Why Do We Gossip?

I wish I could say I have never gossiped but I can't. I had a relative who was known for being a gossip who knew everything about everyone who passed by their house. I never wanted to be like that. Instead of judging that person, I should have been praying for them, because to my own shame, I found myself listening and repeating gossip just as they had done. After one such time when I was caught up in something I had no part of, I was so grieved with disappointment, that I isolated myself from friends and family because I did not want to be tempted to listen to or repeat any form of gossip. I felt the less I knew, the better off I would be.

We gossip because it makes us feel important, we feel we are in the thick of things that are going on. Or sometimes if I was offended by someone I would rehearse their flaws or failures because it made me feel justified. I have gossiped because of Jealousy, foolishly thinking someone else's blessing has lessened God's supply of blessings for us.

I never thought about why we gossip until someone was hurt by my tale bearing. It gave me an all too clear understanding of how our words can wound someone.

So, learn from my mistakes, if someone comes to you with any information that does not involve you personally, suggest that before they say anything, they go to the person that offended them. We are to cover and honor those around us whether or not we feel they deserve it, just as God's grace covers us.

Be blessed by being a blessing today.

A Time .... To Prune

There are times when you want to be free from where we are.  You are ready to move on.

But sometimes, you are grounded where you are because God has some pruning to do in your life. He has to expose some unhealthy emotions so that you can deal with them and learn to control them so they won't get you in trouble for the next season. 

We keep pushing on that door, begging God to open it and let us through, but God's time never expires, it is always perfect.

God has to fix the inside so that you won't be carrying around the baggage that would hinder you from doing what He has planned for you.  He protects us from ourselves and from others that we could possible hurt if we were allowed to do something premature.

Trust Him.  Know that He has your best interest at heart.

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you, "says the Lord, plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster to give you a future and a hope".

Some Things God Cannot Do

A parent never likes to see their child sad or hurting.  But sometimes life happens and we are helpless. 

My daughter has been struggling with being single.  Some days she really gets discouraged.  And lonely.  On these days I try to offer encouragement, but it doesn't give her what she is needing, which is a solution to her problem, so it is not well received.   I try to inspire her by reminding her of all the blessings in her life: her job, her church, her family, or relate how other people struggle in their relationships and it would be better to be single than to be in some relationship that is abusive or without love. None of these provide the answer she is looking for.

I thought about how we do that to God too.  We have a problem that we can't solve and we need an answer, so we call on God and when he does not give us the answer we are looking for, or no answer at all, we become inconsolable, sad and depressed.  God tries to remind us of all the good He has done in our life.  He brings to our mind all of the bad that He has kept us from.  Instead of being grateful, we stay depressed, worried or discouraged and fail to see all of the things he has blessed us with.  He must think, "How ungrateful my child is being".  I can imagine we hurt his feelings too.

I wanted to help my daughter. I wanted to give her the answer.  But there are some things I cannot do.

Just like God.

There are some things that God cannot do.

1. God can't break a promise.
   My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of my lips.
   —Psalm 89:34
2. God can't remember sins he's chosen to forget.
   I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake; and I will not remember your sins.
   —Isaiah 43:25
3. God can't make a loser.
   Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ.
   —2 Corinthians 2:14
4. God can't abandon you.
   Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, he is the one who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.
   —Deuteronomy 31:6
5. God can't stop thinking about you.
   How precious also are your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with you.
   —Psalm 139:17-18
6. God can't stop loving you.
   Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.
   —Jeremiah 31:3

DROP THE ROCK

This morning I read something I had never noticed before....

In, John 8:4-11 When the angry mob was about to stone the woman caught in adultery, Jesus rose to His feet and said, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” He spoke one sentence, and then He knelt back down again and wrote on the ground. As His words registered, “they went away one by one, "BEGINNING with the OLDER ones”

The older ones dropped their rocks and walked away first.... I had never noticed that before.

I remember throwing the first stone. Maybe not the first stone, but I joined the mob and cast my stone of gossip, my self-righteous opinion, and my judgment. But life teaches us to drop the rock. When we’re young, we are more arrogant and quicker to pick up the rock. Too many times, being right becomes about winning.

Over time, I have learned some hard life lessons. After making so many of my own mistakes, I am less inclined to drive home others’ failures. It’s easy to judge. We all have opinions. But we all know what it feels like to fail. I no longer pick up rocks and I stay away from mobs.

Even if I'm right, if I am wrong in the way that I am right, then I'm wrong.

 ‪#‎lifelessons‬ ‪#‎nolongerachild‬ ‪#‎droptherock‬

Prayer for your Children

Janice Sjostrand taught us to pray this prayer over our children at the 2015 Reign Conference in Beaumont, Texas.

Numbers 6:24-26

Verse 24 - The Lord bless you and keep you- for it is written, “The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich and He addeth no sorrow with it.” (Prov. 10:22).  If I bless you with a new car, you will have to put gas in it, keep good tires on it. If I bless you with a new house, you will have to pay taxes on it and do maintenance to keep it. I can't bless you without adding something to it that will cost you. But when He blesses there is not attachment that will weigh you down. So when I pray for my children, I pray "The Lord Bless you and keep you".  I can't go with you every day and in every room, so may the Lord keep you. When I say these words, heavens hears me over whoever I am saying them to The Lord said you say these words if you want to bless my people. You say it and I will do it.  I did not make them up. So I am quite sure that when I say may the Lord keep you, that I have dispatched heaven to walk with you when you leave.

How often do I need a blessing?  Every day. You walk every day, you eat every day, you wash every day.  You need this blessing every day. And your children need to hear them. 

Verse 25 -the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious unto you;

Some children are people pleasers and some of you have been people pleasers, Just like the children's book "Are You My Mother" always searching for someone to look down at you and say, 'You're lovely, you're precious, you’re special'.  But most people put a price tag on that.  They will make you pay something for what you want.  You have to behave a certain way.  It is called pay to play. But when the Lord makes His face to shine upon you, what does that mean?  It means he makes eye contact.  If I could just get into your presence you could fix anything that is wrong with me because you are God and nothing can resist you.  Like standing under a sun lamp.  You will just fix it all.  You are saying when you pray this that you are asking God to arrest this person, hold their face in your hands and look you in the eyes.

And then when He does, the scripture says he cannot behold iniquity.  When he sees us through Jesus he looks past our filthiness.  We can't dress up good enough for him, because no flesh will glory in his presence. So when I say the Lord make his face shine upon you, I am saying, overlook (that's what gracious means, it means to overlook) when he looks at you, I am praying that he does not look at all the things your accuser points out to you. Because you look pretty good to me.  I know you are human, but I believe Jesus wants to populate heaven with people like you. I believe he wants to give you a crown.  You won't wear it, you will throw it at his feet, but I think he wants to crown you, in fact David said, Bless the Lord Oh my soul, who crowneth me with loving kindness and tender mercy.  I want a crown I don’t deserve.  He has blessed me, so I have tender mercy around my head, not the voice constantly reminding me of what I am not and can't do.  I wish this for you. I wish this for your children.

Verse 26 - the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace."  After the Lord makes eye contact with you, he doesn’t want to make you self-conscious, so  he skips over the dirt, mistakes and errors.  I see a little child laying on the pew beside his mom, with tennis shoes on and his hair tussled, I have scanned him from his head to his foot and he looks just perfect to me. I am lifting my countenance upon him, and he is sound asleep and doesn’t even know it.  I am moved with compassion.  So you see what I am doing, I am smiling.  When the Lord looks at you and your children, I pray that he looks at you with the same tenderness that I look at that little boy.

I believe what is wrong with the world is that they are looking for a smile or approval from someone who could care less. But if your kids and you can catch his eye and he can look at you long enough, and you don’t look away, you see that is what the Song of Solomon was saying, he sang to her, remove your veil and let me see your face. And instead of getting judgment or correction, he smiles.  There is something so satisfying  about him looking at me and saying you are everything I want you to be.  You are just fine.

He has danced with us, laughed with us, played with us. And smiled with us.  I feel his approval, his favor, his love. 

“A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just” (Prov. 13:22).

 “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth” (3 John 2).

Janice Sjostrand - Prayer for the Called

In an interview with Jacob Tapia (Ministry Mentorship), Janice Sjostrand shared her journey into ministry and gave practical advice for young ministers.  At the end of the interview she was asked to say a prayer:

"Lord I thank you for the opportunity to give back what you have giving to me.  The simplicity is in Christ that you love us and that there are people that want to love you back. Someone listening has felt your love and wants to return it.  This is the person that you are going to teach. I pray that you will help them when you begin the process of correcting and instructing them, when they feel like you have forgotten them, that they can't ever get it right, that you would remind them that this is how you treat sons, that correction and the way that we endure it, identifies us as your children, in Hebrews 12.  And the more correction we take the more like you we become, because we are not born knowing how to behave and in order to become like you, you must shape and mold us.  So to that person who is just getting started, to someone who has never viewed themselves as worthy, I pray you remind them they are more precious to you than all the works they could do.  I pray you remind them that you created the heavens an the earth, the stars, and you are still creating things that we will never see, but because you are a creative God, you do things just for your pleasure, and it is your pleasure to become intimately acquainted with this person you have called.  And if they never do a thing that is outstanding or noticed, knowing you is the most outstanding thing anyone could ever accomplish.  As Paul said, that I may know you, not just in the power of your resurrection but in the fellowship of your suffering. So I pray that you would help them to forget what is behind and reach what is before and press toward the mark of the high calling that is in Christ Jesus.  There is no greater calling than to hear you whisper a name and then invite us to come forward.  Whoever it is that others would have walked past and not chosen like David's six other brothers, you chose the little shepherd in the field and if there is someone who has been ostrasized or rejected by men, and you have chosen then, then you enfold and guide and bring them to completion for it is written he that has begun a good work will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. We thank and praise you for this privilege, let your work continue.  An unbroken line from before the book of Genesis until after the book of Revelation.  In the sweet name of Jesus we thank and praise. "

Right Place ..... Right Time

God is in the business of strategically positioning us in the right place at the right time, but it's up to us to see and seize those opportunities that are all around us all the time.

Mark Batterson, author of In A Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, received an email from Peter, a man who started reading the book on a flight to Las Vegas.  During the first half of his flight, he read chapter 1 and
felt challenged and convicted.   One sentence arrested his attention: "God is in the business of strategically positioning us in the right place at the right time, but it's up to us to see and seize those opportunities that are all around us all the time."  Peter switched planes in Phoenix and sat down in his new seat assignment.  He said hello to the girl next to him, but she shut him down rather abruptly.  It was one of those looks that says, 'Don't talk to me for the rest of the flight, and by the way, the armrest belongs to me!" Peter didn't want to offend her or bother her, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.  He knew he needed to swallow his pride, face his fears, and seize the opportunity.  He leaned over and said, "I know it's absolutely none of my business, but you seem so burdened.  If sharing it with a complete stranger might help. I'm all ears."

The seventeen year old girl, who was three months pregnant, proceeded to tell him she was running away from home.  Her boyfriend told her to take off and "take care of it".  She had stolen her dad's credit card that morning to buy a ticket to Vegas to get an abortion.  During the flight, Peter spoke words of comfort and encouragement. When they landed in Vegas, he convinced the girl to call her parents, who were worried sick.  Her parents convinced her to grab the next flight and come home.

I'm quite sure one life, perhaps two, were saved that day!  All because one man beleived that a seat assignment might be a divine assignment.  And when we act on those prayer promptings, the Grandmaster can use a single pawn to check-mate the enemy's plans.

Mark Batterson - Draw the Circle, The 40 Day Prayer Challenge

Desiring a Father

All my life I have questioned why I could not have grown up with a father or even a step-father in my life. My father died when I was 6 years old, but I have only vague memories of him and those were when he was ill with the cancer that took his life.  My mother never remarried and I had no grandfather to take on the role. 

In a message by Dr. Gerald Jeffers, God gave me my answer:  

To prevent children from coming to the table and not eating their food because they filled up on junk food, as a parent you have to limit the amount of junk food they have or you take it away from them altogether.  They may call us mean, but we accept that label in order to preserve their bodies. God has said to some of us, the reason we did not have a proper relationship with a father, or mother, or someone you loved, is because I knew if I let you fill up on human love, you would not have hungered for the good food of divine love, so I limited, or stopped altogether how much love I would let you receive so you would hunger for divine love.  

God knew how hungry I was for a father's love, and that only He could fulfill that desire.  He has never disappointed me and I could not ask for a better father.  

 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!  –1 John 3:1

Psalms 107

 

To receive help from God, you must come to the end of yourself and cry out to Him for His undeserved favor. That is the message of Psalm 107 to teach us how God uses trials to drive us to trust Him.

Read Psalm 107 and see what all the Lord delivered them from: 

 Psalm 107

107 ^1-3 Oh, thank God—he’s so good!
    His love never runs out.
All of you set free by God, tell the world!
    Tell how he freed you from oppression,
Then rounded you up from all over the place,
    from the four winds, from the seven seas.

^4-9 Some of you wandered for years in the desert,
    looking but not finding a good place to live,
Half-starved and parched with thirst,
    staggering and stumbling, on the brink of exhaustion.
Then, in your desperate condition, you called out to God.
    He got you out in the nick of time;
He put your feet on a wonderful road
    that took you straight to a good place to live.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
    for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.
He poured great draughts of water down parched throats;
    the starved and hungry got plenty to eat.

^10-16 Some of you were locked in a dark cell,
    cruelly confined behind bars,
Punished for defying God’s Word,
    for turning your back on the High God’s counsel—
A hard sentence, and your hearts so heavy,
    and not a soul in sight to help.
Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;
    he got you out in the nick of time.
He led you out of your dark, dark cell,
    broke open the jail and led you out.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
    for his miracle mercy to the children he loves;
He shattered the heavy jailhouse doors,
    he snapped the prison bars like matchsticks!

^17-22 Some of you were sick because you’d lived a bad life,
    your bodies feeling the effects of your sin;
You couldn’t stand the sight of food,
    so miserable you thought you’d be better off dead.
Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;
    he got you out in the nick of time.
He spoke the word that healed you,
    that pulled you back from the brink of death.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
    for his miracle mercy to the children he loves;
Offer thanksgiving sacrifices,
    tell the world what he’s done—sing it out!

^23-32 Some of you set sail in big ships;
    you put to sea to do business in faraway ports.
Out at sea you saw God in action,
    saw his breathtaking ways with the ocean:
With a word he called up the wind—
    an ocean storm, towering waves!
You shot high in the sky, then the bottom dropped out;
    your hearts were stuck in your throats.
You were spun like a top, you reeled like a drunk,
    you didn’t know which end was up.
Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;
    he got you out in the nick of time.
He quieted the wind down to a whisper,
    put a muzzle on all the big waves.
And you were so glad when the storm died down,
    and he led you safely back to harbor.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
    for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.
Lift high your praises when the people assemble,
    shout Hallelujah when the elders meet!

^33-41 God turned rivers into wasteland,
    springs of water into sunbaked mud;
Luscious orchards became alkali flats
    because of the evil of the people who lived there.
Then he changed wasteland into fresh pools of water,
    arid earth into springs of water,
Brought in the hungry and settled them there;
    they moved in—what a great place to live!
They sowed the fields, they planted vineyards,
    they reaped a bountiful harvest.
He blessed them and they prospered greatly;
    their herds of cattle never decreased.
But abuse and evil and trouble declined
    as he heaped scorn on princes and sent them away.
He gave the poor a safe place to live,
    treated their clans like well-cared-for sheep.

^42-43 Good people see this and are glad;
    bad people are speechless, stopped in their tracks.
If you are really wise, you’ll think this over—
    it’s time you appreciated God’s deep love.


This was suggested to me by my pastor to read. I am glad I did.