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 24: Preach, Life. Preach!

³⁰ One day I walked by the field of an old lazybones, and then passed the vineyard of a lout; ³¹ They were overgrown with weeds, thick with thistles, all the fences broken down. ³² I took a long look and pondered what I saw; the fields preached me a sermon and I listened: ³³ "A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there, sit back, take it easy—do you know what comes next? ³⁴ Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life, with poverty as your permanent houseguest!" --Proverbs 24:30-34 (MSG)

The story of this lazy man caught my eye in today’s reading of the proverbs. The immediate question that came to mind was, “What sermon does my life preach?” The author of Proverbs describes this man whose overgrown vineyard was evidence of where he had not been attentive through the years. It further helped him to understand his future in permanent poverty. So what about us? What about you? What's overgrown in your life? What area of your life have you allowed to govern itself—not really paying close attention to how it develops? What part of your world sends the message to onlookers that God is a part of your life and what witness do other parts send? Or is it a consistent message across the board?

As we self-evaluate and prepare to finish this year strong, it is important that we are honest with ourselves about where we truly are, how far we have to go, and what role we play in that process. Perhaps we’ve become “lazybones” who need a little prodding so we understand that our vineyard needs attention. Perhaps we’ve simply been content to let things fester—relationships go down a slow spiral, businesses lose face, weight gain leading to one ailment after another. No matter where you are now, you simply need to understand that it’s never too late. Sometimes before a good harvest must come a good pruning and weeding season. Sometimes others will do the work for us while most of the time it’s work we must do ourselves.

Today, be encouraged to do the work so your life will begin to preach the message that both you and God will be proud of.

Blessings,

MinD

Day 23: Don't Waste Your Breath

I have a teenage friend who knows just about everything there is to know...or so she thinks. Talking to them can be frustrating at times because you can't tell them anything. I'm sure I was like that at their age (and much like that even today). "Stubborn" is a characteristic that I've been marked with, and so I recognize it so easily in others. Stubbornness aside, I do not like to debate. So, as I have interacted with my teenage friend, I have to admit that I've found them to be a good example of using wisdom in knowing when to argue and when to simply let it go. You see, knowing that a conversation will likely be an uphill battle with them, I rarely spend a lot of energy trying to convince them. You know what I'm talking about. We've all got a few people in our lives who simply like to debate and like to push our buttons while doing it. At the end of the conversation, you leave worse for the wear and on the border of having a stroke. It's simply not worth it! So it's nice to affirm that that tiny piece of wisdom is not just made up in my brain but also something that was written into the Bible. Proverbs 23:9 says, "Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, For he will despise the wisdom of your words." Stop allowing your blood pressure to skyrocket as you must make your point. Sometimes we have to allow people to make their own mistakes (even our children). Sometimes people need to come to the same conclusions we have through a journey of their own trials and tribulations. Even sharing the Gospel should never become a battle of wills. The New Testament phrases it sweetly telling us not to "throw our pearls before swine" (Matt 7:6)--not to put what is most precious to us in the mud to be stomped on by others. We present the Gospel. We present what's important to us. Then we let it go and leave the rest up to God.

Today, be encouraged to practice letting go. Don't spin your wheels in conversations that are going nowhere.

Blessings,
MinD

Day 22 (Yesterday): He's Got Your Back

In this season of economic hardships, there is a growing number if people who fall under the poverty line. Whether out of work or simply trying to make it by on minimum wage, there are so many families who have virtually fallen out of the shrinking middle class. But even for those who have physical means, there are a growing number of folks who are poor and afflicted in spirit. The enemy has stolen their peace, killed their joy, and destroyed their spirit with the slightest of effort (i.e. without even having to try hard). Perhaps that is you. You feel as though 'if it's not one thing it's another' and you spend restless nights trying to figure out how to keep your family from falling deeper and deeper into strife and stress. And, while your joy has been gone for a while now, you feel like you're facing the last straw now that your peace is wavering. Well there is is hope. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 22:23 that 'the Lord will plead their (the poor and afflicted) cause, And plunder the soul of those who plunder them.'

While I can't guarantee that your circumstances will change outwardly, I can reassure you that God has your back. When you are feeling "poor and afflicted", He has taken up for you and has already won the fight on your behalf. It's a fixed fight. When you realize that then you can hold tight to that 'peace that surpasses all understanding' that is promised by God.

Be encouraged in the understanding that God's got your back.

Blessings,
MinD

Day 21: Five Minutes...You're On

The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.  

~ Proverbs 21:1 ~

Today I am reminded of a saying that I once wrote about. It was a phrase that one of my supervisors once told me a few years ago that I find great comfort and encouragement in when I reflect on it. She said, "It's five minutes until change." As long as we wait for life to change and for things to work out in our favor, it seems as though change takes a long time. However, change and blessings come in the instant of an eye. It simply takes one right decision, one nod from the right person, provision from the right direction and your life can change in a moment; and sometimes it's good to be reminded of that fact. As you wait and wish for life to happen around you, realize that it's all in God's hand. And, while it may take a lot of energy and pleading and prodding from us as humans to make change, when we leave it in God's hands then we allow Him to make His wishes come true. Proverbs says that God can turn the head of even the king to accomplish what He wishes. That means that you and I can stop trying to do the work. Stop beating your head against the walls trying to convince other people of who you are or what you are capable of. Stop trying to make life happen. Trust only in God and what He wants to do for you.

Be encouraged to make room for His wishes. They will far exceed anything you can ask or think (Eph 3:20).

Blessings,
MinD

Day 20: Kindness...What A Novel Idea

They say that everyone will get their 15 minutes of fame. In today's media, it seems that so many people are getting more than their fair 15 though they seem to be doing nothing noteworthy. Do you know who I'm talking about? I'm talking about the lovely men and women (and now toddlers) of reality television. Now let me preface this by admitting that I'm a bit of a reality junkie and actually watch many shows. However, I do have a line. You see there are some shows where the people getting all the air-time and exposure are simply a hot mess. They do everything except honor God and manage to get paid to do it.

But as I began to meditate on the life of a reality star, I realized that many of them are here today and gone tomorrow. You see, they can't seem to sustain. They have no staying power--a fact that, in part, could probably be attributed to a simple lack of one character ingredient, lovingkindness. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 20:28 that "Mercy and truth preserve the king, And by lovingkindness he upholds his throne." So many of us are looking for that staying power and can't seem to get it. We try one thing and it seems to fizzle. We try another and just can't get things to flow for us. Our fuses seem to get shorter and shorter as the trials in our lives seem to get longer and longer.

What we know is that as Christians we are called to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) and kindness is a part thereof. And while we watch those who are the most negative or least benevolent in our lives get this or that earthly reward, what we can rest in is that our eternal reward is much greater and that our ultimate staying power far exceeds theirs.As we are tested in life, it is up to us to decide to make the wise decision to choose kindness over being rushed or rude. It is up to us to look beyond our schedules and schemes to find God's ultimate plan for our continued success. It's so simple (and certainly not a novel idea) that I'm almost ashamed to write about this but I feel as though someone out there needs a reminder about the extreme power of kindness.

Be encouraged as those tests come think on that old saying, "you catch more bees with honey," and make kindness a priority in your walk.

Blessings,
MinD

Day 19: Return Home

I admit it. I've been pouting this evening...

Oh don't look at me in that tone of voice...It's not like I'm alone. So many of us are struggling. We are in places where we are waiting until 11:59pm minute to see God produce "just in the nick of time" miracles in our lives. And sometimes when we don't see our miracles once our countdown has run out (since we put God on a timer), we assume that He isn't in the business of answering prayers. Tonight, I was about to go down that road with God. I was about to ask, in my best self-entitled voice, the age old question of "Why?" (It's amazing that I would have the gall to think that God owes me an explanation. He surely does not.) However, what I realized was that it wasn't that He wasn't going to answer, it was that I had asked amiss to begin with. How often do we get to that point? We've asked God for this or that and He doesn't deliver like Santa Claus on Christmas morning so we slip into a space of doubt in God or depression around our dreams.

What I love about God is that He meets us where we are. As I was about to slide into that pouty place I read Proverbs 19:23 which says that "The fear of the Lord leads to life, And he who has it will abide in satisfaction; He will not be visited with evil." Oh how wonderful it would be to abide in satisfaction--what a glorious thought that you live there. But, just like our earthly homes, there are times when we walk out of the doors and have been presented with the opportunity to simply go back home when we're ready. When we make the intentional decision to focus on what God wants more than what we want, we open the door. When we face new days with room for God to change our prayers and our hearts, we step over the threshold. When we praise Him despite what we do or do not get and worship Him just because He's God, we take a seat and "abide".

I don't know about you, but I think I've decided to turn my pout into praise this evening, open the door, step over the threshold and abide in the satisfaction of the Lord. Be encouraged to do the same...

Blessings,
MinD