Encouraging Words

Colossians 4:5-6 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Phil Ware said, “There are no random acts of kindness, only intentional acts given the opportunity to happen. This is true not just in deeds, but in words as well. But more than trying to avoid poor speech, we are urged to use our speech to bless and help others to come to know Christ.”

I have decided some of the most over-used and under-meant words are ‘How are you?’ For the most part, we do not really want to know how the person passing us is getting along but we ask anyway. We casually toss out ‘Have a good day” as well. These words mean something if we intentionally engage the person in conversation but are useless when we say them automatically without really caring or meaning them.

On a recent shopping trip with my brother, Michael, I heard him tell several people to ‘Have a blessed day.’  He told me he started making a point of saying ‘blessed’ instead of ‘good’ and I thought that was awesome. He is intentionally planting a godly seed every time. I make a point of saying, “God is in control” as often as possible. Not only is it reaffirming to me but it serves as a reminder to those around me. So many despondent and sad, hopeless people in this world need to hear God is in control because they are floundering just to get through the day. A Divine Appointment is met when we encourage and uplift with our words.

Father, forgive us for the careless words we have uttered this week. We understand that these careless words are twice sins -- a sin once when we committed it and a sin a second time because we didn't see the opportunity to be redemptive. Open our eyes, Lord, so that we may see what You have placed in our paths. Through Jesus I pray. Amen.

Credit Card Follies

Today I am sharing a devotional written and posted by Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc. The pearls of wisdom are just too good not to share.


I don't know who invented the credit card, but I'd like to have a very serious talk with him, because I'm not sure he helped any of us by thinking that this plastic "postponer" was going to help us. With a credit card you go to the store with $100 in cash, you get what you wanted, and you come out with $100 in your wallet. And it feels like, "Hey, that didn't cost anything." Wrong! Fantasy land! The bill will come...it always does. You postponed the payment, but you didn't cancel it. Oh, and by postponing it, that purchase is actually going to cost you more. I think that's what they call interest. The time lag between what you buy and what you pay can get you into big trouble.

Our word for today from the Word of God; it's in Galatians 6:7-8. Familiar words, but words that may be right where you're living right now. Listen, "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction. The one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life."

Now, why does this statement begin with "don't be deceived"? Well, maybe it's because it's easy to think you're getting away with your sin, because the consequences, the reaping don't come immediately. It's like a credit card. You get what you want to get, do what you want to do, and then there's a time lag. Because it doesn't happen immediately - those consequences - you say, "Hey, I got away with it." Well that's credit card follies. The passing of time until the consequences come will not lessen the price tag you pay for that sin; in fact, it will make it cost you more.

The farmer doesn't see immediate results from sowing seed, whether he sows corn or poison ivy. But it will come up. Doing what's right and what's wrong have this in common. When you're doing it, you can't see where that choice is going to lead. When you have a sexual relationship before marriage, you can't see the pain and the loss that it will cause in your marriage, but it will.

When you build a pattern of lying, you might get away with the lie; you can't see what that's going to do to your reputation, but it will. When you extend a loving hand to someone who's been your enemy, you can't see the healing and the blessing that might come from that, but it will.

Since we can't see where choices lead until it's too late, do we live by the throw of the dice? Well, that's where the Bible comes in. It tells us where our decisions lead. When you sow to your sinful nature, it will destroy things. It's gonna happen! When you sow to things that please the Holy Spirit, you're going to reap things that will last forever. It's gonna happen!

God's Word has never been wrong. Oh, some have thought that they've cheated the consequences because they didn't happen immediately. Well, neither do the credit card charges or a farmer's crops, but they always come. Save yourself a lot of heartache. Believe what God says is going to happen...good or bad. Don't deceive yourself by thinking you'll get away with your sin, or that right choices won't come back to you with interest.

If you're sowing sin, God's bill is in the mail. If you're sowing right living, God's check is in the mail.

Seed of Need

1 Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

Hebrews 10:23-25 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

I heard the saddest thing the other day. I forwarded a post of Truth in the Morning to a family I know via email. I had been hearing how life was stressed with long work hours, home remodeling projects and meeting extended family needs. Been there, done that…so I thought a little encouraging word from the Lord might be helpful. I told them, as I tell everyone, if you like, I can add you to the mailing list. They wrote back that they enjoyed the post but didn’t have time for daily encouragement with all the demands on their time. How sad is that?!

I know them to be people of faith and it was obvious they were struggling with many issues. Aren’t we all? My issues are probably different from yours but we all have some areas on our lives that weigh on us. God knows every issue we deal with and instructs us, through His word, to encourage one another, to stir one another up to love, and to build one another up. Chances are, if they don’t have time for encouragement, they aren’t making time for seeking God either.

 
Friends, as members of Christ’s family, we need to ask our Brothers and Sisters how they are doing spiritually. It is too easy to get so caught in the things of day-to-day life that we forget to take our own spiritual temperatures. A haggard look may indicate a health issue or lack of sleep but it may also reflect a spiritual life that is being neglected. Expect an awkward moment, maybe even a defensive attitude, but love your family in Christ enough to encourage and inquire. Chances are you may plant a ‘seed of need’ they had not even considered.

No Whining Allowed

Lamentations 2:11 My eyes are worn out from weeping, everything in me is churning: I am empty of emotion because of the wounds of my people, because children and infants are fainting away in the streets of the city.

I don’t like whining. As a parent, I was adamant about not allowing my children to become whiners. They were free to express their negative feelings about something they felt to be unfair, but endless griping and grousing was unacceptable. It is especially difficult to be around an adult whiner.

We may find it difficult to genuinely grieve as adults because we don’t want to be whiners. We don’t want people to avoid us because we’re always talking negatively. We all know someone like that; no matter how much you try to encourage they refuse to be swayed and almost prefer their miserable whining over possible solutions. We certainly do not want to thought of in that manner. We don’t want to be thought of as big babies. So we put on a happy face and pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, get a grip, buck up and do whatever it takes to avoid the label of “whiner.” This can be especially true in the workplace, where negative emotions are often deemed to be inappropriate. Yet we can carry this professional limitation home with us, or to church, or even to our communication with God.

The Bible describes instances of whining. In Numbers 11, for example, the people of Israel are unhappy with their life outside of Egypt, so they start whining, much to God’s displeasure (11:10).

Notice, though, that whining is not the same as grieving. Whining is petty complaining. It’s going on and on about something that really isn’t all that important in the big picture of life. Whining is not lamentation, which is deep grieving over acute devastation and suffering. What we read in Lamentations 2:11, for example, is not whining, but profound mourning: My eyes are worn out from weeping, everything in me is churning: I am empty of emotion because of the wounds of my people, because children and infants are fainting away in the streets of the city.

Scripture teaches us to avoid self-centered, trivial, petulant whining. But it also gives us ample permission to express our genuine grief with freedom. Indeed, as we read in Ecclesiastes 3:4, there is “a time for crying and a time for laughing, a time for mourning and a time for dancing.”

What Do You Need Today?

Philippians 4:19 And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Yesterday I visited my favorite grocery store. I say visited because I took my time to sight-see and appreciate the experience rather than bolting through list in hand in hopes of getting out as quickly as possible. I’m a practical person and once I’ve made my grocery list from menu plans, I pretty much stick to it. I don’t buy junk food or sugary things. I read labels and put back more items than I leave with usually. Having health issues has made a big difference in how I choose what I let into my body but making healthy choices is more than food, it’s a mindset.

Maybe it has come with age and/or wisdom, I don’t know, but I have come to a time in my life where I am eager to eliminate the things I do not need. Before you can do that, you have to determine what your priorities are, they outline the needs. Needs and wants are two different things. It is important to know the difference.

This is my list of what I NEED:

My relationship with Jesus is #1. I need my Bible and dedicated time with Him.

#2 Family and close friend relationships are vital. I’m not talking about a wide circle of people, though that is nice, but my need is that small intimate circle of people I know I can trust with my most private, personal self. Sadly, not all family or friends falls into that category but that’s okay, you love them anyway.

#3 Home (for me) has always been elusive. I won’t bore you with that long story but I’ve come to realize that maybe, in part, it is because my eternal home is the only one that really counts. I am just a traveler in this world passing through. That being said, my earthly home is where I can feel peaceful. It’s not about the size of the house or the cost of the furnishings; it is more emotion than location. I need a place of peace.

#4 I need pretty. By that I mean I need the work of my hands to use the colors of life God created to make my surroundings pretty. Gardening, bringing color inside, delights not only my eyes but soothes me mentally and emotionally as well. Goes with that sense of peace I need.

#5 Wisdom. I need wisdom. I pray for wisdom all the time.

Now, you notice my list of Needs is not a long one. Were I to write up a list of wants, it would be longer, no doubt. But even then, it would be far shorter now than at other stages of my life. You might notice what I didn’t list…a job, health, food, security….for these I refer you to Need #1. Everything on my list, in fact, leads right back to #1. When you get to the basics of what you actually need, it all comes from #1.

If I had to walk away from my home today, never to look back or return, I would take my Bible and my pups. That’s it. My #1 goes with me everywhere I go and provides #’s 2-5. That’s all I need. See? Healthy choices are easy when you know what you need.