What we're capable of

 

As we wrap up this week of prayer, I wanted to briefly talk about, without getting political or upsetting anyone, what we as humans are capable of.
     My husband and I have been watching several Holocaust movies and documentaries lately. One thing that never occurred to me before was that people did an about-face and turned on their Jewish friends, neighbors, and co-workers. For some reason, I thought the Nazis just knew who was Jewish. I never even considered that people were turning them in. Maybe I didn't want to believe it. Anyway, you know what happened from there.
     In our own country, there have been other atrocities. There were the Indians. We had slavery in our country. We've turned on the mentally disabled, Asian-Americans (at least twice in our history), Mexicans, and others. We've demonstrated that we're capable of hatred toward anyone different. It doesn't even have to be skin color or religion. Look at the division between political parties.
     We allow ourselves to get stirred up against whoever is the newest target of choice. We blame them for our troubles. It has to be their fault we're experiencing this, that, or the other because it's certainly not me.
     Look at how often and how easily we're influenced by the views of others. How great would it be if we were more influenced by the views of God our Father?
     I've seen several Tweets lately about Jesus wouldn't do this or that if He were here. If it was an act of love, He most certainly would.
     Look within your own heart and pray to our Father for direction. If you're playing the blame game or having feelings of anger, resentment, bitterness, or hatred against anyone else, pray without ceasing. You can be a significant part of the solution.

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 22:36-40 ESV

The blame game
The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Genesis 3:12-13 ESV

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 3:23 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
John 3:16-21 ESV

*********

Please join me this week in praying for guidance. Let's ask our Father to show us our sin, to show us where we're at fault and how we can make things better in our everyday interactions with others. Let's also pray for softened hearts, discernment, and wisdom in all situations. Pray that God helps us become more Christlike so that nonbelievers will see us and respond by seeking Him.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @7DegreesOfMe
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

#7thHourPrayerPower #bibleverse #bible #sin #blame #Christlike #wisdom #guidance #prayer #forgiveness #confess #love #hatred #racism #division #grace

This is a test

 

Whenever our week of prayer here brings the focus inward, one of two things inevitably happens: either God uses that time to test my resolve, or Satan steps up the spiritual warfare. 

     I talked to a Pastor last weekend about that and asked him how do I know which is happening? He said to ask God. Why didn't I think of that?!

     So when this week ended up being one of those times, I took his advice. Yesterday I got down on my knees and asked God what was happening. First off, there's something about praying on your knees, or bowing, or laying in the prone position that seems to strengthen our prayer. I confess I hardly ever do any of those things (I talk to God in the car a lot), but I'm going to make it part of the daily prayer life now. I want to totally submit to Him, and to do that, my physical person needs to be in a position of submission as well as my heart and mind.

     As a result (I believe), God answered me right away. "This is a test." Well, I'm just the brown-noser, the push-up-my-glasses-nerd-type person at heart. If it's a test, then I want to get an A+. Anything less might as well be utter failure. My resolve strengthened, I faced my day with a renewed sense of trying hard to be Christlike in whatever situation God threw at me. 

     Honestly, if I'm being generous, I got a D- yesterday. Outwardly I behaved okay when faced with adversity, but inwardly I was angry and resentful and a little bit bitter. I talked about it with my husband and some friends. A Twitter friend said I was doing a good job (thank you, Elizabeth), but I didn't feel like I was. It made me feel depressed. Actually, I've felt depressed all week. So last evening, I did my best to do things for others, which helped me feel better. 

     Today is a new day, and I'm going to try-try-again. Has your week been any different since you've been praying for guidance, for God to show you your sin and/or where you're at fault?

     God loves us so much. The least we can do is try to do right by Him.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, 

so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV

About the above photo:

Back in the day, this was a thing that randomly showed up on our TVs. There was a loud noise, this picture, and then the announcement, "This is a test." Or, "This has been a test of the emergency broadcast system. If there had been an actual emergency..." I can't believe I remember all of that from my childhood, but yet I can't seem to remember what day it is.

*********

Please join me this week in praying for guidance. Let's ask our Father to show us our sin, to show us where we're at fault and how we can make things better in our everyday interactions with others. Let's also pray for softened hearts, discernment, and wisdom in all situations. Pray that God helps us become more Christlike so that nonbelievers will see us and respond by seeking Him.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @7DegreesOfMe
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

#7thHourPrayerPower #bibleverse #bible #sin #humilty #test #Christlike #question #blame #betrayal #wisdom #guidance #prayer #decieved #deception #basicallygood #theFall

Psalm 32:5

 

I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

Psalm 32:5 ESV

*********

Please join me this week in praying for guidance. Let's ask our Father to show us our sin, to show us where we're at fault and how we can make things better in our everyday interactions with others. Let's also pray for softened hearts, discernment, and wisdom in all situations. Pray that God helps us become more Christlike so that nonbelievers will see us and respond by seeking Him.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @7DegreesOfMe
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

#7thHourPrayerPower #bibleverse #bible #sin #humilty #question #blame #betrayal #wisdom #guidance #prayer #decieved #deception #basicallygood #theFall

Are we basically good?

 

I believe we get caught up in other people's worldviews even when it comes to Christianity. We start to go along with the latest trends even when they're perpetrated by non-believers and even when those trends/beliefs contradict the Bible.

     I know I've talked about this before, so I won't rehash the whole thing (I'll share links in the "You may also like" section below), but one of the biggest lies we tell ourselves is that people are basically good. Just because I didn't kill anybody, does not make me good. The Bible says, "as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;" (Romans 3:10 ESV). 

     It's my thinking that we take this concept and double down on it when it comes to ourselves. I'm definitely not speaking about everyone, and it seems to be a lot more prevalent in non-believers and there are a lot of people who go to the opposite extreme, so take some of these general statements with a grain of salt, and stick with me for a minute:

     What occurred to me was that some people just cannot see that what they do or say is "bad." For example, let's say "Don" is one of those people. He spends his workday cursing, yelling, pushing his weight around. Everything has to be his way or the highway. The thermostat is set to his liking. The office organization is based on how he works. If someone doesn't answer his call, he leaves threatening messages. 

     In his mind, he's just doing what needs to be done. If any of his employees take offense, he turns it back on them. There must be something wrong with them if they're cold. There must be something wrong with them if they can't understand his filing system. He even lets his clients know that there must be something wrong with them if they don't return his calls. 

     A lot of this type of behavior is because no one ever corrected him when he was growing up. No one told him it was wrong to be threatening. No one taught him how to work with others, to discuss matters, to compromise. So he has always lived under the assumption that he's good. He's right. He's behaving normally. 

     As sinful man, we need to be taught right from wrong. The major things, like killing, we all know are wrong, but the less obvious things like pride, selfishness, deceit, and betrayal need to be cleansed from our hearts also.

     I guess what I'm saying is that we need to own up to being sinful creatures; we are the descendants of Adam and Eve. The result of their sin still fills us today. We, as Christians, need to be in the word so that we know truth amid the lies the world would have us believe.

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

1 John 1:8 ESV

You may also like:

- Show me my sin

- The hard truth

- Are you fooling yourself?

*********

Please join me this week in praying for guidance. Let's ask our Father to show us our sin, to show us where we're at fault and how we can make things better in our everyday interactions with others. Let's also pray for softened hearts, discernment, and wisdom in all situations. Pray that God helps us become more Christlike so that nonbelievers will see us and respond by seeking Him.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @7DegreesOfMe
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

#7thHourPrayerPower #bibleverse #bible #sin #humilty #question #blame #betrayal #wisdom #guidance #prayer #decieved #deception #basicallygood #theFall

A new lens

There are so many different ways to look at this idea of acknowledging our potential for sin, taking responsibility for our sin, shifting blame onto others, looking within -- I hardly know where to start.
     Looking at Mark 14:19 in this light (read yesterday's post if you missed it) really made me turn inward and think of various relationships. How many times have I assumed it was the other person's fault that we didn't get along? How many times have I assumed I was in the right and he/she was in the wrong? I've spoken many times about my problem with pride; it makes sense that I would assume the other person was wrong. Now that I'm working on humility, maybe I should revisit the relationship issues I'm having and see how those problems look when held up to the "Is it I?" lens.
     - There's the relationship with the bully client. Is there something I can do to eliminate some of his anxieties? Not that I believe the victim is the one who needs to make concessions, but in a situation like this where it's part of my job and I can't escape it (other than quitting), I need to find a way that we can work together.
     - There's the relationship with a prideful coworker. I quit fighting him a long time ago but recently we've had to work in closer proximity to each other and so those urges I have of correcting him came flooding back. It didn't go over well. Now our offices are nearly 20 feet apart so I can begin working on just letting go when he does things or says things that I believe are wrong.
     - Finally, there's my relationship with my spouse. Instead of blaming him for any problems we have, can I first look at myself and see if there's something I can do to make things better? I have tried in the past and it does make a difference.

     For me, I believe my intentions are good when I try to work on things like this, but then, for whatever reason, my attitude changes back to one of futility and so I give up. A lot of it is probably Satan. You know that whenever we try to become more Christlike, Satan gets all freaked out and interferes. His number one weapon is causing conflict in our relationships. Don't let him win. Fight the good fight. Look within. Pray for help and strength from our loving, caring Father. Ask God to show you if it's you who's at fault and what you can do to fix the situation. He answers us; we just need to ask the questions.

But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, 

“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

James 4:6 ESV

Toward the scorners he is scornful, 

but to the humble he gives favor.

Proverbs 3:34 ESV

You may also like:
- Are you deceived?
- Why marriage isn't easy

*********

Please join me this week in praying for guidance. Let's ask our Father to show us our sin, to show us where we're at fault and how we can make things better in our everyday interactions with others. Let's also pray for softened hearts, discernment, and wisdom in all situations. Pray that God helps us become more Christlike so that nonbelievers will see us and respond by seeking Him.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @7DegreesOfMe
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

#7thHourPrayerPower #bibleverse #bible #sin #humilty #question #blame #betrayal #wisdom #guidance #prayer #decieved #deception 

Is it I?

 

Yesterday during our Women's Bible Study it seemed like God was giving me all of these great ideas to write and pray about this week. During the church service, God seemed to give me even more ideas. Usually, there's just one thing that He says, "this is it," so I was getting really confused until close to the end of the sermon.

     The Pastor read Mark 14:19, a verse I've read many, many times, and always questioned, how could each disciple think it possible that Jesus was talking about him?

 

18 And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” 

19 They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, “Is it I?” 

Mark 14:18-19 ESV

     The Pastor said that the disciples were showing their humility. They knew that every man was/is capable of any transgression. It's our sinful nature. The disciples didn't put themselves above others. The Pastor asked, how likely would we be to question ourselves in a similar situation? Wouldn't we be more apt to point fingers at everyone else and assume it couldn't possibly be us?

     That's what stuck with me from yesterday. Every time I've read that passage over the years - that's the thing that didn't sit right with me. It didn't sit right because it's not how I would've reacted. I would have assumed it was anyone else but me. It sounds horrible to admit, but I'm being honest and transparent. What an eye-opener!

     So, what about you? How would you have responded to Jesus' announcement?

You may also like:

- Be patient with each other

- Serve with humility

- Pray for humility

*********

Please join me this week in praying for guidance. Let's ask our Father to show us our sin, to show us where we're at fault and how we can make things better in our everyday interactions with others. Let's also pray for softened hearts, discernment, and wisdom in all situations. Pray that God helps us become more Christlike so that nonbelievers will see us and respond by seeking Him.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @7DegreesOfMe
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

#7thHourPrayerPower #bibleverse #bible #sin #humilty #question #blame #betrayal #wisdom #guidance #prayer