NO GARBAGE ALLOWED

I had to escape. They were dropping sticky garbage on everyone in the room. We all just sat there. Some looked uncomfortable, but said nothing. Some seemed curious. Others leaned forward in their chairs and opened their ears and eyes to receive more.

            ”I am not a public garbage can.” I thought.” I do not have the controls on the television, nor do I have the right to control what they chose. But I do have the right to determine what goes into my mind and spirit.”

Doctor’s offices! Nail salons! Almost every public place I visited that week had a television blasting with sounds and pictures. Whatever happened to silence?

  This TV program was over the top. There was no other place to wait while they repaired my car so I decided to go outside and walk. I walked past a NO SMOKING sign, and mumbled. Too bad you don’t have a NO GARBAGE sign.

The sunshine and the gentle wind provided a cleansing atmosphere as I walked and fumed. “Lord, cleanse me from the images and words I just heard.” I still didn’t feel at peace. Then I realized I had to forgive them. “Okay Lord, I forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing.”  My anger subsided. A bird chirped and seemed to tell me I had made a good decision.

Scripture: “Here is a last piece of advice. If you believe in goodness and if you value the approval of God, fix your minds on the things which are holy and right and pure and beautiful and good.” Philippians 4:8 (J.B. Phillips)

Be a Hypocrite

The smile on my face was stiff. I hoped the new lady at my hometown church didn't notice as I listened to her incessant complaining. After all I had asked, "Do you like it since you moved here?"

There wasn't one thing that she liked about her life or the town. I continued to nod, smile and control my facial expressions. She was talking to me, but I was talking to God while she continued to brerate everything. "LORD, I know I"m supposed to love her, but I don't even like her. "

The question came inside me, "What would you do if you did love her?"

"I'd invite her to dinner and help her adjust because she doesn't know anyone."

"Then do that."

"But I would be a hypocrite if I did that," was my response.

Silence. I knew there was something wrong with my response. "Oh,  I get it. I'm strugging between what you want me to do, and what my flesh wants to do. If that is being a hypocrite then I choose to be a hypocrite. You want to love her through me."

She chose to come to my church. She still talked a lot, but she tried to control her tongue as she grew as a Christian. And when I wanted the truth I asked her.

Scripture:"...let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." 1 John 3:18

Instant Replay

     I don't know why the memory came. Maybe I saw something. Maybe I heard something. Maybe I smelled something. But suddenly I was reliving a past movie that I never wanted to watch again. Waves of pain, anger, and disappointment surged through my mind, my body and emotion. Finally my spirit got involved and spoke to me.

     "Forgiveness is the answer. Since you experienced it again you need forgiveness again." But I didn't want to. Forgiveness seemed to make what had been done unimportant. If I forgave then it made the deed okay. It wasn't okay. It hurt deeply. It fractured a friendship. It changed the future.

     Finally, I realized that my pride was making me refuse forgiveness. I thought that this offense made me higher than the laws that God had set up. 

     I John 1:9 said that If I confessed and agreed with him that it was sin then he would forgive and cleanse from all unrighteousness. 

     I painfully went through each part of the incident and confessed. Then I forgave myself. Actually I  finally realized that He had cleansed me, and it was over. He was not going to remember it. So why should I let my shame and disappointment bring it up.

Scripture: Jeremiah 31:34 "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

Eyes of Love

Eyes of Love
We were sitting on the couch, and I hugged my wiggly  six-year-old granddaughter Joy. 

Looking up at me she declared, ”Grandma, A lady loves me”

“Did your mother tell you that Joy?”

“No.”

“Did the lady tell you that ?”

“No.”     

“How do you know she loves you?”

“I saw it in her eyes.”

That sentence jolted me. “Where did you see this lady?”

“At Wal-Mart.” she answered with excitement.

      Another jolt. My mind began to wonder how many people looked into my eyes and saw love while I shopped. How many people were desperate for a look of love while I refused to see them? Ouch! That thought hurt.

I was careful what I allowed my eyes to see. But after my Joy girl shared I realized my eyes were used to receive and give.  Not only were they receptacles, but they were transmitters. They gave and received light or darkness. Love or indifference.                                                                

      Question: Am I willing to interrupt my day to look at people?

Scripture: “Your eye is a lamp, lighting up your whole body.  If you live wide-eyed in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light…” Luke 11:34 (MSG)