How's Your Blood Pressure?

This week, a co-worker passed me in the hall and said “smile, it can’t be that bad”!  I laughed, shrugged my shoulders and offered the cliché` “I’m fine”.   But when I returned to my desk, I really was bothered by the fact that my emotions were so evident on my face.  Even more so, that the emotions evident were of things that really should not have sank my mood.  I had allowed Satan the foothold of stress and disappointment.  Our face can give away our heart’s emotion.  I was determined to not only change the view the world saw of me as written on my face, but to ensure that the expression of joy on the outside was a genuine reflection of the inside. 

So many things in our daily routine cause us to get frustrated, angry, or sad.  These are the things the world sees in a people that claim to have joy and peace at the core of their character.  Slamming down the phone, excessive use of  “you’ve got to be kidding me !”, and all the obvious signs of irritation should be replaced with positive responses. 

Everyday we are given ample opportunity for Jesus to be seen and ample opportunity for Satan to take control.  As an individual who claims to have Jesus living in my heart and confidence the Holy Spirit is guiding me, I must meditate on and heed scripture and make an outwardly change on my form of expression.  Here are scriptures that provide examples for outwardly expression.

Isaiah 55:12    You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.       

Psalm 89:15-18    How blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! O LORD, they walk in the light of your countenance. 16 In Your name they rejoice all the day, and by Your righteousness they are exalted. 17 For You are the glory of their strength, and by Your favor our horn is exalted. 18 For our shield belongs to the LORD, and our king to the Holy One of Israel.

Isaiah 61:10    I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness,  I have no reason, and really, no right to be negative, disappointed and lacking in joy.  I have a Father who loves me unconditionally and a Savior that gave it all for me.  THAT’S SOMETHING TO BE JOYFUL ABOUT!

Father, thank you for giving me a reason to be forever joyful.  Forgive me when I allow satan to control my emotions. Help me to be a better expression of Jesus. Thank you for your love and grace.In Jesus’ name, amen.

Michelle Tittor

Grapevine, TX

In Due Time

It is difficult to watch the major news syndicates without a bottle of Mylanta and blood pressure kit close at hand.  The percentage of negative compared to inspirational is about 99% to 1%.  I may be a little high on the inspirational! 

 

But I’m reminded occasionally of how much good there is “out there.”  And, like yourself, I wish we could hear more about those special moments. 

I recently came across the following photos.  They were taken in a surgical room shortly before a transplant procedure.  The father and mother are kissing their dying little girl goodbye.  Less than an hour later, two small children in the next room received a kidney and a liver from this little girl.  The third picture is of the medical staff bowing in honor and tribute to the courage and compassion of this special family.

This story is special for a lot of reasons. It awakens our nobler instincts in a world that is cruel and heartless. It reminds us that there is “good” out there. It encourages us to continue doing good as we have opportunity. 

I like these words from Paul:

“And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary.

So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, especially to those who are of the household of faith.”  - Galatians 6;9-10

O Father, settle such a will into our hearts.  In the midst of so much evil may we keep our faces and hearts turned toward you the giver of every good and perfect gift.  Save us from the cold crippling grip of cynicism.  May we live each day in the refreshing power of knowing the wisdom that is found in rendering compassion, kindness and service wherever we have opportunity.  For in due time we shall reap.  Amen

Randy Daugherty

Stephenville, Texas

Unto Our Blessing

Repentance is one of those words that sometimes falls into the same category as words like surgery, taxes and root canal.  It’s not a word that gives us warm fuzzies.

In fact we tend to treat it as a heavy theological word.  But it’s really an everyday word.  When you peel away its outer layers, you discover a word that is loaded with blessing.  In fact it’s all about blessing! 

Start talking about repentance with anybody and somewhere in the conversation somebody will make reference to the famous parable known as the Prodigal Son (See Luke 15).  Most people read the story and identify with the prodigal son, but the story is really about the prodigal’s Father.  You see, Jesus wanted the religious critics of his day to see his ministry as a reflection of his Father’s heart for man. The Pharisees had a problem with Jesus’ social habits, namely, he conversed with sinners about the kingdom.  (It’s interesting that the people who knew the most about God and talked the most about Him couldn’t recognize Him when he made a personal visit.  Scary to say the least.)

The son in the story is headstrong.  He lives by base instinct.  “You want to do it…do it!…And sweat the details later.”  He runs away and blows everything.  His relationships revolve around a base lifestyle and his ability to throw good parties.  When the resources dry up, so do his “friendships”.  Disoriented by what life has become, he falls in with pigs…literally. His hunger is so great he actually has an appetite for the food the hogs eat.

I don’t know what day of the week it happened on.  The text doesn’t say.  Perhaps he saw something written on a billboard or was moved by something he overheard in a conversation between two people or got tired of people laughing at him.  Maybe his heart finally broke. Who knows.  What we do know is that one day, in the middle of his “bottom” he “came to his senses” and had the first healthy self-talk he had experienced in months – perhaps years.  And, he started thinking about…home. 

It was in that moment that he denied Satan the power to do what he does best.  It was THE fork in the middle of his spiritual road.  It was the moment when every evil thought and malicious power that Satan could muster was hurled into his mind and massaged into his heart.  “Where you sit, where you are right now is where you belong.  You earned this.  Deal with.  Don’t think about your alternatives.   What alternatives?!  Your past and where you sit right now are value statements.  You have the right to nothing else.  Grab a husk and chew!” 

But he “got up.”  The first 10 steps out of the pen were long spiritual miles.  When he topped a hill a little ways from home, he saw firsthand what repentance was.  It was a banana-wide grin on his father’s face.  It was a hug and a kiss.  It was clothes and security.  It was sonship.  After all, that’s what he was...a son.  A son who had lost his way.  A son who came to his senses.  A son who found his way back into blessing.

I think that’s what repentance is.  Jesus gave us that picture…on purpose.  Sounds pretty good doesn’t it?  And, it’s ours from our Father unto our blessing.  We just have to remember it.  We just have to do it.  

Father, thank you for pursuing us.  Thank you for offering us acceptance and renewal based on your faithfulness.  Save us from every dark thought that the Evil One would put into our minds when we are “down and out” spiritually that would keep us from running to you.  Help us to know that we can always run to you and know that you will clean us up, dress us and claim us as your sons and daughters.  Thank you for Jesus who makes all things new.

Randy Daugherty

Stephenville, Texas