This is from the book God Works The Night Shift by Ron Mehl
That’s why I’ve concluded that the people who move in real strength and power in this world, the people whom God delights to exalt, are those who are overmatched in life and know it. It is those who don’t know it or refuse to acknowledge it who will eventually find themselves in deep trouble.
You feel overwhelmed, but that it not a bad place to be. The Lord wants you to turn to Him. You don’t have to be perfect and think fear of failure means the loss of others. Just lean on God. Lean on His love. He will help you with your worries.
Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
This is from the book Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges
As we seek to walk by the Spirit, we will, over time, see the Spirit working in us and through us to cleanse us from the remaining power of sin in our lives. We will never reach perfection in this life, but we will see progress. It will be incremental progress, to be sure, and sometimes it will appear to be no progress at all. But if we sincerely want to address the subtle sins in our lives, we may be sure the Holy Spirit is at work in us and through us to help us. And we have His promise that “he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). The Holy Spirit will not abandon the work He has begun in us.
Proverbs 16:3
Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established
This is from the book Lead Like Jesus by Ken Blanchard, Phil Hodges, and Phyllis Hendry
Humility is realizing and emphasizing the importance of other people. It is not putting yourself down; it is lifting others up. It is saying to yourself and to others, “I am precious in God’s sight–and so are you.”
The humility Jesus demonstrated did not rise from a lack of self-esteem, love, power, or ability. His humility came from the fact that He knew whose He was, who He was, where He came from, and where He was going. That understanding freed Him to treat people with love and respect.
We can treat people with love and respect without having to agree with them. They do not have to be perfect or without sin to receive out love and respect. Just remember to be humble in the process.
We know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
Prodigal: That was so good my fat cells are singin’ praises to the Lord.
Me: Amen!
This is from Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders
Samuel Brengle, noted for his sense of holiness, felt the heat of caustic criticism . Instead of rushing to defend himself; he replied: “From my heart I thank you for your rebuke. I think I deserved it. Wil you, my friend, remember me in prayer?” When another critic attacked his spiritual life. Brengle replied: “I thank you for your criticism of my life. It set me to self-examination and heart-searching and prayer, which always leads me into a deeper sense of my utter dependence on Jesus for holiness of heart, and into sweeter fellowship with Him.
With such a response, criticism is turned from a curse into a blessing, from a liability into an asset.
Paul sought the favor of God, not of people. His hard work was not to please those around him (Galatians 1:10). Nor was Paul terribly disturbed by criticism. “I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court….It is the Lord who judges me” ) 1 Corinthians 4:3-4. Paul could afford to take lightly the comments and criticism of others, for his heart was owned by God (Colossians 3:22).
But link indifference to human opinion with a weak spiritual life, and the result is disaster. The same independence from human opinion can be a valuable asset to the person whose life goal is the glory of God. Paul’s ear was tuned to the voice of God, and human voices were faint by comparison. He was fearless of human judgment, because he was conscious of standing before a higher tribunal (2 Corinthians 8:21).
This is from the book Bold Love by Dr. Dan Allender & Dr. Tremper Longman III
Evil is bad. That is, it is persistently destructive. But it is also deceitfully subtle. Consequently, evil rarely shows itself as bad. In fact, it often portrays itself as helpful, open, kind, generous, long-suffering. An inclination to evil taints all activity, even the gifts of kindness that appear genuine. Such kindness or generosity seems to entangle the victim deeper in the evil person’s web. If one is in a relationship with an evil person for long, the signs of death will begin to show–anemia (a loss of self, vitality, and strength), despair (a loss of desire and hope), and disorientation (a loss of direction and purpose). Many of these symptoms are also the byproduct of a relationship with an arrogant, hard, and destructive person who may not be inclined to deeper shades of evil. How does one make a distinction between an evil person and a less destructive person who may not be inclined to deeper shades of evil. How does one make a distinction between an evil person and a less destructive person ( a fool)?
A fool might withhold involvement unless you conform to his will and might intimidate or manipulate to gain advantage. His goal is to get you to conform, and once that end is achieved, he is at peace. An evil person, on the other hand, wants conformity and much more. He wants unearned devotion that borders on worship–a form of sacrifice that requires the loss of one’s will, mind, and soul. He displays a craving to suck the other’s soul dry until every drop of life has been drawn for his own benefit.
Evil steals faith, hope, and love. Faith involves trusting in what is unseen and unknown, and is required in almost every moment of our existence. An evil person uses the access of trust to obliterate any desire to trust others, and even to trust in oneself. Consequently, the effect of evil is to remove from its victim any discernment or sense of caution in relating to evil and, at the same time, to create a hypervigilant fear of anyone good. Evil betrays trust and makes faith look ridiculously foolish. Evil misuses power and then claims innocence. If that is questioned, then evil uses shame or mockery to bludgeon the victim into accepting the blame.
Psalm 55:17
Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice.
Me: Sometimes you have ants in your pants, but sometimes you have to pause anyway and rest.
Prodigal: Yes, I need that time now.
This is from the book Lead Like Jesus by Ken Blanchard, Phil Hodges and Phyllis Hendry
Only when you really know God will He truly be the object of your worship. When you know God is good, when you know He loves you with no strings attached, and when you know that He will never leave you, then you can trust Him above all others and you will worship Him more freely. When you are in deep trouble and the only One you can call on is your heavenly Father–the One who put the stars in place, who loved you first, who created you, and who has a perfect plan for you life–then you will worship Him more wholeheartedly. We come to know God through our experiences with Him, and our worship of God increases and is enriched as we come to know Him better.
Matthew 1:23
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us).
Ready or not, Here I come! Yes, I am playing hide and seek. That age old game, that many children have played over the years. I am playing it with a twist. My cat is the one hiding and I am the one trying to find my cat.
Happy and I have a special bond. He was born in my home from a stray cat that I took in. Early on in his life, there were signs that he might be different. He was born in a litter with two other brothers. He would follow them around, and never went anywhere alone. At around 4 or 5 weeks, that something became known. This new kitten had been born deaf. He was not going to be able to hear any sounds in his life. I knew I would keep him in that moment and I named him Happy.
One of the games Happy loves to play with me is Hide and Seek. I don’t remember the exact day that it all started. This is how the game would begin. When he saw me, he would take off running to another room. That was the clue for me to realize that he was hiding and I needed to find him. When I found Him, He would cry out in loud meows telling me how thrilled he was that I discovered his hiding spot.
We would play this all the time, then he one time he added something new. We were playing and he took off running toward the bathroom. When I walked into the room, I saw Happy right away. If you look to the left there is my tub. My brown and white shower curtain hung on the outside of the tub wall instead of the inside. I would keep it on the outside until I was ready for a shower. Happy decided that this was the best hiding place of all. He quickly sat behind the shower curtain, so that he was sandwiched between the tub and the curtain.
Happy remained completely still. He was so quiet; I would not be surprised if He was holding his breath. Happy was faced toward the tub, and could not see me, or hear me. To him I am sure the outside world had all but disappeared. All he had to do, was wait to see if I would find him.
I was so glad He was deaf though, because the moment I walked into the room, all I saw was a shower curtain and a white tail with the white bottom of a cat sticking out from the shower curtain. I just started laughing. I laughed so much! He remained so quiet and still. He could not understand he had given himself away. I waited and pretended to look for him.
I then went up to him and moved the shower curtain away. He was so excited! The meows that followed were pure joy. This quickly became a favorite hiding spot of his. We would play that game over and over again. It was the greatest fun for the two of us.
Happy is an older cat now and He can’t move that fast anymore. So, we don’t play as often. I can tell though that game brought so much joy to the both of us. As I think about our time when we play, I can’t help but think of my other relationships also.
We are so stressed around others at times. We think we have to say the perfect words, act perfectly, and make sure we understand other people perfectly. Any activity has to be planned with precision and everyone has to be happy all the time with the activity. We wear ourselves out with the pressure that takes place in those relationships.
What if it is ok not being perfect? My fun came from a cat who is imperfect, with the worse hiding spot in hide and seek history. What if it is just accepting that happiness can come even with misplaced words, disrupted activity and not understanding everything about the other person.
Sometimes to find that happiness and joy, we just have to change our thoughts. The fun is not in a perfect picture post. The fun is in the experience of just being ourself. Happy is just being himself. I am enjoying that time with him, faults and all.
We might all be surprised how much people are willing to overlook some of our faults if we just allow ourselves to be vulnerable enough to show them.
Maybe the next time you play that game, or are with someone. Show who you truly are. Let go of all that pressure. Maybe you can laugh even though the day was not perfect and you were not perfect either.
Ecclesiastes 7:9
Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the bosom of fools.
