So many people say one thing and do another. While looking as though they care, they are self-serving and could care less about your interests.
Most likely, you have known people who smile at your face but cut you to shreds when your back is turned.

There are those you reach out to who refuse to get along.

One or two, or maybe more people come to mind as you read those words.

Other people would give you their last dollar. Some people would help you even when it was to their detriment to do so.

You can probably recall kindnesses done your way.

Why though, does it seem that so many people tend to focus on those who wrong them… not those who have treated them well.

Hurts are remembered and grudges seem to grow worse over time.

In thinking about all of these people..
those who would treat you well and those who seek to do you harm, or those you just have difficulty with… look at them, consider their actions and see them for who they are….

 

every one of them is a soul who Christ died for.

 

Each and every one is forgiven by The One Who died for and forgave you.

 

See them for who they are.

All human beings who walk this earth, today,
in the past,
or in the years to come,
are equally loved, forgiven and sought after by The Son of God.

The Word of God was written to and for them, as It was for you.

We are all on equal footing there.

The inequality comes in the next steps of acceptance and communion.
While everyone has been forgiven, not all have walked through repentance and accepted the Great Gift.

Therefore,
let us look through any difficulty,
through any conflict,
and know that the other person in the mix is one to whom Jesus spoke. and speaks to and seeks after.

Paul wrote his letters for them to read.
Davids’ Psalms and Proverbs hold equal meaning and opportunity for those who read them as for those who ignore them.

Pray for these people ….
that they would be drawn to Christ as you were.

Pray for those who have spoken ill of you, for those who are difficult… just as you do for your best friend.

Christ gave His Life for them.

Seek to have the eyes of Jesus and see these people you have trouble liking, as He sees them.

See them for who they are.

Terry
November 2016

Thankfulness did not originate in New England with the Pilgrims.
It did not grow out of a holiday on the fourth Thursday in November.

Thankfulness might have originated in The Garden when Adam saw Eve.
God Himself created and fashioned her, so she might have been one to be thankful for. And, there were no others around.

Thankfulness is present at all points in life. It does not merely exist at a House of Worship, or only when you sit to eat and possibly bow you head in prayer. Thankfulness does not exist only at birthdays and Christmas when receiving a gift.

These are things you know…..
but are you constantly aware of the daily sense of THANKFULNESS we should possess??
Every day there are multitudes of reasons to both feel thankful and to express thankfulness.

The breath you breathe,
the eyes through which you see,
the heart that beats with life,
your Woman who is your Wife.

Many rhymes could be written here, but every day that Light arises from the East there are things to be thankful for.

As the Greeks used to pray to an unknown god before Paul introduced them to his… we can be thankful for some things we are even unaware of.

Do you not think that there are events or occurrences in life which occur for yours or someone’s benefit of which you are not aware?

Being thankful or expressing thankfulness for those things allows us to acknowledge God in His Sovereignty….even when we might be blinded to It, or unable to see It.

Do you SEE Gravity?
You see the effect of It, you cannot lay eyes on It.
As the Wind… the result of It can be seen…but the Wind Itself is unseen. You feel It and experience It without viewing It.

Like Gods Presence.

There are unseen movements and events which have worked to our good… of which we cannot and will never tangibly see.

But we can be Thankful for these even when there is no person to thank.

Thankfulness is real enough to be present when there is no recipient to express It to… in those moments… you thank The Father for His Providence and His Orchestration of Life.

There is a mind behind these unseen things.

Grateful Thanksgiving arises from the heart and mind when we realize this.

Expressing Thankfulness exercises the humility we need present in our life.

Verbally expressing Thankfulness
not only exercises humility within us, It builds up those we speak It to.

In the existence we dwell in of comfort, security, peace and shelter…it can be that we lack the edge to see that those things in themselves…to the degree we experience them…are worthy of great Thanksgiving.

They cannot be taken for granted.

Try going out into the woods in November, naked, without shoes, with nothing over your head but the night sky…. you will quickly long for and seek
comfort, security, peace and shelter.

Because we have them in abundance is no reason to exclude them from expressed thanksgiving.

When we realize and express a grateful heart for not merely the big things… but for those things we have experienced forever…that are so familiar … we begin to know real and true Thanksgiving.

As your heart beats and gives you every moment of your life… be ever thankful for each of those moments.

A true sense of Thanksgiving will outlast the beat of your heart.

Terry
November 2016

The heading says it all.

I am pulling for them, but if the Cubs win the 2016 World Series, they will no longer be the lovable “Cubbies” they have been since before we were all born.

One of the appealing elements to The Cubs has been their ineptitude.

Wrigley is beautiful once you get inside. It takes you back to when baseball was seen once a week on black and white small screens. If they win, then new things will be required.

Ernie Banks was so appealing when he wanted to “play two”…..even though the assumption was that the Cubs would lose both.

Leon Durham’s error against the Padres was almost as egregious as Buckner’s….it simply wasn’t in the World Series. Will Jon Lester enter into that category because he cannot field a bunt or hold a runner on first. As great a pitcher as he is, and he was the first to sign and  come aboard this new winning team playing in Cubs uniforms….. there is a similar angst in his inability to execute a fundamental part of pitching and the frustrating beauty of players like Banks, Sandberg, Williams, Wood, Pryor and others who played so well yet lost so often when it counted.

Greg Norman was a great golfer who became a greater businessman. However, on the golf course he was looked upon with sympathy because he had come so close, so many times.

My case in point…..

Were the Red Sox not a more lovable team before they slayed the Dragon and beat the Yankees in 2004…???  Did they not elicit more passion and emotion from the continually suffering New Englanders in 1978 and in 2003 than they brought  Joy AFTER winning in 2004 and again in 2007….?

It’s not the same as it was, in Fenway.

Some people think they are now look no different than……

I look both ways before saying this….

The YANKEES.

 

If The Cubs win….more will be expected. More will be required.

Look at the team this year….best record in baseball, maybe the MVP, the team felt no pressure, they were the BEST TEAM IN BASEBALL. Did not the fans expect more than winning one game of the three at WRIGLEY?  Maybe had they played during the day….the advantage might have been Chicago’s. But in the Series you play at night.

New requirements.

If they win, as happened in Boston…many fans will finally die happy.

If they win…many fans will be deliriously happy…..until April, 2017.

 

Rather that hoping and longing for their “Cubbies” to win….there will be the EXPECTATION of winning again.

Big difference between hope and expectation…especially after accomplishing what was thought to be impossible.

 

Are Yankees fans satisfied with making the playoffs?

Are Lakers fans pleased that the team might be better this year and simply be competitive???

Do Alabama football fans feel good about simply having a winning record..???

When winning happens….the bar of expectation rises and the fans no longer accept losing…..you cannot be a lovable loser after having won a Championship.

Is that not true Mets fans???

 

Its great to win it all. But the next year brings a new barometer of success.

When you taste winning there is no longer an appetite for just doing well.

 

The Cubs will no longer be “The Cubbies” if they win.

 

Terry

November 2016

 

Mark Price was an NBA player, from Georgia Tech, played mainly for Cleveland….long before LeBron.

He was quite good, played for several years on the Cavs team which might have won a title were it not for a guy in Chicago named Michael.

He told the story to a group of men once of the constant presence, at the arenas, and at the luxury hotels in which they stayed… of beautiful women.

Dressed up.

Always around.

You know what I mean.

He did not implicate any teammate,
but mentioned how the temptation was always present.

He and his wife had an agreement.

After every road game he would call home….briefly speak to his wife and children…before going to eat.

After dinner, upon returning to his hotel, he would call again. He would talk and spend time on the phone with his wife.

The calls were not made out of fear
or anxiety or because his wife was ragingly jealous.

The calls were made for connection.

They were made to remind him of what his life revolved around.

His God.
Home.
His wife.
His children.

He was gone, sometimes for 7-10 days at a time.

As a veteran, he saw in the lives of teammates, the results of traveling and never connecting to home.

When you feel ten feet tall and bulletproof, as most professional athletes naturally do….
Mark Price learned that connection to the foundations of his life were more important than getting temporary affirmation or adoration.

When I thought of this earlier today,
the suggestion came to me that….
whenever we feel temptation, or the
desire to look for the second time,
or when we realize we have held a look too long…
connection to what is TRUE is needed at that moment.

An idea….

when you realize that you are looking beyond merely noticing or thinking about it…

PHONE HOME.

It’s connection.

It’s accountability.

It will stop the thought….
as you engage with your wife and children.

It’s protection and connection.

When you connect to or affirm what is TRUE and Foundational… and when you bring LIGHT into a situation the unimportant slouches back away,
into the dark,
where it resides.

Stay connected.

To what matters.

Terry
November 2016