Thought for April 29, 2024

  •  1429: Joan oif Arc arrives at Orleans
  • 1764: John Newton ordained a deacon -- "Amazing Grace"
  • 1852: First edition of Roget's Thesaurus published
  • 1918: Tris Speaker has 4 unassisted double plays
  • 1943: Dietrich Bonhoeffer arrested by Nazis
  • 1945: 31,601 liberated from Dachau
  • 1961: Wide World of Sports premiers
  • 1990: Wrecking balls begin destruction of Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate
  • 1992: Rodney King riots begin after policemen acquitted
  • 2004: Last Oldsmobile produced
  • 2018: "The Simpsons" passes "Gunsmoke" in number of episodes
  • Born: William Randolph Hearst, Duke Ellington, Hirohito, Danny Davis [Nashville Brass], Rod McKuen, Willie Nelson, Zubin Mehta, Bernie Madoff, Duane Allen [Oak Ridge Boys], Johnny Miller, Dale Earnhardt, Jerry Seinfeld, Michelle Pfeiffer, Reggie Miller, Andre Agassi, Uma Thurman, Jay Cutler, Justin Thomas
  • Died: Abraham Gesner [kerosene], Alfred Hitchcock, John Kenneth Galbraith, Bob Hoskins, Calvin Peete
Thought:
I have turned to Proverbs 6:16-19 this morning. Have you ever encountered a situation and wondered, "how does the Lord feel about this?" I often find myself asking God to show me His will  for a situation and praying for wisdom to know His will. When I do that, He sometimes responds with these 4 verses in Proverbs. Read these very straightforward words with me. Here are seven things that God hates. Notice that the first 5 start at the top of my head and go to my feet. In the morning we often put on the full armor of God beginning with the helmet of salvation. Maybe these are things that we should make sure we take off every morning before we start our day.
  • Haughty eyes. Arrogance and pride are an abomination to the Lord. Why? When I am haughty, I begin to think that I am God, I am in control, I am the most important person. Scripture tells me to humble myself under the mighty hand of God and that He will exalt me at the right time. I am a slave, a servant, a child---He is the Master, the Ruler, the King. Haughty eyes get this relationship backwards. But haughty eyes also reflect my view of others. Arrogance and pride make me think that I am worth more, more important than others. This is not loving my neighbor as myself. This morning, my first thoughts ought to be about who He is and who I am, then about how that fact changes my relationship with others.
  • A lying tongue. I have noticed in my life that pride, haughtiness, leads me to lying--maybe not blatant lies but lies that elevate me and put others down. As I think about it this morning, pride is a form of lying, because it is not the truth. Pride leads to a problem my father identified for me as a teenager--your tongue is writing checks your body cannot cash. My mouth was saying things that were leading to conflict.  
  • Hands that shed innocent blood. Pride and lying and listening to lies can lead to blood shed. My pride, my lies, my bragging, my elevating of self and demeaning others leads to conflict. And this makes me recall the teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount--murder is not just killing someone, it is viewing them and treating them as without value or less value than me. It may be killing them with my words.
  • A heart that devises wicked plans. Maybe I have not used my tongue wrongly and maybe I have not shed innocent blood, but in my heart I am thinking about all the ways I would like to get even, punish that person, see that person fail or be hurt. I wish someone else would put them down. 
  • Feet that run toward evil. Am I quick to join into a evil scheme or activity. Maybe I don't come up with the plan myself, but am I eager to join in the evil plans of others. Do I encourage them to act on their evil plans, egg them on, or am I a peacemaker? 
  • A false witness. This could just mean lying in court. But thinking about these other sins, maybe this refers to my life --filled with pride, lying, wicked heart, joining the evil plans of others--makes me a false witness for Jesus. I calim to be a little Christ -- a Christian-- but then my heart and my actions evidence something else. I am a false witness for the Lord.
  • One who spreads strife. This one should be deleted from the Bible because it hits too close to home. Do I strive for unity in the body or do I take pleasure in spreading rumors, being critical, questioning authority, complaining. 
Lord, examine me today--point out those things in my life that offend You and help me conform to the image of Jesus. 

Blessings
Larry

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thought for July 19

History: 1553: Lady Jane Gray deposed after 9 days 1692: 5 people hung during Salem Witch Trials 1848: First women's rights convention -Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. Wesleyan Chapel at Seneca Falls NY 1910: Cy Young wins his 500th game 1941: US Army flying school at Tuskegee AL dedicated 1945: USS Cod saves 51 sailors from Dutch sub--only sub-to-sub rescue 1957: Firing of first rocket with nuclear warhead-Nevada 1984: Geraldine Ferraro is first major party female VP candidate 1996: Olympics open in Atlanta 2007: Madmen debuts 2018: Duck Boat sinks in Table Rock Lake killing 17 Born: Samuel Colt, Edgar Degas [painter], Lizzie Borden, Charles Mayo [Mayo Clinic], George McGovern, Al Haig, George Hamilton IV, Vikki Carr, Ilie Nastase, Stuart Scott, Benedict Cumberbatch,  Died: Syngman Rhee [President South Korea], Clyde Beatty [circus animal trainer], Mary Jo Kopechne [passenger with Ted Kennedy], Jack Warden, Frank McCourt [Angela's Ashes], James Garner, Garry Marshall
Read more

Thought for November 23, 2023

Happy Thanksgiving!  1664: Blaise Pascal is converted following a vision. He wrote the date and time of his conversion and said, "Fire. The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. Not of philosophers and intellectuals. Certitude, certitude, joy, peace. The God of Jesus Christ." Laid the foundation for the law of probabilities; genius in hydrodynamics and hydrostatics developing Pascal's principle of pressure; taught the experience of God through the heart rather than reason; mathematician and philosopher. 1783: Annapolis Maryland becomes U.S. Capitol until June 1784 1863: Patent for making color photographs granted 1889: First jukebox debuts in Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco 1897: Pencil sharpener patented 1904: Summer Olympics in St. Louis close [1st Olymics in U.S.] 1921: President Harding signs an Act prohibiting doctors from prescribing beer or liquor for medicinal purposes 1923: Cecil B. DeMille's first "The Ten Commandments" premiers
Read more

Thought for April 5, 2024

1722: Easter Island discovered 1792: First Presidential veto 1815: Mt. Tambora erupts. Largest eruption ever witnessed. Created year without summer in 1816--frost and snow in North America in June and July. Largest part of eruption on April 10th. Killed 10,000 in initial blast.  1906: Mt. Vesuvius erupts killing 100 1923: Firestone begins producing inflatable tires 1936: Tupelo almost completely destroyed by a tornado--216 die 1972: Baseball strike costs 86 games 2063: On "Star Trek", earth has its first contact with the Vulcan species Born: Thomas Hobbes, Joseph Lister, Booker T Washington, Spencer Tracy, Bette Davis, Gregory Peck, Arthur Hailey. Gale Storm, Frank Gorshin, Colin Powell, Pharrell Williams Died: Robert Raikes [Sunday School], Douglas MacArthur, Howard Hughes, Abe Fortas, Sam Walton, Allen Ginsberg, Saul Bellow, Charlton Heston, Honor Blackman Thought: Reading Daniel 1:5-7 this morning. Continuing with the thoughts about Nebuchadnezzar's plan. Having brough
Read more