It's just my junk

We all have junk in our heads. This is mine.

Archive for the month “November, 2015”

30 Nov 2015

Warning 6 of 8, Soap Opera own real life.

soap opera picThe Guiding Light, Days of Our Lives, and others. I assume some of you have no idea what those are or mean but to others it is a flash from the past and unfortunately still lingering on today. They were famous soap operas in the 1980s and 1990s. I never watched them (no really I never have) but my grandmother did and she would get wrapped up in this make believe world… the lies, the cheating, the romance etc. I begin to wonder if the modern day reality TV has replaced the old fashion Soaps?

I have watched a few of them… survivor for one. It is a reality game show but is it a reflection of our world? I am beginning to think so.. We watch the show thinking this is awesome… A player just got blind sides. A blind side is when someone is deceived or lied to and then gets voted out of the game. Blind sides are good to get people out of the game but are they really that good?

I am not sure about you but can assume you don’t like being lied to. I don’t like it all and it is my boiling point for sure. My tolerance for being lied to is zero.

God warns us in great detail to watch out for false witnesses who pour out lies. Why would he have such a huge focus on this?

Proverbs 6:19 “ a false witness who pours out lies.” This verse goes along with the warning series I have been blogging about. I know God cares for his people and warns us because He cares. So, what can we gain from this verse…

No one… I mean no one likes to be lied too. No one … I mean no one likes to be caught lying… No one I mean, No one really forgets when someone lies to us…

Here is a simple warning… If you don’t like being lied to, you shouldn’t lie to others. But in reality our world justifies lies and being a white lie… or lying to keep the person from being hurt or for protection…

I am all for taking care of people but I was taught from my mother that your lies will find you out. Eventually you will be held responsible for your actions… maybe not on this earth but as we move to eternity we will be held accountable.

Lets begin day by day, conversation by conversation, thought by thought to choose to heed God’s warning and not become a liar and watch out for those who look to deceive you…

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23 Nov 2015

Part 5 of 8.. Running the race… running to capture the prize.. run Forest run!

running crazyPart 5 of 8: Fast Feet… But where are you running?

I was and I reference was an avid runner… I ran cross-country, the 800 and 4×800 relay my last two years of high school that was way back in 1986-87… I would say I was pretty fast. We still hold the track and school record for the 4×800, the amazing factoid is we ran on Cinder… think chewed up asphalt that ate you up if you fell on it.. enough of me…

We would run after the win. We would run after that team who we had a rivalry with. We would run after things of this world… girls, special shoes, clothes, peer groups and so on. Fortunately for us it didn’t cost us the records we achieved.

What are things you run or ran after?

  • Fast cars A sale
  • Big houses A relationship
  • Special dates or occasions A career
  • Maybe for the deal of a life time A super bowl ring
  • For your kids to do what you didn’t A college acceptance letter
  • The trophy buck New technology
  • That awesome mission trip A Balanced Budget

Review the list above… is there anything wrong with the things above? I don’t think so in an f itself. It is a simple list of things. A list many of us have created. We even go to great lengths to make a list for Christmas presents.. Lists aren’t bad.

But what if we change the list motive a bit… What if we think through each item and put the ever-knowing words… I want this item to complete me…. I want this item to make me look good… I want this item so I can fill a void…

What are we using the things above as a tool to do wrong? I know I have done things in my past that have had bad intentions, but also have done things without realizing it. For example when I interrupt my wife half way through her story to help fix it.. Yeah the story didn’t need fixing.

We all are human and make mistakes some of which are innocent others we aren’t as pure in our motive. The hard part is realizing it before it is too late and we can’t recover from.

God warns us in great detail to watch our feet, that we don’t travel or run toward evil or doing wrong.. In fact it is one thing he DETESTS…. He doesn’t like it at all.

Proverbs 6:18b… “Feet that race to do wrong” (Jesus Centered Bible NLT)
“Feet that race down a wicked hill.” (Msg)

So, we need to focus attention and energy to avoid such running but how? I would say prayer, accountability, spending time getting to know God so you will discover why he detest it, and use visual signs to remind you to keep your feet running to good not evil. We all have the same and equal choice.

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16 Nov 2015

Part 4 of 8.. The plot twist… we like them in movies but what about real life?

plot twistProverbs 6:18a… God detests a heart that plots evil… This one is very much like the warning that preceded it.. Remember? Hands that kill the innocent.. our mind drives our actions eventually.
If you are anything like me, you like a movie with a good plot twist. The movie is flowing pretty good, we are anticipating the next move, then it happens… we are blindsided out of nowhere and we get plot twisted… everything we once thought was the fact, becomes different due to the change in plot.

God is calling us, warning us to guard our hearts from plotting evil. I would say our world is full of plot twits…

  • Divorce is a plot twist.. married happy ever after then something happens and plot twist.. divorce
  • A freak traffic accident is a plot twist.. everyone drives the road all the time, but one time an accident happens and plot twits… someone is hurt, our car is destroyed or even worse fixable but with tons of money
  • A star athlete is playing at the height of his or her league, making plans to finish the year at the state finals… then plot twist.. the athlete blows out a knee, their throwing arm or something that causes them to end their dreams early .. plot twist… they are now watching from the sidelines
  • Prom is coming, you have your eye on that special person.. you are about to ask them to prom and plot twist… someone beat you to it and they are no longer available to attend with you… Plot twist you compromise or just don’t go

So, how do we change out story to not plot evil? It is truly a large question we often ask when we see a school destroyed by violence, or a natural disaster, or a person we know who makes a poor choice and it affects their life forever.

I think we can continually work on doing good because it is good to do it. We can work on thinking before we speak, before we act, before we respond to a situation or person. We can very easily take a deep deep breathe and think of the out-come if we choose to plot twist in a way that causes us to do wrong (sin). I know it will take great energy but we could even go back to those we have wronged and seek forgiveness.

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07 Nov 2015

Warning #3 with what God detests….. Hand Jive…. or not.

Hands that Kill the innocent…

We are currently in a world where people are killing people on a regular basis.. We could easily talk for days about the cause:

  • Brainwashing?
  • Hurtful retaliation?
  • Accidental mishaps.. like drunk driving, things of that nature.

But the point of this blog post has very little to do with our current situation, it is all about a warning….
Proverbs 7: 17 God detests hands that kill the innocent.. I feel this is a warning for everyone from a caring loving God.

Hey friends, lets face it.. we are warned not to kill the innocent.. I would take this challenge a step further and begin to warn ourselves in our hearts..

How do we kill the innocent? Well we often think hateful thoughts about others.. some are our family members, others are rivals, others we are just jealous of, no matter the reason in our minds and hearts we are committing a very simple act of killing.. one actions many of us don’t follow through with but to others it gives and feeds others to act on the thoughts..

God is a God who loves everyone… no matter what color, gender, style or personality.. He is love and love doesn’t allow for Hate.. or killing of the innocent.

This isn’t about our hands as much as it is about our hearts and minds…

My encouragement is God loves us… He provides for us.. He has made a path for us…. He is our Father… a healthy Father we need and have been wired to connect with..

My challenge is to no longer allow ourselves to kill the innocent or anyone in our minds.

The mind is a very dangerous, complex, powerful muscle that can be used for GOOD or BAD.. We are able to work and grow our ability to do good and not to commit murder in our minds… therefore omitting it from our lives.

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