CHOOSE: TO SEE TRUTH

How does one see truth?

Just put on your spiritual glasses and open God's word.

• The sum of Your word is truth, (Psalm 119:160)
• Now, O Lord GOD, You are God, and Your words are truth,(2 Samuel 7:28)
• Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. (John 17:17)

His word is truth. 

Choose it daily for guidance instruction.

CHOOSE: ROOT WORDS

My first introduction to "root words" was in my high school latin class. Latin etymology was the love of my teacher, "Miss Annie" Payne. A prominent family matriarch. A widow. A force to be reckoned with. An around the corner neighbor. (Small town accountability---a teacher on every block.)

"Miss Annie" was a stern teacher with a streak of encouragement that spilled over to her students. She once told my older brother, Buddy, that he was so smart that she wouldn't be surprised if he became President of the United States someday.  In this present day, I'm grateful he was smart enough to have never run for office.

All of us who made it through her class understood the importance of root words. I have certainly found that true in Bible study. She was certainly my beginning inspiration even though I didn't see much need in knowing Caesar's: Veni. Vidi. Vici. I learned of lux----light. 

Thank you, Miss Annie!

Lux et veritas. Light and truth.

God is light. (1 John 1:5) God's word is truth. (John 17:17)

For me, it is His light in me that allows His truth to shine through to others! 

That's why I choose root words as I study scripture.

Carpe diem to all my Wednesday Wordsmith's! Seize it for His sake and His glory.

CHOOSE: GOD'S SCRUTINY

Why choose God's scrutiny? He sees beyond the surface of ones' heart. (Jeremiah 17:9-10) 
God sees our inmost motives, which might even be hidden to us. To be rightly related to God, one needs to pursue holiness as both an inward and outward course.
According to September 1 entry of My Utmost for His Highest,
Holiness means; unsullied walking with the feet, unsullied talking with the tongue, and unsullied thinking with the mind---every detail of life under the scrutiny of God. (https://utmost.org/destined-to-be-holy/) 
Maintain a continual watchfulness. (MUFHH, 9/15)

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts;  

And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way. (Psalm 139:23-24)

God's scrutiny--- the path to holiness for those who "pray and obey."
Choose it today, Dotsy!

CHOOSE: A WORTHY READ

Not all books are an easy read but a worthy book can be edifying even as it relays horrific hardships of a faithful woman, as a Japanese prisoner of war during WWII.
When Darlene Deibler, after cleaning her husbands feet of jungle rot followed by separation from him and other unbelievable, to me, gruesome tasks, could no longer sense His Presence she remembered that FAITH is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

So, choose a worthy read to "pop into." I just happen to choose my favorite snack, popcorn and a glass of lemonade to enhance the experience of reading of another's miraculous faith.

CHOOSE: TO GO

Some choices are easier than others, as I often say.

We chose to go to Texas in the middle of the week because retirement afforded us that "time" opportunity. 

Being there with grandchildren is so much better than FaceTime or seeing the video!

So...........it was easy to choose to go! 

But God.......gave us a special memory. Watching Nathan, "from the stands," catch his first touchdown pass ever as an Allen Eagle, was a memory for a lifetime. 

CHOOSE: TO GIVE THANKS

Even a note pad of jottings and urgencies can remind one of the importance of always giving thanks.(1 Thessalonians 5:18)

Give thanks with a grateful heart.

Click here to "Read and Listen." 

Maybe enjoy the music while sipping a cuppa gra-TEA-tude & pondering Ephesians 5:19-20.

Give thanks with a grateful heartGive thanks to the Holy OneGive thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son 

And now let the weak say, "I am strong"Let the poor say, "I am richBecause of what the Lord has done for us"                                   Give Thanks. (Repeat)

A grateful heart overflows with love and is the result of choosing to "give thanks."

CHOOSE: ACCEPTANCE!

Google knows everything---I might as well accept it.
Yet, in "a big brother is watching" kind of way, it's a little creepy!

At  least my google people seemed to have dancing feet as they celebrate "birth" with me.

(Ecclesiastes 3: 1-2a )

CHOOSE: APPROPRIATE PUNCTUATION

Happy Wordsmith Wednesday!
My life, especially my "To-Do" list seems like one long run-on sentence. I need a "stop here" punctuation, aka a period---or at least a comma.

What do I do? What or whom can help? Whom do I choose?

Choose Him!

CHOOSE: REFLECTION

Reflection can be defined return of light---as production of an image by, or as if by, a mirror.

OKLAHOMA MEMORIAL DECEMBER 2010

My thoughts on reflection today are more of the "thoughtful" one. To ponder, cogitate, meditate, ruminate, think on (Philippians 4:8)---a musing of sorts in God's word.
As 2 Timothy 2:7 states, Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this. (NIV) Other Bible versions offer different "reflect" translations---take your pick. Think about. (NCV) Think of (Darby) Think over. (ESV) Consider.(NASB & KJV) Keep in mind. (CEV) Mark well. (Weymouth)  Understand. (DRA)

As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.   (Proverbs 27:19)

May I choose to reflect the light---His light within me. May it shine brightly on my face today.(2 Corinthians 4:6)

CHOOSE: A MOMENT OF SILENCE

9/11/01

Once you realize what day it is you remember everything.

As I typed the date, I noticed the first 3 numbers, 911. How revealing to me that those three digits are our country's designated emergency number for our entire nation. Even more revealing to me,  was noticing 91101 as a joining and ending of the date. 101. At the college level, any class with a 101 designation is indicative of a beginning course. A course which lays out the foundation for a new field of study. To me, 9/11/01 was just that---an introduction to international terrorism on our own soil. An entirely new curriculum would need to be developed.

While pondering the depth of all of that, I turned on the news for a Hurricane Irma update

Our country was remembering 9/11 and  at 7:45 CST (8:45 EST) I saw everyone together observing a moment of silence. 

Many prayer positions were noted. Heads bowed. Eyes lifted. Tears streaming. Hands clasped. 

My mouth was mute but my heart was racing lifting prayers of comfort for families of victims and "healing" prayers for our country, even today---16 years later. 

if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 Corinthians 7:14)

Choosing a moment of silence in prayer for our nation and its people is a valuable way to begin one's day.