BV: Proverbs 15:1

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Proverbs 15:1

This verse is particularly hard for me. It’s hard because it sends me a message I know is true. It highlights one of my major faults (and no one likes to look at their faults). All too often I speak through annoyance (whether I’m annoyed at myself or someone else). I know my daughter or husband (and sadly maybe some innocent bystanders) get shortness in my responses instead of patience and loving kindness. Nothing good can come from my tone. I only succeed in stirring up frustrations. Then everyone is feeling frustrated and/or devalued. No one likes to ask a simple question only to be snarled at. I don’t like it. Why should they? I know I would be better off looking into the eyes of the person in front of me before I spoke. Maybe then I would see the heart of the one speaking. Maybe then I would be reminded of what my words and actions say about me. Maybe then I would speak in the gentle way they deserve.

Today’s Encouragement: Take a breath before answering. Be calm and remember the heart of the person in front of you.

Question of the day: I know, for me, my busyness tends to make me less patient with loved ones. What makes you short with others and how have you learned to combat the situation?

BV: I Thessalonians. 5:11

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just in fact as you are doing.

I Thess. 5:11

We all love compliments and encouragement and yet strangely they seem to be a rarity. We don’t often receive them and we don’t often give them. I always find it surprisingly nice, in particularly, when I receive a compliment from a total stranger. Maybe it’s the fact that there is no hidden motive behind the message. It’s simply nice being nice (out loud). It’s a genuine act of kindness. But it also means a lot to me to have a friend or family member do the same. Sometimes we take it for granted that those closest to us know how we feel. I mean, we assume for example that our spouse loves us but it’s still nice to hear it (to be reminded). There have been many times I think something nice about someone else’s actions, appearance, etc and never say anything. I’m not sure why the hesitation. I know the feeling I get when I get a compliment or encouragement from someone. It builds me up. It’s a warm fuzzy. I would love to be in the habit of making someone else feel the same. It’s nice that I have the thoughts of encouragement but it would be better to share them. What good is a compliment or encouragement if it’s never uttered? To me it’s like a prompting by the Holy Spirit that, if unspoken, gets thrown into a pile of wasted opportunity.

Today’s Encouragement: Try, with me, to practice building each other up. Speak the compliments you think. Don’t hold them inside. Look for ways to encourage others. It’s quite possible our compliments or encouragement may be the lone bright spot in someone else’s bad day.

Question of the day: Can you think of a compliment you received that really affected you or your day?

BV: Starting With Praise

I'm starting a new endeavor with this blog.  My goal is to do daily "blogvotionals" (Monday through Friday).  They will be shorter than my usual posts (which I plan to continue writing once a week).  My hope is that these blogvotionals will be a time-friendly way to turn our hearts and minds to Christ.  To make them easier to receive on a daily basis you can click on the "Subscribe by email" link on the left.  The daily posts will be automatically sent to your email address.  You won't have to go searching for them.  I'm starting off with a simple praise from the Bible.  May 2011 be a blessed year as we look to God and thank Him for our lives, His love and our salvation.

Psalm 100

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.

Worship the Lord with gladness;

come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the Lord is God.

It is He who made us, and we are His;

we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving

and His courts with praise;

give thanks to Him and praise His name.

For the Lord is good and His love endures forever;

His faithfulness continues through all generations.

Encouragement for the day:  Take a moment to reflect on the greatness of God.  Take another moment to let Him know how great you think He is.

Question of the day:  What does "praising God" mean to you?

Not The Only One

Have you ever felt distant from God?  I have.  It's a strange sort of feeling to have.  For me, the best way to describe it is the word "lost".  Lost because I know I should feel differently and yet I don't know how to feel differently.  I've had these moments randomly throughout my life.  But one in particular which took place in college I'd like to share.  I attended a Christian school where daily chapels, prayers and devotionals were the norm.  And yet I found myself feeling strangely numb and distant - sort of disconnected with God.  I didn't have a reason why.  I wasn't angry at Him.  Nothing particularly out of the ordinary had happened.  I just had a hard time desiring to pray or read my Bible.  Spending time with God seemed a little like being in a room with a friend you haven't seen for a really long time and suddenly finding yourself at a loss as to how to communicate.  I'm not sure what the cause was for my disconnect but I do know that it bothered me a great deal.  I felt guilty and sad.  With people praising God all around me I felt alone in my dilemma.

One day I made an effort to reconnect.  I picked up my Bible and began reading in Psalm and came across Psalm 143.  The following words written by David resonated with me:

So my spirit grows faint within me;
My heart within me is dismayed.
I remember the days of long ago;
I meditate on all your works
and consider what your hands have done.
I spread out my hands to you;
my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.

Answer me quickly, O Lord;
my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me
or I will be like those who go down to the pit.
Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul. (NIV)

It was as if somebody had written down my thoughts (albeit more dramatically).  This passage said to me "You're not alone. Others have gone through this too."  After reading it I think my first thought was a question.  "You mean David felt this way?"  David was a man with amazing faith and he felt distant?  He longed to feel God?"  If he, of all people, could have moments of disconnect then surely I, a mere average being, could have them too.  David regained his closeness with God.  I was hopeful I would too.

I did get out of my rut, funk, whatever you want to call it.  We all go through our moments.  And when we do, it helps to know that even those with the strongest of faith have had their moments too.

How have you found ways to get out of your moments of disconnect? 

Being Thankful First

I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High. Psalm 7:17

Last week was Thanksgiving - a time to reflect on blessings – not only of what we’ve been given but of what has been done for us. But here’s my struggle. I find it too easy to see the things I don’t have and I find it too hard to see the things I do have. In short – I see what I lack before I see what I’m blessed with. It’s a backward point of view, I know. Don’t get me wrong. I’m very thankful for my blessings. When I sit back and think about my life I can see how tremendously blessed I am. My issue is that I often have to make an effort to see them. I want to get to a point where I don’t have to make a conscious effort to see my blessings. I want to open my eyes and see what I have not what I don’t have. I want to wake up being thankful first.

Have you ever been around someone who is thankful first? They don’t spend their time wishing for more. They are perfectly content with what they have and how their life is going? When something bad happens it usually rolls off their shoulders? The motto they live by is simple. It’s “God is in control.” When I’m around people who are “thankful first” I notice something missing (of course I do). I see a lack of complaining. I see a lack of whining. And I wonder how they got to that point. From an early age we are conditioned to see through the wrong set of glasses. We are conditioned to want more. We are basically conditioned to be unsatisfied. How did they recondition themselves? My conclusion is that they made a conscious effort to see their blessings. They made a conscious effort to be thankful. Eventually – it became a new way of life – a better way of life.

My husband relayed a story to me recently of something that happened to him years ago when he was young. There was a person that some of his acquaintances didn’t like and they encouraged him to join them in being mean to this person. He told me that even though he didn’t have anything against this person he caved in. He didn’t feel good about this and it ate at him. After a day or two he realized something (and I think this is a divine revelation because if everybody realized this the world would be a completely different place). He realized it took just as much energy and effort to be mean as it does to be nice. So he made the decision to be nice.

I tell you that story because it relates in this way: It takes just as much energy and effort to praise God as it does to complain to God. Praising God gives us a much better return on our investment. We please Him and we see our lives as full instead of half-empty.

I have a desire to see God’s blessings more easily and to praise Him more frequently. I’ll start (again) by sharing some things I’m most thankful for:

God has given me unending love. He will always reach out to me no matter how far away I go. One of the things I love the most about God is that He never gives up on me – even when I give up on myself. He is committed to the end.

Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. Psalm 106:1

God hears me and He answers me (sometimes in ways that are far greater than I can see or understand).

I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation. Psalm 118:21

There is really no way I can thank God for giving His son – allowing Him to take on my sins – so that I may have freedom. He paid a debt that I could never pay.

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! 2 Cor 9:15

Life may be a struggle especially when fighting the attacks of the evil one. But I’m still a winner and am thankful for the victory.

But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Cor 15:57

I am thankful for Heaven and the opportunity to spend time with my eternal family.

Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. Col 1:12