The Better Part, week #53

 

This week's FB posts...

The Better Part, Day #252:

 

Listening to a continuing series on idolatry, it suddenly struck me that all those songs I dedicated to girls as a 'youngster'? They were either saying what I thought she did for me (and were really saying what I WANTED her to do for me), or how I 'felt' about her (and was really how I wanted her to feel about ME). The message went on to say that relationships (even had they occurred) like these are doomed to fail because what we want these other people to see/feel/do with us is really what we need GOD to do for us. If the relationship with Him isn't #1, anything else is idolatry.

 

 

 

 

The Better Part, Day #253:

 

 

As Michael Youseff was counting down a list of Biblical signs of pride, way down the list he named, 'sarcasm'. If you know me, you know my first reaction was, "Oh, no, not sarcasm!" But as I thought about it, I can see that like so many other things, imprudently used sarcasm is another arrow in the quiver of pride.

 

At this point, I returned to the message, only to hearYouseff tell the following joke (making a point about one of the earlier signs of pride:

 

"A pastor was preaching on pride, and after the sermon a lady came up and said, "Boy, you were sure right about pride! Everybody falls victim to it! Why this morning, right before church, I committed the sin of pride."

The pastor says, "Tell me what happened."

She says, "Right before church, I spent an hour looking in the mirror, admiring how beautiful I am."

The Pastor nodded his head. "Ma'am, that isn't pride," he told her. "That's delusion."

 

Sarcasm anyone?

 

Point being not to bust Youseff, but to point out quite clearly what a sneaky enemy pride really is.

 

 

 

The Better Part, Day #254:

 

Last night before I went to bed, I came to God about a lot of things. Things about this world, the state it's in, as well as where it has been and the depth of evil we can hit. Once upon a time, it might have ended as a, "I don't get why you aren't doing something about all this!" rant. Last night, though, I trusted in God to change MY mind, and renew my pages. 

 

I turn on my radio to Bott network, and drift in and out of sleep. And every time I wake up, I hear someone giving God's answer to one or more of my issues. After about a couple hours of this, I knew that my prayers had been heard. So maybe the problems and the pasts are still there. But I was returned to the points of all the 'Eben-Ezers' lined up in my past, the goal that lies to the future, and the hope in the here and now.