Oh Father, as You are using the rising sun right now to paint those clouds so beautifully, even (more) so, please use Your risen Son to paint beauty into my life and onto my clouds, to the praise of Your glory.
Lessons for Living
Permissible vs Perfect
It is not OK to settle for
the permissible
when there is
a more perfect way
available to you.
—Andrée Seu
the permissible
when there is
a more perfect way
available to you.
—Andrée Seu
Used
That’s how I felt.
Again. (Poor baby!)
Taken advantage of.
Taken for granted.
Used, in other words.
In a certain realm and in a certain service.
A certain “ministry,” if you will.
Used. And what do I get in return?
At a minimum, a link back? Nope.
At a maximum? Let’s just not go there.
Used. 🙄
So, tell me. Tell us all.
What is God’s designated response to feeling used?
Prove it from the Scriptures!
Thanks.
As Grass
As for man,
his days are as grass:
as a flower of the field,
so he flourisheth.
For the wind passeth over it,
and it is gone;
and the place thereof shall know it no more.
Psalm 103:15,16
his days are as grass:
as a flower of the field,
so he flourisheth.
For the wind passeth over it,
and it is gone;
and the place thereof shall know it no more.
Psalm 103:15,16
Seduced: He Went After Her
As I do six days a week, I went to a well-known payment processing site…and pondered the new graphic:
I thought of this right away:
For at the window of my house
I looked through my lattice,
And saw among the simple,
I perceived among the youths,
A young man devoid of understanding,
Passing along the street near her corner…
In the twilight, in the evening,
In the black and dark night.
And there a woman met him…
So she caught him and kissed him…
With her enticing speech she caused him to yield,
With her flattering lips she seduced him.
Immediately he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter…
Sad, isn’t it? I don’t ask that in a judgmental way. I ask it…sadly.
I still think of that when I go to that site. Sadly.
May God have mercy…redemptive, redeeming, restoring mercy…on men who seduce women and on women who seduce men. And those allowing themselves to be seduced.
And on me. I need that mercy also.
My intent is not to impugn the character of the two individuals pictured above. I’m just telling you I thought of the other two individuals mentioned in Proverbs 7.
Disclaimer: I modified the dimensions and corners of the graphic (and blurred out the text, of course).
Readiness: Having What It Takes
I don’t know Desmond Bishopnotes. I’m more interested in most supper bowls than I am in any Super Bowl. And I’m no cheerleader (though I should be a much better prayer leader) for President Obama. But this, in my estimation, is a disappointing loss:
When the Green Bay Packers visited the White House on Friday to celebrate the team’s Super Bowl title, linebacker Desmond Bishopnotes wasn’t with his teammates. He had forgotten his license on the team charter plane and without a license, there’s no getting past White House security.
Source: Packers linebacker forgets ID, can’t get into White House
It didn’t matter who he is.
It didn’t matter what he’d accomplished.
It didn’t matter how far he’d come.
It didn’t matter with whom he was.
It didn’t matter that he knew the requirements for admission.
He wasn’t ready. He didn’t meet all the requirements.
And his experience made me think of this man’s experience:
“And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
“And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
“Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth”
(Matthew 22:11-13).Other Biblical passages fit as well. Please use the comment section below to add one(s) that come to your mind.
Unbelief: Got Help?
I got to the morning of August 12 and read this:
The Lord will not cast off for ever: but though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion.—LAM. 3:31,32.
Fear thou not, . . . saith the Lord: for I am with thee; I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure.—For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.
I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.
Jer. 46:28. -Isa. 54:7,8,10,11.Mic. 7:9.
Selection source: Daily Light on the Daily Path
That is timely for me, almost beyond belief (oh me of little faith).
So here is my most basic response and I’ll leave it at that:
“Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief” (Mark 9:24).