"All These Things Are Against Me" (Gen. 42:36)

Read Genesis 42:36.

How one-sided life can easily become! 

Though there was much hardship, Jacob seems to have forgotten how blessed he was in spite of the pressure. 

That's what pressure does:  it puts your focus on what's wrong not on what's right; it puts your focus on the sacrifice, not the opportunity; it causes you to assume the worst (re: Benjamin, Simeon) about open-ended situations.

You are more blessed than you realize right now.

Hosea 13:5-6

Read Hosea 13:5-6.

God's not responding to your desperation (at least not when you think He should) could be a blessing. Silence or delay might be His merciful way of keeping you from falling away from Him.  So long as you are desperate, you will keep on looking to Him.  Indeed, His ways are higher than ours.

Assume Neither Bad Nor Good (Prov. 27:1)

Read Proverbs 27:1.

Obviously, we see in this verse a warning not to assume too much.

Don't assume every detail of every plan will happen as you predicted.  Don't think that tomorrow is your servant.  We're quick to slant this verse as a check on our ambition.  Yes, mysterious tomorrow could be filled with things that disrupt, limit or disappoint.

Might the reverse also be true, that we shouldn't be too quick to assume the negative?  Tomorrow could also be filled with one manifestation of God's blessing after another!

Live in today.  Enjoy it.  Stay dependent on God.  Deal with tomorrow tomorrow.

Change The Filter, See Things Differently

Roaring Run Trail, Kiski Twp., PA
Shot taken on December 25, 2016 at 1:09 P.M.

When I took this shot in color, it was a nothing-to-look-at, run-of-the-mill specimen.  When I edited the photo to black and white, something interesting "appeared."  Do you see the pair of beady eyes atop the wide deadwood? (Do you see the scant, eerie-looking "thing"?  What is that?)

Changing the photo from color to black and white didn't create the "eyes."  They were there before. My default (color) "filter" didn't accentuate them.

What is the situation, difficulty or challenge you are facing?  What "filter" are you using?  If you've tried common sense and haven't seen a way out, then going "old-fashioned" -- back to the Bible -- will yield better results.

It's New Year's Day.  Why not resolve to read the Bible?  Don't worry about reading it through.  Just read it regularly.  It will change your outlook.  You'll be amazed what you might "see"!

Weekly Inspiration (11/19/16)

Riverfront Park   Kittanning, PA   November 4, 2016   12:34 P.M.

I chose this shot because of its contrasts:  highlight and shadow, bright red and normal yellow, leaves intact and leaves fallen, leaves turned color and leaves still to change.

I've been a slow learner in life, yet I'm sure about this: life is full of contrasts.  Experiences which are high, bright and colorful we savor thoroughly.  Might we need help to realize the benefit of experiences we label as low, dull or ordinary?  One side makes the other valuable.  Without "ordinary" we have little context for "stunning."  Without "dark" we have little appreciation for "radiant."  Without "low" we have little gratitude for "success."

What do you do in circumstances that easily accentuate the "negative"? Divert your attention from the barren-branch difficulties, even for a few minutes. Yes, it's a discipline.  Now talk to God. Where to begin?  I suggest reading aloud Habakkuk 3:17-19; Lamentations 3:21-25 and Philippians 4:6-8. God hears you when you vocalize His Word and it is good for you to hear yourself speak truth.

My Thoughts Inexactly (03/26/16)

NOTES:

1. Today's subject is 'perspective.'
2. Whatever 'it' is, it could be worse; the fact that it isn't means I'm blessed.
3. 'It' isn't as bad is it could be: therefore, some grace has already been shown.
4. Don't downplay your suffering or anyone else's, but confess the truth:  'It' could be worse, 'it' isn't; God's gracious and good; the fact 'it' isn't worse means I'm blessed.

RESOURCES:

1. It Could Be Worse. Comparatory Suffering? by Steve Piscitelli
2. It Could Be Worse by Ceil Ryan
3. It Could Always Be Worse: A Yiddish Folktale by Margot Zemach

That Speck In My Eye (Mt. 7:3)

photo: http://tinyurl.com/hoqvv3h

This verse doesn't speak well of me or of any disciple of Jesus.  How we wish Jesus was speaking primarily to the Pharisees!  His audience, as this is still the Sermon on The Mount, is His disciples (Mt. 5:1-2).

The plank in my eye is . . .

1. Big enough I can't deny it (unless I'm willing to lie to myself, which is possible but never profitable).
2. Big enough God cannot not notice it.
3. Big enough that others cannot not notice it.
4. Deceptive enough to cause me to become a piddly fault inspector.
5. Dangerous and common enough for Jesus to mention it (Among all else Jesus could've said in the Sermon on The Mount, He didn't leave out "planks.")

The main question is "why."  "Why do you see the speck" and "not consider the plank"?  Why?  I'm a master at having to avoid my own sin.  It is built into my fleshly DNA to always look better than I am.  I always want someone else to be the one who struggles or is the problem.  Bottom line -- pride.

Forgive me, Lord.

Change The Filter, Change The Picture (Rom. 12:2)

Roaring Run Trail, Apollo, PA  11:00 A.M.

When I snapped this photo, I had seen something on the river.  When I got back at lunch time, I transferred the image to my computer.  Somehow the photo wasn't as eye-catching, so I started adjusting filters.  Black and white was it!  It brought out the golfer.  (Do you see him?)

What "filters" have you put on your thinking?  Change the filter and you might see something new.

By the way, is that a left-handed golfer lining up a shot across the river or is that a right-handed golfer lining up a shot away from the river?  Again, it all depends on your "filter."  Preference shades perspective.

"Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking." (Rom. 12:2, The Message)