The Result of Hatred and Sin

An Indian policeman escorts out a survivor from the shooting site at Chattrapati Shivaji Railway terminal in Mumbai. More than 60 people were killed in a series of attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai late Wednesday, with two five-star hotels among the targets of gunmen armed with powerful assault rifles and grenades.(AFP)

PRAY FOR PEACE

Pray for Peace

and Then

Practice IT!

Peace is not yelling at your kids...

Telling off Store Clerks and Waitresses....

giving other drivers "the" finger....

griping about your neighbors...

gossiping about your brothers and sisters....

RESENTMENT

HATRED

COVETNESS

PEACE STARTS AT HOME

WITH

YOU!

Is Your Heart Right???

Psalm 14

1The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
2The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.
3They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
4Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD.
5There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous.
6Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the LORD is his refuge.
7Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

NOTHING TO SAY.....

Too Sad For Words...

Photo by Avi Ohayon/GPO Reuters

For Heaven's Sake, What are We Doing????

Children's cartoons are simplistic and easy to follow, yet many times you will find a "message" hidden within the story. One of my childhood favorites was the "Road Runner." They did not talk. They just ran about making noises and using "sight" gags to cause uncontrollable laughter from children and adults. The Road Runner would "beep, beep" his way through every trap set up by "Wile. E. Coyote" managing to slip through each danger, only to stop and survey the ridiculous sight of whatever "Acme Company" device was being used as the snare. At one point, in the Coyote's attempts to capture his dinner, he had managed to accumulate a large pile of rocks atop a cliff. His intention was to use a lever to push all the rocks over the edge just in time for them to pile-up on the Road Runner. He sees him coming in the distance, and begins to push and push all those rocks and boulders over the edge. Finally they are all over the side and as he looks down, the Road Runner passes unscathed through the narrow place in the road. Confused, Wile E. goes down to the road, looking up sees all the rocks wedged in a narrow place between two cliffs. He grabs a long pole, standing underneath the rocks, begins to poke at them to loosen them. At that point he pulls out a sign which says, "For Heaven's sake, WHAT am I doing?" About that time, the usual thing happens ... all the rocks fall on him. There he is sticking his head out of this big pile of rocks in utter astonishment at what he has done.
Attitudes are a lot like a pile of rocks over our head. We think we are doing very well with something, yet when we do not get the results we deem appropriate, we begin to poke at people to make them move, only to have the whole thing fall on our own head. We have to stop and ask, "For Heaven's sake, what am I doing?" When we allow certain attitudes to prevail in our life, we are actually tearing down the work we had accomplished. Instead of allowing things to progress naturally, and at God's pace, we begin to poke about and soon those attitudes will collapse on our own head and cause damage we did not intent.

Worldly Wisdom at Work....

Here is a quote from an article by LARRY MARGASAK Associated Press Writer, 01/29/2008,

A Democratic Congress is poised to heed President Bush's call to help save
the economy, but may not give him much else after a State of the Union
speech that recycled many of the administration's past initiatives. A lame duck
president called again for immigration reform, an end to lawmakers' pet projects, control of Social Security spending and making tax cuts permanent. Democrats have rejected those Bush initiatives before. And, in a sign that the dominant political battles will not be in Congress, many in the House chamber kept an eye during the speech on Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton — bitter rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination. They sat close to each other, but managed not to shake hands. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who hours earlier had endorsed Obama over Clinton, reached out to shake Sen. Clinton's hand when she came near.

Unfortunately, we can see worldly wisdom at work....a congress which has been told OVER and OVER to make changes in some programs....they do not heed, therefore much repetition is required! Stubbornness, self-serving attitudes and deaf ears...is that WORKING for THEM??

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama managed to AVOID shaking hands and everyone knows it! Now which one of those unfriendly, sore competitors do you want leading the greatest nation in the free world...they are like children.....is that WORKING for THEM??

Bitter rivalry, avoidance, deaf ears, half the house sided with themselves while the other half just sits there in opposition, work not done, agreements never reached, stalemates galore....that is worldly wisdom....is that WORKING for THEM????

HOW about YOU? Does this sound like YOU? HOW'S THAT WORKING FOR YOU? GOD has a better direction to take on this. Love your enemies...do good to them that mean YOU harm, reach out in peace, stand fast for the truth...the TRUTH, not YOUR opinions! He's God...HOW do you think its WORKING FOR HIM......He's God.

Fools Despise Wisdom!

A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of
understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 1:5-7

Did you ever meet someone who just could not listen to instructions, but had to do everything the "hard" way? Children are like that at times! They test their power as they begin to mature and by the time they are 16 have decided they know more than everyone else! It would be a bad age in which to get stuck, yet many a person behaves like a young adult, not a adult.

Solomon, the writer of the proverb above, says "fools despise wisdom." What would happen if you began to seek out wisdom and apply it to your life? Do you think your life would improve? Can we be wise? Can we accept instruction? We will be looking at the Proverbs and seek wisdom to direct our steps in 2008.

One of the first, and most simple instructions from Solomon, comes in the final verse of the passage above............"The fear of the LORD is the BEGINNING of Knowledge." Fear in this context is extreme respect, extreme reverence. We can do that, can we not? As we move through this journey using our GPS, I believe we can be open to knowledge and have extreme respect for God. That is our first STEP! Come on and join me..............