Think About It

What attitude or tone comes out of your mouth when you give voice to your thoughts or feelings?

What is being heard by those around you as you speak, react or express yourself.

Sitting in the restaurant this morning I heard a group of guys talking. Politics. Sports…the conversation ran the gamut of male topics.

So much of their conversation was sarcastic and negative.
They made fun of and were lightly, and sometimes heavily, demeaning to most of the people who came up in the discussion.

What do those who hear your words….hear?

Is it uplifting?
Are your words cynical and cutting?

Think before you speak.

Think about the weight of your words.

Consider who is listening to you.
If it’s a locker room and the talk is jocular….that’s one thing.

But when you leave that temporary atmosphere…leave that attitude and those words behind.

Cutting up and cutting down can get old……quick.

Cynicism coming out of your mouth continually…. reveals a heart filled with spite and destruction.

Encouraging words filling your conversation gives evidence of a spirit full of Light and Joy.

What effect do you words bring?

What do your children hear when you watch television with them as your react or comment on the show?

What does your wife hear from you as you come in from work and comment on your day or co-workers or customers…or your boss, if you have one??

What do those in your house hear when you talk about those people who are your friends?

Consider your words.

Think before you speak.

Know that your spoken words reveal what lies beneath the surface in your life, in your mind and heart.

And when it’s spoken…Good or bad,,,Light or Dark…
It’s being heard and is effective to the positive or to the negative…in the hearts and minds of those hearing you.

Terry
October 2015

LIGHT

Read a devotion today which used the scripture from John 9….

“As long as I am in the world, I am The Light of the world”.

I will encourage you to see this statement extended to you.

As long as YOU are in this world…
and as Christ is in you…
YOU to are the light of the world.

In His initial Treatise on the mountain side He said this.

Because of Christs Presence in you
You are that same LIGHT

Read John 14:12
Matthew 5:14,15,16
John 17:23

You can shade that Light

Don’t.

If you think you do not have that Light in you,
and you are a Disciple of Christ…
you are filling your mind with incorrect information.

Read John 14:12
Matthew 5: 14, 15, 16
Read John 17:23

If you call yourself a believer…
Then allow the Light in you to be revealed.

If you think it’s not in you…talk to someone who you DO see that Light shining out of.

Man cannot see without Light.
Jesus came to literally and figuratively bring
“Sight to the Blind”.

Read John 14: 12
Matthew 5: 14, 15, 16
John 17: 23

Bring Light.
Bring sight..

Terry
October, 3015

I was in a hurry today, went to eat lunch, had to sit at the counter. > After about two minutes another guy sat next to me.
We have this sense of space and anything closer than about three to four feet is a bit abnormal and can be uncomfortable. Generally, people feel like they HAVE to say something…
but do not want to.

I tend to speak to people at these times.

In these circumstances….if you feel the PUSH to speak….you should.
If you resist and neglect the PUSH, you are silencing what could be an important moment in your life, or the life of the person next to you.

The biblical reference says not to “quench” this PUSH.

I asked the guys name, told him mine. Commented on the crowd at the restaurant.
He said he had not been to this establishment in years.
I told him to come back for breakfast and try the french toast, which I believe is the best in town.

Just simple conversation.

I then asked him the “man-question”….. “What do you do?”

Simple, general, everyday question.
He told me.
Seeing that we were roughly in the same age group I mentioned that many guys our age are aimed at retiring.
He nodded. I told him I loved what I do and do not plan on retiring.
He said that his current occupation used to be his hobby… therefore he would not retire because his hobby was now what he did everyday.
We talked about how liking what you do, along with being healthy is essential to working and not retiring.

I said what I say often….that the Bible says nothing about retiring. Retiring might be restricting the workmanship placed within you and it might be failing the gifts and talents we are meant to fulfill.

He then mentioned his health and how several years ago he had suffered injuries from a car wreck where a drunk driver hit him head-on. He talked about how the health issues restrict him at times.

General conversation with someone I had never met, ten minutes before…now was leading to this stranger telling me a very personal part of his history.

The PUSH I had felt earlier came into clear vision as my new acquaintance revealed some of the struggle he had with his earlier job and how it lead him to change things.

I then told him I would pray that his health improve.

He then said he believed that prayer works and he would appreciate the thoughts.
Then he told me he believed in prayer and that he followed Christ.

I had just met someone I had never known, that I would now know forever.

Never once did I refer to my Church or that he needed to do anything. I responded to the PUSH.

Respond to the PUSH.

Speak to people who come into close contact with you.

Never restrict what might be a vitally important moment in a life.
It’s not for you to judge why the PUSH occurred, it’s not yours to rationalize that you might be bothering or interfering with someone’s day.

What happened to the “women at the well” when she was spoken to? > Did she generate the conversation?

What occurred to the short, tax collector when he was told he would be hosting guests for Dinner?

Lives were forever altered.
Simple conversations can bring eternal changes.

It’s just engaging another in everyday dialogue …..
and allowing the knowledge and workmanship in you to be revealed.

Do not neglect the PUSH.

Just talk to those around you.
Allow what’s in you to come out.

These conversations are the most fundamental aspect of what The Nazarene did and what He desires those who have received His Workmanship to share.

Terry
October, 2015

Corners

You cannot have a dwelling that is secure
without corners holding up the walls and roof.

Corners can provide strength and security for
a building, house and any structure.

At the same time …
there are corners one can get into that lead to fear, depression and retreat.

I know someone who used to get into a corner financially and emotionally …
and his addictions would rise and flare and lead him into depths of drunkenness, loneliness and self hatred.

Corners can be a place of strength.
Corners can be a place where some feel trapped
with no way out.

I believe we are called to
be that strength for others when they are feeling trapped and without help.

We will not know that though unless we are involved in their lives before they get cornered.

Be a corner man before the need arises.

Open the eyes given you,

Open the ears placed near your brain to hear and understand .., and get involved in the lives of the people placed in your circle.

Be expanding that circle.

In someone’s corner
you can be a source of stability, of strength,
of consistency and of positive influence.

Your words can bring Light into the darkness they feel engulfs them.

Your willingness to listen allows them the chance to be heard.

Do you realize how valuable it is to feel as though someone is listening to you… and hearing you?

Your simple presence can give them reassurance in their value as a person.

In that Corner there is.a time for coaching,
for correcting
for encouraging,
for healing ….
and sometimes there is just time spent in their presence without any words.

As those angles in a structure …
you can be a source of strength, stability.

You might be the cornerstone in the
Construction of their new existence.

It can be that you are being the “fifth Gospel”.

The most successful fighters in the Ring or the Octagon would not be where they are without those in their corner.

Get there.

I would bet you know someone who needs you there.

Terry
October 2015

Jump The Route

With experience or just a sense of things, the defender senses the next few steps,  sees the glance of the quarterbacks eyes,  takes the forceful steps and jumps the route, intercepts the pass and heads off to change the Game.

The sport does not matter, I was instructed
to jump the route in basketball as well as football.

I was fortunate to see, sense and then jump the route several times in both sports.

I want to be found to have jumped the route in a few peoples lives.

It’s anticipation.
It’s having sight to see .
It’s experience.

We are in football season so football is the seasonal sport…and we are watching passes being intercepted and routes jumped.

 

Do you see tendencies in anyone’s life right now?
Tendencies leading them in the wrong way?

Do you sense anyone you know leaning the wrong way or looking too much in a direction which will lead them astray?

It’s about anticipation.
It’s about experience.
It’s having sight to see.

If you see or anticipate a leaning or misdirected steps in a life close to you…. Jump the route.

Insert yourself.

Get in the way.

Intercept and lead them to switch direction.

If you saw a defender wearing the jersey you care about …
In position to jump a route and change possession ..,
If you saw them in the position to switch the field….
and they didn’t do it…
you would yell at the television or rise out of your seat and scream.

Jump the route.

Switch the field.

Don’t be nice and stay away…
interject yourself to change the direction.

Dig in with your spiritual cleats …
Watch the tendencies of those around you, placed in your domain by the Author of the Game…
and be ready to jump the route leading them astray.

It’s the act of a shepherd.

It’s the heart of a Father.

It’s the care of a friend.

If you wait too long the opportunity is missed and the route will be on its wrong way.

We have to be willing to look bad…
We have to be willing to get beat….. as any good defender knows.

Yet…
those in our coverage area require
our attention,
our anticipation,
our experience and
our willingness to
jump the route we see and switch the momentum in their lives.

Jump the route.

Terry
October 2015