Number Five is Alive!

As a young child reared in the south, I was instructed to practice the habits of saying, "Yes, Ma'am or No, Sir." If an adult entered the room and there was not an open place for them to sit, a child relinquished their seat to the adult; considered common courtesy. To this day, I believe that is how it should be; the respectful course of action. Not many children or youth today are receiving such instruction and it is painfully obvious when you see them interact, not only with their parents, but also with all others.

Respect is not an old-fashioned concept to discard as archaic and obsolete. The Bible repeatedly addresses treating parents and elders respectfully. Regardless of your age, someone qualifies as your elder. Our country is center stage in the growing trend of ideologies that do not honor the people that paved the paths we walk today. Not only does that put us as a nation in shameful light but also magnifies how far removed we are from the foundational teachings of Judeo-Christianity.

You need only ask any teacher in a public school in this country and you hear horror tales of behaviors and practices in our youth. This situation did not blossom overnight. It has been simmering a long time; unlike a pasta sauce, this dilemma does not improve with simmering. Our teachers are highly restricted as to the discipline they can impose on the ugly, unruly students. Today's teachers are being attacked, cursed, and leered over by students. It all boils down to flagrant disrespect. At one time teaching was a noble profession. Now you need a Black Belt just to defend yourself.

The problem boils down to an epidemic of disrespect. It is not required and taught in the home so the plague washes over into our schools, government, and society as a whole. Students of the Bible can tell you how God dealt with disrespect. How many examples do you want? We have hundreds of them. Individuals, families, nations, and tribes were punished, sometimes wiped out completely when disrespect was allowed to run amuck. Do we never learn?

The scariest part of all this is that by not teaching and demanding respect in our homes we are raising generation after generation of educated barbarians. If the positions of father and mother do not require respect, is it likely THE Father will receive respect and honor? The fabric of today's families stained with over indulging our children and fostering the mentality of entitlement is fraying at the seams! Our culture put the wheels in motion when respect was replaced with every new hair-brained idea from some 'scholar' that decided our babies were being damaged by expecting anything from them; we were squashing their creative little minds if we dared set limits and imposed punishments for undesired behaviors.

God set limits and had expectations; punishing those who turned their backs on them. Worse yet, God allowed those walking in disobedience to wallow in the mire they created for themselves. See the pattern yet? Holy Scripture tells us that God loves us, therefore requires more from us. We need to love our children enough to do the same. Children learn what they live, they repeat what they hear, and become parents to pass on what they believe to be foundational principles. Proper respect needs to be high on the list of what they learn and take with them. Only when teaching and expecting respect in the parental home becomes the standard once more can it wash over the nation in a perpetual ripple effect. We have enough tails wagging the dogs already…congress is a fine example of that. With eyes wide open, we need to look at how respect is displayed in our homes. What we are leaving as a legacy for the future generations to inherit? Will honor and respect be counted among prized possessions?

Honoring father and mother is #5 of the Ten Commandments. Notice it is a commandment…not a suggestion. Are WE honoring our Father when we ignore His Word to train a child up in the way he should go? It is never too late to set boundaries and redirect behaviors toward respect and honor. The fifth commandment does not expire with age. Number Five is alive!

Say No to Status Quo!

I write a short 350-450 word article for our church bulletin every week. You have no idea how difficult it is to reduce, edit and maintain my point in so few words! (ah, humor) This is my cross to bear; the limiting, not the article writing. On several occasions I have written on being aware of that which we give thought. It is easy to fall into the trap of negative thinking, believing our view is the only right view; rather than focused on godly matters over those of the world. Perhaps it is my tendency to over analyze things but I happen to believe that a lot of people do not consider issues that really matter over trivial issues. I think we also tend to take the ideologies of our culture and families as our own without considering why we believe as we do. For the sake of this article, I will refer to that as Status Quo Mentality.

I believe relying on a Status Quo Mentality can be a dangerous thing. Let's face it; little mental challenge is required. When considering the Christian faith, we are told we have the mind of Christ. I doubt Christ would recognize 'His’ own mind when listening to the thoughts of the everyday man/woman. We tend to be bogged down with paying bills or wondering how we will pay them and trying to figure out when we will possibly have time or energy for the demanding yard work. Then there is that irritating co-worker that occupies our thoughts because for some reason they seem out to get us. What in the world will I prepare for dinner tonight? There is laundry to do. What are those terrorist and warmongers up to today? With little effort, we can fill an entire day with thoughts without actually thinking about that on which we chose to think. We color our world with the thoughts we choose to give valuable time and allow to occupy our minds.

In conversation with my friend, Helen, we shared opinions and ideas that we had carried because those opinions and ideologies were fed to us over the dinner table and were told/taught were life's truths and beliefs. I, for one, heard many incredulous attitudes and beliefs that I challenged. I learned early on to question the status quo mentality. It made my life more difficult than it had to be, but it was not in me to accept opinions that would not settle in my belly. I know now that was the spirit in me holding issues to the light.

We've all heard someone justify an attitude by saying, "I can't help it, I was raised that way." We were all raised one way or another and not all of those can stand up to the light. My 'raising' certainly could not. I believe scripture addresses this, in part, in 1 Corinthians 13:11 when it says:

When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.

When I was a child, I believed in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy. It was not an evil plot on my parent's part to deceive me but to bring joy in a child's heart with a little fun fantasy. As I grew older, I questioned and pondered these things. The result: I made a determination based on what I thought rather than what I was taught. In the case of the aforementioned family traditions, no harm was perpetuated. Some family traditional thoughts and beliefs can cause very real harm. Racial issues jump to mind and prejudices of any sort can cripple a nation as easily as an individual. You only need look around the world today to see it daily.

On a more personal scale, allowing our thoughts to remain unchecked will dictate our lives. If you wake up angry at the world, the world seems hostile. If you wake up angry and question why you feel anger; the underlying issues may reveal themselves allowing you an opportunity to deal with them. You discover you can disarm and/or redirect those negative thoughts into something positive and productive. Your entire day can made better by simply taking a few moments while you brush your teeth to be in control of your thoughts rather than letting them control you. The Bible refers to this as taking your thoughts captive. More simply put: think about what you think about!

Ownership

Own your stuff! I’m not talking about material stuff but the ‘stuff’ you say, the actions you take or do not take and the decisions you make. None of us are innocent victims of life and circumstance all the time. Yes, sometimes fate seems to drop bombs in our world but we seriously need to look at how we contributed to that which comes our way.

I know this couldn’t possibly be about you but we all know someone that never owns up to anything. Everything is someone else’s fault and they take no ownership of that which they do. If they behaved badly it was because someone made them mad or started it first. If they fail to follow through on a promise it was because things changed and they couldn’t help it. If confronted on anything they give many half-baked reasons it was unavoidable and not their fault in the first place.

As a child I grew up with a plaque hanging in a family kitchen that read, ‘I can resist anything but temptation!’ It was referring to food in the kitchen but this is a mindset many subscribe to in all areas of life. Some simply defer to the little red demon sitting on their shoulder urging them on as if they were no more than lemmings headed for a cliff to fall over.

Grow up, People; the devil does not make us do anything! We choose to. He can throw temptation in our path at every turn, whisper naughty suggestions in our ears and open doors that lead to destruction but the decisions to act on any of them are ours and ours alone. No one else, not even the evil one that roams about to kill, steal and destroy, is responsible for our choices. We and we alone own them.

It stands to reason, we need to examine our role in that about which we are unhappy. Sometimes, it really is circumstance, which creates unpleasant situations in which we find ourselves. Even in those times, we still make choices regarding the paths we will take. A bad situation is an easy target for laying blame; this, however, does not negate our responsibility for how we respond in the situation.

If you are not happy with how someone is treating you, examine how you treat them. If you sow disrespect you will harvest disrespect. If you spread seeds of disregard it is disregard you will walk in. When you are intolerant, others will be the same with you. If you think and act as if you consider yourself better than the other person, they will diligently work to knock you off your high horse. If you scream in anger, they very well may scream back at you. What is your contribution to the situation? We need to take off our glasses of self-absolution and take a long hard honest look at what we did or didn’t do that stirred the pot of discontent. Unhappiness, discontent, disillusionment and dysfunction do not come into play quickly like cooking instant oatmeal but, seasoned with despair, are simmered slowly over time until they boil over creating quite a mess to clean up in the relationship.

1 Corinthians 13 says: Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails…..People, however, do.

These familiar verses talk about how we are to treat all people. I know this is true because we are told in scripture that we have nothing if we do not have love. We are to love our neighbors as ourselves. Who then is our neighbor? Everyone is. Do we treat other people with the consideration we afford ourselves? We do if we are to live as instructed in 1 Corinthians. Imagine how easy it would be to own our ‘stuff’ if modeled after that scripture!

Take time for some thoughtful prayer and ask God to show you were you have failed to live and love as instructed in 1 Corinthians. He will show you. Maybe not all at once so not to overwhelm you but there will be flashes of memory that pop in from time to time playing out a scene from your life. This is not to condemn you but to bring conviction that cleanses and allows for healing once repentance is sought. Forgiveness and redemption, too, are yours to own.

High Standards

Years ago I established a standard for my life that simply states: Never lower yourself to the standard of behavior that you find unacceptable in others.

It rules out a Tit-for-Tat mentality. Quite frankly though, some get more difficult when you do not act as badly as they. This may ramp up their bad behavior for a bit in frustration, but it helps me to maintain the standard I’ve set for myself.

Let me state emphatically, this is a difficult credo to live by. It was only after I rededicated my life to Jesus that I could establish and maintain this at all. In my life BC (before Christ), I was quite skilled with my quick draw tongue; leaving a trail of wounded, bleeding adversaries in my wake.

Proverbs 24:29 says: Don’t say, “I’ll do to him what he did to me, I’ll pay him back what his deeds deserve.”

Proverbs 20:22 says: Don’t say, “I’ll pay back evil for evil”; wait for Adonai to save you.

These are but two of many examples of scripture that back up my credo. When someone is curt or rude or ugly, we, as Christians are not to respond in the same manner. Acting badly because someone else has does not justify repeating the act. I am responsible for how I behave; I have no control over their behavior.

Proverbs 20:3 Avoiding quarrels brings a person honor; for any fool can explode in anger.

Proverbs 17:14 Starting a fight is like letting water through [a dike] – better stop the quarrel before it gets worse.

Let’s face it, when we react to bad behavior with more of the same, we are giving that person control over us. I want no one, save Christ, to have control of my life. I want my life to reflect a godly standard that shines through the black clouds of stormy interaction. I want my thoughts and decisions to be automatically filtered through the standard of ‘What would Jesus do?’ We are to grow more like Him as we walk out our faith. Do you pictures Jesus red-faced in a screaming match? Would He shoot an angry look if someone said something He didn’t like? Would He rely on sarcasm to make His position more ‘effectively pointed’? No.

Tongue and temper can be tamed…I am a living example. I’m not saying this to tell you how awesome I am, but to show you how He changed me because He loved me; I worked to make changes that pleased Him because I love Him back! The more you ‘know’ Christ the more you want to please and emulate Him.

Proverbs 17:27 makes my point: A knowledgeable person controls his tongue; a discerning person controls his temper.

Think about it; with Jesus our standard, we are required to look up. Never lower your standard to that which you find unacceptable in others.

Shopping List

Proverbs 23:23 Buy the truth, don’t sell it,

Also, wisdom, discipline and discernment.

This morning I ran across this scripture and pondered it for a while. I also looked it up in Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Bible. As a Christian writer, I wanted to make sure I understood what God meant. The name of our ministry is Truth in Love (Ephesians 4:14-16) and the name of this blog is Truth in the Morning…so, speaking the truth as I understand what God is teaching me is a priority. The word ‘truth’ literally jumps off pages at me.

Ephesians 4:14-16 (Complete Jewish Bible) says: We will then no longer be infants tossed about by the waves and blown along by every wind of teaching, at the mercy of people clever in devising ways to deceive. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in every respect grow up into him who is the head, the Messiah. Under his control, the whole body is being fitted and held together by the support of every joint, with each part working to fulfill its function; this is how the body grows and builds itself up in love.

It was that scripture above that God used to name, direct and instruct us in the ministry He planned for my Honey and me. We are to speak the truth in love in teaching, sharing and growing the body of believers. It’s not always a popular position to hold but it is the position He gave us, so we will strive to hold on to it in truth.

So, when I read in Proverbs 23:23 Buy the truth, don’t sell it, also wisdom, discipline and discernment….I want to know that I know that I know what God is saying!

The commentary says this about 23:23…..

Buy the truth, and sell it not; be willing to part with any thing for it. Do not part with it for pleasures, honors, riches, or any thing in this world.

How does one go about “buying” truth, wisdom, discipline and discernment? The commentary says we are to be willing to part with anything to obtain them. It stands to reason that….as a man’s money goes, so goes his heart….let’s face it, people will spend money on the things they value…..for some it may be a new car every few years, a fancier house, stylish clothes, the latest ‘big boy toy’, vacations or bigger ‘bling’ (jewelry). So, if we look at our personal finances, a quick review will show where our money goes….any of it going to acquire truth, wisdom, disciple or discernment? We are, of course, talking about godly truth, wisdom, discipline and discernment….not that of the world. The exchange rate need not be in dollars alone, how much time, effort and perseverance have we invested in such pursuits? This is not a pop quiz, you do not have to turn in your answers….but you know….and He knows…..and the fruit of your labor shows.

The second part of the scripture and commentary is devoted to NOT selling them; not exchanging them for pleasure, honors, riches or any thing in this world. Do not sell out what you know to be godly truth, wisdom, discipline and discernment for the appetites of the flesh. Pleasures of the flesh are fleeting, honors bestowed by the world are quickly taken away or forgotten and worldly riches can fluctuate with whim of man, governments and principalities. Just saying the name Madoff is enough to make my point…..

In conclusion let me say this one scripture makes no bones about it. We are to be willing to sacrifice everything for them and hang on to them above anything else. I’d say in God’s economics…that makes them extremely valuable; gold nuggets worthy of pursuit.

Proverbs 23:23 Buy the truth, don’t sell it, Also, wisdom, discipline and discernment.

Morsels to Ponder

I, for one, am tired of hearing about and reading the avalanche of information on “how to…” feel younger, live longer, sleep better, eat this…oops, no, don’t eat that anymore…eat this instead. Egad! It’s enough to boggle the mind you’re trying to protect from old age.

I want to live a healthy lifestyle and we can. My Honey and I are certainly not spring chickens any more but with all the hoopla I feel we are more like guinea pigs. First, for clarity sake, let me state that these are my opinions; I do not speak for my Honey. He and I have different points of view in many areas, this is one of them.

Let’s get real, People. We are in a sinking ship of national health to begin with because for generations we have gotten away from food as God created it. We transformed it into something almost unrecognizable. For example: the humble soy bean can now be found in virtually any shape you want to mimic of something you are willing to eat. Chicken nuggets….check! BBQ ribs….check! Corndog….check! The list is endless. It seems though there are many that will not eat meat (that God gave) they do want their soy beans to look like meat. Yes, God gave us soy beans, too, and they are good for us but the flesh driven mind that wants what it wants creates a market for…ta da…beans processed to look like meat. Am I missing something? Is processed beans really any better than other processed food?

Like many of you, I receive via email, internet, tv, etc…several newsletters on health issues. I was reading a report whose headline (and interest hook) said, “Add These to Your Sandwich to Stop Strokes”….of course, I could not wait to see what this might be. Onions, that’s it, onions. Go figure, a natural food that God created…hmm. No plastic bottle required, just put onions on your sandwich. Here’s the key…if you put onions on a white bread sandwich covered in mayo and made of processed lunch meat… do the onions really stand a chance? Ever wonder why store bought bread has to be ‘enriched’ and ‘fortified”? It’s because in our infinite wisdom we took out all the good stuff God gave us to make bread in the first place so it would last longer on the shelf. Clever, huh? This article on onions asked people to comment how they use them. One stunningly bright person wrote that they make a sandwich of buttered bread covered thickly with peanut butter and onions slices. I wonder if that was natural peanut butter or the kind with all the ‘stuff’ added to it to make it last longer, too.

Speaking of “natural”…there’s a highly over used word that grabs your attention in the endless quest for healthy living. All that is ‘natural’ is not good for your health just as all that glitters is not gold. Poison ivy and marijuana are both natural but neither leads to good health when consumed. All that oil ebbing into the Gulf of Mexico is very natural, yet they say daily on new reports that living creatures, all of us, will die if we consume it or even make contact with it. Natural does not necessarily equal healthy, repeat after me.

So as I wind down to climb off my soap box let me conclude with this: the best thing for our health, as I see it, is consuming godly wisdom. Man has made a mess of our food sources so it makes sense to get back to food as God created it. I’d rather share my squash with a little bug than a bug killer. I prefer fresh over processed any and every day. Moderation is good, excess is bad in anything. God made food to nourish our bodies not to destroy them; make wise choices. There’s that wisdom again! Do not lean on every new food fad that comes around…what comes around, goes around. God created chicken eggs…’nuff said...at least it should be; if not, wait awhile and some genius will decide for you. I want God to be my guide, even my personal grocer. I lean on His wisdom for my spiritual well being so doesn’t it make sense to trust that same wisdom in the food I put in my body? General Mills and Oscar Meyer can take a hike; my food will come from the One who gave it in the first place.

Lesson From the Kitchen

I absolutely adore fresh asparagus cooked in scrambled eggs. I first quickly sauté the bottom 2/3s of three asparagus stalks cut into bite sized pieces in a tiny amount of olive oil or sesame seed oil till they turn bright green yet are still not soft. Then I add the top 1/3. Being tender, they do not require but a moment of time to be perfect. I then pour the scrambled eggs over the veggie and turn off the fire. The residual heat in the pan gently cooks the eggs until just set, not hard cooked. A little salt and pepper the only seasonings needed. To me, the combined taste and texture of the silky eggs with the pieces of asparagus still semi-crunchy is simply pure, clean and delightful. We eat a lot of spicy, salsa covered, pepper filled dishes and the contrast of this asparagus egg dish makes it stand out even more. Add a toasted bagel or English muffin and it is a breakfast meal fit for a king.

I grew up with fresh vegetable from the grandparents’ gardens but never experienced fresh asparagus until I was an adult. On the rare occasions we had asparagus it came from a can. Now, don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it but once the fresh crisp asparagus made its way into my life I could not eat the canned again. Asparagus is not meant to be soggy in my way of thinking. To prepare the asparagus you must first remove the bottom portion of the stalk that has grown tough and woody rendering it unusable. When holding the stalk at the very bottom and gently bending it will snap at the point that divides the good from the bad. The hard end pieces go into the compost pile leaving you with only the delicious and nutritious parts; the good stuff.

This morning’s preparation of asparagus and scrambled eggs served as another life lesson from God. While removing the rigid end pieces, it occurred to me that we, too, must have our inflexible parts removed so we can be usable to God. Hardened hearts and unbendable minds and spirits are fairly useless in the Kingdom. It is the tender and willing to change attitudes that can become less like their original fleshly-selves that become good. The eggs, as well, have hard exteriors we must do away with to find the wealth of nutrition inside. Once we have the good with which to work, they are tested by fire to bring about the desired result. We, too, have daily tests and trials. It is the end result, the finished product that determines how well we withstood the trials. Will we come out delightful to our King or will we wither under the fire of trials and be useless?

I found my morning meal to be satisfying and a pleasure. My desire is to live and be transformed into someone God can use and hear Him say, “Well, done…”so I willingly ask that my inflexible, rigid parts be removed; rendering me useful and good for His purposes.

My day is off to a great start, hope yours was too!