1 Samuel 15:29
Besides, the eternal God of Israel isn't a human being. He doesn't tell lies or change his mind."
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
Have you ever thought about how often we change our minds? We go to a restaurant, saying all the way there, “I’m going to have a steak.” But when we arrive, the “special” is a shrimp dinner that sounds so good that we just have to order this instead. We make plans to wear one outfit, and at the last minute, something doesn’t “feel” right, so we change to another. We carry an item around the store, planning to purchase it, and before we check out we have talked ourselves into putting it back on the shelf. We are certain we are going to major in medicine until we go to anatomy class and nearly faint when we have to draw our own blood!
And how many times do we lie? Oh, we don’t call it that… we call it, “withholding the truth.” We don’t want to hurt feelings, so we change the subject when a friend asks for our opinion about their mode of dress, weight, or hair color. When someone asks, “Was I wrong to feel this way?” we carefully weigh our response and offer something we feel is politically correct… but not altogether honest. We omit information from our resume that we feel could keep us from getting a job, hoping the employer won’t investigate and find out we had poor attendance at Job ABC. We cut corners and skip steps and hope nobody notices.
What if God operated this way? What if we were sick and God kept serious complications at bay for months… then suddenly decided He didn’t care any longer? What if God had led Moses and the Israelites to the Red Sea and then changed His mind about parting the waters… or He had simply lied about this? What if God told us to do something and promised to guide and protect us, and then He didn’t honor His promises?
As human beings, we can change our minds about things like menu choices, careers, relationships, and more. Sometimes there are few consequences – if any. Sometimes the consequences can be rather serious and life-changing. I’m thankful to know that my God doesn’t change His mind in a way that brings anything to my life but grace, mercy, and blessings. I’m grateful to Him for keeping His word… for choosing the absolute best for me and making it happen.
I am so comforted to know that God is firm in His plans for my life and does not waiver. And what He does for me, He is doing for you, as well. Have you thanked Him lately for being so steady? Have you praised Him for His honesty and consistent care? Isn’t it time to do so?
©2010 Debbie Robus
Showing posts with label truth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label truth. Show all posts
Daily Devotional for September 23, 2010
Proverbs 10:11
The mouth of a good person is a deep, life-giving well, but the mouth of the wicked is a dark cave of abuse.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
Hype. Dictionary.com defines hype as “exaggerated publicity; hoopla … an ingenious or questionable claim, method, etc., used in advertising, promotion, or publicity to intensify the effect … a swindle, deception, or trick.” We hear a lot these days about hype … and there’s a whole lot of hype about a whole lot of issues. Frankly, a lot of the hype is a mask for evil words of the wicked.
More and more in our society, we are bombarded through all kinds of media with outlandish claims and statements – hype - that sound just true enough to reel us in and catch us off guard. We’ve bought into everything from “reality TV” to tabloid journalism to political spin. And the lines between truth and fiction have become so blurry that often no one is sure of anything.
Hype about the Razorbacks and how good they are predicted to be this year may be one thing. Hype that is designed to scare us into believing one way or another about serious social and religious issues is totally different. We need to all take a deep breath, stop and think about what we are seeing and hearing, and ask ourselves if it lines up with the word of God. We need to surround ourselves with people who are level-headed, spend time in prayer and Bible study, and listen to our Heavenly Father … not the “spin doctors” on television and in the media or some of those who like to share letters and opinions in our local newspaper. We need to use our head … and check things out on websites like www.urbanlegends.com and www.snopes.com.
Be informed – do some digging and get to the heart of what people are saying. Choose your friends and your role models carefully. Ask God to give you discernment in all things, and remember that He does not operate in fear. Sadly, there are people who will invoke the Lord’s name as they spew untruths, and yes … evil poison. There are “Christians” who operate in fear and threats. Think of e-mails that say… “If you love Jesus, you will forward this e-mail” or even “Send this to six friends and get six blessings … nine friends and get nine blessings.” We can’t bargain with God for His favor!
On Facebook, I’m blessed to be “friends” with a young woman who posts frequent messages of hope and encouragement … prayer requests for those in need … uplifting scriptures, mentions of specific needs in our community, and praise for her church and the work God is doing there. I sometimes see posts from a few “friends” who want to spew hype … most of it negative. Sadly, some of them invoke their faith as they do so … and honestly, I have to hide them – or even block them completely. I’m learning that I cannot be surrounded by such thoughts and words. The more I remove the “hype” from my life and my heart, the more room I have for the life-giving words of God Almighty.
And that’s what it’s all about. We need plenty of room in our daily lives for the life-giving well of good words from good people. If you find that your life is getting cluttered with hype, it may be time for a good old-fashioned cleaning. Ask God to help you with this. Ask Him to surround you with good people who speak truthfully. Ask God to give you wisdom and discernment to sift through the hype and get to His truths. It’s time for us to all make a little extra room in our hearts for the good stuff!
©2010 Debbie Robus
The mouth of a good person is a deep, life-giving well, but the mouth of the wicked is a dark cave of abuse.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
Hype. Dictionary.com defines hype as “exaggerated publicity; hoopla … an ingenious or questionable claim, method, etc., used in advertising, promotion, or publicity to intensify the effect … a swindle, deception, or trick.” We hear a lot these days about hype … and there’s a whole lot of hype about a whole lot of issues. Frankly, a lot of the hype is a mask for evil words of the wicked.
More and more in our society, we are bombarded through all kinds of media with outlandish claims and statements – hype - that sound just true enough to reel us in and catch us off guard. We’ve bought into everything from “reality TV” to tabloid journalism to political spin. And the lines between truth and fiction have become so blurry that often no one is sure of anything.
Hype about the Razorbacks and how good they are predicted to be this year may be one thing. Hype that is designed to scare us into believing one way or another about serious social and religious issues is totally different. We need to all take a deep breath, stop and think about what we are seeing and hearing, and ask ourselves if it lines up with the word of God. We need to surround ourselves with people who are level-headed, spend time in prayer and Bible study, and listen to our Heavenly Father … not the “spin doctors” on television and in the media or some of those who like to share letters and opinions in our local newspaper. We need to use our head … and check things out on websites like www.urbanlegends.com and www.snopes.com.
Be informed – do some digging and get to the heart of what people are saying. Choose your friends and your role models carefully. Ask God to give you discernment in all things, and remember that He does not operate in fear. Sadly, there are people who will invoke the Lord’s name as they spew untruths, and yes … evil poison. There are “Christians” who operate in fear and threats. Think of e-mails that say… “If you love Jesus, you will forward this e-mail” or even “Send this to six friends and get six blessings … nine friends and get nine blessings.” We can’t bargain with God for His favor!
On Facebook, I’m blessed to be “friends” with a young woman who posts frequent messages of hope and encouragement … prayer requests for those in need … uplifting scriptures, mentions of specific needs in our community, and praise for her church and the work God is doing there. I sometimes see posts from a few “friends” who want to spew hype … most of it negative. Sadly, some of them invoke their faith as they do so … and honestly, I have to hide them – or even block them completely. I’m learning that I cannot be surrounded by such thoughts and words. The more I remove the “hype” from my life and my heart, the more room I have for the life-giving words of God Almighty.
And that’s what it’s all about. We need plenty of room in our daily lives for the life-giving well of good words from good people. If you find that your life is getting cluttered with hype, it may be time for a good old-fashioned cleaning. Ask God to help you with this. Ask Him to surround you with good people who speak truthfully. Ask God to give you wisdom and discernment to sift through the hype and get to His truths. It’s time for us to all make a little extra room in our hearts for the good stuff!
©2010 Debbie Robus
Daily Devotional for August 30, 2010
Matthew 7:2
God will be as hard on you as you are on others! He will treat you exactly as you treat them.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
I have really thought about what to say today. I’ve asked God to give me His message through this scripture passage. Here is what I keep getting …
Many of us operate in assumptions rather than truth. We listen to our friends, our family members, the guy on the television who we deem an “authority” on certain topics, and others … and we formulate our attitudes and positions based on what we hear from them and assume to be truthful. More than once, I have mentioned to someone, “So-and-so is such a nice person,” only to receive a tirade about what a terrible person “So-and-so” really is. I’ve had people tell me how awful someone is, and when I reply, “That person is a good friend of mine,” – or worse yet, “That person is a member of my family,” the person complaining starts to back-pedal … and on at least one occasion, the person persisted to the point I had to end the discussion. Apparently he never comprehended my repeated phrase, “you are talking about my family.” I’ve had people tell me, “You have never lived around this minority or that one … you have no idea how they behave.”
I do not operate in absolutes. I’m not saying all of my friends and family members are perfect and never have a bad moment. I’m not saying that any group of people doesn’t have “bad apples.” But I’m saying that we are hard on people … and often, we want others to come along for the ride and agree with us. And this is how terrible misunderstandings and the mistreatment of others begins.
Suppose someone told you that a friend of yours sent out a vicious e-mail that resulted in getting people you hang around with in trouble at school … or even expelled. Suppose you never saw the e-mail for yourself … but you readily assumed that the person accused of sending it did so. And you and the rest of your buddies were very tough on this person … to the point of ostracizing them and being downright rude and unkind toward them. And then suppose you found out that the person you accused of sending the vicious e-mail never did so … somewhere down the line, a false accusation had been made.
I won’t repeat the story, because I’ve shared it in a devo before, but a version of this happened to me in junior high. The school “bully” distorted something I said on a church trip and caused every single person on the trip to be mad at me to the point that only a couple of them spoke to me the whole bus ride home from Dallas. I don’t know that some of the relationships ever fully recovered, but it was months before the “bully” let it slip one day that she made it all up. It was really hard to forgive some of those who had dissed me – especially people I considered my close friends. They had not believed me… or trusted that I would never say or do those things. They assumed the other person’s story was true.
I can’t say how God dealt with my friends over this, except to tell you I know some were deeply saddened and remorseful for how they had reacted and treated me. And I can only imagine how people would feel if they falsely accused someone of sending a vicious e-mail … or they talked disrespectfully or unkindly about someone only to find out they were bad-mouthing a dear friend or relative.
I don’t know how God deals with people who spread lies and rumors and try to scare folks into believing one way or another … politically, religiously, socially, or personally. But I know this … the judgment and the retaliation belong to God, not us. We may not see it in our lifetime … those who are mistreated may never realize vindication this side of heaven. But God will deal with injustice … in His time and His way. And I can assure you, if you mistreat others, God will deal with you, and it ain’t gonna be pretty!
The message for today is to use your brain. Think before you pass judgment. Ask yourself … “Have I done the right amount of investigation on my own to form an accurate opinion, or am I trusting the word of someone else?” Be careful how you treat others … mindful that people are “innocent until proven guilty.” Before you disrespect those who do not appear to be “like you,” get to know them and their situation. Ask God to give you an open, loving, generous heart for His people. And at the end of the day, ask Him to have mercy on you and those around you … and compassion for those who are judging you in return!
©2010 Debbie Robus
God will be as hard on you as you are on others! He will treat you exactly as you treat them.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
I have really thought about what to say today. I’ve asked God to give me His message through this scripture passage. Here is what I keep getting …
Many of us operate in assumptions rather than truth. We listen to our friends, our family members, the guy on the television who we deem an “authority” on certain topics, and others … and we formulate our attitudes and positions based on what we hear from them and assume to be truthful. More than once, I have mentioned to someone, “So-and-so is such a nice person,” only to receive a tirade about what a terrible person “So-and-so” really is. I’ve had people tell me how awful someone is, and when I reply, “That person is a good friend of mine,” – or worse yet, “That person is a member of my family,” the person complaining starts to back-pedal … and on at least one occasion, the person persisted to the point I had to end the discussion. Apparently he never comprehended my repeated phrase, “you are talking about my family.” I’ve had people tell me, “You have never lived around this minority or that one … you have no idea how they behave.”
I do not operate in absolutes. I’m not saying all of my friends and family members are perfect and never have a bad moment. I’m not saying that any group of people doesn’t have “bad apples.” But I’m saying that we are hard on people … and often, we want others to come along for the ride and agree with us. And this is how terrible misunderstandings and the mistreatment of others begins.
Suppose someone told you that a friend of yours sent out a vicious e-mail that resulted in getting people you hang around with in trouble at school … or even expelled. Suppose you never saw the e-mail for yourself … but you readily assumed that the person accused of sending it did so. And you and the rest of your buddies were very tough on this person … to the point of ostracizing them and being downright rude and unkind toward them. And then suppose you found out that the person you accused of sending the vicious e-mail never did so … somewhere down the line, a false accusation had been made.
I won’t repeat the story, because I’ve shared it in a devo before, but a version of this happened to me in junior high. The school “bully” distorted something I said on a church trip and caused every single person on the trip to be mad at me to the point that only a couple of them spoke to me the whole bus ride home from Dallas. I don’t know that some of the relationships ever fully recovered, but it was months before the “bully” let it slip one day that she made it all up. It was really hard to forgive some of those who had dissed me – especially people I considered my close friends. They had not believed me… or trusted that I would never say or do those things. They assumed the other person’s story was true.
I can’t say how God dealt with my friends over this, except to tell you I know some were deeply saddened and remorseful for how they had reacted and treated me. And I can only imagine how people would feel if they falsely accused someone of sending a vicious e-mail … or they talked disrespectfully or unkindly about someone only to find out they were bad-mouthing a dear friend or relative.
I don’t know how God deals with people who spread lies and rumors and try to scare folks into believing one way or another … politically, religiously, socially, or personally. But I know this … the judgment and the retaliation belong to God, not us. We may not see it in our lifetime … those who are mistreated may never realize vindication this side of heaven. But God will deal with injustice … in His time and His way. And I can assure you, if you mistreat others, God will deal with you, and it ain’t gonna be pretty!
The message for today is to use your brain. Think before you pass judgment. Ask yourself … “Have I done the right amount of investigation on my own to form an accurate opinion, or am I trusting the word of someone else?” Be careful how you treat others … mindful that people are “innocent until proven guilty.” Before you disrespect those who do not appear to be “like you,” get to know them and their situation. Ask God to give you an open, loving, generous heart for His people. And at the end of the day, ask Him to have mercy on you and those around you … and compassion for those who are judging you in return!
©2010 Debbie Robus
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