Following the Rules

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “ 'Love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'
This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second
is like it. 'Love your neighbors as yourself.'
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Matt: 22:36-40 (NIV)

When our son was in grade school, we had a volleyball net that we also used for badminton.
Neither he nor I were good at the games but we tried to have fun when my husband would set it up for us.
One day I realized our son made up the rules as we played–always benefiting himself. I explained to him that we shouldn’t do that. He responded with, “But Mom, its more fun.” meaning it was more fun for him.

Once when we were camping at a local state park with the church we attended at that time, I had to warn our pastor's wife of our son's penchant of changing the rules of the game as he went. She, in turn admonished the others for their own good.

Don't we see that in our world? People changing the rules as they go along. Haven’t we, as a society,made shortcuts through life that seem to benefit ourselves rather than others?

God gave Moses a set of rules for us to follow. We call them The Ten Commandments. Jesus told the Pharisees about the greatest and second greatest Commandments. Then He told them “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Our heavenly Father sees when we don't follow His rules. And God always has the last say. We,as a people, have become complacent about obeying the dictates of our heavenly Parent. As time for His Son's return comes near, shouldn't we, as a society, study His word and repent of our sin and reapply those rules–His rules–to our hearts.

Priorities and Choices

But seek first the kingdom of God
and His righteousness and all these things
will be given to you. Matt 6:33 (NIV)

We see the results of people’s choices everywhere we look. We can look in any newspaper and read all sorts of stories about the downfalls of life being made reality. These choices seem to be made based on priorities–items or practices that have to come first due to their importance.

Jesus taught us to turn to God in our times of trial and uncertainty. He also tells us to model His qualities in our daily life. There is a promise at the end of this passage. Our Lord promises us that God will take care of our needs.

As I input these words into my computer, I sit in my son’s bedroom/our computer room/my writing room (at one time) concerned and yet fearful because the width of two driveways separates us from a young man’s house in whom the authorities have an interest in talking to. The sheriff's deputy talked to my husband and me this afternoon. We had suspected this young man was involved in something illegal some time ago.

This situation concerns me because I have known this young man since he was born. His mother raised three children and then, late in life started college and graduated, teaching in the school system here. He has always had different priorities than his mother. I am not sure at what point he chose to make such a terrible decision.

When We Face Hardships

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers,
when you face trials of many kinds,
because the testing of your faith develops
perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work
so you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
James 1:2-4

This passage always puzzled me. I couldn't understand how we could think of trials and hardships as anything good. One day in church, I realized I needed to focus on the latter part of the thought rather than the first.

James tells us we will have trials and troubles. There are many reasons for trials. We live in a fallen world. Our bodies wear out. Disobedience, not necessarily ours, can play a role in the picture.

But, there is good news in middle of the passage, “the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” Perseverance is one of the qualities involved in our spiritual growth. Peter tells us in his second letter to, “add to. . . faith goodness;to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge self-control; and to self control, perseverance; to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.” (2 Peter 1:5-7)

Having these qualities in our hearts keeps us from being ineffective and unproductive. As we work for the Lord, we should strive to develop them

Armor of God V

“Take the helmet of salvation
and the sword of the Spirit which
is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:17

In today's world, a bicycle rider wears helmet as a safety precaution. The head gear protects the skull in event of a nasty fall.

Our salvation keeps us from sin and from the falling into the ways of the world. Even if we slip into something that doesn't honor God, it is our relationship with Him that allows us to ask His forgiveness.

A sword is both a defensive and an offensive weapon. God's word can be a tool used to comfort (defensive) or to confront (offensive) its reader, based on his or her heart. We learn to use the word of God to guide us through times of uncertainty and to grant us comfort in times of grief. Inside its cover we find the way to salvation and sanctification.

Armor of God IV

In all things take faith as a shield
for with it you will be able to quench the
flaming darts of the evil one. Ephesians 6:16

In Biblical times the soldiers carried shields that were oblong and protected most of their bodies. They were formed by two pieces of wood adhered together.

Faith–confidence in the testimony of God–leads, comforts and protects us as we walk through life. The writer of Hebrews tells us, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

Our faith gets tested as we face certain issues in life. As we go through the trial we learn to give things over to God daily. We grow in our spirituality.

Eventually, our tough time becomes part of our past and we are ‘different’ people. If we choose to exercise our faith and trust God, we become better people.

Stress

“Do not worry about tomorrow.
It has enough troubles of it’s own”
Matthew 6:34

Everyone talks about it, but no one does anything to change it. Some people call the issue “just plain nerves” I speak of stress.

When I took classes from a community college, I heard stress was an element found in all activities. There is good stress–eustress and bad stress–distress. Eustress is the oohs and aahs we experience when we watch fireworks celebrations. Distress is the feeling we have when we hear bad news.

Stress is defined as–an organism’s response to external stimuli. People respond to events or issues affecting their lives in different ways. Three people hear news that could affect their lives. Person A acknowledges it and continues with what he or she is doing. Person B learns of the same issue and needs to think on it before going on. But person C might not understand the news and becomes overly concerned with the future outcome.

Stress takes its toll on those who can’t deal with it. Some people deal with it by not dealing with it. They internalize it. They don’t realize this process is happening. This can wreak havoc on the body.

Psychologists maintained in the last century that it was good for people to talk about those issues bothering us. Some of these behaviorists compare the process to peeling an onion.
Events in our lives can’t always be explained as who is responsible for it;they sometimes just happen.

In early June, my son received a phone call from his grandmother, my mother. My step-father had died the day before. We had not been close for a number of years. For reasons of personal protection, we didn’t attend his funeral, which was the following day. On the day of that funeral, shortly after it would have been over, my husband takes a phone call for me. My dad had died in his sleep early that morning. There had been a wrinkle in our relationship with my dad that made seeing him impossible. My husband started fretting over something that happened six years ago. I was trying to stay calm due to my fibromyalgia. Anytime I get upset, I run the risk of having a hurting stomach and its aftermath.

I had to make phone calls. I couldn’t think on what had happened in the early part of the decade. That is in the past and I prefer to keep it there. Friday night was a time for insomnia. I might have gotten an hour and a half sleep. My husband didn't sleep until after 11:00 Saturday morning. I am not sure how much rest our son managed to get.

I spent time, that Friday night and Saturday, emailing different people I know online. I received some very nice responses. Our son and I went to a local Mexican restaurant for lunch on Saturday. About three hours later I had rumbles in the stomach. Not all of this is related to foods we ate. I am aware of the areas of the human body vulnerable to stress.

God protected me from myself. At one time, I would have allowed those thoughts from the events of 2002-2003 to enter my mind. The emotions that come with them would have made me very sick. But, people were praying for me and my family. I still felt protected three weeks later.

Each person has to learn how to deal with the stress life brings them. Too many people haven’t found how to do this. As we mature we have to deal with many health issues. We need to learn to face life’s issues and overcome the inherent stress involved.

A woman at church has Lupus. Her husband saw a doctor, a specialist, the end of July. She knew the need to stay calm and not worry needlessly. Her daughters were asking her if she’s worried.

Living in a family can keep all of us at high stress levels. Interpersonal issues have to be dealt with sometimes by overlooking the offensive action. There are times we have to do more than look the other way. We have to turn the problem over to God.

Blessed Are Those Who Mourn. . .

“Do not worry about tomorrow.
It has enough troubles of it’s own”
Matthew 6:34

Everyone talks about it, but no one does anything to change it. Some people call the issue “just plain nerves” I speak of stress.

When I took classes from a community college, I heard stress was an element found in all activities. There is good stress–eustress and bad stress–distress. Eustress is the oohs and aahs we experience when we watch fireworks celebrations. Distress is the feeling we have when we hear bad news.

Stress is defined as–an organism’s response to external stimuli. People respond to events or issues affecting their lives in different ways. Three people hear news that could affect their lives. Person A acknowledges it and continues with what he or she is doing. Person B learns of the same issue and needs to think on it before going on. But person C might not understand the news and becomes overly concerned with the future outcome.

Stress takes its toll on those who can’t deal with it. Some people deal with it by not dealing with it. They internalize it. They don’t realize this process is happening. This can wreak havoc on the body.

Psychologists maintained in the last century that it was good for people to talk about those issues bothering us. Some of these behaviorists compare the process to peeling an onion.
Events in our lives can’t always be explained as who is responsible for it;they sometimes just happen.

In early June, my son received a phone call from his grandmother, my mother. My step-father had died the day before. We had not been close for a number of years. For reasons of personal protection, we didn’t attend his funeral, which was the following day. On the day of that funeral, shortly after it would have been over, my husband takes a phone call for me. My dad had died in his sleep early that morning. There had been a wrinkle in our relationship with my dad that made seeing him impossible.

My husband started fretting over something that happened six years ago. I was trying to stay calm due to my fibromyalgia. Anytime I get upset, I run the risk of having a hurting stomach and its aftermath.I had to make phone calls. I couldn’t think on what had happened in the early part of the decade.

That is in the past and I prefer to keep it there. Friday night was a time for insomnia. I might have gotten an hour and a half sleep. My husband didn't sleep until after 11:00 Saturday morning. I am not sure how much rest our son managed to get.

I spent time, that Friday night and Saturday, emailing different people I know online. I received some very nice responses. Our son and I went to a local Mexican restaurant for lunch on Saturday. About three hours later I had rumbles in the stomach. Not all of this is related to foods we ate. I am aware of the areas of the human body vulnerable to stress.

God protected me from myself. At one time, I would have allowed those thoughts from the events of 2002-2003 to enter my mind. The emotions that come with them would have made me very sick. But, people were praying for me and my family. I still felt protected three weeks later.

Each person has to learn how to deal with the stress life brings them. Too many people haven’t found how to do this. As we mature we have to deal with many health issues. We need to learn to face life’s issues and overcome the inherent stress involved.

A woman at church has Lupus. Her husband saw a doctor, a specialist, the end of July. She knew the need to stay calm and not worry needlessly. Her daughters kept asking her if she’s worried.

Living in a family can keep all of us at high stress levels. Interpersonal issues have to be dealt with sometimes by overlooking the offensive action. There are times we have to do more than look the other way. We have to turn the problem over to God.