When you read the Scriptures do you retain it in your “heart” as well as your head ?

It is said that a politician once made the comment that they read The Bible and sought ethical guidance from It.

There is no better place to receive ethical guidance.
There is no better place to receive practical knowledge about relationships and moral living.
Reading Proverbs and learning Its lessons would allow one to exist peacefully and well in any society.

The Pharisees knew the ethical attributes and exact wording of the Law and The Old Testament….yet Jesus came strongly against them, condemned their arrogance for knowing the Scriptures but refusing the spiritual aspect.

He railed against them because they had grown to feel superior through their mere knowledge, they had grown irresponsible to their flock because they had retained knowledge without having that knowledge affect their hearts.

It did affect their behavior…although not to the positive.

Too much pure knowledge will lead to conceit and retreat from those lacking the same.

Too much knowledge without the affectation of a tender spirit and humbled heart will lead to Pharisee-type attitudes and an outlook that those without the “superior” knowledge are beneath you.

Paul was sent into the Arabian desert, not to become a  scholar of the Law….
he had that retained knowledge when he was Saul and killing messianic Jews.

He was sent into the desert to receive instruction from the same Comforter and Counselor from Whom we receive instruction.

He was sent there for 1000+ days to gain time and the influence of experience….and a humility before the Author of that experience.

Knowledge and Humility along with experience gives one a deep abiding, assured
and secured position in their spiritual walk.

 

EPINOSIS is deep experiential knowledge.

 

It is the melding of The Word and The Experience of walking over time, in and with, The Spirit of God.

It’s similar to the longing and yearning of courtship combined with the committed and completed vows and sanctification of marriage…. over time.

These two together promote the deep experiential knowledge of each other that comes slowly to a couple walking together through life and it’s winding road.

Scriptural, or better yet, spiritual
EPINOSIS allows the pursuant believer to LIVE the LIFE of Christ
and to fully and humbly translate the Christian experience to those unfamiliar with it…..without seeming “holier than thou”.

Pursue scriptural knowledge.
It’s our weapon to combat and refute the attacks of our common enemy.

If successful Christian lives teach us anything, it’s that knowing Scripture, along with a continually deepening, experienced walk with The Holy Spirit
brings an existence which will be noticed because of its difference from the walk of others.

It’s a life and a walk that will be looked at and longed for by those around you.

It’s a life getting close to the intentionality of The Creator.

And when they inquire of you…
as to the Hope and Peace within you,
you will be able to give voice and reason, with humility, for those gifted traits.

 

Terry
from September 2016

 

A song I heard had these lines….
“You wash me in Your Mercy,
You make me clean”

I recommend listening to this Song……entitled, “Clean”.

Consider people with a heavy history, a past weighted with wrong doing which burdens their minds, hearts and opportunity.
Consider how their vision forward is clouded by the darkness of their earlier decisions.

They need and look for cleansing.

Freedom and Release are things not experienced by those weighted and burdened by their past.

The future, however, is clean….
no decisions made there yet.

Pray for those you know in need of that “mercy washing”.

In theory…. we all need it daily.
Specifically, there are those who have never received it.

Pray specifically for those.

Pray for the “washing” of their minds, to free them from guilt and self-condemnation. Pray for their hearts that they would be strong in the forgiveness received. Pray that their relationships be healed and an opportunity for restitution and reconciliation be available.

Being washed gives liberty from the “dirt”.
Being cleansed allows us to see Light
and walk forward into that clear and clean future…..
awaiting our new decisions.

 

Terry
September 2016

 

In sports one should never enter the arena without a desire and passion to win. Someone will win, someone will lose.

In business, winning is not a zero sum game as sports usually is.
In business, there are, most times, enough chances to allow many boats to rise the tide of opportunity.

In relationships, winning is sometimes losing. If you are always out to win…. you may find your relationships short-lived.
Winning an argument may give you satisfaction in one area…to the depletion of satisfaction in another.

One can win a ” fight” with the spouse…
and destroy the others self-confidence.

In a marital relationship, when words are exchanged with tension or raised voices…an examination of the intent
without a rationalization of ones position might allow the insight that brings an apology.

Dying to a position or stance can win over ones spouse because backing away from destruction or domination reveals a heart that… even in a disagreement ….
loves more than it desires to win.

Gaining the whole world but losing ones soul is parallel to going balls out
to win an argument which in turn destroys the heart and spirit of the girl you pursued so passionately years ago.

Going to the wall is an absolute in the arena ….it can be right in the business world… but count the cost before going that distance in a relationship.

It might be too far.

I have a very close friend who got quite mad at me once for not doing what he thought I should. I chose not to allow that tension to affect my feelings toward him. I made no retaliatory comments.

About a week later,
he asked me if I “still loved him”.

I did.
I told him I did and said nothing about
the earlier tension.

In the middle of this competitive sports season when by all rights, Coaches should be displeased with
bad performance even in a big win…

And in this soon-to-be-Fall season when business emphasizes finishing strong ….

Be careful to count the cost for that same behavior ….relationally.

Don’t fuss about the house being a mess…. If your clothes are not in their proper place. Be careful not to make comments about your spouses appearance… if you are physically amiss.

Boys speak before they think…
Men should not.

Winning isn’t always winning.

Terry
September 2016

 

Heard TD Jakes speaking earlier, being interviewed about all of the activities and efforts he is engaged in. His Church, television, teaching, movies.

He made the comment…
” I want to see what’s in me”.

I want to see what’s in me…..
I buy into that.

Let’s buy into that.

Time can be managed.
Days can be scheduled and managed
Life, here, is only so long.

Let’s see what’s in us.

We hear Football Coaches this time of year talk and school players to…

“play 60 minutes”.

They say repeatedly…
“Play hard every play…games are decided by a few big plays…play hard every play”.

You have heard it…
“practice is where you learn”
“Practice is where you prepare to win”
“Practice hard…to win”

Spiritually,
practice is getting in the Word daily.

Doing so enables one to “make the plays” when the time comes.

Prepare yourself in some way…
everyday.

If you are 30…
if you are 60…
Let us make every day count for something.
My father died at 55 and he would tell you the time in his life that really counted for good were his last 15 years.

A very famous leader once said about
each day that was before him…
and this published comment is in my pocket everyday…

“God has given me this day
to use as I will.
I can waste it…or use it for good.
What I do today is important,
as I am exchanging a day of my life
for it.
When this day is over it will be
gone forever…
leaving something in its place I have traded for it.
I want it to be a gain, not a loss,
Good, not evil …
Success, not failure…
in order that I should not regret the
price I paid for it”.

Read that last phrase again….

“in order that I should not regret the price I paid for it.”

 

Let us maximize today.

Seize the day.

Let us use the Gifts given us…
fully.

The One Who placed the gifts within us did so for them to be fully exercised.

Don’t look back at some point and say “what might have been”.

 

See what’s in you.

 

Terry
September 2016