SATURDAY SHORT!

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.

(isaiah 40:8)

The Scripture cannot be broken. (John 10:35)

Nothing can annul God's eternal truth. (Knowing God, p.79)

Ponder this truth the rest of the weekend.

TUESDAY TRUTHS

Trio of Tuesday truths taken from Paul David Tripp's New Morning Mercies........my own paraphrasing.

1. True prayer is more than a "Wish list" from God the Deliverer.
2. Prayer is abandoning a life of demand and complaint....giving myself to a life of thankfulness.
3. True prayer happens at the intersection of surrender and celebration.

May the Lord use our submission (our proper place) to His purpose/His will (His proper place) Those "proper" positions will release us from our own bondage to SELF!

TRUTH: A NEW YORK TIMES LIST

Sharing papers is a Longreen tradition---at least with my north and south neighbors. It's the way I have the Sunday "NYTimes Book Review" to peruse. It's worth the wait.

Today as I settled with my morning cuppa and the "Times," I discovered a "kid's section." Who knew! ("Tongue in cheek" Editors' note: This section is not to be read  by Grown-ups.") 

Apart from games, maps, hat making, instructions, recipes and writing contests the entire back page listed 19 "The truth is kids....."

Examples: ....kids don't let differences divide them; .....kids bring people together; kids appreciate a good story; .....kids can handle the truth.

As one who appreciates even numbers, I would have added----Kids must know truth in order to handle the truth accurately as #20! (2 Timothy 2:15)

The sum of God's Word is truth. (Psalm 119:160) It all adds up and would be a worthy addition to the NYTimes truth list.

FOUR WORD TRUTHS

Simple.

Straight forward.
4 words of truth.

Four words for focus.

1. I live in you. (Galatians 2:20)
2. I give you strength. (Isaiah 40:29 & Psalm 59:16)
3. I am with you. (Joshua 1:9)
4. You are My Beloved. (Song of Solomon 2:16)

Beloved, we are God's. Therefore, we will benefit when we focus on these  4-word truths as we start our Monday with meditation!

CHOOSE: TO ANSWER TRUTHFULLY

Answering truthfully to people doesn't seem hard at all unless I'm trying to "spare" their feelings. But answering myself truthfully is not always so easy. Too often rationalization gets factored in to the equation. 

Tidying the pantry (not alphabetizing, tho that is often very helpful) had me questioning myself today. As I stacked the "NICE" products from a Walgreens sale with the Kroger "Home Sense" cheapies, I thought about being nice to others. 

Then, questions followed. Who are you nice to in your daily walk? 

My first thought was, "I "try" to be nice to everyone who crosses my path---from clerks and sales people to "late" repair men and sanitation workers." Friends are easy to be nice to as are church folks. 

Even people whom I don't know, can elicit a "nice" smile, especially if I see them showing patience & kindness to others. Sometimes, if I don't feel like being nice, I choose to "stuff" my negative emotions and smile anyway.

But.....what happens when I get home? Do I allow earlier negative emotions to roll out and steam roll over loved ones? I think the Dr. Nutcrackers of this world call it displaced anger or displaced aggression.

Do I choose to be nice to hubby when he's grumpy or he's been nice and emptied the dishwasher and I can't find where he's put things? Do I take that "minor" frustration out on him just because earlier in the day an unknown male behind the wheel cut me off and then raised his "not so nice finger "at me?. 

Why is it that family often get the brunt of our stress-induced emotions or our suppressed negative ones just waiting to vent?

Like my pantry shelving I need to choose to "mix" my "nice" in with "home" folks as a matter of course. It just makes sense to be NICE at home.

Love one another. (1 Peter 4:8) I think love includes being nice and "another" includes those folks both outside and inside the home----especially those who have been "patient and bearing with you" (Ephesians 4:2) for almost 48 years!

"luminosi-TEA"

even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. (Psalm 139:12, NIV)

Don’t be fooled by the luminosi-TEA title. This entry is really about darkness.

Mother would always tell us that we had to be home by dark. That meant we were virtually free to roam the neighborhood until then---an activity unheard of these days. But…because of her admonition, it was easy to assume that bad things loomed and lurked in darkness.

Even as an adult, the darkness that sometimes penetrates my insides seems to get worse as darkness falls outside. Fears become like giants in a kid’s book, attracting and growing more darkness. Like a large shadowy magnet.

Lately I’ve needed words for friends who are in dark places where I’ve never been. So dark, that just quoting scripture would sound platitudinous, if there’s such a word.

• I know nothing about the darkness of living in a war zone as Liza described in her morning email. 
• I can only imagine how scary the place is for a friend whose spouse has had not only a sudden and alarming diagnosis but a gloomy prognosis as well.
• Darkness of job-related worries of several friends; concerns that I can't fathom. 
• I have not experienced the day in and day out darkness of living with chronic pain as the situation of blog friend in AR. 
• Nor have I lived with the fears induced by physical blindness as has a friend just around the corner.
• My heart aches for a dear friend dealing with a BIG potential problem---the fear of it has left me without words.

These are dark places being experienced this very day in the hearts of believers whom I know.

I know that the Light of the Lord is there in all these situations….but that doesn’t negate the existence of those dark places.

……. in your light we see light. (Psalm 36:9)

As Dolly explained to P.J---"the sun is there, it's just behind all the dark."
(Commercial Appeal Comics 8/16/14), 

I want to serve them a cuppa luminosi-TEA so that they have strength and hope in the midst of fear and trouble----knowing that they are not alone, as God's all seeing eyes can penetrate even the darkness! 

Thought Continuance

7/6/11 A bookmark fell out of my Bible as I was continuing to meditate on Monday's (7/4/11) verse. Continuing....that's what meditation is all about.

“If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:31-32)

The Le Passees Children's Rehabilitaion Center bookmark was dated 1/6/91 and my faint pencil markings on the back read, "The truth makes you free by allowing you to live in the light of reality. (boldness mine, because I can't underline on the blog) Illusions are a form of slavery. The truth the world propounds is error."

Continuing in these thoughts.

V is for....

1/30/10 …..volumes of “V” words whirring in my mind with none anchoring yet. Virgin’s son. (Luke 1:27) Vine---John 15, my life-changing chapter. Victor----the victory is His. He is the victorious one. Through Him we have victory---we are more than conquerors (Romans 8:37) Conquerors are indeed victors. As I discovered in both Hungary and Mexico and especially through this last year He is also a very present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1) He is TRUTH----veracity starts with “V” but I couldn’t find it in my concordance.

But God……………there was the “v” word right in my good old KJV, my grandmother’s Bible, with its broken binding, loose pages and cracked leather cover. “Verity”---in the concordance---not veracity but another great synonym for truth.

In our life’s journey we are all mere voyagers on this earth and it is the verity of the One who is Truth that guides us. Knowing His truth has set us free (Romans 8:2) As believers, we’re at least on the ship that’s headed in the right direction----eternity with Him. If we weren’t voyagers on His ship, we would be facing life without Him. I’m glad that even in the midst of life’s storms, we don’t have to be tossed around by every wave of circumstance or wind of doctrine (Ephesians 4:14-15) because we are stabilized by truth and anchored by the One who is Truth.

We need to listen up ------His verity speaks volumes.

Psalm 111:7--These works of His hands are verity and judgment; all His commandments are sure.
I Timothy 2:7--Whereunto I am ordained and a preacher, and an apostle, ( I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.