THE FOURTH OF JULY 1776?

It didn't mean we'd never fight in a war; in fact, we'd have many battles.

We reconize our freedom, as we look up at "Glory"

Tears filled our eyes...

Tears of sadness, yet tears of joy....

Because of the true meaning of freedom, of independence

The Fourth of July 1776?

No, the day Jesus hung on the cross!

-Green

GOSSIPS AND BACKBITERS BEWARE

We recently had two family pets in our household. Molly who is our beloved and faithful German Shepherd, and has the affectionate soul of a saint and a cat who we had renamed Snipes because of the condition of his heart. He was known by all who knew him as a predator and hot shot backbiter! For reasons known only to him, he would wait until you were just about to reach out and pet him and he would pounce on you with an evil vengeance unlike anything you have ever seen. Our precious Molly had to endure bites and attacks every day from that cat. I dared not let my grandsons be outside, without me to defend them whenever they were over and the cat was around. For without warning, and unprovoked, he would simply jump on them for no reason to try and bite them.

Like all seasoned backbiters, Snipes was very calm and collected. He was so sweet to look at. Yet the closer you got to him and the more you engaged him, the more pain he would inflict upon you. If Snipes could talk today, I feel sure that he would tell you that he regrets being that way. His mean and backbiting nature cost him his life over the long haul. While we mostly ignored him, because we got tired of the attacks in trying to befriend him, our neighborhood cats were not so tolerant  and willing to ignore him. He was constantly fighting other cats and because of that, he ended up with Feline Leukemia and has just recently died. By the time we had gotten the cat, he was already grown and had never had shots. Unfortunately we only had him for a short time and while we were sad that he died before we could do anything about it, I must tell you that we do not miss dodging that cat every time we go outside.

Like Snipes there are some people with that same mean nature. Whenever you see them coming you just try and dodge them. Because you know what they are capable of once they open their mouths.  While they may be enjoying whatever pleasure they receive by pouncing on other’s feelings and lives, with their slandours backbiting, malice and gossip, in the end they will end up being bitten themselves by the whirlwind of wrong, vindictive and mean choices that they have inflicted on others.

When someone backbites or gossips, others may listen, but they will never trust the one who is dishing out the information that could, in the long run, cause great pain in someone else’s life. When that person hurts others by gossip or innuendo, they are saying much more about their own character than the one who they are hurting. Not all backbiters bite to draw blood. Some like to simply sit around and nibble on gossip at the expense of others. They do not mean to cause harm; in their mind, they just find the information that they are sharing important enough, that it simply needs to be shared. Never considering the impact it may have in turning the opinions of the one that they are sharing it with, to dislike or disrespect the one being talked about.

James 4:12 says, “…what right do you have to condemn your neighbor?”  In all honesty, I have never met a person that has not engaged in some type of gossip or backbiting at some point in their lives, including myself. Yet, for the most part, we that do not call ourselves gossips or backbiters, have often times said something... and in hindsight wished we would have never opened our mouths. We may call what we say or do, “well meaning” gossip. Yet the Bible tells us that ….those who "refuse" to slander others or harm their neighbors, or speak evil of their friends….such people will stand firm forever.” Ps 15:1-5. This should be what we strive for.

The Bile actually has a lot to say about gossip, slander, malice and backbiting, and the lessons that we can learn from scripture and start applying even today, is to stop it! Simply realize your responsibility, confess it and change your attitude about it. Realize that we all reap what we sow….and as God’s children we had better be about sowing kindness and compassion.  Like we had to do with Snipes, you may in love just need to avoid those people that get you caught up in their gossip, making sure that you yourselves are not the ones instigating the pain on others through your own desire to spread the news that you deem so important, that it just needs to be shared! Be aware, be very aware....it will always come back and the bite is very bitter!

Leviticus 19:16 – Do not go about spreading slander among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the Lord.  

1 Timothy 5:13 – Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not to.                                                                                                                                                           

Matthew 7:1 – Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 

Proverbs 18:8 – The words of gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man’s inmost parts.

Life is too short…let’s make the best of it!

Loving You today,

Bren

ANGER

I had a precious friend share with me the one day that she was angry with God about some disappointments that she had been experiencing. Not only was she experiencing pain from the disappointment but she was battling the guilt of being angry with God as well. I myself have experienced disappointments and know first hand how debilitating they can be when I allow them to give way to despair. That happens because I can not see the other side of the disappointment, and because I stay so focused on it. I allow myself to become a slave to it and end up so miserable that it begins to stir anger in me. And while I may not set out to deliberately be angry at God, it happens, because my focus is in the wrong place. Instead of saying, “what can I learn from this experience Lord?”, I say, “Why Lord, have you allowed this to happen?”, and then park my mind on the pavement of question and doubt. Remember, that is how the serpent got Eve to sin, by doubting what God said or better yet, meant. The scripture gives many lessons on anger and I would like to share one of them with you in this 2 part devotion. The story begins with a man minding his own business and then one day God ask him to go and take the people of Nineveh the message of His love, forgiveness and repentance. At first, Jonah responds to God’s request by traveling in a completely different direction from where God had told him to go. Now keep in mind that God for-knew what Jonah’s response was going to be before He even ask Jonah to go. I am sure that while Jonah knew enough about God to know that he should not disobey, he stubbornly set aside what he knew to be truth and went with his feelings. He had his focus in the wrong place. He became focused on doing it his way and not God’s way. I would argue that Jonah did not disobey God when he got on the boat to run from what he knew God wanted him to do, but at the moment he said in his heart…I will not go. You see God had ask Jonah to do something that He knew Jonah did not want to do. Jonah despised the people of Nineveh; they were not descended from Abraham and in fact had a history of treating the Israelites cruelly. The last thing he wanted to do was to take the love of God to a people that he despised. He even stated, “I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity” and he did not want them to share in the same love and forgiveness that God’s people received. Because of Jonah’s wrong choice (and it matters not what the choice is, if it’s wrong) he ended up in a whirlwind of disappointment and despair; slap dab in the middle of the belly of an enormous fish. God had placed Jonah in a situation (a time out chair so-to-speak) that was going to make or break his will so that God’s will would rise up and surface in the life of Jonah and accomplish what the devil meant for bad, God meant for good, to change Jonah and save a people from destruction. But even though Jonah ended up exactly where God wanted him to go; Nineveh, and did exactly what God asked him to do, became the instrument God would use in saving an alien people, Jonah was still angry at God. Just because he was doing God's will doesn't mean that he was happy about it. Jonah prayed and told God exactly how he felt. Because God loved Jonah and was compassionate to his frustrations, slow to anger and really did not want to send calamity into his life, He instead showed compassion to Jonah by making a vine grow up over Jonah’s head to provide shelter from the hot sun. Instead of sending fire and brimstone on Jonah for his lack of love and concern for others in which he probably deserved, God showed favor. This is why in the middle of our own disobedience, God continues to show us favor…not because we may be doing everything right or wrong, but because He loves us in-spite of how we treat Him or others. Jonah also became angry when the vine that gave him shelter from the sun withered up because God had sent a worm that chewed it and caused it to die. God ask Jonah, did he have a right to be angry and Jonah actually said yes,  that he was so angry, enough to even die. You see Jonah really believed in his heart that he was in the right. He thought he had every right to be angry and felt like God was being unfair by everything happening to him. This is a prime example of God telling us that His ways and thoughts are not our ways and thoughts....and ours not His! Some important lesson’s that we can learn from Jonah are that when we focus on disappointment and not TRUTH (what His Word may say about a situation, in which is always God’s will and His way for us) we will in fact become angry, disappointed and many times spiritually walk away from the Lord in certain areas of our lives. It is at that point that we begin a roller coaster ride of emotions and questions as to why we feel so disconnected from God. It almost always has something to do with us either denying what the truth is, or an unwillingness to accept the fact that we may not be able to change the situation. And in our struggle for control, we simply choose to be angry.                                                                  

We become angry for different reasons. Sometimes it’s because others have let us down and we allow our disappointment in them to fester until its taken root and has become sin in us. And because we don’t have an answer, we begin to come up with our own conclusions which, for the most part are never TRUTH; because they are birthed out of sin from the anger and from the hurt that has entered us from our disappointment. Instead of showing forgiveness, we withdraw our love and allow bitterness to take its place. We often are angry because we are powerless in a situation and do not know what to do. God knows about our powerlessness and wants us to trust in our prayers to Him to work out the situation in the best interest of everyone involved. But too often we take the role of controller and try to fix things ourselves which will inevitably make the situation worse. Sometimes, it’s because we want to make sure that the problem is resolved to get the outcome that we want. Sometimes it’s because our faith is too weak to trust God to really work it out. And still other times, it is not God that we do not trust but others that may be involved in our conflict; that they will not do the right thing and we feel powerless. As you can see just by these reasons alone, we can be so quick to choose feeling over TRUTH. When in fact, it is Truth that liberates us and set’s us free. As I was sharing with the ladies in my Bible Study the other night, we have got to stop living out of feelings and live in the light of what we know God’s word has to say about it. Sadly I fear that the struggle can go on much longer than it has to because we either, do not know what the Word of God may say about our situation, so we don’t have what we need to counter what is coming against us, or even worse, that we may be turning our backs on what we know, and refuse to yield to. God’s word says that we wrestle not with flesh and blood but with powers and principalities that are lurking around looking for opportunity to trip up the children of God. Our armor is what we KNOW to be TRUTH, not what we WISH could be truth. Don’t second guess God, He was, He is, and He will always be on our side. But we MUST wear His armor; we must do it His way. So many scriptures come to my mind that give warning, provides council and confirms His love when we are in a situation that may influence us to be angry at God when pain and conflict enter our life. You see,
God knows the source of our anger and the inner workings of our mind and spirits, and He knows our limitations even when we don’t. He knows the events and experiences that make us angry. He knows our emotions and feelings of helplessness, fear, confusion, and dismay that lead to our anger. He knows all about our situation. Just as Jonah owned up to God about how he felt, we too need to express our anger to God when we are going through trials and tribulations that seem to push us over the edge. He will hold our hand and walk through the anger with us, providing light. It is up to us however, whether we open our minds/eyes to what He is saying. Be sure not to turn away from His truth because it is not what you want to hear. Otherwise you will stay in “the whale’s belly” as long as it takes to get you to see what He wants you to see, or learn what He wants you to learn. And while God does not necessarily send all pain into our lives, He wants to use everything that touches us to grow us and make us more like Him. If your struggle is in loving someone or having compassion, God will most certainly send a wind your way to cause you discomfort in order to change your attitude. He wants you to learn that while going through the storm if you will keep your focus on Him and not your frustrations as Jonah did while He is working on you, then the process will not be as bad nor will it take as long to get through it. He wants you to see yourself as He sees you, or maybe I should say He wants you to see your sin as He sees it. In the first chapter of Jonah, Jonah states that he knew that he was in that storm because of his disobedience and because the storm that God sent for Jonah’s sake was having an effect on the people around him in the boat, when Jonah requested they throw him over board. That too was Jonah's choice. Once we see it as God sees it then we can deal with it and overcome it....never let the sun go down on your anger...deal with it and move on ...peace is around the corner waiting on you!

I love you and am praying God release His power over you today as you release your hurt and anger to Him.

Bren                                                                                                                                                                      

HAVING THE RIGHT PERSPECTIVE

Having the right perspective is not always easy, but it is always the right choice. I recently received an email from a family member who was sharing with me about her parents who had been preparing for an estate sale where they had lived for the past 45 years. The two of them had been diligently working towards their goal of getting everything ready for the sale. During the process of preparing for the upcoming event, they encountered a series of events that elevated their already overwhelming situation to a whole new height of frustrations and discouragements.

As they began to busy themselves with their packing which was an overwhelming and stressful job itself, their issues began and the list of concerns seem to grow. In the midst of packing, their hot water heater went out and the needed repairs could not be made any time within their near future. As the issues of packing mounted, a tractor that her dad had planned to place in the auction suddenly would not start; so of course that situation would change the value of the sale of the tractor, in which he then would have to take a great loss.  With much effort and to no avail, the tractor repairman could not be reached.  Since he was unable to be reached by phone, her dad had decided to drive by the repairman’s house to see if he could catch him at home, or at least leave him a message.

As he reached the man’s home and drove up into the driveway, he noticed that a BIG tractor that was usually in the yard, was no longer there.  The repairman's truck was there, but had grass growing up around it as though it hadn't been driven for some time.   As her dad reluctantly started to leave, due to fact that it seemed pretty obvious that no one was around, he remembered that the repairman was often gone for long periods of time during that time of the year, and in his desperation, decided to get out of his vehicle and knock on the man’s door. For at that point her dad had nothing to loose. After all, he had driven all the way to man’s house. Upon knocking on the door, he heard the man calling out to him  to hold on, that he was on his way to the door.  After a short wait, the tractor repairman opened the door.  The right side of his face was somewhat droopy, reminiscent of someone who had had a stroke.  His movements to walk and open the door were labored and he leaned heavily on a cane.  Her dad was concerned for the man that he might fall over. It was a very different picture than the vigorous man he usually encountered. The ensuing conversation revealed that the man had recently had a small brain tumor removed.  The doctors had told him that he should be back to almost 100% by 6 weeks after  his surgery.  It was then 13 weeks past that surgery.  The repairman shared with her dad that he of course was now unable to work and doesn't know if he'll ever get any better and respectively referred him to someone else that could possibly do the repairs.

Her dad shared that suddenly, he remembered the differences between an inconvenience and a tragedy as he stood staring at God's illustration and reminder of that difference. He returned home with a very different perspective and frame of mind than that which he had when he left. He had changed his attitude from being dismayed to being grateful. At that point both her parents were reminded the importance of changing a wrong attitude to having a heart full of gratitude.

This may be your situation today sweet friend. You may be slap dab in the middle of an enormous job or situation that seems overwhelming to you. Maybe every corner you take brings only another problem. While changing your attitude may never take away the problem itself, it always allows you to bear those moments and situations with peace and dignity, that every child of the living God has access to; as well as being indebted to walk in. We are His witnesses to a world that needs us to keep a check on our attitudes because of the victory that is bestowed upon us and that we have access to, if we will only choose it!

A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth: and the recompense of a man’s hands shall be rendered unto him. Proverbs 12:14

Loving you today….keep striving…..the peak is worth the pain of the path, never forget that!

Bren

WORRY

As long as we insist that things must be a certain way, we will continue to live in endless frustration. Think of the energy that we could apply to the things that we could benefit from, if we wouldn’t waste so much of our time being upset over the things that we have no control over. If we really believe Hebrews 13:5 where Jesus tells us tha He will never leave us nor forsake us, then we can rest in the fact that we, as God’s children can accept the things that we are unable to change with grace and peace; for we know that He is going through those situations and moments with us. However, if we do not believe that truly, then it is a waste to us to consider that scripture verse as being true for us, in those moments of unrest, doubt, worry and fear. For when we realize that He is with us, we can have the same peace during those storms that we have on the peaceful shores. Luke 12:25-26 says, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life” Since you can not do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?”.

While it may not be easy to do, we only need to rest as Jesus was resting in the boat in Matthew 8, while everyone else was falling apart from fear over the waves of the sea coming aboard, He knew Who had the answers and looked beyond the situation and accepted the storm as a teachable moment for His friends. Today, what is God trying to teach you? Romans 12:16 reminds us to readily adjust ourselves to people/things….. Learn to be more flexible; and as you do, you can be more used by God in your own situation as well as in the life of others, no matter what their backgrounds may be or the situation is for that moment.

Paul said that he had become just about every kind of servant there is, in his attempts to win those he met to Christ, in I Cor. 9. He was learning one of the most gratifying attributes of a child of God…to be flexible in the hand of His Father. God is the Potter and we are the clay, may we let Him mold us into whatever we may need to be for ourselves, others and ultimately for God’s use.

Do not let your situation dictate your joy today sweet friend…..remember, when He appears to be late for your situation or in that moment….He is not, for He is always right on time, in His plans for your need.

Hold fast and don’t you dare give up! Loving you today!

Bren