Do Right

"Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked". (Psalm 82:3-4)

Like thousands upon thousands of you my heart is hurting for those suffering children as we witness the horror of the news unfolding before our eyes at Penn State. In the midst of all this I was blessed to learn that while some students acted out their pain by throwing a temper tantrum (riot) a large number gathered on campus to pray for the children who have grown into young men and their families. The wait for justice was too long for saving. The healing had to begin without it.  Honestly to do the right thing now won't make up for the past but it will guard the future. 

Though we are living in a society of moral decay I think we'd all like to believe that given the same set of circumstances we would have done the right thing for the kids. Judging from hindsight does not really give anyone a clear picture of what it looks like or what it costs to be a person who does the right thing.

In the fifth century (early 400's A.D.) a little monk named Telemachus was led by an inner voice to go to Rome without knowing why. At that particular time in history the Romans held gladiator events that were loved and cherished by the people much like our football is cherished today. Back then the honored sport had grown so much in popularity that it had become a 'god' to the people. Telemachus followed the crowds to the Coliseum.  He was appalled to witness two gladiators fighting to the death.  Moved by his compassion for the sanctity of life Telemachus tried to get between them to stop them, shouting three times, "In the name of Christ, forbear!" Telemachus was stoned to death by the furious crowd, enraged that someone would dare to interfere with their "entertainment."  Because of Telemachus' death, three days later, the Emperor by decree ended the Games.  One man dared to do the right thing. One man who loved God stood for God's Word and evil was squelched.

“The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken". (Psalm 82:5)

A pearl to string: Would a better moral climate at Penn State University and the surrounding community have changed the behavior of an alleged pedophile?....  probably not.  Would a better moral climate at the University and in the community have changed the response of those who saw what was happening? I believe it would have. Do Universities and communities across this nation share in the decline of morality? I believe we all do. Moving away from God is moving into disaster. 

"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God". (Micah 6:8)

We're in this life together... We've tried the 'me, me, me' method and it's not working so well.  Each person has to choose who they will serve. For my husband and I and our household, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15)

He loves all of us,

                       Lyndi

Capture Unchecked Thoughts

Ever get something stuck in your mind?  The more it rolls around in your head the more you think on it. All the possibilities and ramifications grow worse the longer you think on it. Wow what was a moehill is quickly becoming a mountain and it is all in my mind. A trickle can do that. If it continues it may turn into a stream, and then a brook, then maybe a river. Before you know it, you’re dealing with an ocean of unchecked thoughts.  Capture those unchecked thoughts.... don't let them roam around in your brain till they drop into your heart. 

Has this ever happened to you? I’d like to say I have it all in hand and I stop those thoughts dead in their tracks, but it took awhile for me to recognize what was going on and then turn in another direction. Sometimes it still does. I depend on the Holy Spirit to alert me. 

A pearl to string:  Scripture has the only satisfying answers for me: "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:5) "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he..." (Proverb 23:7) 

I kept this poem framed and hanging on the wall in our kitchen to remind me often how very important our role as parents was to the future of our children.  

Twas a sheep not a lamb that strayed away
In the parable Jesus told,
A grown-up sheep that strayed away
From the ninety and nine in the fold. 

And why for the sheep should we seek
And earnestly hope and pray?
Because there is danger when sheep go wrong;
They lead the lambs astray. 

Lambs will follow the sheep, you know,
Wherever the sheep may stray.
When sheep go wrong, it won’t take long
Till the lambs are as wrong as they. 

And so with the sheep we earnestly plead
For the sake of the lambs today,
For when sheep are lost, what a terrible cost
The lambs will have to pay! -C. C. Miller 

Capture those unchecked thoughts!

You are loved,

                Lyndi

Keep Him

Our culture is changing and growing darker the further away we move the Lord from our way of life.  The late U.S. Senate Chaplain Dr. Peter Marshall used to love to tell the story of the "Keeper of the Spring," a quiet forest dweller who lived high above an Austrian village along the eastern slope of the Alps.

The old gentleman had been hired many years earlier by a young town councilman to clear away the debris from the pools of water up in the mountain crevices that fed the lovely spring flowing through their town. With faithful, silent regularity, he patrolled the hills, removed the leaves and branches, and wiped away the silt that would otherwise have choked and contaminated the fresh flow of water. The village soon became a popular attraction for vacationers. Graceful swans floated along the crystal clear spring, the mill wheels of various businesses located near the water turned day and night, farmlands were naturally irrigated, and the view from restaurants was picturesque beyond description. 

Years passed. One evening the town council met for its semiannual meeting. As they reviewed the budget, one man's eye caught the salary figure being paid the obscure keeper of the spring. Said the keeper of the purse, "Who is the old man? Why do we keep him on year after year? No one ever sees him. For all we know, the strange ranger of the hills is doing us no good. He isn't necessary any longer." By a unanimous vote, they dispensed with the old man's services. 

For several weeks, nothing changed. 

By early autumn, the trees began to shed their leaves. Small branches snapped off and fell into the pools, hindering the rushing flow of sparkling water. One afternoon someone noticed a slight yellowish-brown tint in the spring. A few days later, the water was much darker. Within another week, a slimy film covered sections of the water along the banks, and a foul odor was soon detected. The mill wheels moved more slowly, some finally ground to a halt. Swans left, as did the tourists. Clammy fingers of disease and sickness reached deeply into the village. 

Quickly, the embarrassed council called a special meeting. Realizing their gross error in judgment, they rehired the old keeper of the spring, and within a few weeks, the veritable river of life began to clear up. The wheels started to turn, and new life returned to the hamlet in the Alps. 

A pearl to string: If the powers that be continue to take God out of every aspect of our humanity we will become diseased and sick just like the little village.  I can already see the leaves of anger and the twigs of resentment with the silt of unforgiveness plaguing our society.  What we see is becoming what we get as we use our human reasoning in place of God. 

"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.

But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Matthew 6:22-23)  "Worldly-mindedness is a common and fatal symptom of hypocrisy, for by no sin can Satan have a surer and faster hold of the soul, under the cloak of a profession of religion." Matthew Henry 

We the people need the Lord.

It is His love that keeps us safe,

and gives us eternal hope.....

                                    Lyndi

Un-thrown Stones

Up at a ghastly hour one morning checking out face book for prayer fodder when I hit pay dirt. A gentleman wrote: "I am learning that the term "best friends" often makes its way to the people you thought were yours....People who claim God as their compass are the worst in my experience".  Whoa..... that's thought provoking. I had several different reactions...... I bet you will too and I'd love to hear where this question led you.

First I climbed right into the pain of a "Christian best friend" behaving in a manner that would break hearts. How devastating to have that happen more than once in a lifetime. Then this voice came into my head, what difference does it make if their skin is Christian? Is this a love crime?  People seem to expect the world to act like the Word, but when "members" of the Body of Christ act like the world it sends shockwaves to the soul.

Uh oh, I seem to be moving right into judgment.  I'm thinking if any of us is experiencing a painful situation over and over again then maybe it's not the situation that is the problem. One of my personal struggles in life has been EXPECTATION. I have grown through pain and prayer to give it the 1, 2, 3 punch when my expectations of others goes off kilter.

1. The Law of Power by Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. John Townsend:  “You only have the power to change yourself.  You can’t change another person.  You must see yourself as the problem, not the other person.  To see another person as the problem to be fixed is to give that person power over you and your well-being. Because you cannot change another person, You are out of control. The “REAL problem lies in how you are relating to the problem person.  You are the one in pain, and only you have the power to fix it”

2. Jesus died for my sins…..and He died for those who sin against me.
3. Forgiveness is the perfume that the trampled flower casts back upon the foot that crushed it

A pearl to string: “People do things for their own reasons, not yours” I don't have any stones to be throwing at anyone. Let him who never made a mistake, or poor choice, or stupid decision. or let anybody down...cast the first stone. "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone..." (John 8:7b) "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, (Matt. 5:44) do good to those who hate you" (Luke 6:27)

Margaret Lee Runbeck said: "Happiness is not a state to arrive at, but a manner of traveling."  I might add travel well and don't let the baggage block your view.

You are loved,

                Lyndi

Tired of the Ugliness?

by Ron Rose

Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky ...(Philippians 2:15 NIV).

Preparation

I'm tired of the ugliness. The financial struggles this year are ugly.

The 2012 election cycle promises to be one of the ugliest campaigns in history. Public discourse is punctuated with disrespect and foul language. As news breaks from day to day we are exposed to all manner of creative ugliness. In the last few months I have witnessed ugly weather, ugly moods, ugly situations, ugly architecture, even ugly truths.

Uglyism lives! It appears when we least expect it. Instead of staying just below the surface, it's popping above the surface and hanging around. This week, even with your eyes closed, you will see ugliness.

Without trying, you will be exposed to ugly comments, ugly injustices, ugly squabble, ugly arrogance, ugly attitudes, ugly confrontations, and a few ugly messes.

What do you do when faced with ugliness? I see 4 possible options.

  1. You can run; run as fast as you can.
  2. Ignore reality and go straight to Denial.
  3. Condemn the ugliness and talk constantly about how bad it is and how sad it is that we live in this mess.
  4. Become an agent of transformation.

Hidden somewhere in the middle of ugliness is blessing and beauty, put there by the Creator. He continues to allow ugliness so we can get introduced to new beauty. It's there, unseen, but there.

This is not the time to run. It's time to be the story of blessing, to see the unseen beauty growing wild in this culture of ugliness.

Inspiration

One of the most thought-provoking movies in my DVD collection is "The Green Mile." It's a story of ugliness and pain. Most of the movie is set in a death row prison of the 1930s. In a cell, toward the end of the hall, is an innocent large black man named John Coffey. He has few words to say, but he is the reason for the movie.

They say he committed a brutal crime, but as the story unfolds you learn he is innocent. And, more than that, he has miraculous gifts of healing and prophesy. Just by touching the arm of a fellow inmate, he can see the rapes and murders that the man has committed.

Tom Hanks plays the head guard who finally comes to the truth: John is innocent. He asks John if he wants him to fight to get him off death row.

In a weeping response, Coffey explains: I's tired, boss. Tired of bein' on the road, lonely as a sparrow in the rain. Tired of not ever having me a buddy to be with, or tell me where we's coming from or going to, or why. Mostly I'm tired of people being ugly to each other. I'm tired of all the pain I feel and hear in the world ever' day. There's too much of it. It's like pieces of glass in my head all the time. Can you understand?

Tom's character did. Do you?

Motivation

You have a gift, maybe not one of Coffey's gifts, but you have a gift.

The God of transformation has given you eyes to see the unseen, to see beauty when all around you is pain and ugliness. You CAN see the good when it's covered in badness, the hope in hopelessness, the healing in pain. There is beauty in the middle of ugliness.

Now, the question: Do you choose to open the gift, or run with the ugly crowd?

For one week, just one week, try seeing the unseen.

Pray for eyes to see beyond the ugliness, to see hope and goodness and beauty. It's a gift from God. Believe it. Live it, for just one week and you will be transformed. Your mind will be renewed. You will become an agent of transformation.

Look for it!

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  (c) 2011 FaithFitness and Ron Rose <ron@faithteam.org>.