Day 25: Choose Your Weapons Wisely

I often find when speaking to fellow adult Christians that we sound like children in some ways when it comes to how we deal with conflict. Our sense of entitlement to lash out supersedes any desire to be a good witness. Our spiritual reasoning goes out the window when we feel we've been wronged. We operate with that "he hit me first" type of mentality that says it's o.k. to gain vengeance when the recipient of said response is "deserving". Somehow it makes us feel better if the person is mean or rude or annoying or simply just so different from us, but the truth is we know better than that. Being a Christian, an ambassador for Christ, means we've made a conscious decision not to live tit for tat. Specifically, we are called to take the higher road and not even boast about it. Proverbs 25:21 tells us, "If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;". Instead of getting someone who got you, this Christian journey is about getting them with a different tool than the one they used on you--repaying evil with kindness and stinginess with generosity. It's easier said than done in the heat of the moment. But it's possible when you have the Holy Spirit guiding your every move. When you've decided to place no other god before The God (not even self-righteous indignation) then you allow God to get the glory. It's as simple as that.

I know you know this. I'm not saying anything earth-shattering or ground-breaking. It's the A-B-C's of The Golden Rule (Do unto others...), but sometimes you need a reminder. So today, as you encounter people along your way, tests will come but be encouraged to choose to use joy and peace as your weapons of choice even when they "hit you first" with evil and disruption.

Blessings,
MinD

Day 3: Today's A Good Day

There's an old saying that says, "Don't put off for tomorrow what you can do today." We usually think of this in terms of the "stuff" of life that we have to accomplish that often falls prey to our procrastination. But today, in Proverbs 3, we are reminded that that old saying goes much further than folding clothes or paying a bill. In the midst of explaining the benefits of wisdom, knowledge and understanding, Solomon throws in this interesting set of verses that take the focus off of what wisdom can do for us and place it elsewhere...

"Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,  

When it is in the power of your hand to do so.
Do not say to your neighbor, 'Go, and come back, And tomorrow I will give it,'When you have it with you."  (vs. 27, 28)

Today's prayer for you is that you will remember to do good for someone else today--that you will stop and pray for that person when they make the request or you will stop and ask (and really listen) to how someone's day is going. It doesn't take very much to serve another person and glorify God. We like to say "Service Is Simple" and today is as good a day as any to intentionally make someone's day. Today, take the challenge to look beyond your situation and circumstance and throw some good in someone's direction; and watch as the power of goodness makes all the difference in that person's world. 

Be encouraged to make a difference!
MinD

Do Something Good Today

This morning in my prayer time, I realized that I didn’t have a long request of God. My mind had been in overdrive all week long around the issues of love, relationships, finances, ministry, and more. But at prayer time…just one simple thought came to mind: “Lord, let me do something good today.” There's nothing earth-shattering about this devotional. I simply get tickled thinking about the prospect that, maybe…just maybe…today someone’s life will be better because I did, said, prayed something that was in line with God’s will and encouraging to their soul and spirit. Sometimes we overcomplicate the will of God to do good to others, but it's really just that simple. So today, I extend that prayer to you: “Lord, let <INSERT YOUR NAME HERE> do something good today. In Jesus Name. Amen.”

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, 

but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.  

(Philippians 2:3)

 Be encouraged,

Andrea