Matthew 5.8

Chapter 11 still. This has been a very good chapter. I talked about surrendering our opinion before you can see something another way. I am not speaking for everyone but a lot of us will hold on to our point of view. I think we could call that pride, don't you think. We want to be RIGHT! We have invested a lot emotionally and repenting means admitting that we were wrong. Quote: We say we want to see the truth, but we are not willing to suffer the risk of being wrong. Now we have an irreconcilable difference. At this point, a revelation from God will have no effect on us. (I love this part) A revelation from God is not necessarily Him showing us something new, a revelation is simply what we see when we are flexible enough to change our mental/ emotional position about an issue and look at it from a different point of view. God doesn't show us something He previously kept hidden; we see something He wanted to show us all along.

Matthew 5:8
blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God.NKJV Keep your heart pure from Judgment and you will see the Lord……. That is an awesome thing

 

Let go of your predetermined ideas and you may see a lot of hurtfull events differently.

Remember, this is only how I see it, I must see it from another position to overcome this offense

 

Kevin

Luke 15.7

Chapter 11, back to the Preacher story. Let's just say for grins you chose not to go back to the preacher and tell him what happened. What I mean is you never approached him without judgment and told him how it made you feel, so you could actually work it out and find out what really happened. What you did was carry this for months, or years. Every time you tell the story it gets worse, because you never remember what actually happened, you just remember how it made you feel. You have actually left the church and are going to a new church, where you are telling the story again. Now you are in exaggeration mode. The last time you told the story, you remembered how it made you feel; the last time you remembered telling it. What a vicious cycle. There has to be a point where you say "Enough"

"You must be willing to surrender your opinion before you can see it another way" quote from book

The bible calls this repentance:

repentance, a word covering several biblical ideas that range from regret to changing one's mind or behavior so as to bring about a moral or ethical conversion.

Luke 15:7
In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven't strayed away!NLT

 

Kevin

Measured to you

I am still in chapter 11. "How I see it is not how it is; it is just how I see it. " That phrase has been rattling around in my head for some time now. Have you ever caused your own pain? Have you ever been at church and you passed the preacher in the hallway and said hello? He walked right passed you and he did not even acknowledge you? (Actually it could have been anyone) so then you are walking and then you begin to wonder "why" he did not say anything to you. You wonder "if he knew how much I tithed he would have said something or if he cared about the congregation or me he would have said something. As a matter of fact I don't think he even likes me. I am going to quit tithing. I have been going to church here for years. I don't think he has every liked me. All that negative self talk. You are even driving down the road talking to the preacher that hurt you that is NOT EVEN IN THE CAR!!!!!!! Oh my gosh. You have passed judgment on the preacher , attached the "why" and added significance to the other issues that you have conjured up in your judgment. All this comes from attaching the "why". Little did you know that the preacher had just got through dealing with a life or death situation and was just not paying attention to you. So you passed judgment and now you are offended, you have caused yourself all this pain. And on top of all of that now you are going around telling people how the preacher hurt you. So now, based on your Judgment, it is measured back to you as pain and rejection and you're offended

Matthew 7:2
For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.NKJV

Another test

Another test came my way. I did not score very well, but after a while I passed the test. What happen is I had asked someone to do something for me and this person said "yeah okay will see". After today "yeah okay will see" can mean several different things I found out. Three weeks have gone by and this person told me today that he didn't feel lead to do what I asked him. I have to tell you it really pissed me off. As I began to work through this I began to see where I had attached a "why" to his decision and when I did that it then had significance. So goes the Judgment again I recognized it quicker and was able to work through it faster. I actually made a couple of phone calls to two brothers. One who is also reading the same book.

I have finished the book and now I am on my second time through it. Chpt. Eleven is where I am tonight. I just so happens that today's nugget is exactly what happened today, go figure.
Quote from the book. "How I see it is not how it is; it is just how I see it." Reality is distorted by our perception. What I perceived today as reality was not reality at all but what I thought was reality. I had a revelation this evening with my wife. What I have and still learning is this; Most of us are very judgmental and we don't even know it, because it is our nature. I am so not alone in this. It is so prevalent that someone had to write a book about it. This is how easy it is to judge. I walked into Home Depot this evening and saw a cashier. She was covered in tattoos. The first thought that came to my mind was (Let's just say it was not good) She was actually very pretty … just had tattoos. For all I know she has been saved for years and leads a youth group. This is a whole new way of thinking and retraining of the mind. I believe if you have the mind of Christ and Love the sinner and hate the sin this will go away

1 Corinthians 13:3-7
If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.

Love cares more for others than for self.

Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.

Love doesn't strut, doesn't have a swelled head,

Doesn't force itself on others, isn't always "me first,"

Doesn't fly off the handle,

Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,

Doesn't revel when others grovel,

Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,

Puts up with anything, Trusts God always,

Always looks for the best, never looks back,

But keeps going to the end. The Message

 

And I say LOVE does not JUDGE!

Kevin

Matthew Seven.4

Control starts with judgment Matthew 7:4
How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?NIV I never thought of this before but 9 times out of 10 I bet the plank is judgment.

God of my world is the name of this chapter. One part in this chapter that really struck out to me is where he says "judgment is the pathway to personal idolatry. When we impose our judgments on people it causes them to bow to our will. If you are the god of your world then most likely you are under a lot of stress. If you are the person in your home that imposes change through control, then you are the one that has to keep the changes in place. Have you ever had to say "I do everything?" I can give an example for me. I am not this way now but I used to be. It would happen when I would ask a child in my home to do the dishes or take out the trash and they wouldn't do it in my time frame so I would do it myself and then gripe about having to do it. Here is the part that really spoke to me. When we usurp the Lordship of Jesus in the life of another, It is impossible for that person to experience God's grace, (because we are in the way) which empowers him to make the needed changes. It is a cycle of failure. We want our friends to change and family to change, but we end up getting in the way or better yet we are getting in the way of Holy Spirit.

usurp \yu̇-ˈsərp also -ˈzərp\ vb to take the place of by or as if by force : supplant 〈must not let stock responses based on inherited prejudice usurp careful judgment〉 vi
: to seize or exercise authority or possession wrongfully The definition of usurp is very strong and I never real knew what the word meant So what happens next after we get in the way of Holy Spirit? Eventually, people fail to change and when they don't change then we create new judgments about why they are not changing. Then those judgments bring more pain and disappointment to our own lives. When we decide why they are not changing then we reach a verdict and begin our sentencing and then our judgment becomes reality.

Whew!!!!

Knowing the Boundaries

Knowing the boundaries. If I don't know me, it is impossible for me to know you.

For me, boundaries are tough and I have crossed over them many times. I find for myself that when I operate within boundaries in relationships I tend to stay out of trouble. Someone once said, "The difference between a pest and a welcomed guest is an invitation." I will give you an example. How many times has something happened in a relationship say your wife where she says "I don't want to talk about that right now and you keep pushing the issue. You have crossed the boundary in to area where you were not invited. I can't tell you how many times in my early days of marriage did d I do that to Kelly and all it did was make her shutdown even more and make me angrier. I was the uninvited pest.

God's word tells us how to communicate effectively. Speak truth in Love because truth spoken out of love is religion and that is ugly. We often times see someone and we feel that we need to speak into them and we might not have the relationship built yet but we cross that boundary and unintentionally push them a way instead of building trust first. It is just like selling a car or anything for that matter. No one is going to buy from you until you have built a repore with them and you are not going to buy anything from anyone who says "Can I help you" But you will if the person builds a relationship with you first.

Nugget: We must realize that every time we violate any principles of communication, we reduce the effectiveness of our message. Ignoring the principles sends a message to the person with whom we wish to communicate that says, "You are of no value." Rarely do people reject real communication. It is our rude, ill equipped, condemning, or negative approach to communication that people reject. When we value people, we put forth the effort necessary to communicate in a way that will be acceptable and effective.
Truth in Love

My mom is in Keller and once again she just pops up unannounced and sends me an email saying maybe we can get together. This is old and I am tired of it. It still hurts I have lived here for seven years and she has only stopped by to see us one time for a couple of hours on her way to do something else. What irritates me this time is the fact that I talked to her on the phone last Friday and she didn't even tell me she was coming down. I just don't get it. So let me give you an example of me being judgmental here and how it could affect me and then my wife

I think she comes down here unannounced so she doesn't have to make any long term plans with me. I am not her favorite. MY walk with the Lord is over the top so in her eyes I make her uncomfortable. When she comes to Keller it is all about her and her cousin and it doesn't matter if she sees me or my family. She comes unannounced knowing that I will be busy and can't see her. (Just like the last two times she came to Keller.) That way it will not interfere with her time with her cousin. When my wife called me yesterday and read me the email from my Mom …….. II have to tell you I judged and I got pissed. I don't even want to see her. But she is making an effort so I will accommodate, but I still don't like. So when I judge my mom and attach the why I have now cause my own pain and that affects my wife.

Kevin

The Critical Eye

My wife told me tonight that she is seeing a difference in me and how I talk about people. What I mean is this. Have you ever read an email to your wife or told a story but you say it the way you think that person meant it. Just like reading an email. The person who typed it could be typing with a nice tone but because you felt it meant something else (you judged) you read it with maybe a hint of sarcasm in your voice. Or maybe you got really loud. We tend to put our own voice on it. I really hate it when I do that, but I am getting better. My critical eye is getting healed. This leads me to Chpt 8 in the book.

The Critical Eye……….. How I see you is a reflection of how I see me.

Proverbs 26:17
you grab a mad dog by the ears when you butt into a quarrel that's none of your business. The Message

 

I don't find myself as critical as I used to be. The chapter is referring to our need to find fault in others or to point out their shortcomings. You know ………. throwing stones.

 

Nugget: Just because we see the need in another person does not mean we have the right to invade the individual's life. Our first goal should be to love the person and make him or her feel safe while owning his problem. If people do not feel safe with their problem, they will feel they have to cover it up. They will not respond positively to our inquisition (on quest this is where we say you have to love them right where they are) we actually force people in to denial by our rejection and condemnation. Quote from the book

 

Nugget: Just when I think I am getting better I read this. When I am delivered from a critical eye, I will see people as God see them. I will always know the Spirit of God can work in them to solve every problem and conquer every obstacle. You see, our confidence in people is directly related to our confidence in God. When we see the best in them, they will see, believe, and live the best God has to offer. Qoute from the book

 

Thanks Kevin

Matthew 7.3

Matthew 7:3
And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?NKJV

I had a guy tell me one time ….. He said God; please show me the log in my eye so I can see the speck in my brother's eye. Things are changing in me. I am seeing more and more situations where I would normally make judgments and now I do not. The truth is I did not even know I was doing it and nobody else did either. If they did then they did not say anything to me. Or better yet they did not know I was doing it either so they could not say anything, I had someone tell me today that this person had a good heart. The first thing that came to my mind was "how does he know what kind of heart he has?" We think that is not judging, but it is. What if he had said that person has a bad heart? We most likely would have thought that he is being judgmental. Only the Lord can judge the heart. Not man.

I just had a thought, when I go on Quest to serve it is very important to stay out of the Lord's way. I think I do a good job at that. Most of the time we will say "what is Holy Spirit saying or ask what does Holy Spirit say. It is so much easier to stay out of His way on an event than in real life back home. I say all that to say this. I sometimes get frustrated with people when I try to help them when in reality I am trying to fix them. The best thing that I can do is what I do on Quest. Stay out of the LORD'S way. The best way that I can lead someone in to a Godly transformation is to model that for them. Jesus with Skin on ….mercy, grace, love, and acceptance. Whew! Oh it gets better .. So if we are to be Jesus with skin on then that means that we want to be like God …. Right? The problem is in our concept of God (From the book)
you see, you become like the god you believe in. The voice of condemnation that you hear in your heart is not the enemy or God but it is self-criticism. Something I never thought about, that the book touches on is this. If we are experiencing condemnation in our hearts then we can't help but express condemnation to the world around us. If we feel love and acceptance we will give love and acceptance.
The last half of Matthew 10.8 says "Freely you have received, freely give" One of the reasons people do not give the love of God is freely is that they have never freely received it. So here is the big nugget out of this chapter for me.
Accepting the reality of God's love for me delivers me from the need to find fault in others. My sense of security is now the product of a relationship with God in my heart. As I relate to God from my heart and experience the empowerment of love and acceptance, I will be more apt to model that Love to other. I also will point others to God in their instead of pointing to their behavior. Now I can love you instead of blame you. Thanks for reading, Kevin

James 5.12

The Saga continues and then ends. Amen

I got on the Job this morning around 7:30 and I waited patiently for my cabinets to arrive and they did not. I called the cabinet shop and talked to the man who had been helping me and he said they were built but that was all he could tell me. He said he would talk to the owner and call me back. After about 30 to 40 minutes I called back and the owner answered. We had a very pleasant conversation and my cabinets arrived around 11.30 and they were installed. We had more issues but the owner did what he needed to do to fix the situation. I was nice and so was he. I did what I said I was going to do. There were some other issues but they all got fixed. I ended up going back to the cabinet shop this afternoon to pick a piece of material they forgot. They handled it right on the spot and did not charge me. I told the owner I was still going to continue to do business with his company and I also told the other gentleman that he was forgiven for his bo boos and everything is back to normal. It was a learning experience for me. It is all good

The nugget today is this "when we judge, we are no longer motivated by our hearts, the wisdom of God's word, the voice of God in our hearts, or the love of God in our hearts. Instead, we are led by our attempts to be the God of our own world. And this limits us to the wisdom of our judgments.

Being free form judgment allows your yes to be yes and your no to be no. Has anyone read James lately? James 5:12
But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your "Yes" be "Yes," and your "No," "No," lest you fall into judgment.NKJV

There are many things we can do and say without passing judgment----- and one of the most gracious things we can ever do is give a person the opportunity to establish a new track record

Thanks Kevin

Another test comes my way

Another test comes my way. I am in the middle of a Kitchen remodel. I have been planning the schedule for weeks. Finalized the schedule Monday or so I thought. The cabinets were supposed to be installed Wednesday morning then Wednesday afternoon and then this morning (Thursday). I finally had to go down to the cabinet shop to find out what is going on. The man who was actually in charge of my job dropped the ball. I have to say I was pissed … to the point of cutting off my nose in spite of my face. This is where I bring in the first nugget of wisdom from the book.

Nugget: All it takes to break free from the destructive cycle of judgment is to refuse to judge, to refuse to attach significance to the actions of others. When another person's actions affect you negatively, simply ask if there is a problem. Don't assume, and don't attach significance. When you can learn to observe rather than judge, you can stop the pain before it becomes suffering.

So what happened? By the cabinets not getting installed it through everything I had scheduled into a mess. Nevertheless it all worked out and the customers are happy. Cabinets will be installed in the morning and the rest of the granite will be installed Monday afternoon. I wanted to be mad at this man, but that is what he is …. A man, enough said. The first time I met him he recognized my FTS hat and he wants to go on a Quest. What Kind of man would I be if I let him have it? He knows he screwed up and it was not just my job either. So I will email him and call him to tell him that he is forgiven

I have to tell you at one point today or twice maybe three times I was ready to end this business relationship, but I am not. At this time this is where I was adding significance to the judgment I was handing down and I could see it and it was ugly. I am sowing into this business, the owner is lost and I have giving him a bible…. A Spanish bible. I will not let the enemy divide this relationship because there is freedom on the horizon. So I will continue in this relationship even if something happens tomorrow, because will any of this matter ten years from now …. No.

Matthew 7:17-20
A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit.
A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit.
So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire.
Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.NLT

 

They will indentify me by my actions and they will know I am a man of integrity.

Amen!

Tough day

Tough day,

I got to experience this judgment crap first hand. I had set up an appointment to have my Daughter Rebekah's truck to be worked on at Christian Brothers Automotive, but Rachel my oldest daughter who had a bad experience with CBA decided that she would take the truck somewhere else. That pissed me off! What she did was wrong. I assessed that she did this out of disrespect of me and my authority of my household. I judged her motives without talking to her first. So all day I did the negative self talk thing. You know how that goes. "I can't believe she did that to me" " who does she think she is" "I am the one who bought that truck not her" Maybe since she took matters into her own hands she should pay for the repair herself"

Oh it gets better …………… I judged my wife as well. I just assumed she didn't back me up when talking to Rachel. There were a lot of other things I thought as well. My point is, by the time I got home I was made at Rachel, mad at Rebekah's and mad at my wife. I had an attitude and I brought it all on myself.

Self inflicted pain. All of the negative self talk, I am not good enough at being a dad a husband. I had myself worked up into frenzy and my precious wife received the brunt of it.

After we talked it over and I vented and found out all the details and how she did defend me, I felt like a complete idiot. Why? Because I fell into the trap of judgment and attaching a "WHY" and significance to the issue at hand today. I reaped what I sowed and it sucked crap.

I learned this evening that I had to be willing to surrender my opinion before I was able to move forward or see it from the other side. My wife's side.

Thanks Kevin

A little nugget out of the chapter "fixing you is killing me"

People who are focused on their faults never escape those faults.

Matthew 7.1

Matthew 7:1

"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.NKJV

 

Matthew 7:1-2
"Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging.The Message

 

 

I have noticed that as I read this book I am very judgmental ………. Of everything. Now that I recognize it, I can head it off, but it is still difficult. I see it for what it is. I see areas of my life where I had no idea that I was being judgmental. An example would be this: Have you ever thought or said to someone "I know why you did this" that is being judgmental , You or me do not know why someone did what they did.

So how many times do we Judge God? ……………. Think about that statement for a moment.

You have circumstances that have happened in your life and you would tell yourself or better yet convince yourself that God brought or allowed these things into our lives for some purpose. Of course, subjectively determining that purpose would cause us to decide WHY God allowed it. In other words we would have to judge God. I don't know about you but that just doesn't taste well. I have often wondered myself WHY God allowed something in my life not realizing that I was being judgmental of the Lord.

Thanks for reading

Kevin

Jeremiah 17.9

 

I am reading in a book that is very good. I am actually going to write several little nuggets that the Lord is keying on me in this book. The parts that I have underlined that are significant to me. I have also found that when I go back and read chapters that I have already read. I find new nuggets. This book is about a whole new way of thinking. Thank you Lord

 

Jeremiah 17:9
"The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; who can know it?

NKJV

 

Nugget 1. One of the things that really jumped out at me was how the author puts a different twist on Jeremiah 17.9 He says "God is the only one who can truly know the heart. When people assume to know why, then their reactions are not based on reality; they are based on judgment. That judgment causes confusion, pain, and loss. My added thought is when we add this judgment then the depravity starts to swirl around as well.

 

Nugget 2. The moment you attempt to determine "WHY" another is doing what he or she is doing, you have giving it significance. Keep in mind that nothing has the power to hurt you until you attach significance to it. Another's person actions are only as significant to you as the judgments you pass on them. The judgment you make is based on your decision about why that person did what he did. The degree of pain or insult you experience from the actions of another is based solely on the judgment you pass. And the judgment you pass is your assumption of why he did what he did.

 

Now keep in mind that these two nuggets come out of the first 22 pages that I have read. I am over have way through this book. It is my opinion that this is one of the best books I have every read next to The Bait of Satan and the Bible of course. This book is really speaking to me and Kelly. It is a whole new way of thinking for me and her. I have never realized or gave it much thought that when people judge me that I might actually believe their judgment. Or when I judge somebody that they might believe what I have judged about them. It is a lot deeper than that.

 

Kevin

 

 

 

 

Ezekiel 8

As I have read several versions of this passage the one that really spoke to me was this one out of the message. I have been here before. The whole passage is about Idolatry, this version actually refers to Asherah the sex goddess that makes God so angry. What really got me was the last part of this passage.

 

8:18b They fill the country with violence and now provoke me even further with their obscene gestures. That's it. They have an angry God on their hands! From now on, no mercy. They can shout all they want, but I'm not listening.

 

What I am seeing here is this. Idolatry, a warning to stop this now

 

Ezekiel 8:1-18
In the sixth year, in the sixth month and the fifth day, while I was sitting at home meeting with the leaders of Judah, it happened that the hand of my Master, God, gripped me. When I looked, I was astonished. What I saw looked like a man—from the waist down like fire and from the waist up like highly burnished bronze. He reached out what looked like a hand and grabbed me by the hair. The Spirit swept me high in the air and carried me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the Temple's inside court where the image of the sex goddess that makes God so angry had been set up. Right before me was the Glory of the God of Israel, exactly like the vision I had seen out on the plain. He said to me, "Son of man, look north." I looked north and saw it: Just north of the entrance loomed the altar of the sex goddess, Asherah, that makes God so angry. Then he said, "Son of man, do you see what they're doing? Outrageous obscenities! And doing them right here! It's enough to drive me right out of my own Temple. But you're going to see worse yet." He brought me to the door of the Temple court. I looked and saw a gaping hole in the wall. He said, "Son of man, dig through the wall." I dug through the wall and came upon a door. He said, "Now walk through the door and take a look at the obscenities they're engaging in." I entered and looked. I couldn't believe my eyes: Painted all over the walls were pictures of reptiles and animals and monsters—the whole pantheon of Egyptian gods and goddesses—being worshiped by Israel. In the middle of the room were seventy of the leaders of Israel, with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing in the middle. Each held his censer with the incense rising in a fragrant cloud. He said, "Son of man, do you see what the elders are doing here in the dark, each one before his favorite god-picture? They tell themselves, 'God doesn't see us. God has forsaken the country.' " Then he said, "You're going to see worse yet." He took me to the entrance at the north gate of the Temple of God. I saw women sitting there, weeping for Tammuz, the Babylonian fertility god. He said, "Have you gotten an eyeful, son of man? You're going to see worse yet." Finally, he took me to the inside court of the Temple of God. There between the porch and the altar were about twenty-five men. Their backs were to God's Temple. They were facing east, bowing in worship to the sun. He said, "Have you seen enough, son of man? Isn't it bad enough that Judah engages in these outrageous obscenities? They fill the country with violence and now provoke me even further with their obscene gestures. That's it. They have an angry God on their hands! From now on, no mercy. They can shout all they want, but I'm not listening."The Message

Deuteronomy 12

⁸ "Your pattern of worship will change. Today all of you are doing as you please ⁹ because you have not yet arrived at the place of rest, the land the Lord your God is giving you as your special possession. ¹⁰ But you will soon cross the Jordan River and live in the land the Lord your God is giving you. When he gives you rest from all your enemies and you're living safely in the land, ¹¹ you must bring everything I command you—your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, your sacred offerings, and your offerings to fulfill a vow—to the designated place of worship, the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to be honored.

I felt this is for me as I was reading I felt that I am doing as I please in several areas of my life. Why? Because I have not arrived at a place of rest in my life. I wonder, what is my Jordan River?

Have you arrived at your place of rest? Do you know what your Jordan is?

Lamentations

Are you going through a hard time in your life? I am reading in Lamentations where I have not been in years. I am reading about what Jeremiah is going through. To give you the jest of chapter three …. Jeremiah starts out by saying in verse 1-3 I am the one who has seen the afflictions that come from the rod of the Lord's anger.
2 He has led me into darkness, shutting out all light.
3 He has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long. Lamentations 3:1-3 (NLT)
So my question would be this is there something going on in my life or in your life that would make you feel this way? As I read verses 1 thru 21 It is very harsh and from reading it, You can see that Jeremiah is going through a lot but never does he blame the enemy. It would be real easy to blame the enemy for what is going on in my life or in yours. We are always so quick to blame the enemy for things that are happening in our lives. The car breaks down, I am under attack, The water heater blows, I am under attack. I get in a fight with my wife, I am under attack. Something I love to do has been taken away. For me, I love to hunt, but I have been landlocked from my property for almost 4 years. It hurts, but that doesn't mean I am under attack. Please, We have to grow up and take responsibility for our own actions. And quit blaming the enemy for everything that goes on in our lives. As I read on I see where He starts to praise God. 22 The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease.
23 Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.
24 I say to myself, "The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!" Lamentations 3:22-24 (NLT) This is just good right here can I get an Amen? Now for the best part.
25 The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him.
26 So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.
28 Let them sit alone in silence beneath the Lord's demands. Lamentations 3:25-28 (NLT)
For me what I see here is get quiet, get away, go spend time alone with Him. After everything that Jeremiah has been through he is saying God is faithfull, He is our inheritance and His love never ends, but most important He is saying get quiet. So here is my question? God is calling me away is He calling you away? Do you need to spend time with Him. Is your life kinda not going as good as you hope? Then maybe you need to get away for a while. Maybe your life is great and you need to get away just to get some answers to some questions you may have.

Thanks for reading and be blessed today.

Give them heaven to day

Kevin

 

Teachable Spirit

Proverbs 17:10 (NLT)
10 A single rebuke does more for a person of understanding than a hundred lashes on the back of a fool.

Teachable Spirit … Teachable people, however you want to say it, is that you? I went to see Marylin yesterday (Our marriage counselor, we see her occasionally for tune-ups, we have been seeing her for eight years) you always hate to hear "how many times do I have to tell you this before you get it?" The sad thing is …… I do get it. What does it say in James?
4.17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
There are men in my life who speak into me, that have said certain things to me concerning my children and I agree with them. I say things like "I know I know" "your right I need to do that" Here lies the rub. I still think that what I know is better than what is being told to me. Do you ever agree with someone about your life or actions and then not do it? You agree just so they will shut up? I was reading this morning about Teachable people. Here is what it says.

You can tell him the same thing over and over again, but you will get the sane response every time."

How do you know you're teachable? Below are five good clues.

1. You know you are teachable when people give you input.
   When you are not teachable, people don't generally risk telling you stuff. Why should they? If you react abrasively any time someone instructs you or corrects you. Don't expect to get any input from others.
   
2. You know you are teachable when you see measurable growth and character development in your life.
   When good things start to happen in your life, you know you are doing something valuable with the info that you are getting. You know you are teachable when others advice produces tangible results in you.
   
3. You know you are teachable when you don't have to answer back to your critic with a defense. Example: finding yourself in a situation where you are speaking into someone, giving people input about a specific situation in their life. Something difficult that they have been struggling with and they receive it with an open heart. They just listen. The problem is when you do this and the person says "Now, hold it right there, you just hang on for a second. You don't understand ……….' I really dread those conversations, People who are receptive to God's transforming truth are the ones who flourish in life
   
4. You know you are teachable when you don't have to return the favor.
   The classic symptom of an unteachable spirit is after listening to someone's honest, loving counsel, you say, "Fine now let me tell you something." You got an unteachable spirit on your hands when he can't humbly receive your words and say "Thank you for telling me."
   
5. You know you're teachable when over time you hear something different for a change.
   If people have been telling you the same stuff for years but still see the need to remind you about it again, you're not teachable. You should be over that by now and on to the next lesson.
   

 

Wisdom is not something we know; it is something we do. Only when we allow God to give us teachable hearts will he show us what we need to know in order to change what we need to do. The biggest fool of all is the person who knows from God what to do and who won't do it. That person is not teachable.

 

Kevin says, "Maybe you are just flat walking in rebellion and what is rebellion? Disobedience and what is disobedience? Sin!" nasty stuff here.

 

 

How have you experienced one (or more) of these test statements in the last few weeks? If you read this and didn't once ask yourself, "Am I like that?" You may be in trouble. Take these questions before the Lord and say "Lord, show me--- teach me." Teachabilty means you are open to changing what the Lord reveals to you.

That was a lot of typing

Thanks for reading

Kevin

James 5:12

James 5:12 reads "Above all, my brothers, do not swear--not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your "Yes" be yes, and your "No," no, or you will be condemned."

As I was reading today in my devotion, there were questions asked of me that I could not answer correctly. One of the questions was

You always speak the truth from your Heart?

I have to say no. I lied to my wife last night about what time I got home. The reason I lied was because I was jealous. You see … I am in a blended family. When I got home she was back their visiting her kids. (They are suppose to be our kids, but we still separate them) She wasn't there to greet me when I got home. (Which is something I love and she knows that) I told her I had been home for thirty minutes when In fact I was only home for 20 minutes. She didn't know how long. The Lord has shown me as of late that I have struggled with Jealousy. I wanted to make her feel guilty. (Back on May 18^th I wrote in my blog about this same issue if you want to read what I wrote.
http://thevisionseeker.blogspot.com/2010_05_18_archive.html ) so we talked this out last night and it was good and there was some discovery and some healing.

Anyone read James lately? (NLT)
16 For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.

So you ask, what is the point to all of this? It was only a little white lie. Well……. What does the Lord call it? Lying! Kevin, you are a liar! It is kinda like telling someone that you shot that 10 point buck from 300 yards standing up when in fact you were sitting down in a blind from 50 yards away. Why do we do that? I know why, but do you?

One more point, I have a guy who works with me off and on. He is Buddhist of all things. I will find myself sometimes blessing the food while he has gone to the bathroom at the restaurant. Sometimes I will bless the food while he is at the table. What is up with that? He is a good man just confused. I am planting seeds and doing a little watering. We will see where it goes.I think that falls under: Keeping your oath even when it hurts

Thanks for reading

Kevin

The uncritical temper

June 17th

The uncritical temper

Judge not, that ye be not judged. Matthew 7:1.

Jesus says regarding judging—Don't. The average Christian is the most penetratingly critical individual. Criticism is a part of the ordinary faculty of man; but in the spiritual domain nothing is accomplished by criticism. The effect of criticism is a dividing up of the powers of the one criticized; the Holy Ghost is the One in the true position to criticize, He alone is able to show what is wrong without hurting and wounding. It is impossible to enter into communion with God when you are in a critical temper; it makes you hard and vindictive and cruel, and leaves you with the flattering unction that you are a superior person. Jesus says, as a disciple, cultivate the uncritical temper. It is not done once and for all. Beware of anything that puts you in the superior person's place.

There is no getting away from the penetration of Jesus. If I see the mote in your eye, it means I have a beam in my own. Every wrong thing that I see in you, God locates in me. Every time I judge, I condemn myself (see Romans 2:17-20). Stop having a measuring rod for other people. There is always one fact more in every man's case about which we know nothing. The first thing God does is to give us a spiritual spring-cleaning; there is no possibility of pride left in a man after that. I have never met the man I could despair of after discerning what lies in me apart from the grace of God.

 

You know… sometimes I just have to laugh. I looked at my phone this morning and saw it was the 16^th. I opened my book and read the 17^{th thinking} it was the 16th. It just laid me wide open. Lord help me to see the plank in my own eye so I can see the speck in my brother's eye. I think what the Lord is showing me with the past events going on is that I have a critical temper. I feel the plank in my eye is the critical temper. I don't need the measuring rod in my life. The fact is hurt people hurt people and I need to give God the glory when looking past the offense. I am far from perfect. IAs I have read this Devo over and over this morning, I see where this critical temper is in many areas of my life. Hmmmm I guess I am worse off than I thought. Cheer up!

Thanks for reading this morning

Here is what it says in Romans the message version

Romans 2:17-23 (The Message)
17 If you're brought up Jewish, don't assume that you can lean back in the arms of your religion and take it easy, feeling smug because you're an insider to God's revelation,
18 a connoisseur of the best things of God, informed on the latest doctrines!
19 I have a special word of caution for you who are sure that you have it all together yourselves and, because you know God's revealed Word inside and out,
20 feel qualified to guide others through their blind alleys and dark nights and confused emotions to God.
21 While you are guiding others, who is going to guide you? I'm quite serious. While preaching "Don't steal!" are you going to rob people blind? Who would suspect you?
22 The same with adultery. The same with idolatry.
23 You can get by with almost anything if you front it with eloquent talk about God and his law.

 

Greater is he that is in me than he who is in the world

Old Wounds

Old wounds

I have been signing my emails lately with the phrase "there is no future in the past" Little did I know that that would be more for me than I realize. I always hate when something gets brought up and you realize that even though you forgave that person, the wound is still there. I thought I dealt with it … as a mater a fact I did and I got peace as well at the time. It has come back. I got a word from the Lord Friday night as I was driving down to Fredericksburg. A friend of mine is always sending scripture. I don't mean just one scripture but 10 to 20. Sometimes a whole chapter. Anyway what he sent me Friday night was this.

⁸ He who gets wisdom loves his own soul;
  he who cherishes understanding prospers.

⁹ A false witness will not go unpunished,
  and he who pours out lies will perish.

¹⁰ It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury—
    how much worse for a slave to rule over princes!

¹¹ A man's wisdom gives him patience;
    it is to his glory to overlook an offense.

Verse 11 is what just hammered me. I just looked at it and said "Lord, are you freaking kidding me?"

I have to tell you part of me on the inside said, do you remember what he did to me and how he talked to me and how he made me feel like a freaking idiot … dumb ass or whatever. Then I have to remember what my book the Bait of Satan says. (Too much to write) Anyway my wife says, have you forgiven him and while I was answering I hear Holy Spirit say NO! So I said No I guess not, dammit! So this is a good thing but I don't like it. The fact that I have to forgive this person over again is very irritating. Nevertheless it has to be done. Here is where the rub is I am supposed to love him, but I don't want to. I know this man is very wounded and has been for a long time. I feel I have forgiven this person …..AGAIN!!! I had to forgive my x wife over and over as well as her husband for the first couple of years after the divorce for stealing her from me. So I know I can do this …. It will just be a process.

Thanks for reading