Post Category → Character

Question & Thought for November 3rd, 2016!

Question & Thought for November 3rd, 2016!
Good Thursday Morning!
1. Question – His presence is always there – right?
2. Thought – It is not necessary to be continually speaking to God, or always hearing from God, in order to have communion or fellowship with Him. A little child can sit all day long beside his mother, totally engrossed in his playing, while his mother is consumed by her work, and although both are busy and few words are spoken by either, they are in perfect fellowship. The child knows his mother is there, and she knows that he is all right.
In the same way, a believer and his Savior can continue many hours in the fellowship of love. And although the believer may be busy with ordinary things of life, he can be mindful that every detail of his life is touched by the character of God’s presence, and can have the awareness of His approval and blessing. (Streams in the Desert by L.B. Cowman)
“Asking God is not weakness; it’s strength.”
rem – “I’ve never let my schooling interfere with my education.” (Mark Twain)
Question & Thought & ANDs.

Question & Thought for October 24th, 2016!

Question & Thought for October 24th, 2016!
Good Monday Morning!!!
1. Question – Why are you so tired?
2. Thought – Yes, I’m tired. For several years I’ve been blaming it on middle-age, iron poor blood, lack of vitamins, air pollution, water pollution, saccharin, obesity, dieting, underarm odor, yellow wax build-up, and a dozen other maladies that make you wonder if life is really worth living.
But now I find out, tain’t that.
I’m tired because I’m overworked.
The population of this country is 200 million. 84 million are retired. That leaves 116 million to do the work. There are 75 million in school, which leaves 41 million to do the work. Of this total, there are 22 million employed by the government.
That leaves 19 million to do the work. 4 million are in the armed forces, which leaves 15 million to do the work. Take from that total the 14,800,000 people who work for the state and city governments and that leaves 200,000 to do the work. There are 188,000 in hospitals, so that leaves 12,000 to do the work. Now, there are 11,998 people in prisons. That leaves just 2 people to do the work. You and me. And you’re standing there reading this. No wonder I’m tired. (Laugh Again by Charles Swindoll)
Article I, Section 8 – 11: To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;
rem – “I’ve never let my schooling interfere with my education.” (Mark Twain)
Question & Thought & ANDs.

Question & Thought for October 22nd, 2016!!!

Question & Thought for October 22nd, 2016!!!
Good Saturday Morning! And Happy Birthday!!!
1. Question – “Is it easy to love God?”
2. Thought – A friend of C.S. Lewis’s was once asked. “Is it easy to love God?” and he replied, “It is easy to those who do it.” That is not as paradoxical as it sounds. When you fall deeply in love, you want to please the beloved. You don’t wait for the person to ask you to do something for her. You eagerly research and learn every little thing that brings her pleasure. Then you get it for her, even if it costs you money or great inconvenience. “Your wish is my command,” you feel – and it doesn’t feel oppressive at all. From the outside bemused friends think, “She’s leading him around by the nose,” but from the inside it feels like heaven. (The Reason for God by Timothy Keller)
“You must never doubt that I am traveling with gratitude and cheerfulness along the road where I’m being led.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
rem – “I’ve never let my schooling interfere with my education.” (Mark Twain)
Question & Thought & ANDs.

Question & Thought for October 20th, 2016!

Question & Thought for October 20th, 2016!
Good Thursday Morning! (Thanks Coach!)
1. Question – Is pain useful?
2. Thought – Beware of the False Lover
TGIF Today God Is First 
October 15, 2016

Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning (Ps 30:5).

 
When a measured assault enters our life we often respond in two different ways. The pain caused by the assault drives us to a place of either embracing the pain or we embrace anything that will make us feel better. That becomes the entry door to a false lover. Men and women each seek to avoid pain in different ways. Larry Crabb has summarized these two unique strategies often used to avoid deep pain:

All of us are trapped by addiction to a desire for something less than God. For many women, that something less is relational control. “I will not be hurt again and I will not let people I love be hurt. I’ll see to it that what I fear never happens again.” They therefore live in terror of vulnerably presenting themselves to anyone and instead become determined managers of people. Their true femininity remains safely tucked away behind the walls of relational control.


More common in men is an addiction to non-relational control. “I will experience deep and consuming satisfaction without ever having to relate meaningfully with anyone.” They keep things shallow and safe with family and friends and feel driven to experience a joy they never feel, a joy that only deep relating can provide. Their commitment is twofold: to never risk revealing inadequacy by drawing close to people and, without breaking that commitment, to feel powerful and alive. Power in business and illicit sex are favorite strategies for reaching that goal.1
Many times we seek to deal with our pain through various forms of addictions designed to resolve the inner pain we feel. All addictions represent a counterfeit desire for genuine love and intimacy. We conclude these lesser desires are legitimate needs instead of band-aids of our fleshly soul. These addiction lovers become isolation chambers created for ourselves designed to mask our pain.
 
Every human being has a desire to be loved. When we do not feel loved because of some event in our lives we seek to reconcile this emotional pain. So, if you are fighting any kind of addiction–over control of people, sex, drugs, alcohol, workaholism, shopping, overeating–you are seeking to fill a void only God can fill.
 
Pain has a useful purpose in our lives. Facing it, rather than medicating it, allows us to move to a place of discovering a capacity for a different kind of joy. That is the purpose of pain. We must let inner pain do its work by experiencing it fully. It feels like a contradiction to actually embrace the pain, but it is the only remedy for moving past it so it can yield its purpose in our lives. 
 
Otherwise we will remain unaware of our deeper desire for God and be driven toward a false lover.
rem – “I’ve never let my schooling interfere with my education.” (Mark Twain)
Question & Thought & ANDs.