FRIDAY FOCUS

FRIDAY FOCUS...........

• “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”(Jeremiah 29:13) 
• "Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live." (Isaiah 55:3) 
• "God is our refuge and strength:" (Psalm 46:1)
• The joy of the Lord is your strength: (Nehemiah 8:10)

FRIDAY FOCUS....NEEDS TO BE A DAILY FOCUS FOR ME!!

May I be steadfast in this focus the rest of the month! (Psalm 36:1

MESS OF RELATIONSHIPS

I am still meditating on Tripp's 11/14 entry of "Messy Moments" of sin,

In relationships, the DNA of sin is selfishness. 

Sin

Is

Selfishness    Self-absorbed    Self-focused    Self-reliant    Self-righteous    

Sinful "Me-isms" of life require forgiveness, grace and mercy.

God offers lots of Mercy for Messy Sin.

SPIRITUAL AMNESIA!

Those of us familiar with an "age related cognitive decline" diagnosis know the deep sense of fear. Losing one's memory, short term or long-term is not what one hopes for....esp. brain-wise.

What about spiritual recollection, or lack there-of? Have you ever sensed in your "heart" that you were suffering from spiritual amnesia?

The good news in that area is an RX prescribed in God's word. "Turn" the pages of truth. Remember "God abounds in loving kindness and truth." (Exodus 34:6)

Give attention to His faithfulness and love. 

Take daily. Overdose is impossible. No adverse side-effects!

To remove the symptoms of anxiety and fear, remember "turn" to Him. If spiritual amnesia "hits" again, "turn" to another brother or sister in fellowship who can join you in prayer. (Thanks Avinash Joseph for that recommendation.)

This week my RX includes a scripture memory trial to enhance my age-related cognitive decline, laced with amyloid angiopothy. 

Yellow sticky notes on post-it-notes are on my bathroom mirror to begin my day with God's promises! Spiritual amnesia be gone!

FRIDAY FOCUS: HELP NEEDED!

*Today I am once again "Distracted Ditsy" as Siri calls me.

Sometimes acronyms or acrostics help. Not today.

Rhyming is the order of this day. 

• Stay in the Day! Psalm 118:24
• Robust Trust. Proverbs 3 5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

Help cometh from the Lord....

............when we stay in the day with robust trust

................................. in Him alone!

* So distracted with checking things off my list, that I neglected to post this entry! So sad. So-o-o me!

WOW: PATH!

WOW = Warriors on the Wall for me.

This week it has meant Word of the Week as I can't get PATH out of my head!

Grandson, Owen has always had a way with words. 

He dubbed my Master Gardener neighbor's rock pathway that ended at the fence, "path to nowhere." He asked her why she had such a path to nowhere? Not a bad question for a boy in pre-school.

In Deuteronomy 5:32, Moses, after presenting the Ten Commandments from the LORD to his people reminds them to be careful to do what the Lord has commanded them. Don't turn to the right or left. In other words stay on the straight and narrow path. In the next verse, Deuteronomy 5:33 CEB, Moses shares, "You must walk in the precise path which the Lord your God indicates for you. so that you will live, and things will go well for you...."

Have you ever wondered what the path God has for you today?

Unique for you. Specific for today.

Today ask God to clearly show you the path He has especially for you....

....even if it seems a bit rocky, trust Him.

Maybe He wants you to walk anew in His Presence today. (Psalm 16:11)

You won't know the right path, unless you ask Him. (Psalm 25:4)

Today my "path" answer was to "walk worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ."

Won't you join me on that path?

FITNESS ESSENTIALS!

Fitness usually brings to mind the physical aspect. 

Requirements.....Discipline. Diet. Action.

Spiritual Fitness is much the same---requiring a daily (discipline) diet of feeding on God's word and putting into action what one has learned. (Jeremiah 15:16)

Spiritual Fitness....an essential to pass on to the next generation!

SALVATION: A SATURDAY SHORT!

A Saturday Short that is long in meaning.......

Salvation is from the LORD. His work. His grace. His gift for His glory.

Accordino to Scotty Smith, Ephesians 2:8, is a glorious reminder for we who suffer with Gospel-amnesia, grace allergies, freedom dementia, and chronic unbelief. 

A salvation heads-up!

CONTRONYMNS!

WOW! (WORD OF THE WEEK) Words fascinate me! 

New words can confuse me---think urban dictionary entries.

Text abbreviations confound me. Even "new" words added to a 1900 dictionary have no meaning to me. Housecraft???

But....I have friends who keep me on my toes---and stretch what's left of my old brain.They stoke my acronym interest all the way to Allacronymn.

Recently, ljj shared a newly found list. New to me as well. 

Contronyms.......... 

Vocabulary broadening for me.

My thoughts began to see that many words, even some homonyms (fine as okay, fine as an imposing a penalty for offense, fine as not coarse) have very different meanings......therefore context is key. 

Without using "big" interpretative words i.e. exegesis, hermeneutics one can approach scripture in context by reading passages before and after the verse one is considering. Biblical reference books offer help as well. Even among Biblical scholars there can be discrepancies of interpretation of some Scriptures.

For me, I have asked the Lord to lead me to truth and understanding that is aligned with His truth. The Bible is the inspired word of God---I need to do more than just "peruse" it, as in skim in a leisurely way or read without attention to detail. I need to read or examine in detail, which is another definition for peruse. How confusing is that!

For me this can be a long process.  

I hope to "bolt" a few contronyms to my brain before they "bolt" from my brain. 

HAPPY THOUGHTS!

Comparative thinking can have both positive and negative effects.

A friend sent me an amazing comparative. 

Comparing a Christian and a pumpkin. A perfect positive for this October 31!

EMPTINESS:QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS!

Feeling spiritually empty??

What's your energy source?

What's the best long-term protocol?

How does one realize his/her emptiness? I sense mine at my core. 

How does one.........replenish one's heart?

Fuel up?

Fill up?

Power-up? 

The only answer........In Him! In Christ alone.

He is the one we we proclaim...so that we may present everyone "full" (fully mature in Christ) How grateful I am for the energy Christ "so powerfully works in me." (Colossians 1:28-29) 

Think long-term.

HS pump ---a believer's premier gas/energy station.

Holy Spirit---never runs out. Cost is free to all believers.

EMPTY YOURSELF ---DON'T CLUTCH YOUR STUFF! (Malachi 3:10)

Fill up and overflow to others!