Good Monday morning...
Coffee brewing in the kitchen...
"Gurgling" of the percolator is a joy to these old ears.
Percolator?
Yes....I use a percolator.
Old school coffee....
Eight O' Clock for your sipping pleasure.
It was a good weekend...busy, but good.
Many phone calls from others who were looking for help.
It's hard to distinguish what is "help" and what is a "handout".
Not my place to figure that one out. My place is to be obedient to what God tells me to do. The usage of said help will be on the recipient, not on the giver.
For me, naps are the order of the day when Sunday rolls around.
A great lunch is always followed by a great nap.
Once stirred from the nap, this is followed by coffee to awaken me from gentle slumber.
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Matthew 15:8
These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
This verse has always been a mirror that I use to see myself.
A mirror in which I make sure everything is alright.
It asks the question, "Why do I honor and worship God?"
Is it for the right reason, but has such become a mundane ritual that I go through simply because I want to look good to those around me?
Sing the songs with gusto and feeling....
Lift my hands during the service, in hopes that others will view my posture and think me to be a godly man.
Underline my Bible to the degree that if others should view it, they would think me a scholar of royal dimensions.
Or do I worship and honor God because I truly am in touch that He is the lover of my soul.
He is the one I owe allegiance to, not this world. Imagine it like this, if we were God....
You go to a wonderful restaurant with the one who proclaims that they love you.
You order the best of the menu...
The atmosphere and ambiance of the room is perfect.
You sit at the table, and there across from you is the person that you love.
They take hold of your hand, look deep in your eyes and tell you the most wonderful things about why and how much they love you. The evening is perfect.
But.....
All the while this is taking place, the one proclaiming their love is thinking of another they'd rather be with.
The lips say one thing...
But the heart desires another...
Such is the same when we worship God with lip service, but our hearts have affection for sin and the things of this world.
I call it "Spiritual Adultery".
The problem in our case is that God already knows the condition of our hearts and the motivation of our actions. In other words, we're uncovered, yet we think we've fooled Him.
And we wonder why our lives are a mess...
Why we never seem to receive blessings from God...
It is because we don't truly love Him...
We love the world...
We love the shiny baubles and beads....the cheap roadside trinkets that the world offers to us.
We desire the temporary things of this world over the eternal things of God.
Forgive me, Lord!
Forgive me for playing the religious game.
Forgive me of hiding behind a facade of falseness in order to appear that I truly do love you.
What is the answer?
Truth of who we really are...
Confession of what our hearts really want...
Forgiveness from a God who loves us and finds value in who and what we could be, under the construction and guidance of His Holy Spirit.
Receive that forgiveness....
In short...we need a divine realization of who God is..
We need to fall in love with Him.
Isn't that the greatest commandment?
Spoken from Jesus' lips?
"Love the Lord God with all you heart...as well as mind, strength etc...etc..."?
Yes it is...
Maybe instead of trying the change myself....
Instead of trying to better myself...
I should pour myself into loving God...
Finding gratitude in spite of what state our life is in...
Giving thanks for what we have received from God...
Don't dwell on what you don't have, or what others do have...
This is about God and us, as individuals.
Let your worth and your words be filled with praise to God.
Sing praises in the shower to God...
Shout to Him as you drive to work this morning....
Memorize a verse today that speaks to you, and then recite it over and over during the day.
Let His love rule in your heart....
And one last thing...
Go out and have a great Monday.
God on you...
mb
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