they need.  I want to be this for them because I have so much myself.  God has truly blessed me.

I have one friend on the internet, whose blog I always read.  Even though I do not always understand where he is going with his posts, I do know from whence he came.  I know how much he cares about life and his relationship with our Lord. I know he endeavors to follow Him with every thing he does.  It's a blessing each time I pick up the phone and talk to him.  Or get an email from him wherein we banter about goofy stuff, or opine about serious stuff.  We do not talk every day.  We talk a few times a year.  But when we talk, it's like we were when we shared many a cup of coffee and bowl of popcorn over thirty years ago. True friendship never dies, even when geography separates and time prohibits interaction.

I have other friends who take time to be with me in a one-on-one visit and that is also a major blessing.  Of late, those times have been very few and far between.  Lousy health has kept me from socializing much.  I think I'm getting out of sync with the world.  I occasionally wonder if I've lost the ability to connect.

Ever have one of those odd conversations wherein you answer the proverbial "How-was-your-day?" question with a lot of stuff and someone picks out the most mundane thing of what you say and ignores all the rest?  Here's an exaggerated example: "How are you today?"

"Well, today has been rather tumultuous...I found out I had cancer, my dog died, I painted a picture for my living-room wall, and always chew gum when I paint.  I wish I had some chewing gum, forgot to buy some."

The friend writes back, "I bought five packs of gum when I went shopping today, I like Dentyne."

And that is the jist of the conversation.  It's weird.  You close your eyes and think..."gum?"...that's what they picked up in the reply to talk about?  Hmmmn.

What does one do when a person seems that disinterested in a conversation they begin?  Are we so consumed with ourself, that we fail to focus on the thoughts and the needs of others?  Or is it us at all?  Could we be too sensitive?  touchy to a fault?

It begs an answer, though...

When folks ask how we are, do they really want to know?  Does anyone actually want to know how we are?  I understand the insincerity of that question in the passing one another in the check-out line.  The clerk really doesn't want to know how I am.  And they do not really care whether I "found everything I was looking for" that day when I shopped.  It's just a question they are trained to ask.  I wonder if we've so conditioned ourselves in the way things are in the world that we only care when it is convenient to care.  When our minds are free of our own concerns.

Lord, I pray I am able to be more like Jesus.  To see through the chatter of a woman at the well--or laundry mat.  To feel the touch of needy fingers at the hem of my robe--or elbow, when they seek a moment of recognition.  To notice a person above me in the trees, while others clamor for my attention.  I want to see like Jesus.  I want Him to help me see, feel, touch and know...so none go through life as lonely as I once did.  How about you? selahV

Blogger's Curse

There are those who curse in words and gnaw on their own words forever, like a cow chews its cud.  Their curse has a reverberating effect and cause others who hear it to gnaw on those words and judge other words they may have spoken in the past.  The unsettled curse taints the reception of other words in the future.  One's curse gives birth to suspicion, to question, to deeper inspection.

My stepmother cursed me.  From the time she entered my five-year-old life, to the day I left home at sixteen, she told me I was "a lazy, good-for-nothing brat".  She said, "You'll never amount to nothing!"  "You're a hussy like your mother."  It took years for me to overcome some of the other curses she wrapped around my brain.

Recently, a respected individual in my faith accused me and all my brothers and sisters (of like faith), of lying and being bigoted toward a certain people group.  Some think this curse will all blow over and go away.  A few think that it was a well-deserved indictment for which we all should repent.

Here's the thing.

When a person (of world-wide reknown and influence), accuses a whole group of people (within earshot, or Twitter-shot, of his sphere of instructional authority), of mean-spirited bigotry bathed in lies, it is not likely that Believers who "hear" or are made "aware" of the curse will sit kindly by and nod their heads in agreement, or flick away the condemnation with apathetic ho-hums. Though some will turn the other cheek and move on, the curse will not settle anymore than a fluttering sparrow or darting swallow.

It is also likely that those within the "people group" will use the indictment to further their own agendas and cast their own unrelenting form of accusation upon us all who were being cursed with the scarlet letter from the reknowned and influencial.

"Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest." Proverbs 26:2

In other words, when someone condemns, the untruth will not settle down.  The curse will flutter in the wind and live on in the minds of others and flutter in their imaginations and obscure viewpoints again and again.

Because I blog and because I have on occasion voiced my opposition to another's words or views, I have been lied about, dumped on, maligned, accused, and criticized.  Goes with the territory of voicing one's opinion.  Not everyone will agree with you.  Oddly, in the nearly 2,000-plus posts I have written, I can count on one hand the people who have sent disparaging, meanspirited, accusatory emails:  One.  One person.  I can also count on one hand the ones who've logged on to bash me...one preacher of said emailer, and a handful of their cronies.

God has been good to me.  God has blessed me.  I am grateful.

For me, the lesson in the blogger's curse, is that we'd do well to guard our tongues in what we say about others--especially when speaking of the Bride of Christ. Personally, I have no animosity towards the "reknown and influencial" spokesman who let fly a curse upon me and my faith-group. I just lament the fact that this "curse" will not rest for a very long time.

Indeed, because it was spoken by such a person of influence, it will go down in the annals of history of my faith-group and will someday be ferreted out as a nugget that few even realize exists. "An undeserved curse does not come to rest."  There is a day of accounting for every word we utter.  Best we choose them wisely, don't you think?  selahV

For Other Related Posts:

WHEN THE DEVIL SPINS A TALE

Close Encounters Part 1

Who really understands you?  Do you have someone who gets you?  When was the last time you connected, truly connected with someone close to you? or for that matter, anyone?  Have you ever had an encounter with someone who totally understood why you feel the way you do?  Why you are disappointed over what some may find trivial?  A close encounter is one in which a person not only understands how you feel, but why.  They see beyond the actual circumstance for your pain, the origin for your hurting, and they care...simply care that you hurt.

Right about now, most men might say, "Huh? What are you talking about, lady?"  Most men I've encountered seem to keep disappointment all bottled up inside, have heart attacks and ulcers, or explode with anger and walk away when obstacles and aggravations come their way.  They rarely open up and let the world see that vulnerable side of themselves.  To be fair, many women are just as guarded, perhaps for different reasons.  For men, I think it is one of pride and ego.  They have this thing about letting anyone be privy to weakness, or inability to solve a problem...after all, they are men.

Women, on the other hand, unless they dared place themselves in a world of competition with men, are more likely to admit a personal fault, a fear, an irritation, a complaint, a disappointment.  We're more likely to guard ourselves from sharing the depths of our hearts because we've been burned, or betrayed, or encountered disloyal people with whom we share our innermost thoughts.  Some of us don't like to admit our spiritual failings, where we are not showing perfect trust and faith in God.  We also know we have a reputation for murmurring, complaining, whining and nagging.  So a lot of times we stuff our feelings, too.

However, I think we, being women, as a whole, still find that release valve within our souls incapable of holding forever the hurt we experience.  Like I mentioned in my last post, sometimes it only takes one thing--the expensive brisket no one shows up to eat, the wrong kind of hinges to be placed on a door, the tiny details of one's life no one seems to notice or care about--to become the proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back of emotions.  And then, well, the dam breaks and we cry.  Those closest to us are sometimes shocked.  It's so out of character for us.  Others think it typical--nothing seems to make us happy after all (even though many things make us happy), but you won't change their minds, they think they know you.

When that camel is broken...when the bubbles burst, and daydreams are crushed by evening darkness, we find ourselves seeking solace in the oddest places.  While some turn to yardwork, to scrubbing walls, to purging closets, to riding bikes, to running like Forrest Gump, others turn to painting landscapes, to making jewelry, to playing trumpets.  Some lie in bed, dig into a half-gallon of Rocky Road ice cream, but, me?  I tend to throw a pity party.  The problem with that is, many of the closest people in my life aren't all that excited about joining me.

Fortunately, I have some friends who "get" me.  God brings these friends into my life in the strangest ways.  selahV (to be continued HERE/link )

When Words Are Not Enough (Part Three)

Words of encouragement are all some know.  "They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb." Psalm 19:10

Unlike gold and honey, words of discouragement are all some people have to say.  Their sentences are like an overstuffed suitcase.  They carry unnecessary baggage and really do need to go through an x-ray machine and be unpacked before they reach the other side of the conveyor belt.

Sometimes a person's brain leaves the station before it has time to weigh the words in its heart.

I think that words are the clumsiest, most inadequate measure of one's heart that we have.  I, cherish words of affirmation as an outward expression of another's love for me.  But sometimes I forget to measure them when I speak.

I forget to consider that the person with whom I am sharing all my words and sentences, may not see them, hear them, or understand them quite the way I intend.  Why?  Because sometimes they are ill-chosen, ill-timed, ill-defined, and ill-written.  So how else can one communicate?

My husband chooses to express his heart, mind and soul with acts of service.  Yet even acts of service can be misconstrued, can't they?  One time my husband thought he was doing me a service by trimming my forsythia bush away from our air-conditioning unit.  He cut off all of its sprawling stems just as it was coming into full-bloom.  Instead of me having a gorgeous display of yellow to hide the hideously ugly air-conditioning unit by my house, I had a short ball of yellow that called attention to that hideously ugly air-conditioning unit.

Did I ever rain on my husband's parade of expressive love when my distorted words of affirmation screamed, "What in the world were you thinking!  Why didn't you simply uproot the thing!"  I gathered up as many of the manicured stems that lay on the ground as I could in my arms, took them in the house and placed them in every jar imaginable to finish blooming inside my home.  For days those brightly colored stems made peace with my heart.  But for my husband, they served as a reminder of how his acts of service had failed to express his sincerest wishes.  Sometimes, attitude is everything, and words are entirely too much.

Words can be everything that's wrong.  Everything that hurts.  And would be better left unsaid.

"A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." Provers 17:22

Ill-chosen words destroy the heart of the hearer.  They are not worth the air it takes to even whisper, let alone to shout.  May the Lord give us words befitting a cheerful heart filled with His love and grace.

WHEN WORDS ARE NOT ENOUGH (PART TWO)

WHEN WORDS ARE NOT ENOUGH (PART ONE)

When I Need A Cup of Grace

I sit across from a dear friend.  Fresh-brewed tea fills the air with a sweet fragrance of peaches and honey.  We sip.  We share.  We hear the other's words.  We reveal discouragements, annoyances, irritations, and joys.  We trust one another to keep those things in an invisible safe space to which only we hold the key.

Would others understand if they heard us talking?  Would they understand that what we say in that tiny space of time is not the whole of either of us?  Do we understand that?  Yes, we do.

The blessing in friendship is that we love each other without conditions.  Friendship is like the tea in our cups.  One is the water, the other the tea, fused together by the warmth within our hearts and the Savior we both know. Time and love creates a savory relationship we enjoy when we are together, or apart.  Whether we hear from one another every day, once a month, or a year.  When we return to share a cup of tea, our hearts find our bond was never separated.  How could we separate steeped tea from water, anyway? 

Despite the voyeuristic Reality television shows, few of us want the world to know each thought we have, or each action we take in the privacy of our homes and relationships.  That is why trust is such an unbelieveable gift to another.  When we give a piece of ourselves to another, it is in their possession.  We trust them with who we are and all our warts and weaknesses.  When we are taught to distrust, it is hard to show another the completeness of who we are.  When we have been betrayed at some point in our lives, it is difficult to give ourselves to another's keeping.

What if they do to us what others have done?  What if they never cared for us in the first place?  What if they have their own motives for wanting to get to know us?  Do we dare let down our guard?

What we know about another, from another, is not as telling as what we know firsthand, up close and personal.  If we have not had the occasion and opportunity to get to know another, we cannot truly know them. Unfortunately, this occurs quite often when a young couple gets engaged.  Or when a boss chooses a new employee.  Or when two people meet via internet conversations.

It's hard to know the depths of another or what makes them tick, don't you think?  It's like the tea-time we share. When we drink a cup of tea, we only see one side of the cup when we reach for it and turn it up to drink from its well.  There is always another side we cannot see.  Unless we turn the cup around and look at it from another's view, we cannot begin to know they see and how they see it.  Even then, we only get a glimpse, a shadow.  But at least we are looking at the same cup from the other's perspective and view for awhile.

If all we do is look at the cup from our own viewpoint, it's safe to say we'll never understand the other.  It takes time for each to become familiar with the whole cup, the intricate designs, the simplicity of the other, the fingerprints, the contents.  And just when you think you have the other figured out, the Lord reveals another part of them or you.

It takes effort to discover what we each are truly like.  It takes patience.  It takes acceptance and compromise.  And sometimes...well, sometimes, we find we're simply not the other's cup of tea.  We could drink all the tea in China with one another and never be able to communicate.  It's need we need to drink from the cup of Grace for one another and accept  that it may be best to switch to coffee. (to be continued with..."What Others Expect From Us")  selahV

                                WHO DO YOU TRUST?

DISAGREEMENTS

Every day I hear them, witness them, am even a part of them.  Disagreements exist because people have opposing viewpoints, perspectives, ideologies, and agendas.  People find all kinds of things in life to rebuke and rebuff.  I've found that just because one person disagrees and says "I believe", that does not automatically negate or devalue the point of another.  It simply means one person disagrees.  In some cases, a majority of people will agree with the person who disagrees with another.  A majority does not necessarily make things anymore credible because it collects more folks to agree with their position.  Look at the mob who cried, "Crucify him!  Crucify him!"

Evolutionists disagree with the Biblical creation account.  Millions of people agree with Darwin's theory of evolution.  Does that make the Bible untrue?  No.  It makes a group of people believe what they want to believe based on the information they have and their desire to believe it.  Professors disagree.  Scientists and doctors disagree.  Judges disagree.  Parents disagree.  Politicians and constituents disagree.  Preachers, theologians, and Christians disagree.

We each have to come to a point in our lives wherein we make a decision and choose what and who we believe in all life choices.  Ultimately, we live with our own individual choices.

Me?  I choose to believe the Bible, and I filter all information through it.  I use its principles, commands, and directions as my guide, along with the Holy Spirit who lives within me.  For things I do not understand, situations or dilemnas, I go as far ahead as I can see and leave the rest to faith.   

The Bible tells us that to come to Jesus, one first has to believe God--that God is, was, and will always be.  Those who will not believe, but trust in their own goodness, will not join a minority group of people who believe in Jesus.  God knew that from the beginning.  He knew the majority of people would cling to their own selfish ways and desires and choose to live in an ungodly way forever.  He knew that once man ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, that the majority would choose evil over good--self-satisfaction over godliness. God knew the vast majority of people would never come to Him, would reject Him, and would ignore His Word.

Nevertheless...

"...God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosover believes in Him will have everlasting life." John 3:16  Humanity has hope.  That hope is in Christ.  The majority can disagree all it wants, it cannot change God, no matter how many words they use, or how many people collect to voice those words.  selahV

ARE YOU AN INFLUENTIAL BLOGGER?

Does your voice matter?  Do your words count?  Do your thoughts, ideas, opinions?

When I think about being influential, I think of how things affect me and mine.  Does another person have the power to change my mind...look at a situation from another perspective...stir me to action?  Can an op-ed prick my conscience so sharply, stir my soul so deeply, I am compelled to pray for the writer? his or her concerns?  Or does a writer's words simply cause a yawn to claim my mind?

Depending upon the situation, every single person has influence.  For instance, I have plans today to get some writing assignments completed.  Yet, if my 6-year-old granddaughter asks her momma to call me and see if she can come over and play, I am more than likely going to find her request quite a compelling force upon my heart and time.  Some things are just more important than others; tea parties, painting birdhouses, and swinging in my hammock with my grandchildren are such things.

Influence only has the power another gives it.  We do not have to be influenced by others--their words or their actions.  However, when their ideas and views line up with our own, they are more than likely going to draw us beneath their wings of thought.  We're apt to find ourselves subscribing to their blog-feed.  Some writers have only one influence upon me---they make me mad everytime I read their words.  This kind of influence compels me to one action--ignore them.  I do not read their blogs, I do not listen to their opinions of another's writing or words.  If I have a minimal amount of respect for a writer or their views, I tend to skip their comments in a stream.

I admit it.  I am not influenced by what many people write--even when others claim them to be influential.  Nevertheless, just because I don't think someone is influential--just because I do not agree with them, and view their influence as nothing but a growling rottweiler, a slobbering bulldog, or a yapping chihuahua, does not negate the fact that they may indeed influence others.  Just because I am annoyed by a barking hound--does not mean that dog won't hunt and bring home the game to the doorstep of others...just as surely as my newspaper man delivers my newspaper each morning.  I may never pick up the paper.  I may never click on a highly-trafficked link; it doesn't change the fact that others are most certainly influenced in some way--good or bad, positively or negatively--when they do.

As Christians who blog, we must therefore, weigh our words, and bring our thoughts into the captivity of Christ to use as He sees fit.  In the end, no matter how man judges us, the Judge most worthy of consideration is Jesus.  He'll have the final word, no matter what you or I say. selahV  

 

COME LET US REASON TOGETHER

One of my favorite things in life is a mountain brook lined with ferns and stately evergreens.  I especially love the one that flows along a country highway through the mountains of Tennessee.  There are places in that brook that are deafening; whispers cannot be heard and conversation is all but impossible.  The rushing water beating upon the rocks and mossy banks create a cacophony of roaring sounds.  When the cicada and treefrogs join in the blending of sound and nature, beauty and flowing life takes my breath away.

If you walk along the creekbeds, there are spots where the water pools and creates a glistening retreat from the barrage of water beating against the boulders and moss-covered stones.  Mountain trout gather there and live in harmony with their surroundings.  Tiny minnows multiply.  Terrepene and crawfish dig their homes and burrow into the banks.  Butterflies cluster around the rhododendron bushes.  Dogwood and redbud trees dot the area with new life in the Spring.  Sparrows, robins and cardinals sing.

Recalling this splendor brings to mind another kind of stream.  The comment streams among us.  So many websites offer respite from the rushing roaring waters that beat across the boulders in the middle of their streams.  Jutting boulders divide the flow of the stream in a mountain brook.  If one tries to cross the stream by stepping on the stones, they do so at their own peril.  The moss covering can be slippery.  Very slippery.

I find my greatest comfort in the pools of glistening water that gathers in an open area and offers calm and peace.  I love the rushing waters; I love their majesty and power.  But most of all, I like the refreshment offered in the calmer collections of streams.  You see.  In the pools, the movement and flow is still there.  But it is a quiet undercurrent flowing beneath the surface.  It moves, but it does not erode the banks.  It carries minnows and fish downstream, but does not crush them.  The beauty still surrounds me; nature's course is not destroyed.  And the peace and contentment found by the still waters restores my soul.

May this be your place of pooling water.  May you find respite from troubled waters and rushing streams.  May you drink and enjoy and be refreshed today.  Come, let us reason together in Christian love.  Share a word of testimony.  What is Christ doing in your life today?  What incident today has drawn you closer to Him?  What event has caused you to seek His strength and know His sufficiency and calming presence?  selahV         

Reckless Words are like Poop

Lately my little 3-year-old granddaughter finds it rather funny to say the word "poop".  A few days ago we were eating beef and broccoli at the mall and she was giggling and saying it as if she were saying "pass-the-salt".  So I reproved her.  Yesterday she needed a reminder.  I explained to her that you don't talk about "poop" at the dining-room table.  She asked the inevitable why?  I said "because you only say "poop" when you are in the bathroom or need to tell mommy or me that you need to go to the bathroom.  And then you should whisper it."

"Why?"

"Because it is not polite."  She didn't quite understand that word either; I tried another.  "It's rude."  She looked puzzled.  "It isn't nice, and makes other people sick when they are eating."

"Oh."

"There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." Proverbs 12:18 ESV

Certain words conjure up vivid images in our minds.  Just as my granddaughter's word conjures up rather unappetizing thoughts at the dinner-table, other words conjure up images that bespeak volumes about situations, personalities, and character.  Some words should not be spoken--or even mulled over in our minds.  They are only used to create hurt, incite anger and produce feelings of harm.  Many words should be deleted from our posts before we hit the "publish" button.  In fact, should we be writing about others--their doctrine, their viewpoints, their ideas, their personhood, their writings--I have learned it is best if we spend more time editing than creating our colorful prose before posting it on the world-wide-web.  It is something all writers should do--especially Christians.  After all, "rash words are like sword thrusts". 

Unfortunately some people take pleasure in plunging swords and twisting the blade once it enters the gut.  Other folks find writers who draw such swords funny, witty, and worthy of claiming best friends.  But then, some do not even flinch when others bring "poop" to the dinner table, either. Writing sheathed with such intent bring these words to my mind:  Sickening.  Blood-spattered.  Gall-soaked.  Thorn-piercing.  Sad.

Therefore...

I believe what comes out of my granddaughter's mouth says alot about the character of her heart.  I want her to guard her heart from evil thinking that rests within it.  I try to follow Christ and the pattern my daughter teaches her children.  I want to undergird those values and virtues.  So I try to teach my granddaughter the appropriate usage of words--that if she can't say something nice, she shouldn't say anything at all.  I also find it imperative to check my own words, usage and motive.  While I find much of the political correctness we see in the world today is bogus over-sensitivity, I do believe words matter.  Especially, the intent of words.  My words are my testimony.  I believe what comes from me, says more about me, than what my words say about others.  At the end of some days, I have not liked what my words say about me and my heart.  I make no claim to wisdom, but I really do want my words to bring healing to others.  How about you?  Rash or wise?  Which scale is heavier today?  selahV

WRONG THINKING, Number 4 of 11

Ever jump to a conclusion?  Ever think you know the motives in another's heart?  Do you find yourself thinking the worst of another? 

JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS:

This (JtC) can be quite problematic. (Mind Readers: We assume people are reacting negatively toward us even when there is not indication of that.  Fortune Tellers: We arbitrarily predict that things will turn out badly).

Okay, been there, done that.  Don't like doing that, don't like folks who think they know who I am and what I am by some snippet I've written or said, or someone else has told them about me.  Don't find it fun to be followed around blogland and have every single thing I say in a comment stream, undermined, attacked, and belittled.  I have a boatload of emails from one said person, who has finally stopped doing that with me.  Blessed I am, I tell you.

How did I manage to shed myself of someone who continually "jumped to a negative conclusion" about me?  I stopped addressing them.  I also stayed clear of the areas where this person might show up in blogland.  Worked well for me.  Ignoring such lily-pad jumpers in the midst of streams is a good way to deal with this "problematic" kind of thinking.

I have a few people I know whose names cannot be typed out in a stream with other bloggers attaching a presupposed opinion of what the writer is "really thinking, saying, or speculating".  It can be wearing on one's self-control button.  If you understand what I am saying here, then you also have an idea of the difficulty one has in graciously responding to them.

What do you do if you live with someone who has this kind of thinking?

"JtC" thinking often brings out the worst in individuals.  If you say something, or do something without one iota of ulterior motive, and someone jumps to the conclusion that you mean something you didn't mean, or are "really" saying something you aren't saying, it can squash the "kind" right out of your kindness, and the "gentle" right out of your gentleness.  It can flatten your normally gracious spirit so low, you respond in the same manner in which you are addressed, rather than in the fullness of the Spirit residing inside your heart.  (It's not okay, but it is part of living in a fallen world.)  Praise the Lord that He loves you anyway, even if others wag their judgmental finger of hypocrisy in your face as their three fingers point back at themselves.  Problematic thinking.  Let it go.  If you are a recipient of this kind of nonsensical, negative thinking from another, you must hold your head up high, look unto the hills from whence cometh your help, and walk on in faith.

Faith?  Yes.  Faith in your Lord who knows your heart.  Faith in yourself, because we are prone to allow fingers in our face to strike a match of ire that quickly burns out of control.  When you don't understand, trust God.

When a person jumps to conclusions believing the absolute worst of another, without a shred of knowledge, or evidence, that they are correct, then you must not engage them in kind.  It's a futile thing.  Folks like this usually have a trust issue; they are unable to trust others as genuine, or real.  Somewhere in their lifetime, they've been burned--betrayed, hurt deeply.  Have mercy upon them. 

What if it's you who habitually jumps to conclusions?  Think long and hard about why you seem prone to this kind of thinking.  Examine yourself by asking God to show you if there is some area of your life where trust was broken.  Where betrayal hit you from out of the blue.  Forgive them.  Unforgiveness chains you to the situation that once hurt you.  Forgiveness is the key to the lock that keeps you chained to negativity and distrust.  Try to follow Paul's instructions to "dwell on that which is pure".  Practice giving others the benefit of the doubt.  "Think of others as better than yourself."  Pray for purer thinking.

It's not easy to do these things when another smears your thoughts, twists your words, impugns your character, or questions your integrity.  But those occasions are so few and far between to the vast majority of us.  "Put on the whole armor of God"--lean on Him to shield you and give you power to bring glory to His name.  selahV 

BOUNDS OF LIBERTY, Where Are They In Christian Conversation?

 We all have rights.  I've heard a lot of chatter lately on the rights we have as American citizens.  The right to bear arms, the right to worship as we please, the right to reasonable expectation of privacy.  To me, no other personal right is so scarred and battered as the freedom of speech--the First Amendment.  With that heralded freedom, Americans have ripped, stomped, and burned the American flag.  Some have donned white hooded robes and marched down the Jewish community of Skokie, Illinois brandishing swastikas.  Many have stood in front of abortion clinics screaming, praying and begging women to let their babies live.  In turn, they are reviled and harrassed.

The freedom of speech is one of the most abused freedoms we Americans have.  Yet, to censor any speech, say some, would open the door to censor all.  As society tolerates more and more as simply exercising one's liberty to speak freely, many find it necessary to cover the ears and eyes of their children.  More and more Christians have had to accept foul and demeaning language in workplaces and public events.

As an internet blogger, I often have occasion to scratch my head in wonder at the critical words, condemnation, and impugning of another Christian brother or sister--all in the name of reproving, admonishing, or even bringing to light another's sin and call for repentance.  It is sad.  But sadder still, is the continual flow of negative rhetoric aimed at discrediting another's words, viewpoint, or beliefs.  As Christians we are held to a higher standard--but when does one Christian's failings, flaws and sins grant others to critique, judge and condemn?  Especially publicly--without restraint, without one iota of thought to the damage it does to their testimony (or another's), as an ambassador of Christ? as a minister of the gospel?  as a brother or sister?  What part of our own flesh is enticed to repeatedly fling accusations and taunts?

Dear Jesus, break our hearts.  Show us the error of our own ways.  Press upon our hearts the need to pray for our brothers and sisters of faith.  Help us be ever mindful that we do not speak or write in vacumns or private closets.  As we rejoice in our "considerable liberties" bestowed upon us by Your grace through Jesus Christ, help us "do so in the context of understanding of [our] mission on the earth".  selahV

COMMUNICATION BREAKTHROUGH

Ever have an impasse in communicating?  Ever find yourself totally incoherent to the public at large?  If you're anything like me, you may wonder if your problem is due to all the time you've been spending with children.  Perhaps your vocabulary skills have taken a beating, turned your mind into mush, and your conversations into gibberish.  Needless to say, communication is an art.  With folks who do not want to hear, no amount of paint will a portrait make.  Etchings, maybe--but not a complete picture of two individuals' seeking to talk to one another, instead of pass one another.

Today, I stumbled upon a quote I archived months ago.  I think it may be a part of the reason for an impasse--especially if the object or your imperfection is a close friend and their typical abruptly takes on characteristics that are untypical in your relationship.  Tell ya what, read Cyle's quote; and I'll meet you at its end.

"I listen more, but hear less from people. The reason I hear less from them is because I’m intentionally trying to hear more from God. I find that God speaks to me through many people, people who have many different lines drawn in the sand. I listen to them, but all the time I’m listening for God. He’s the only one who can clarify the lines. So, I spend more and more time trying to understand His Word. I spend more and more time trying to hear Him, not just to listen to Him or them."  Cyle Clayton

So here's my take on times I find myself fruitless to communicate my thoughts to someone I count dear and precious.  They are like my friend Cyle from Louisiana.  They are seeking a higher plain on which to dwell.  They are going where I cannot.  They are resting by waters I cannot still.  They are feasting at a table I cannot set.  They are more interested in what God has to say to them than what I have to say.  And that, my friends, is a good thing.  In fact, it is a communication breakthrough.  Don't you think?

When we give another Christian brother or sister the benefit of the doubt, we draw closer and closer to the heart of God.  If we can't, can there be integrity, at all?  anywhere?  with anyone?  Can loyalty be owned, or trust increased, when one or both give up, or gather fan clubs for support?  I don't know.  I'm just asking.  And who am I to say?  selahV 

A BOOK RECOMMENDATION by SelahV

FAMILIES OF THE BIBLE:  How They Coped With Today's Problems. by Howard Hovde and Louis Moore, published by Hannibal Books.

When I first thought of reading this, I thought it was probably another one of those books on Bible characters and families that simply gave you a Biblical account (which anyone can read in a Bible), and left you to consider the "moral of the story" for yourself. 

This is not that kind of book. 

Nor is it an attempt to translate and interpret specific passages, or fill one's mind with irrelevant facts.  It is written simply and gives simple situations with complex problems we face today.  There was not one single chapter in which I did not see myself, or someone I know, at one time or another in life.  Alongside Biblical accounts are illustrations of modern-day situations.  So many circumstances we deal with today were once dealt with by others.

These circumstances are reflected upon and help place the reader smack dab in the middle of Biblical individuals' turmoil and struggle.  Change, change and more change.  Moving.  Loss.  Grief.  Marriage.  Immediate and extended family influence.  Results of emotional, spiritual and physical upheavals.  Tests of faith.  Consequences.  It helps us imagine what they might have faced when they made the choices they made and how much family effects decisions and patterns.  The authors write in Chapter Four:

"We do know that much behavior is created, encouraged, and supported by a particular family system.  When change does occur, the whole system is affected.  But when change occurs, the system will do all it can to nullify the change and bring the family back to its original posture."

Then they offer in Chapter Five: 

"...One way to break the cycle of negative history is to learn everything possible about one's family (the family origin) and decide what you want to retain and what you choose to discard."

Authors Howard Hovde and Louis Moore do not claim this to be a work of "precise, historical scholarship".  However, I see the evaluations and observations they make from biblical families and relationships as extremely helpful for today's families and individuals--especially those who cannot understand how to fit their square peg into a round hole of extended family interactions.  It's seems it is a battle of wills at most all stages in life.  It's not easy to do, to be sure.  And that speaks more to the purpose of this book.  To me, it is examining where we have come from, so we can understand where we are and where we can go to live more productively and in greater harmony with others. 

If you want a way to connect dots with today's culture and biblical times, this is a great read.  If you want a book to give a young couple who is contemplating engagement or marriage, this is a good one to include.  If you know someone who is experiencing difficulties in marriage or family relationships, you'll find a bevy of insight in this little 119-page paperback.  If you wonder why you relate to others in life the way you do, then this may shed some light on the way you act and react to folks.

Suggested uses for this book include:  1) a study book for small group, or the basis for a Bible study.  2) assigned chapter reading for Christian mental-health professional dealing with family counseling.  3) a launch pad for Mom and Dad to use with older children in discussing family situations.   The authors make this ideal because of their inclusion of a section at the end of each chapter: "Questions to Consider".  I see it fitting in perfectly for a Discipleship class on Sunday evenings, or a Ladies book-study, or Single Adults study. 

I like it and will recommend it to our Minister of Education, my favorite counselor at the Christian Family Counseling Center, and several of my friends.  I may even do what the authors suggest and pass it around among my friends.

A few words of caution, though: Should you decide it is a book you'd like for a small group or discipleship class, I strongly recommend a mature spiritual leader as a facilitator.  This book could provoke some deep emotional thoughts and hit some areas of discord within couples, families or individuals within a group.  We are all at various stages of Christian growth and some flaws we may see in ourselves or others may need to be weighed carefully in public discussions.  selahV   

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WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?

Does it really matter what Americans think?  Will it make any difference if the majority of folks oppose a policy?  a bill?  a presidential nominee?  Aren't we now locked into a process with a controlling party that has carte blanc?  Who cares what we think?  It didn't matter with the TARP bill that passed.  Americans were against that.  Our voices were loud and clear on the issue of bailing out these Wall Street madmen.  So what difference does it make what I think?  This is just ONE example in a sea of everyday discussions folks have on issues and views.

Ever been in a conversation with someone and discover the person wasn't the least bit interested in what you say? Either they want to state their own opinion on the subject or they don't care at all about the conversation? In fact, they ignore your input midsentence and move on to another subject. Indeed, you have no doubt your thoughts were better kept stuffed in your brain. It's happened to me.

Sometimes it hurts my feelings. I am so surprised by the rebuff that I don't have any idea what to say, nor how to confront the situation. So I remain silent. I push all my previous thoughts inside the clamshell of a brain I have and snap the shell shut. Other times I may listen to what the other says and simply chalk up my thoughts as unimportant. (In other words, my thoughts weren't needed--nor wanted). Occasionally you have a person who appears to be listening, yet who gives not one iota of input, nor acknowledges a single syllable you utter. If you have an ounce of discernment in your noggin, you know they are not interested or are simply bored stiffless. Many times what you say is challenged--but not on its merit--it is just so one can counter with an opposing position or use your words as a jumping off point to start a conversation of their own with surrounding participants.

It really is a rare thing indeed to have someone actually want to converse with you, to discuss a topic, an issue, an idea, a view. It's rare because most folks have their own opinions that will not change. The views they hold are hard-formed views which carry them past your thoughts...your desire to dialogue and share in conversational relationships. When you find someone like that who really carries on a conversation with you...who stimulates your thought processes...and enjoys discussing things with you, you better grab them and hang on to them.

I'm one of those folks who treasure real conversationalists.  I love the person who likes to dialogue face-to-face, or via email and letters, or even blog comments.  However, having the gift of discernment, God often shows me the futility in a conversation or the impasse ahead in one, so I've learned to stay clear of many.  I've been hooked by some conversation streams at times, especially if I have some strong views on the subject matter.  But when conversations turn to argumentative debate, I usually tear the hook out of my mouth and let others bait and hook.  I "go silent" in a room of voices.  I retreat rather than beat the same drum that appears to be someone's gnat in their face.  To me, it is just not worth the time nor the energy--time is too precious and energy too vital.  

How about you?  Ever feel ignored?  Unimportant?  Voiceless?  Insignificant in the scheme of things?  selahV 

WHEN JUDGED BY A SCORNER

Ever wonder what in the world a person is thinking when they unload insults and accusations without provocation as rapidly as kernels popping in a microwave popcorn bag?

Ever have someone's rude unsolicited input so floor you that you wonder if it really matters at all if you answer them?

Ever wonder how in the world to reply to that person who directs you to forgive them if they have been rude for calling you "arrogant", in presuming they know what you are thinking inside your brain?

Ever answer that person, only to have that person continue to imply that your answer doesn't meet their belief of what you profess (in other words, you're lying)?  Ever realize that no matter what you reply, communication is futile?

Proverbs has a lot to say about that kind of situation:

1...Don't feel that an accusation deserves an immediate response, if any.  You see, "The lips of the wise disperse knowledge [sifting it from the grain]; not so the minds and hearts of the self-confident and foolish." Proverbs 15:7.  When a person disperses accusations, they are not wise and are not dispersing knowledge.  They are dispersing presumption, assumptions, and imagination.  They have the mind and heart of the "self-confident and foolish".  A person who admonishes you with a scornful attitude is not looking for answers.  They only seek to belittle to make a self-serving point.  "He who answers a matter before he hears the facts--it is folly and shame to him." Proverbs 18:13.  "A [self-confident] fool's mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to himself." {vs.6)  To answer him catches you in his snare.  Avoid the snare.

2..."Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you." Proverbs 9:8.  Scorners look to themselves for wisdom.  Their thoughts and deductions are the only opinion that matters--how they perceive something, how they analyze something, how they determine it to be.  They do not need to inquire of another if they have made a wrongful judgment before jumping to conclusions; they believe they are omnipotent in a situation.  If you are confronted by someone like this, it is best to not answer them.  "The mind of him who has understanding seeks knowledge and inquires after and craves it, but the mouth of the [self-confident] fool feeds on folly." Proverbs 15:13.

3..."Go from the presence of a foolish and self-confident man, for you will not find knowledge on his lips." Proverbs 14:7.  You're better off to walk away from this encounter, than to try and communicate.  For the self-confident man already has his answers; his mind has already been made up, conclusions formed.  Nothing you say will change that fact. 

4...So, "Answer not a [self-confident] fool according to his folly, lest you be like him." Proverbs 26:4.  When you try to communicate with someone who already thinks they have all the answers, and has no desire to inquire into your motives or thoughts before accusing you, then it is best not to answer him according to his words.  It's futile.  You'll become just like him.  He didn't accuse you to resolve a situation, but to inflame it and bring about contention where there is none.

5..."Answer a [self-confident] fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes and conceit." Proverbs 26:5.  When we try to answer someone who already presupposes he knows our hearts and minds, then we answer him according to his own snares of intimidations and then he becomes even more conceited, and thinks he is even more wise in his own eyes.  Therefore, it is best to follow the way of Jesus...do not answer such bunk.  [see Matthew 21:24-27].

Recently I answered a person according to his folly.  It resolved nothing.  It proved nothing.  It reconciled nothing.  It edified no one.  It benefited no one.  It brought no glory to God.  It satisfied only the self-confident fool.  But I am wiser for it...and may God gain glory in knowing I have sought His counsel for future encounters.  And may God be gratified that I join His Son in saying, "Forgive them Lord, for they know not what they do."  selahV

[copyrighted, 2009, selahVToday, hariette petersen]

 

SPILLED MILK AND SOUR RAGS

Situations happen every day in every man, woman and child's life.

A mom knocks the milk jug out of her daughter's hand as she's rushing to get breakfast for everyone.  The child grabs the jug, it turns upside-down and before it can be righted, all the milk is spilled on the floor.  Mom has to get the kids to school.  She has no time for this right now.  She has a busy day running errands.   Amidst making bank deposits, and chauffering children between soccer, school and ballet, she forgets to stop and buy a new jug of milk.  She starts to prepare dinner and realizes she needs milk to make her fluffy biscuits to top off a really great meal she's made for her family of four.  So she calls her husband and asks him to get some milk on his way home.

The husband fails to get the milk on the way home and the wife immediately assumes he doesn't listen, or doesn't care, or simply wants to be obstinate.  Maybe it's all of these combined.  The wife hadn't stopped to think that the grocery may have been out of milk, that he'd went to three stores and they had no milk either.  Hubby knows she just wanted to make those fluffy biscuits he loves so well, and he figures he'll just tell her that she can make them another time.  When hubby comes through the back door with no milk in hand, she doesn't even stop to think that they really don't have to have her fluffy biscuits to top off the meal.  She doesn't even consider the stores were out of milk.  Or that hubby had good reason to be empty-handed.  Nope.  She just plunges right in accusing, attacking and destroying any hopes for communication--all over a jug of milk.

Was it ever about the milk?  Or was it about spilled milk from a previous time?  A mess that couldn't be placed back into the jug and was never really cleaned up.  Papertowels weren't enough to mop up that mess.  So a dishtowel was used.  And it was never laundered.  So a lingering smell hangs in the air with feelings of discontent and bitterness.  So when a child forgets to pick up her socks or bring her clothes to the laundry room, or take out the garbage, that child becomes the spawn of her father and has all his traits, and therefore, mom begins to list each and every one of them.  You would think the child forgot the milk on the way home from work.

That's what sour rags can do to the heart of someone who never quite cleans up their own messes.  They look at what others do or don't do, say or don't say and assume the worst of them.  They look at all the situations, the events, the relationships they have and carry their soured cloth into every one of them.  And when things don't go quite as they had planned, or quite the way they'd like them to go, they use the same old sour rag from before to try and sop up the mess they create for themselves.

If only we'd get to the point in life, that we clean up our own messes before trying to clean up someone else's.  If only we'd take the time to wash our own laundry before trying to launder another's.  The world would be much better off, don't ya think?  selahV

[copyrighted, 2009, SelahVToday, hariette petersen] 

AGE OF DISRESPECT

It begins with a difference of opinion.  It follows with a surrender to the baser qualities of human depravity.  Ego--bruised, challenged, unfulfilled.  Pride--unchecked, inflated. The foundation of disrespect gives rise to the swell of vitriolic statements, brash euphenisms and volatile metaphors.

Be it political, religious, or social--disrespect breeds anger, division, and hatred.  With it comes misunderstanding and distrust.  Communication is barracaded behind a wall of stubborn refusal to listen--much less hear another individual.  Viewpoint is smeared with innuendo.

Who would have this be the case?  Who would want all mankind to be at odds with one another?  Who would have us boxing at shadows of evil?  Who would have us laughing at parodies of insults and sarcasm?  Who would give power to malicious gossip, criticism and condemnation?  Who would have us rebelling against all authority?  Who would have us bristling, rejecting, and pouncing?

Ah!  Those are some questions we might ponder when we feel the need to downgrade, demean, or malign.  Those would be the questions to consider when we take another's words out of context and use them as a weapon to destroy or damage their character.  Those would be the questions to recall when we seek to bloviate, opine and present our views to blank monitors, television screens, radio waves, magazines and newspapers.

And it wouldn't hurt to answer those questions before we correct our children, speak to our elders, talk to our spouses, or converse with friends, strangers and foes.  Doncha think?  selahV

[© SelahV Today,hariette petersen, 2008]   

BAITED HOOKS, FRENZIED FISH AND FISHERMEN

Once upon a time, I went trout fishing the streams of Vermont with my husband and son.  There'd been a drought that year.  The little mountain brooks trickled down a dry creekbed.  I couldn't believe my husband even baited our hooks with worms.  What skewered carnage for what appeared even minnows would be hardpressed to find.  Nevertheless, every now and then we'd find a tiny pool of water clustered beneath a bank of large rocks and moss-covered tree roots.  Lo and behold, when my son dropped his hook in the water, the line would jerk and a trout would appear dangling in the air from his worm-stripped hook.  After a few hours of fishing, we'd all trek home.  Trout were cleaned and I'd fry them for breakfast and lunch.

Sometimes I take my mouse for a walk along the streams of blogland.  Occasionally I happen upon a pool where multiple lines hang from diverse poles of thought.  It can be quite interesting to see the types of fish that bite the bait and fall prey to a wiley fisherman.  In streams such as these, often two lines get entangled.  Then other fishermen get in a frenzy and pick sides as to which line is at fault for the mess of twisted words.   Sometimes a seasoned fisherman comes along who has fished that stream before and he sees the tangle of lines and recognizes the kind of bait that's been used to hook a particular fish.  He does his best to untangle the lines by cutting the hook from the end of the fisherman's lure.   But the obstinate fisherman snatches his line and gets stabbed by his own hook in the process.  Observers stand on the banks and watch as frenzied fish bite, are mercilessly hooked, ripped from the hooks and thrown onto the dry creekbed to waste. 

I stand on the bank and listen to other fishermen's assessment of the stream.  It's times like these I am assured that fishing is not everyone's calling.  I finally concur with the others, it's not worth wasting precious worms to hook fish so obviously unfit to fry.  selahV

[© SelahV Today, 2008] 

AN ENCOURAGING WORD AS OPPOSED TO DISCOURAGING

I wrote a post few days ago sharing the late Adrian Rogers' website.  It is uncanny to me how often his words speak right to my heart and touch me with encouragement and inspiration at the exact time I need to hear them.  I have to share what came in last night that I read this morning:

BE AN ENCOURAGER

"Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;  Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Somebody has well said that discouragement is a dark room where the negatives of fear and failure are developed. There are some who are encouragers and others who are discouragers. Have you ever met a discourager? They're like a drink of water to a drowning man. They can brighten up a room by leaving it. They leave you drained and depressed. But an encourager leaves you full and refreshed. God has cornered the market on encouragement. All encouragement comes from God. You're never more like God than when you're encouraging people and never more like the devil than when you are discouraging people.

ACTION POINT:
Find a needy person and enrich him; a lonely person and include him; a misunderstood person and affirm him; an undiscovered person and develop him; a failing person and restore him."  LWF

So what exactly is an encourager?  According to my fingertip AOL dictionary, encourage means:  "1.) to inspire with courage, spirit, or hope as in hearten.  2.) to spur on or stimulate.  3.) to give help or patronage to, as in Foster.  Encourage means to fill with courage or strength of purpose.  Encourage suggests the raising of one's confidence especially by an external agency (i.e. The teacher's praise encouraged the students to greater efforts.)"

So, today my goal is to remain sensitive to God's leading to a needy and lonely person.  To include him.  To affirm a misunderstood person.  To seek to develop an undiscovered person and to restore a failing person.  As I consider the heartaches and broken moments of my life, I am so hungry to feed on the Word of God and gain the highest form of encouragement that I might be a comfort to others as I have been comforted. How about you?  selahV

[© SelahV Today, 2008] 

FOOLISH WORDS AND USELESS UTTERANCES

  Poor Jesse Jackson foolishly whispered something negative about Barak Obama in a live microphone yesterday.  He had to apologize for it because it was broadcasted everywhere.  That had to be embarassing.  The solidarity presumed between these men was suddenly torn.  I bet Jesse Jackson wishes he hadn't said what he did about Obama.  Foolish words.  I guess this is a lesson in keeping one's thoughts to oneself when speaking about another.  If you wouldn't want them to know you think what you think, then you probably ought not to verbalize to others the truth in your heart.

"You are snared with the words of your lips, you are caught by the speech of your mouth." Proverbs 6:2

Then there are the times, you say something you don't really mean.  Ever say something in jest that you wish you'd not said?  Ever wish you could take back that comment?  I have.  Just yesterday, I was with a group of friends and a couple of strangers.  I made, what I considered a playful, comment and within seconds I wished I'd not said it.  I hadn't realized that it might hurt another.  And when I saw that it created discomfort, I was sad.  Not for me.  But for the other person.  I would not have hurt this person for the world.  Yet, in the relaxed environment of chatter and banter, I think I did.  I've since apologized, but this taught me again how very vital it is to guard my words and to think, think, and rethink before I speak.

Just the other day, I made a commitment to speak words that encourage, edify and bless.  Yet, as soon as I make the commitment, I turn around and say something that can offend.  God is teaching me.  I'm being tested and proven.  I failed yesterday.  Hopefully I can do better today.  selahV

[coyrighted, SelahV Today, 2008]

AFFIRMATIONS AND OTHER MEANINGFUL THINGS

 "A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver." Proverbs 25:11

I don't know about you, but I love it when someone compliments me.  And I receive such pleasure from affirming another.  It simply feels good.

Can you imagine going around criticizing everything you see another do?  Can you imagine finding nothing nice to say about a day in your life?  I can't.

There's so much negativity in the world.  I suppose that's why Paul encouraged us to dwell on that which is positive.  If there is anything pure and worthy of praise, think on that!  Oh, how I love that phrase.  It always reminds me to "count my blessings".  Sometimes I wonder how much better off the world would be if everyone purposed in their hearts and minds to compliment ten people a day.

When I was a youth leader, I use to give my youth 10 kernels of popcorn.  I told them they could throw them away when they saw someone do something kind and told that person they saw it.  I told them to make every effort to watch for times when goodness was visible.  When we had a youth event, they were to give the kernel to the other person each time they wanted to encourage them for something.  No words were necessary.  They just handed each other kernels of corn.  It was really wonderful to watch them encouraging each other and looking for the positive in one another.

As a child I lived with constant criticism.  I mean constant. I didn't like being me as a child.  The seeds sown in my life grew into thoughts of inferiority and unloveliness.  If not for the sovereign protection of my Lord, I probably would still be wallowing in self-loathing.  But God sent folks into my life (mostly through church, and Christian school-teachers) who planted seeds of affirmation that contradicted the criticism of my parents.

I think about that each time I see a child in the hallways or in a pew at church.  I think about that when I watch them walk down the street in front of my house, or down an aisle at Wal-Mart.  I think about that when I have a waitress I could disparage or a clerk I could chastize.  I even think about that when I get ready to hang up on a telemarketer.  Has anyone said anything kind to them today?  Will I?  Will you?  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2008]

WHAT MATTERS TO ME

It matters to me that folks are civil.  But even moreso, it matters that I am civil.  It matters to me that when I disagree with another, I do so with civility and without accusations.  It matters to me that when others disagree with me that "as they would that men should do unto them, they do likewise."  Sometimes I fail to live up to what matters to me.  That bothers me far more than anyone who has ever been rude or behaved unbecomingly towards me.

It matters to me that I forgive offenses because I want to be forgiven.

It matters that I encourage others more than discourage.  That I praise more than criticize.  And that I love without reserve.

It matters that I seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and do not focus on temporal pleasures and my own efforts.

It matters to me that I present myself as a living sacrifice to the Lord Jesus Who has given me life eternal.  It matters that my words honor Him.  It matters that my thoughts are pure and that I dwell on that which is positive.

It matters that I worry less and trust more.

It matters that I spend every waking moment knowing God is God and He is in control.  It matters that I rest completely in Him and yield to His Sovereign will for my life.

What matters to you?  selahV