Have a little compassion….

Posted April 3, 2009 By Andrea and has no comments yet.

In your life. When someone angers you, slow down.

It is so easy to get hyped up on your feelings, your way, your belief.

But listen to what Proverbs 14 says,

He who is slow to anger has great understanding, But he who is quick-tempered exalts folly.

I think that sometimes we don’t think of our quick tongues or attitudes being antithetical to compassion, but they are, because in that moment, you’re first, no one else’s feelings or past or issues matter. And sometimes just taking that step back and giving someone a chance, to be human, or make a mistake, or just disagree with you, is an act of compassion.

Now I need to turn around and take a long glance in the mirror (as always). :)

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Categories: Compassion, Spiritual Reflections
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The Hatred of God?

Posted February 11, 2009 By Andrea and has 2 comments.

There are six things that the Lord hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that hurry to run to evil,
a lying witness who testifies falsely,
and one who sows discord in a family.
- Proverbs 6:16-19

Perhaps sometimes our hatred is justified. I read this verse in a Sojourner’s email the other day and the quote that came with it spoke volumes to me about our call to live like Christ. Joan Chittister said “Anger is not bad. Anger can be a very positive thing, the thing that moves us beyond the acceptance of evil.” Wha?! Then I thought about it… There are a lot of sins we have been desensitized to.. I am going to have to disagree with my husband on his protest of the concept “Love the sinner hate the sin.” The problem with that phrase is that people don’t want to think about it and they want to throw out condemnations about the sins that shun the person. It doesn’t have to be interpreted that way. But in reality many of us as Christians have continuously been exposed to these “abominations” as Solomon writes.

That new show TV show on Fox, Lie to Me, while not a stellar concept, purports that a human lies every ten minutes. And how many innocent lives are shed because of injustice in war? How many of us have ever sown discord in our family? Oh, my, no not me! How many of us burn with a hatred, or even displeased heart, with all of these things? Unfortunately I know that I don’t always feel this way. Perhaps some of them have even played into my “Christ following life.”

Learning to live like Jesus not only says that ”if we love him, we will obey him,” but it also gives a certain justification to some negative emotions that we should have towards sin. This is no senseless battle, this is a real war that has been waged on our morality and our “differentness” that will show that grace and love of God. We aren’t salt of the earth if we’re lying every ten minutes and singing his praises in the eleventh hour. Being salt of the earth doesn’t just mean we believe, it means we spice it up, we are able to make a noticeable difference. I watch a lot of cooking shows and one of the main complaints of judges or chefs is too bland, not enough salt. What are we doing to ourselves??

Okay, I am just working this out…. more later… share your thoughts if you would like. :)

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Categories: Spiritual Reflections
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Why not?

Posted September 17, 2008 By Andrea and has no comments yet.

Why not delight in the Lord that is? I was thinking about that when I got up this morning. About my therapy session yesterday in which I was told to act out of love, not anger. Why is it so difficult? Yes, I have been hurt. Yes, I disagree with some of my father’s decisions. But I still love him. But sometimes I let my actions come out of that anger, or that hurt. While I was thinking of this I kinda got this groan in my head, like “you have to write a blog.” Somedays I want to wallow in my own problems, I mean I just had the thought “delight in the Lord” and 5 seconds later I want to feel sorry for myself because of all the emotion that it betrayed. This is probably one reason God gets so frustrated with us. We can totally hear him one second and then he blinks (ok not literally), but FOR THIS analogy he blinks and when he refocuses on us we have totally forgotten about what we just HEARD Him tell us and we are looking at ourselves in the mirror (we are so dang egocentric).  Sometimes we are even sticking out our tongue, like yeah we heard you, we just don’t want to right now. Come on…you know you’ve done it!

Anyway, something told me to look up this verse. I knew it was in Psalms but admittedly I did not know where. Thank God for google! You can type in Psalms and the little phrase you do know, and it tells you. Well, of course, this was a GOD thing. Should I have ever doubted? I think today is going to be me reading and praying over this passage. Not just to delight in the Lord, which I should (I have been so blessed), but also to commit, and trust, and wait for him. Right now there is NOTHING in my power that I can do to make my parents divorce or its subsequent behavior right. There is nothing I can do to bring back my grandfather. But if I “cast my cares on Him,” let it all go and just rely on my Savior I think I would not only have more peace, but also time to enjoy the really amazing stuff that is happening in my life right now. I mean, I am getting married! Woo hoo. But even more, we found a great deal on an apartment, we have already received some nice things for that apartment, and God has given up tons of great people to be supports to and supported by, so I would say we are pretty set to have one of the best new marriages ever. So, today, whatever is going on in your life, remember:

3 Trust in the Lord and do good.
      Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.
 4 Take delight in the Lord,
      and he will give you your heart’s desires.

 5 Commit everything you do to the Lord.
      Trust him, and he will help you.
 6 He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn,
      and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.

 7 Be still in the presence of the Lord,
      and wait patiently for him to act.
   Don’t worry about evil people who prosper
      or fret about their wicked schemes.

 8 Stop being angry!
      Turn from your rage!
   Do not lose your temper—
      it only leads to harm.                                                          

   Psalm 37:3-8

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Categories: Personal, Spiritual Reflections
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