Who should judge?

 

I think it would not be easy to be a judge. They have a very important job. They decide with the help of a jury and testimony of others if the person is guilty of a crime or if there has been a mistake. They render the verdict of guilty or not guilty. If guilty they state the sentence. I would not want to be the one that said those final words of judgement. What if I was not given all the important information and I ruined someone's life? I'm not sure how I could handle that but I do applaud those that have taken that job of great responsibility. But what about those that appoint their self as judge, jury and executioner. We had a person that confronted us with a guilty verdict before he even knew any facts. He didn't come to seek out what facts or truth he seemed to have only come with a sentence. He did not have a compassionate heart it was only one ready to judge. Had he taken time to listen to what we had to say in our defense he would have seen the whole situation very differently and the sentence would have been different I am sure. He totally drew his conclusion on his own thinking and no facts. His judgement did more harm to the brokenness we were already suffering. After he passed the sentence he left and we sat in shock. I don't know why he thought he could play judge. I think we should leave the judging to those in the courts and God. If we think a person has a problem than we should go to them not to judge but to help. Approach them with love and concern. Ask and listen to what is in their troubled soul. After you have heard what their concerns and problems are then offer help if you can. If you cannot help still show love. We all need guidance from time to time but we never need condemnation. We are all fallible humans so be careful about passing judgement on others. If we do not serve as a judge in the court system (we should be praying for them) than we should leave the judging up to God. "Judge not least you be judged yourself." (Matthew 7:1 NASB) God knows all the matters of the heart allow Him to be your the judging when it is needed. He does all things with understanding and love. We should always be loving and carin

Just begin talking

Have you been struggling with how to talk to God? Can't find the right words or position? Stop struggling and just begin talking. He hears us no matter what we say or in what position we are in to say it. People are the ones that get all tied up in things like that. I have found that God hears us when we stammer around not even knowing what words to say. There are times words can't even be found to express what is deep inside, He understands that also. That seems to be when it is the easiest to just give up and just walk away feeling defeated. Don't let that stop you from reaching out. People sometimes don't understand us when we are like that but God does. He did wire us the way we are, unique and special I mean. I think He would like for us to talk to Him like He is our best friend. It is not easy because that doesn't fit into how we have always thought. I do believe it is worth giving a try. Don't throw away the idea without giving it a try and I don't just mean one day try. There are many things we don't like after just one time of trying but how surprised we have been after many tries of eating different foods, playing games or whatever it is that you have learned to enjoy because you kept trying. I challenge you as I do myself to start today and practice talking to God like a dear friend. Remember it might take a few times or even a lot of times but I believe we will all find it worth the effort. Have a great time talking to your new friend.

 

Magic Slippers

 

At the end of the movie the Wizard of Oz, Glinda the good witch says to Dorothy "Those magic slippers will take you home." Dorothy clicked her heels and there she was home again. I would love to have some magic slippers that I could just click my heels and be wherever I wanted. At least I think I would. Who knows where I would go? What if that place is not really where God wants me to be at that moment? What a mess I could find myself in all because I just had to go right there right now. The place might not be the problem. The problem could just be the timing. If I go to fast I might not have the learning experiences needed to handle the situation I find myself in at that moment. It might just cause me to stumble around getting no place real fast. It also might cause more hurt than help to others and myself. Matter of fact I would miss all the wonderful opportunities that life's journey takes me on. I have found times of storms to be a great learning experience, not to joyful sometimes but learning. I need to be willing to walk through those storms to get to the good stuff or blessings. Is there good stuff or blessings you might ask? I believe there is. We just have to keep pushing until we reach them. I guess I will stop searching for the magical shoes that will take me directly to where I wish to go. Instead I will leave on my old worn tennis shoes and keep walking even if sometimes the walk gets very slow and I ache from the path I travel. Have you been searching for your magical slippers? Maybe you need to join me by putting on your old worn tennis shoes, tie them up and keep walking. It is really not how fast you get there it is that you get there. God will still be there when you arrive even if it takes you longer than you want. God will help us on our life's journey if we let Him. He also knows how fast we need to go. We need to let Him provide the magic slippers if He wants us there in an instant. Have a great time walking.

Be a friend, have a friend.

When I heard my phone ring and saw who was calling I was excited to see it was my dear friend. I had not talked to her for a long while so I quickly answered my phone with a chipper voice. To find the person on the other end was a not the chipper voice I had expected. It was a sad frustrated one as she began to pour out her heart to me I understood why. Her daughter was very ill had been in and out of the hospital. Bottom line she needed surgery. The surgery could not be done right now the wait was a month out. Her daughter was in pain and she just didn't know what to do for her. After she talked for a few minutes she calmed down a little. I tried to comfort her with what little words of wisdom I could think of. But I could not assure her that her daughter would come out of this in great shape. I trust that will be the case but I am not a doctor. The doctor is the only one that can give her that assurance. What I am is a friend that can listen and be for support in whatever way is possibly can. There are times that is all a person needs is someone to listen and care. We don't always need to fix things. People don't always need a fixer upper they just need a friend. They need someone that loves, cares, and is willing to listen without being judgmental. Always pattern to others how you would like them to act to you when you call them in a difficult situation. You never know when you will be the one that gets the curve ball and need a friend that just loves and cares for you. Be a friend, have a friend. Have a great day.

Do you have possibilities?

What kind of possibilities do you have? None, you scream at me. Then let's stop a minute and really look at what is happening in your life. Did you get you this morning? I know the answer is yes or you wouldn't be reading this. Then you have the possibility of influencing others. You do it in many different ways. You might think you have nothing to offer anyone if you really believe that than make changes. Put a positive spin to your life. No one can really do it for you. You have to determine in yourself that your life is going to change. Did you have a job? Most likely you do then you have the possibility of doing a great days work for your employer. If you feel you are in a dead end job then think about changing. If change isn't possible for now than see what you can do outside of work that will help you fulfill what your heart longs for. Take the biggest step of all and step outside of your comfort zone. It might just be baby steps to begin with and it most likely will be hard but take that first one and keep going. Now take a walk outside under the great big sky, breathe in the fresh air and decide to make something happen for yourself. It most likely will not come at once but keep thinking and working as you go about your day. Don't be afraid to accept it when someone comes around offering you an opportunity to do something different. It is might be what gives you the nudge needed along your way. You can wait until someone comes along and just hands you all the answers in a neat package but it might be an extremely long wait or it just might never arrive. To really make your dreams become reality and provide more possibilities than you can imagine you have to take action. Recognize your talents and gifts and capitalize on the possibilities they offer. Have a great day and a great time stepping outside your comfort zone.

Answer Your Phone

 

I was home from work the other day and thought I would call my good friend. I called her cell phone of course expecting her to pick up. I really wanted to get her opinion about a situation. To my dismay there was no answer. I assumed she would gladly pick up the phone listen carefully and give me wise advice. I knew of no one else to call at the moment most of the people I know were at work and couldn't chat during their work day. I was disappointed that when she noticed I had called she didn't just call me right back. That is why people have cell phones, right? If I was calling a house phone (for those young readers, yes some of us still have those) I could have assumed she just didn't notice that I called. With all of the great ways of staying in contact with each other sometimes we just expect people to be at our beckon call. Then when a person decides to be unreachable and have some me time we might wonder why they won't talk to us or what is wrong. Everyone needs a break from others at some point and we need to give them that space. You might wonder what to do when you feel you just have to have someone to talk. What will you do when it is the screaming of your soul deep inside and it an extreme emergency? I do have a solution for such a time of desperation. You can call on God. Not the answer you was looking for but truly He is the only one there twenty four seven. Isaiah 65:24 (NIV) says "The Lord says, "Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear." Now that is someone that is always waiting and will answer your every call. Try it you might be surprised at the great response. Will you always get the answer you expected? I'm sure not. But think about this do you always like the response you get from your friends. I know I don't. Then why should we expect any different from God. I guess I'm saying don't get mad at an answer you don't like and stop talking. Try His way you might be surprised at the outcome. Don't hang up the phone on Him. If you do, please answer when He calls back, because He will call back. Sometimes it is much harder to hear our inner phone ring than a cell phone but it does ring. Have a great day listening and answering your phone.

 

Is God real?

God is not real. He couldn't be if He is allowing wickedness to fill the world. If he is real and loving how could he let innocent little children get hurt they haven't done anything to anyone? How could he allow my best friend to have a car accident and die? Why did he permit my dad to leave when I was real little and didn't even get to know him? Why did he allow my mom to die when I was born and I had to be raised by someone else? There are a million questions as to why or how he allowed or caused things to happen. We all have or had them at one time or other. If he is real than there would be no evil in the world everything would be peaceful and wonderful. Therefore, He is not real. I think that would be great. But that my friend is the ideal world which we do not live in. I have never read any history that tells me the world was without trouble and only wonderful things happened. But I have read about wars and wickedness from as far back as time is recorded. The Bible is also full of such times. I believe God is real in spite of all of that. The wonderful thing about His creation of man is that He gave us a free will. A mind to reason things out and make decisions. He gave us a heart to love or not to love, the choice to decide whether we will do good or bad. If He did not do that we would be no more than robots. We would all be programed to do whatever He wants us to do. He did not want that. He wants us to choose to love Him. In loving Him we learn how to love and treat others. The trouble starts when we decide we are going to do things our way. When wrong choices are made they impact others which cause a chain reaction of mistreatment. We can choose to believe our choices don't affect others but that is far from the truth. Unless you live on an island isolated for the rest of the world. But most likely you do not. I know I sure don't. I come into contact with people all day long. It is much easier for me to point my finger at someone else in blame. But really where does the fault lay for the wrong in the world? It seems quite simple: it lies with each of us stacking wrong choices on top of each other. I don't believe this world will ever be perfect but it can be better. I believe God can help that when we put our trust back into Him. Than to the best of our ability do what He is asking of us to do. So is God real? I vote YES. What will your vote be? Your vote does count and it will make a difference. Every vote counts in the eyes and heart of God.