Singleness of heart

In 2 Chronicles 30:12, we see a very, very unusual occurence in Israel.
The OT is chockablok of instances where Israelites have lack of purpose and constantly follow their own whims. That resulted in most of them "doin' their own thang!" Lotsa interpersonal conflict and division...in fact all the makings of a Dynasty like soap opera..
That's why it is surprising and unbelivable when we read the people of Judah had a singleness of heart.
The best part is...their secret formula for this "singleness of heart" is given as well-The hand of God." The reason and source of their unity was none other than the Lord himself. The joy of the Lord was their strength.

What was the result of their singleness of heart? Obedience to authority. At the word of the Lord, they obeyed the command of their King and their leaders.

How many of you are going thru' some sort of disagreement at home, church or in office? Father and son not seeing eye to eye? Don't agree with some of Pastor's teachings? Boss not seeing the merits of your proposal? Mother in law being a stick in the mud? Not talking to your dearest friend over a minor skirmish?

Pray that the hand of God is on you and yours to bring in that singleness of heart. Authentic spiritual unity flows from the presence of God in the person of the Holy Spirit

#2 Let the Praises Flow

Appreciate your daughter. Girls primarily need love and security. A critical spirit destroys their fat and prospering souls. The aim is to build up rather than destroy.
Be diligent in praising your daughter. For what, you ask?

Not for her achievements…for just being her.

Girls are not naturally competitive like boys. But women that we are, we are more competitive with our own kind. Be it Mother or sister or friend, girls compete among themselves. Only Mother can nurture acceptance and security and confidence. Identify her particular gift and encourage using it instead of imposing your unfulfilled dreams on her.

Daughters, being women ourselves, are quite easy to read and therefore we are harder on them. But a lot of love and patience does go along way. Look back and see that all you had to is to find your particular trigger to success (read that as doing what your mom wanted happily.)

Falling prey…..

In Revelations 12:10 we see, satan stands before God “accusing our brethren day and night” so that they too like him will not have access to redemptive grace and mercy.

We have to take care that he doesn’t use us as his agents on earth. To the degree of access he has to us, he will use us as his agents to sow discord among brothers. Ever since there were two brothers on earth, he has used this, his most effective and deadly tactic.

This especially true when it comes to judging our brothers and sisters in Christ. In Philippians 2, Paul writes, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves." We are implored to esteem others as better than ourselves, not as worse!

Have you stopped to wonder why we are so quick to believe the worst about someone? Why Else? Because it makes us feel better about ourselves. That goes against what God wants for us- unity.

Unity does not just increase our spiritual authority. It multiplies it!

We are so much stronger when we are together; the enemy knows this. That's why he likes to plant the seeds of doubt and dissension and watch us flounder as we try to see just how many fingers we can point at everyone but ourselves. All because we let one negative thought creep in. Have I completely learned my lesson? No. And I probably never will... after all, I'm not perfect.

But God has been teaching me four things over and over these past few days:
1. It doesn't matter in the light of eternity,
2. He's got it all under control anyway,
3. It's not my job to fix everyone's problems, and
4. Let it go!

Attn Crows: Do Not Trespass!

Philippians 4:8
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."

When life’s billows blow, our thought life hitchhikes through terrain it wasn’t meant to go. The verse above is the hitchhikers map back home!

And whether you are man or woman, it is sure difficult to follow this map ( See? This is why you got to consult the Bible in getting directions!)

I don't know about you, but every day I fight a war with myself inside my mind- it's easy for our thoughts to get away from us. We have to endeavor to guard our thoughts at all times. When we dwell on negative thoughts that creep in, we end up going places we never intended to be, somewhere we weren't meant to go.

So don’t let the crows (negative thoughts) nest in your head!

The Favor of Men

Galatians 1:10
"Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ."

Take a moment here and ask yourself, "Who am I trying to please?"

Many of us strive for man's approval without even realizing it. There's nothing wrong with doing your best, but it's the motivations behind your actions that counts. A Christian cliché goes "What's popular is not always right, and what's right is not always popular." And it is true..

Let's face it: we all know what we're doing wrong in our lives. And we're the only ones who can change that. Before you do anything, "Who am I doing this for?"

If you are fooling yourself and the rest of church with “Mock Psychology” know that people around us may see a "do-gooder", but God looks at the heart (1 Sam. 16:7).

Afterword on jealousy

Did you know jealousy rots your bones (Proverbs 14:30)? No amount of calcium is gonna save you there!!?

When you are jealous, you end up tearing down all your earlier efforts to love and encourage others....He has been really talking to me....and can you believe it thru 'one of my daughters storybooks on good behaviour? :D

Three verses stand out:
Romans 12:2- Do not be shaped by this world;instead be changed within by a new way of thinking..
2 Corinthians 10:5-Proud thoughts raise themselves against the knowledge of Christ..capture these and make it give up and submit to Christ.
Philippians 2:2-4- Get happy by thinking about Christ' love and share in his spirit...don't let pride be your guide..instead be humble and give more honor to others..don't give more importance to yourself than others

God really did some simple talking straight to me there!
Forget about the rest of the world, they are not important. Be Humble. Get happy.( put all those wicked thoughts under Christ' lock and key!)

You know what else? The more I hear his voice and realize my purpose here, the less prone am I to envy and jealousy. Towards the end of today, I was like,"Huh? So who's jealous here?"

HALP! Invasion of the Green Eyed Monster

OK, I could be really spiritual here and claim jealousy is for lesser mortals, but I'll be truthful instead. I mean,” Come on! I am yours! She ain’t even as close to you as I am. How come You leave me out then? How come she excels and succeeds at work without You by her side?”

In business, phrases like "friendly competition" and "may the best person win" are bandied about quite often. But how many of us actually mean that? When you have won that project, it is easy to sing Give God the Glory and mean it! But what about when you lose the project? And that too to someone who’s around to rub it in your face everyday? Yes siree, sometimes the truth is less honorable.

I can of course twist my words around…I amn't jealous! Just, uh … competitive, feeling left behind, feeling sorry for myself.

But the thing is in business and work, when competitiveness is combined with paranoia, you get wrong business ethics…in simpler words. You end up doing things you’d be ashamed to admit anywhere. Satyam becomes Asatyam.

Today I found myself in a difficult situation. Very Difficult Situation. A “friendly” competitor was moving in the kill faster than I could. To top it all, they are encroaching on what they know is my area of expertise. Heck! They are even using my artillery to push their proposal forward. Now one part of me wants to go after the prize myself. But you got to admit they were in the right place at the right time!

So then what are my ulterior motives? Sabotage? Dog in the manger?

:( I’m still working my way out of this mess. My arguments start and end with, ”But Still! How could they? Are you telling me I should let them get away with this?”

He’s telling me this much loud and clear(and I m not even in my QT yet!)

1) “"From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded" Luke 12:48. Sometimes less is already enough to worry about!

2) Do you honestly thing something that is wrongfully gained would be God’s plan for you? When Abraham and Lot had to part ways, (unjealous) Abraham gave Lot the first choice. Lot chose what he saw was good. Abraham chose what God saw was
right. And who ended up bringing up two daughters right at the threshold of the two most evil cities of their time?

3) What others do is My business, not yours.

…..will keep you posted on this battle…Do write in and tell me what you found most effective…At the moment I’m breaking the first commandment in our household, "Thou shall not whine!”