I love the Georgia Bulldogs. I love Mark Richt too. Well, I thought I did until I saw this. Now, I REALLY love and respect him!!!
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Love Dare Day 26
Today, by far, is the hardest day for me. It has caused me to have to take a really long and hard look at myself. So, because I don't like to feel bad alone...
Have you noticed that in today's society that fewer and fewer people are willing to take responsibility for their actions? It's not hard to see. Everyone always has an excuse for everything or why it is someone elses fault. Personal responsibility. We all agree that it's important and that others should have it. But we have a hard time accepting it for ourselves.
It's not just those around us that I'm talking about. To find these kinds of people all we have to do is look at ourselves. We quickly justify our motives, point out the flaws in our spouse, and reject any criticism.
We always believe that our views and opinions are correct or at least more right than our spouse's. And we have a hard time believing that anyone else, given our situation, would behave or react any differently.
But true love doesn't pass the buck. OR try to justify selfishness. It is more concerned with our spouse's needs rather than itself. When love takes responsibility for its actions, it is not to prove how noble you've been but rather to admit how much further you have to go!!!
When Frank and I are in an argument, most of the time I am not really listening to him. I am thinking about what I am going to say the moment he shuts his mouth. And sometimes I don't even wait that long. Love should cause me to FIRST admit my own wrongs instead of pointing the finger.
I John 1:8 tells us If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. I can't tell you the number of times I have focused on what Frank is or is not doing instead of myself. Not willing to admit that I was at as much fault or more fault than he was.
Can your spouse say that you have wronged them or hurt them and never made it right? Part of taking personal responsibility is asking forgiveness. The problem is that our pride is bigger than our hearts a lot of the time. We need to ask forgiveness regardless of the response we receive. Admit your mistakes to them without bringing up the ways that they have wronged you.
Here is what we do today. TAKE TIME TO PRAY THROUGH YOUR AREAS OF WRONGDOING. ASK GOD'S FORGIVENESS, THEN HUMBLE YOURSELF ENOUGH TO ADMIT THEM TO YOUR SPOUSE. NO MATTER HOW THEY RESPOND, MAKE SURE YOU COVER YOUR RESPONSIBILITY IN LOVE.
Okay, praying I did. And as much as I would like to say otherwise, it was not easy. I don't like to think of myself as being wrong. Especially where Frank is concerned. I like to be right. This is where we clash a lot because he does too and usually neither one of us will budge one little bit. So, the Lord pointed out some areas to me that I have failed miserably in. Obviously, I can't talk to him about it face to face today and I would rather it not be a phone or text conversation (we all know that without seeing facial expression or hearing tone we can easily misunderstand things! Right, Kate?? *grin*) So, I will be talking to him tomorrow.
I better start looking for that HDT right now....
FIREPROOF and the Pentagon
Please join me in praying this week for 2 of the staff at our church. They have gone to the Pentagon (yes, I said the Pentagon) for FIREPROOF screenings and to lead some Bible studies. How blessed we are right now that we have an administration that would allow this to take place! Let's also pray that God would soften the hearts of the following administration so that things just like this could continue!
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Can You Help Me Find My Car??
So, the other day I went to our local Sam's to do my every other week shopping. I got lucky and found a parking space relatively close to the front. I hopped out and went inside. Now, I love Sam's. I love going there (without kids mind you) and taking my time and looking around. But, this particular day I was in a hurry. So I ONLY looked for the things that were on my list and headed to the checkout. As I was walking out the door into the parking lot I spotted my car and hit the remote to unlock it. I then proceeded to hit the liftgate button so that it would already be open for me when I got to it. Hmmm... it didn't open. So I hit it again. Still nothing. Must not have unlocked. I pushed the unlock button again and then the liftgate button. Nada. I am now hitting the liftgate button over and over when a lady came up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and she said (pointing a little further down the aisle and on the other side) "I think your car is over there" I looked at where she was pointing and sure enough, the liftgate on my car had been going up and down, up and down. I just been pointing the remote at the wrong car. I guess it's just a sign of early aging...
Love Dare Day 25
Have you ever read or said the Lord's Prayer? Have you ever really thought about the words? One part in particular really stands out to me. "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors..." Do you get that? We are asking the Lord to forgive us in the same way that we forgive each other. Good grief!!! Do I really want him to extend the same measure of forgiveness? Or would I rather him show me more?
I can remember a time in my life when I was not the most forgiving person there was. And truth be told, even though I have come a long way in this area, when it comes to Frank, I still can hold a good old grudge. I have a hard time letting things go. And I would find good ways to punish him for whatever too. Like the silent treatment (which probably wasn't all that much punishment but more of a relief!) or fixing something he didn't like for supper. And there was always the "NotnowIhaveaheadache" routine (don't act like you haven't done it either). Or I particularly excelled at bringing things up that were supposedly over.
Do I want the Lord to take these things into account when he starts passing out forgiveness to me? I beg for mercy instead of what I really deserve.
Matthew 18:35 says My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.
Sometimes, when people hurt us, especially when it is someone that we love, we try to punish them with unforgiveness. We think if we forgive them then we are letting them win or excusing the wrong that they did to us. When in reality the only one we are truly punishing is ourselves.
But, forgiveness doesn't remove the blame. It doesn't wipe the slate clean with God, either. It just keeps you from having to worry about how to punish them. You are just turning them over to God. And isn't He the ultimate Judge and Jury anyway?
How do we do this? Sometimes it starts just by saying it out loud, whether you mean it or not. And you may have to say it over and over to yourself just as a reminder that you have already done it.
Take the story of the ungrateful servant. After he was forgiven by the king, back then a document would have been given to the servant and one would have been kept for the king. So that if the king needed money for something else and decided to bring that man in again to get his payment they would be able to go back and pull out that document and show that debt had been forgiven. This may happen with the same servant several times. And each time that document would be shown to the king. Sooner or later the king would begin to remember that particular debt had been forgiven and he would quit trying to "retry" that servant.
The same thing happens to us. Just because you have forgiven someone doesn't mean that Satan won't try to make you "retry" that person in the court of your mind. But you can pull out that document and say "Nope, I have already forgiven them for that". That's how we really let go. And you will know that you have truly forgiven someone when the thought of them or the sight of them no longer causes you to get angry or you to start plotting what you should say or do. Instead, you begin to feel sorry for them, to pity them, and hope that things turn around for them.
WHATEVER YOU HAVEN'T FORGIVEN IN YOUR MATE, FORGIVE IT TODAY. SAY FROM YOUR HEART "I CHOOSE TO FORGIVE" This is the dare for today. I don't have any BIG thing or things that I haven't forgiven Frank for. For me, it's more of the little things. Sometimes I say that I have forgiven or let them go and I really haven't. I am just saving them as ammunition for later.
The Lord has really been working on me over the past year about true forgiveness. And even though it has not been easy, it has been freeing. Not spending my time thinking about those that wrong me. Not playing out situations in my mind and what I would say. It instead makes me seek to understand more of their position. Why it happened in the first place. What was my part in it and how can I change it?
Great marriages are not made by people who never hurt each other. Only by people who choose to "keep no record of wrongs" Wow!
I can remember a time in my life when I was not the most forgiving person there was. And truth be told, even though I have come a long way in this area, when it comes to Frank, I still can hold a good old grudge. I have a hard time letting things go. And I would find good ways to punish him for whatever too. Like the silent treatment (which probably wasn't all that much punishment but more of a relief!) or fixing something he didn't like for supper. And there was always the "NotnowIhaveaheadache" routine (don't act like you haven't done it either). Or I particularly excelled at bringing things up that were supposedly over.
Do I want the Lord to take these things into account when he starts passing out forgiveness to me? I beg for mercy instead of what I really deserve.
Matthew 18:35 says My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.
Sometimes, when people hurt us, especially when it is someone that we love, we try to punish them with unforgiveness. We think if we forgive them then we are letting them win or excusing the wrong that they did to us. When in reality the only one we are truly punishing is ourselves.
But, forgiveness doesn't remove the blame. It doesn't wipe the slate clean with God, either. It just keeps you from having to worry about how to punish them. You are just turning them over to God. And isn't He the ultimate Judge and Jury anyway?
How do we do this? Sometimes it starts just by saying it out loud, whether you mean it or not. And you may have to say it over and over to yourself just as a reminder that you have already done it.
Take the story of the ungrateful servant. After he was forgiven by the king, back then a document would have been given to the servant and one would have been kept for the king. So that if the king needed money for something else and decided to bring that man in again to get his payment they would be able to go back and pull out that document and show that debt had been forgiven. This may happen with the same servant several times. And each time that document would be shown to the king. Sooner or later the king would begin to remember that particular debt had been forgiven and he would quit trying to "retry" that servant.
The same thing happens to us. Just because you have forgiven someone doesn't mean that Satan won't try to make you "retry" that person in the court of your mind. But you can pull out that document and say "Nope, I have already forgiven them for that". That's how we really let go. And you will know that you have truly forgiven someone when the thought of them or the sight of them no longer causes you to get angry or you to start plotting what you should say or do. Instead, you begin to feel sorry for them, to pity them, and hope that things turn around for them.
WHATEVER YOU HAVEN'T FORGIVEN IN YOUR MATE, FORGIVE IT TODAY. SAY FROM YOUR HEART "I CHOOSE TO FORGIVE" This is the dare for today. I don't have any BIG thing or things that I haven't forgiven Frank for. For me, it's more of the little things. Sometimes I say that I have forgiven or let them go and I really haven't. I am just saving them as ammunition for later.
The Lord has really been working on me over the past year about true forgiveness. And even though it has not been easy, it has been freeing. Not spending my time thinking about those that wrong me. Not playing out situations in my mind and what I would say. It instead makes me seek to understand more of their position. Why it happened in the first place. What was my part in it and how can I change it?
Great marriages are not made by people who never hurt each other. Only by people who choose to "keep no record of wrongs" Wow!
One Thing
Lord, it is with a heavy heart that I come this morning. I am so disappointed and confused by it all. I am saddened for the state of our nation and for the hearts of the people in it. I am broken for the additional millions of lives that will never be, all because the decision has been made that choice is more important than life. At what point will we stop now? Will those who are elderly and wasting away in nursing homes be next? After all, we have already decided that human life has no value. I am also saddened, Father, that we as a nation only felt like THIS election was important. Elections in the past didn't matter so much. It didn't matter to vote then. Why is that? Do we really care about our voices being heard, or just who was running? I am fearful, Lord, for what this means for us as a nation. I know You tell us not to fear, but right now I am struggling. I am reminded in Your Word when at different times you gave the people over to themselves. In Ephesians 4:19 You said, "Having lost all sensitivity, they were given themselves over to sensuality...". And also in Acts 7:42 "But God turned away and gave them over to the worship of the heavenly bodies." I fear this is where we are. How can we continue to pray for You to bless us and protect us when we have taken You out of everything? Yes, I do believe You have finally just given us over to ourselves. Will this man bring the healing that some feel he will? No. Only You are the true Healer. One thing I know is that You are in control of everything, Lord. You had this planned from the beginning. This is not a surprise to You. And You see all the way to the finish line. Your Word also tells me that You work all things... all things... together for good to those who love You. And that you have used all kinds of people throughout history, from the very beginning of time, to show Your power and might and to bring about Your perfect will... even though they didn't know it or were unwilling to participate in Your plan. Daniel 2:21 tells me that YOU set up kings and depose them. Not us. It has been easy, Lord, to speak of your sovereignty and trusting in You until now. Now is when the talk has to become the walk. Now is when the hope has to become belief. Help us to stand strong. Help us not just to be able to discern the truth, but also the lies. Lord, please remember that there is a remnant. There is a remnant still in love with You and still willing to stand for You...
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