Perception is 9/10's of the law!!!!!!!!!!!

Good morning everyone. It is Friday! Are you excited for the weekend? I am going to discuss a problem with pretty much everyone I know. Sometimes it is a huge problem and sometimes not so much. But, never the less a true problem that I really think can be fixed. Well, let me say that it can be fixed if we work at it. I was at a meeting last night and got served a really bad tasting pie. This pie that I had to eat was one that I am sure many of you have probably eaten before. It is called "Humble Pie"! That brings me to today's scripture. let's dig in and see what it can teach us..........

Bible Verse: 1 Peter 3:7  Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding.........

Ok, I am using this scripture as a husband but, it can be applied to our relationships with other born again believers or maybe even co-workers. Can I ask you a question? What does perception mean?

Definition of Perception:

•perceiving: the process of using the senses to acquire information about the surrounding environment or situation
•result of perceiving: the result of the process of perception
•impression: an attitude or understanding based on what is observed or thought

That is easy right? Someone’s perception can never be wrong. Right? Well, here is the thing. Perception is right to whomever perceives it. It does matter how we feel. If someone perceives something a certain way. That is the way they see it. Now, this can be from something huge or something very small. I am sure no one has ever done something and when the sky came raining down on them they said "I didn't mean it like that" or "That is not what I meant". I guess we must really work at being clear and understanding how others may view what is going on or maybe what we say and do. Please don't read into this for more that it is. What I am trying to get at is the way people perceive us in our words and actions is the way they perceive us. Whether we think it is right or wrong. We must strive for clarity and understanding. If we have these things, I really think we can help to see thing in the way they are intended. I guess one of the major tools of this is communication. We must be good communicators or at least continually work at it. I hope you don't have to eat as much "Humble Pie" as I have. It really is hard to swallow but, I guess a must. Let's stay moldable in God's hands. have a great day and God bless.

Are they in disguise maybe????

Good morning friends. I hope you had a great weekend. I had fun with the kiddo's at the pumpkin patch this weekend and then yesterday Joslyn and I had a blast at game night with the youth. I was listening to some parents and even some of our youth and they were talking about certain circumstances that they were in. The ones that I heard were doom and gloom. I so get that, we had a problem of only seeing the bad sometimes. Trust me, I know. When I was a police officer I dealt with people most of the time when they were at their worst. I didn't usually get called to the barbecues or birthday parties. Unless a fight broke out. So, I only saw people at the worst. After a while, that is what I looked for in people and circumstances. The bad! Pitiful isn't it? That brings me to today's scripture. Let's dig into the good stuff.....

Bible Verse: Psalm 32:1 "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered."

What is crazy is that God knows exactly what you are going through. We go through the hard times and see the bad stuff for a reason. Ok, if I hadn't seen all the situations that I have that were bad. I don't think I would appreciate the good ones as much. Just like, with us. The worst thing that could happen to us as born again believers is to not know we sin or that we live in a sinful world. If we lived a life not knowing. Would we even realize that we need a Savior? I mean, If God had left Adam in the Garden of Eden, ole' boy would not have even known that he had the sin in his life, and he surely would not have sought the remedy for sin, which he found in the shedding of blood.

Listen, our problems are designed not to destroy us, but to crowd us to Christ. Don't misunderstand me. The problem of sin is real and terrible, but it brings with it the this wonderful realization that we can be forgiven! Now, not all problems in our lives are our fault but, the outcome came be just as wonderful. This next part is going to seem a little crazy but, hang with me. When was the last time you thanked God for the problems in your life? What if you thought of them a blessings in disguise as problems. Think about that for a bit. Have a great day and God bless.

Let's go treasure hunting!!!!!

Good morning everyone! Well, it looks like the rain is gone and it looks to be a beautiful day. Some friends were over this weekend and they were looking at some old pictures on the wall. There were some of my Navy days. One of the pictures was taken when I was in Navy diver school. It brought back a lot of memories while we talked about those days. That brings me to today's scripture. Let's dig into the good stuff and I will share where this is going......

Bible Verse: Colossians 2:3 "In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."

Ok, we were almost ready to graduate and be Navy Divers. The instructors began to let us have some fun, since most were going back to their ships to go underway on six month deployments. One of the senior instructors, Senior Chief Cain started telling us a story while we were heading out to sea to do a recreational dive. He was telling us that many years ago, the Spanish Armada was sailing off the coast of Florida. A hurricane struck, and the ships that were full of gold and silver ingots sunk to the bottom. People knew the treasure had been lost and believed one ship went down near Vero Beach in Fort Pierce, Florida. He said that fishermen fished over that spot, sometimes probably hanging a hook on a lump of gold.

One day some explorers went diving, and there it was in the shallow water! What was crazy, is the water was so shallow that any of us could have free dove to the bottom and brought up millions of dollars. We all sat there with gold nuggets in our eyes. Then when we did hit the water on our dive, we were looking all over for anything. I know kind of crazy right. Showing my friends those pics made me think of this story and this story got me thinking about our true treasure. Our treasure is so close and yet so many will fish over top of it for years, if not their whole lives and never discover it. I mean let's be real, many of us have yet to discover the full treasure we have in Jesus Christ. Many of us have yet to plunge our hearts deep into the treasure of the Lord? Some of us are living life in the shallow end, wondering if the treasure will ever come to us? I am sorry to tell you but, it will never come to you. You have to actively seek it. Let us open our eyes and hearts and claim our treasure! It has been set aside for you! Have a great day and I pray God blesses you today!

Cheers from the stands.......

Good Monday everyone! I just can't stop smiling from something that happened last night. After getting homework done that Joslyn forgot to tell me about and getting Luke to bed. Joslyn and I settled down on her bed for our nightly Bible story. She came and cuddled up with her head on my chest to listen intently and ask lots of questions. What daddy could ask for more? Even though I am struggling with this back injury, I am totally blessed. God knows what we need and even who we need it from. I am blessed be able to spend more time with them. Sometimes we need things like this to encourage us to continue on. To march on! Sometimes we even need those that are around us to be encouragers. Let's dig into the good stuff and look at a scripture from a different angle......

 

Bible Verse: Hebrews 12:1 "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us."

 

At a high school football game one night this little skinny small framed woman was sitting next to the student section. She had listened to them scream and cheer the whole game. She'd been quiet the almost the entire game until there was a fumble on the field. The back-up quarterback, a little scrawny kid, picked up the ball and started scrambling for the end zone. He was running past the other players and closing the distance on the goal line. I am telling you this little woman just exploded! She was jumping up and down and screaming, "Run, baby, run! Run, baby, run!" We found out later that he was her son.

 

I really think that God and His "posse" or angels are sitting up in heaven watching us on the playing field of life. I think they are on the edge of their seats. Waiting to cheer us on from the heavenly stands to "run with patience, the race that is set before us." They want to cheer for us. The question is. Are we doing anything for them to cheer about? We might even be needing  a lift today? We might be needing to hear someone say "You are doing great! Keep scrambling for the goal line." Can you imagine the size of the stands in heaven cheering you on? Oh yeah! Talk about a cheering section! It doesn't matter if you are the preacher, deacon, Sunday school teacher, or a brand new Christian. We must keep scrambling for the goal line. We got this. have a great day and God bless.