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     The Lord has been teaching me some hard lessons recently.  I feel like I have been sitting back just waiting for this ‘season’ to be over. I keep thinking to myself that I need to just get through this.

      Maybe that is not what the Lord wants from us at all? What if God is not asking us to ‘get through’ whatever we are dealing with but to 'live through' it joyfully? Thrive in it. 

       Don’t we just love to pick and choose the subjects we want to learn from the Lord? I enjoyed learning about how deep God’s love was for me when I first got saved. I was thrilled by the revelation that our Christian walk is impossible without Christ. That it is only by grace that we obtain righteousness and not by our own perfection-isms. Wouldn't we gladly learn more of God’s mercy and welcome a teaching in joy?
  
     On the other hand, I don’t see anyone jumping up and down for the opportunity to learn how to be more longsuffering, patient, or forgiving. The one that has been giving me shin splints recently is contentment. Uggghhh….just saying the word elicits unpalatable emotions in me.

     I have to admit that I have been trying to coast through this class. I don’t really want to dig deep and learn this lesson well. I play this game hoping that the Lord will change His mind and give me a new one. How about a little peace and prosperity, Lord? Oh, but He is patient!

      I find that God will not give us a new lesson until we have victoriously embraced the one we are in. We may be able to fool our church, our friends or maybe even our family, Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be fooled, God cannot be mocked.”    

      The Lord knows whether we have been truly changed. 

      When I took my requirements for medical school, I was so anxious to be finished that I enrolled in a class before I should have. I have never been a math person anyways, so I wanted to get Calculus out of the way in order to focus on my more enjoyable classes. To my utter disappointment and embarrassment, I failed. Miserably. Failed. 

 This was a horrible blow to my confidence and GPA. The problem was…I knew I wasn’t prepared for it. I skimmed through the prerequisite Trigonometry class wanting to learn just enough to get through it. This gave me a false sense of competency that ultimately set me up for a devastating letdown. 

       What did I do after failing? I had to go back and relearn the subject I skimmed over. This time, I learned it well. I even learned to love it! After the remedial study, I enrolled in Calculus again and aced it as the top student in my class. 

       There are certain lessons that are imperative to our future successes. The Lord has a plan for each one of us that is so much better than we could ever imagine for ourselves. It often unfolds much different than we could predict as well. 

Our spiritual trigonometry may be uncomfortable, insecure, or just down right painful. However, we never know what ministry God has in store for us that would require the characteristics that these lessons develop in us. 

We need to embrace the challenges that we are facing so that His perfect will can be accomplished in our lives, and we can ultimately use what we are facing to minister to others around us. 


 
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     This devotional from Sparkling Gems from the Greek by Rick Renner really spoke to me this morning, so I thought I would share it with you all. 

"But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison." James 3:8


       Have you ever felt stabbed in the back by someone who repeated secret information you had shared with him? How did you feel when you realized that person had betrayed his commitment to keep that information confidential?

        Has there ever been a time when you were guilty of repeating something that someone shared with you, trusting that you would keep it in confidence?


          Or have you ever been guilty of listening to someone who was gossiping about someone else, thereby showing yourself to be an unfaithful friend to the person who was being discussed?

        Perhaps there is nothing more distressful than the behavior of a talebearer - one who meddles in other people's affairs and repeats information that is none of his business to tell. this kind of person is continually putting his nose where it doesn't belong and often makes a situation worse because people begin to talk, talk, and talk. 

        Usually a talebearer doesn't have all the facts; thus, he needlessly stifs up a lot of trouble as people begin to form opinions and take sides regarding situations they know very little about. 

        "A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter." Proverbs 11:13
          
  •   When people think of you, do they think of you as a talebearer who repeats everything you hear, or do they find you to be confidential, private, and trustworthy?
  •   Do you have the reputation of being able to conceal a matter, or do people think you are two-faced and have loose lips?
  •   Are you friends certain that if someone starts to say something negative about them, you will walk away, refusing to listen to that rumor? Or do they worry that you might listen to gossip that is being spread about them?


        Every listener has the ability to walk away from a conversation. No one has the right to force dirt into another person's ears.

        You have a choice! You can either pull up a chair, draw closer to the gossiper, open your ears and let him start whispering what he has heard about what he thinks he knows - or you can choose to walk away and refuse to listen to him.       

       let me ask you this: haven't there been many times in the past when you should have said, "Excuse me, but should we be talking like this?" 
       
         When we choose to listen to gossip we are just as guilty of sin than if we were the gossiper.


          When you turn and walk away from a gossiper, you literally paralyze his abilty to discuss things that are not his business to discuss. You see, in order for the words of a gossip to be successful, there must be two parties involved - the gossiper  and the listener. Without a listener, the gossipers voice is silenced. If there is no one to listen, there is nothing to tell! 

        This is exactly why Proverbs 26:20 says, "Where no wood is, the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth"

        People mistakenly assume that if the information they are "telling" is accurate, then it isn't gossip. But why would gossip be more acceptable to God just because a person is repeating accurate information about someone else's affairs?  It is still none of that person's business. 


          So ask yourself this question: Am I a revealer; or a concealer? 

        Don't allow yourself to fall into the trap of discussing and debating things that don't concern you. If you'll let the Holy Spirit help you, He will show you how to walk away from gossipers and thus maintain integrity with everyone. 


         
         This devotional convicted me so much! I often find myself listening to gossip because I'm scared of what that person will think of me if I walk away or cut the conversation short. 

         I often remind myself that if someone is gossiping about someone else, they will for sure gossip about you too. I guess I fall into the trap of not wanting to confront the person because of that fact....that's wrong. I should stand up for what is right. 

         Here is a prayer that was at the end of the devotional.

         Lord, I thank You for speaking to my heart today about gossip. Give me the power to tell others that I do not want to participate in talking about things that are not my business to decide or to discuss. Please forgive me for the times I've allowed myself to be caught up in conversations that didn't glorify You and that wouldn't be considered faithful by those who were discussed. I repent for this and today I am making the decision to walk away from such conversations from this moment forward! I pray this in Jesus' name!
          
    




    About the Author

    Hi, My name is Audrey Frazier. Thank you for visiting. I am a wife and mother of two (2yr & newborn). I love my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I hope to share my thoughts, experiences and embarrassments with anyone brave enough to read them!

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