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  • Feb 27, 2022
  • 2 min read

Have you ever been around someone who rubs you the wrong way? Maybe a classmate, co-worker or in-law? I have. This gal wasn’t an awful person, but her approach to life was from a place of victim so her response to most things was filled with negativity & defense.


This morning, memories of her flooded in as I read Proverbs 10:18:

Hiding hatred makes you a liar; slandering others makes you a fool.


I’ll be honest…the verse leaves me feeling a bit betwixt because it tells you not to hide hatred but it also tells you not to talk about it, so what do you do WITH it?


Hatred is a harsh word…I can’t say that I “hated” her but I did harbor feelings of negativity. Flattering words & false pretenses were common in my interactions because if I said what I was REALLY feeling, a civil war  could’ve incited in the workplace! 😬


So what do we do with these not-from-God feelings when they surface inside?


As I look back on our interactions, I wonder if her lens of victim may have developed from an experience of being victimized?🥲


The hard people we face can & may incite hatred in our hearts, but concealing it is no good - that makes us a liar - & talking about it to others makes us a slandering fool. So what do we do?


How about we pray?


Father, bless them & change me.

Bless them with healing.

Change me with Your love.

Bless them with Your love THROUGH me!

Show me opportunity to speak Truth saturated with Your grace, love & kindness so that they might experience the kind of freedom only You can give!


Y’all, can you even imagine the number of times Jesus was tempted to hatred with the self-righteous Pharisees? They were externally clean, but their insides were as rotten as dead flesh! Yes he called them out, but his heart was sad over the hardness of theirs because He knew they would miss out on the eternal freedom He had to offer!


We are here for a reason. We could’ve been zapped to heaven the moment we accepted Jesus as Savior & Lord but He left us here to be on co-mission WITH Him!


And sometimes? Maybe a lotta times? That involves dealing with difficult people who will provide ample opportunity for us to learn how to humbly pray, “Father, bless them & change me.”🤗


LEVITICUS 20:22-22:16

MARK 9:1-29

PSALM 43:1-5

PROVERBS 10:18

 
 
 

We just dropped out third son off at the airport & my heart relates to Davids lament in Psalm 42 when he writes, ”My heart is breaking as I remember how it used to be.”


My favorite parenting verse is Proverbs 22:6 that tells us to train up our children in the way they should go. And yet this morning, as I look back on how things “used to be” when we were training them UP to the day when they GO, it feels like but a breath of time.


Parenting is directional…we train them UP so that they might GO! The last thing Jesus commands us to do before He ascends to heaven is to “GO & make disciples of the nations…” Before that moment, however, there is much training UP that has to happen so we are equipped to go!


Right after Jesus tells his disciples that the time is drawing near when He must suffer & die on a cross, He tells them that they must too carry their own!


He says, “If you want to hang onto your life, you will lose it.  But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.”


I’ll be honest. There’s a part of me that wants to “hang” onto my  sons.🥲 All week I battled secret tears, knowing the wisdom of not putting the weight of my emotion on my son.


And here’s why: This “GOing” is all part of God’s plan! A big chunk of my heart wishes that my three older sons weren’t on the west coast, but my time of training them UP is done. Now it’s their time to GO where God sees fit!


Even if you’re not a parent, pay attention. God is our Father Who sent His Son to make Way for our salvation! He longs like a Daddy for us to keep our gaze fixed UPward as we GO forward in this life! His Way is always the best way, but it requires death of self SO THAT resurrection life might follow!


Father, carrying our cross & turning from our selfish ways is hard, hard, hard…until we remember Who we follow! Thank You for the reminder this morning that giving up our preferences for Your sake & the sake of the Good News will always lead to life eternal! Bless us & our children with vision to walk in wisdom, grace, Truth & love! May we hold this life & even our family members loosely, knowing that someday we will spend life eternal together with You! 


LEVITICUS 19:1-20:21

MARK 8:11-38

PSALM 42:1-11

PROVERBS 10:17



 
 
 

Have you ever heard of a need & reacted with defense because you don’t have the means to meet it? Like no one has asked you to meet the need but your response upon hearing it is frustration that you can’t?


Mark 8 captures a moment like this. Jesus preaches for 3 days in the wilderness & then calls his disciples together, He tells them how sorry he feels for the 4,000 who have nothing to eat.


He doesn’t ask a question. He simply states how He feels about the need before them.


The disciples, however, reply with this, “How are we supposed to find enough food to feed them out here in the wilderness?“


Depending on which word you emphasize, that simple question carries a lot of meaning.


If you said “HOW” loud & long, it implies they’ve no idea how the need could be met. What’s astounding is that the disciples had JUST witnessed Jesus feed 5,000 with only 5 loaves & 2 fish! How quickly they forget that “how” is not an issue when Jesus is in the equation!


If you emphasize “WE”, it implies they felt responsible. At this point Jesus didn’t ask ANYTHING of them. He simply shared His compassion about the need before them.


If you emphasize “ENOUGH” it recognizes lack-another indicator of their forgetfulness!


It’s SO easy to read these stories with judgement because we already know the outcome!


But if we’re honest, we can admit a time, maybe even now with rumors of war, that the pending doom of the day can seem so insurmountable that it eclipses what God has formerly done?


After the disciples make their reply to Jesus, He asks them one simple question:


How much bread do you have?


They had 7 loaves - MORE food & 1,000 LESS people than the last time He miraculously fed the 5,000!


Sometimes it’s in the middle of difficulty that we most easily forget the faithfulness of our Father! We need not worry how nor feel pressure to be the answer. We simply need offer what we have & let Jesus do the rest.


This post is my offering today. The rumors of war, doom & gloom cannot erase what God has formerly done nor limit what He can do. We serve a miracle working God Who can be trusted! Simply offer what you have & watch in awe as He does what only He can miraculously do!

LEVITICUS 16:29-18:30

MARK 7:24-8:10

PSALM 41:1-13

PROVERBS 10:15-16

 
 
 

sift:to isolate that which is most important or essential

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The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.

~ Hans Hofmann

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