Day: February 1, 2018

IF YOU SEE MY HEAD BOWED AT…

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If you see my head bowed at…

My desk…

A red light…

My meal or snack…

In the waiting room…

While standing in line…

In the aisle at the supermarket…

As I approach the voting booth…

While I’m at the ball game…

During the meeting…

On my front porch…

There’s nothing wrong with me. I’m just acknowledging God in everything that I do.

Proverbs 3:6  (NKJV)

6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct[a] your paths.

The older I get, the more I realize I can’t make it through a single day without praying…a lot.

1 Thessalonians 5:17  (NKJV)

17 pray without ceasing,

BE BLESSTIFIED!

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YES, THE BIBLE SAYS WE CAN WE BE TOO RIGHTEOUS…

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Most cake recipes call for a little salt. Many of us like to satisfy our sweet tooth with a good slice of cake. In fact, when it’s really good, one bite just makes you want another. The right amount of salt makes cakes taste just right…making you want more with each bite. However, too much salt will make us quickly spit it out of our mouth.

Check out these verses…

Colossians 4:6  (NKJV)

6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.

Ecclesiastes 7:16  (NKJV)

16 Do not be overly righteous,
Nor be overly wise:
Why should you destroy yourself?

It’s good to have passion for the Kingdom of God, but when we are over-zealous, arrogant, mean-spirited  self-righteous, we can turn people away rather than attract them to Christ. All things in moderation. If we are trying to talk about the Lord in EVERY conversation, claim we never do anything wrong, or down people who are unbelievers, we can make people avoid us, dread seeing us coming and destroy any influence we may have. But, if we cleverly chose the right moments to ‘sprinkle the salt of the word’ when it’s applicable, people are more likely to listen, receive it, and even soften hardened hearts.

‘Love out loud’ and ‘Live out loud’!

Let people see God in our character rather than beating them with the bible, making every conversation about God, or punctuating every sentence with a spiritual cliché. Wisely ‘sprinkling the salt’ of God’s word in conversations can make people hungry for more, and establish you as the go-to person on your job, your team, your school, your family when people want to know more about God. Being over zealous makes us seem crazy, and people can conclude, “I don’t want what they have.” God expects us to use wisdom and do everyone His Spirit of excellence. Notice how Paul reasoned with the Epicureans, Stoics, and people of Athens with respect and wisdom in Acts 17. He didn’t ‘beat them over the head’ or talk down to them. He wetted their appetite so that some wanted to hear more.

Psalm 19:10 proclaims God’s word is sweeter than honey in the comb. Yes it is! I love it. But if we don’t handle it wisely, people will spit it out, and we can do more harm than good.

BE BLESSTIFIED!

11

WHY A PUBLIC EMBARRASSMENT DESERVES A PUBLIC APOLOGY…

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DON’T TAKE THE EASY WAY OUT WITH YOUR APOLOGY

Has anyone ever embarrassed, hurt or insulted you openly in public? Have you ever done so? Have you ever made public some information about someone later to find out that information was wrong? Have you ever defamed or slandered someone?

For whatever reason, we all openly hurt one another from time to time. Sometimes we do it on purpose, and sometimes it’s unintentional. These ‘public displays of ‘non-affection’ can leave bad impressions and potentially ruin reputations of all parties involved.

Many times when we realize what we’ve done, truly feel sorry and want to apologize.  We’ll pull the person or persons to the side and tell them, “I’m sorry… I was wrong”.

This is good but not good enough…

Acts 16:37 (NKJV)

37 But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us openly, uncondemned Romans, and have thrown us into prison. And now do they put us out secretly? No indeed! Let them come themselves and get us out.”

Those who heard or witnessed the embarrassment may still think you were right. Those who heard or witnessed the insult may still be influenced by what you did or said…that public embarrassment deserves a public apology.

I remember growing up in church that sometimes in testimonies, people would stand before the church and proclaim, “If I’ve ever done anything to hurt anyone here today, I’m sorry”…if you know who you hurt and what you did, this also is not good enough.

If you know that you slapped someone in the face, simply saying, “I’m sorry IF I hurt you” isn’t enough. If you slandered someone, making a blanket statement to a group that, “If I hurt SOMEONE, I’m sorry” is just not enough.

If you know what you did and who you did it to, then you need to show enough respect to call out their name.

It’s good to apologize, but if we aren’t careful, we can take the easy way out and not fully respect the person or persons that we have hurt.

 

Matthew 5:23-24 (NKJV)

23 Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Don’t take the easy way out with your apology.
BE BLESSTIFIED!!!
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