It is useless to try to make peace with ourselves by being pleased with everything we have done. In order to settle down in the quiet of our own being we must learn to be detached from the results of our own activity. We must withdraw ourselves, to some extent, from effects that are beyond our control and be content with the good will and the work that are the quiet expression of our inner life. We must be content to live without watching ourselves live, to work without expecting an immediate reward, to love without an instantaneous satisfaction, and to exist without any special recognition.
And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. Matthew 8:26 (KJV)
Me: Yes, it does, but don’t let the devil get a foothold.
This is from the book The Soul Winner by C.H. Spurgeon
Before I entered the pulpit the other Sabbath morning, the dear deacons and elders of my church gathered around me for prayer. One of them said, “Lord, take him as a man takes a tool in his hand when he gets a firm hold of it and then uses it to work his own will with it.” That is what all workers need: that God may work through them. You are to be instruments in the hands of God, while you actively put forth all the faculties and forces that the Lord has lent to you. Yet never depend upon your personal power, but rest alone upon the sacred, mysterious, divine energy that works in us, by us, and with us on the hearts and minds of men.
If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? or what receiveth he of thine hand? Job 35:7 (KJV)
This might be news to you, but not everyone should have the same access to you.
You are responsible to manage different levels of intimacy, responsibility, influence, and trust with people in your life. Likewise, you are responsible to honor the different levels of access and influence others allow you to have in their lives. These levels are absolutely righteous, healthy, normal, and good. It is supposed to be like this! It has to be like this. When we expect that we should all have equal access to one another, we are setting ourselves up to violate and be violated.
As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do. 1 Timothy 1:3-4 (KJV)
Prodigal: A priest, a minister, and a rabbit walk into a bar…..
The rabbit says, “I think I’m a typo.”
This is from the book The Power of a Woman’s Words by Sharon Jaynes
Jesus was a master listener. He never interrupted but asked good questions that helped people come to their own conclusions. He listened to the lame man lying by the pool, the leper languishing by the side of the road, the children clamoring around His feet, the desperate father pleading for his child’s sanity, the friend questioning His true identity, and His Father giving Him daily instructions.
Some of the most poignant moments of Jesus’ arrest were the silent ones. “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7). And for you and me, some of our most powerful moments will be the ones in which we remain silent. Some of the most powerful words are the ones that are withheld.
But do not thou yield unto them: for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men, which have bound themselves with an oath, that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him: and now are they ready, looking for a promise from thee. Acts 23:21
Prodigal: Your brain ain’t hooked up to your mouth.
Me: Yeah, well that needs to be straighten out.
This is from Imaginations by Dr. James P. Gills
Dr. Bob Morris says the more secure we are, the less we react to fear. When we are secure in Christ, we are not afraid. We must focus our minds on Christ, and He will help us feel secure, even in situations that could make us worry. God’s plan is for us to be free from fear:
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope; 1 Timothy 1:1 (KJV)
This is from the book The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey
Jesus did not say, “All men will know you are my disciples…if you just pass laws, suppress immorality, and restore decency to family and government, ” but rather”…if you love one another.” He made that statement the night before his death, a night when human power, represented by the might of Rome and the full force of Jewish religious authorities, collided head-on with God’s power. All his life, Jesus had been involved in a form of “culture wars” against a rigid religious establishment and a pagan empire, yet he responded by giving his life for those who opposed him. On the cross, he forgave them. He had come, above all, to demonstrate love: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son….”
And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. Romans 8:5 (KJV)
I was having lunch at a friend’s home recently, a wise Christian woman with discerning eyes. Before we ate, I had to borrow one of her spoons and have her bend and twist it in a contorted angle.
She then inserted the spoon in my hand splint and I was able to feed myself. But as we ate and casually talked, I noticed her eyes. She kept looking at the bent spoon. When lunch was over she pulled the spoon out of my arm splint, and set it by my plate. I was a little embarrassed that I had to bend one of her nicest pieces of flatware. With that ugly twist of the metal, it looked as though I had ruined the spoon.
I offered to have my husband straighten out the spoon-to return it to its original shape.
“Oh, no,” she said. “I want to keep this spoon just the way it is.”
“But it looks ugly like that.” I protested, “and besides, you won’t be able to use it.” By this time she had the spoon in her hand, gently fingering the twist in the handle, admiring it as though it were a thing of beauty rather than something bent and misshapen. To her, the spoon had a special meaning.
“You see, Joni,” she explained, “you can only use a spoon that’s been bent to your needs. A straight one just won’t do. A twisted tool in your hand can better accomplish a task.”
I’ve nicknamed my special utensil a “spork.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone into a restaurant and had busboys or a waitress spy it and try to take it away.
“Ugh! Where did this come from? It must have gotten mangled in the dishwasher,” they’ll say.
Or a busboy may pick it up and without saying a word, bend it back to its original shape, thinking he’s doing me a favor.
“Oh no, ” I tell them. “It’s supposed to look like that. It’s been perfectly so I can use it.”
Isn’t that the way God works in our lives? He knows He can better accomplish His unique plan when He bends us to suit His will. He can best use us when we’re molded and shaped for His special design. Now, certainly, this spork of mine isn’t very attractive. It’s obviously unlike the rest of the utensils in the kitchen drawer. And we might come to think that we, in our weakness, are unlike all the rest.
But in the hand of God we serve an express purpose. The metal of our souls may be hard and difficult to bend, but when we allow God the privilege of shaping or lives, we discover new depths of purpose and meaning. What a joyful thought to realize you are a chosen vessel for God–perfectly suited for His use.
Even a spork can be noble….if it’s placed in the Master’s hand.
In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. 2 Timothy 2:20,21
