JMD Devotional 138 Evil Filter
Proverbs 17:22 A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.
Proverbs 12:25 Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down, but an encouraging word makes it glad.
Proverbs 15:13 A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken.
A gloomy, impatient, unthankful spirit, springing from pride and undue attachment to worldly objects, renders a man uneasy to himself and others. (Matthew Henry, Pr 15:14(sic 13))**
People who know my personality and theology find it hard to believe I read Dr. Robert Schuller, “Mr. Positive Possibility Thinker.” I take his words as medicine (not diet) for my negative bent. Somewhere along the line I (unconsciously) learned to protect myself from the sharp pain of disappointment by filing away the edge of my expectations. I let cynicism grow which attached a dark element to everything good. I was challenged last night on the news, when a woman who was the victim of a purse snatching was telling her story. She was knocked down, and dragged across the asphalt when she wouldn’t let go of her purse. The strap broke and the villain ran away with it. But two citizens observed the incident, and got in his way, forcing him to repeatedly change direction, slowing him down. Then an off-duty police officer jumped out of his car and took him down. How did the woman respond? “One bad guy, three good guys! I feel better about life! I feel safer! I’m grateful for these good citizens!”
Dear God,
What’s wrong with me?! If I were that woman, I’d be focused totally on how I was violated. But she saw past the evil of her situation, and was blessed. Please help me to be more like that; to be free of my negative mind-set, my harsh outlook, my knotted reasoning. I am always asking You to change the world; but I find myself most in need of change: transform my mind and renew my spirit, heal my heart, Lord. Please give me good eyes and honest understanding. Help me to be a man who expresses positive faith in every situation.
Amen
**Note: Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible is available in the Public Domain.
Retrieved from BibleGateway.com is © Copyright 1995-2005 Gospel Communications International
All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)
If you know of someone who would like to subscribe to
my daily devotional, please forward.
jamesdinsmore_32907@yahoo.com
Short, concise, thought-provoking.
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http://jamesezadventures.blogspot.com/
Proverbs 12:25 Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down, but an encouraging word makes it glad.
Proverbs 15:13 A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken.
A gloomy, impatient, unthankful spirit, springing from pride and undue attachment to worldly objects, renders a man uneasy to himself and others. (Matthew Henry, Pr 15:14(sic 13))**
People who know my personality and theology find it hard to believe I read Dr. Robert Schuller, “Mr. Positive Possibility Thinker.” I take his words as medicine (not diet) for my negative bent. Somewhere along the line I (unconsciously) learned to protect myself from the sharp pain of disappointment by filing away the edge of my expectations. I let cynicism grow which attached a dark element to everything good. I was challenged last night on the news, when a woman who was the victim of a purse snatching was telling her story. She was knocked down, and dragged across the asphalt when she wouldn’t let go of her purse. The strap broke and the villain ran away with it. But two citizens observed the incident, and got in his way, forcing him to repeatedly change direction, slowing him down. Then an off-duty police officer jumped out of his car and took him down. How did the woman respond? “One bad guy, three good guys! I feel better about life! I feel safer! I’m grateful for these good citizens!”
Dear God,
What’s wrong with me?! If I were that woman, I’d be focused totally on how I was violated. But she saw past the evil of her situation, and was blessed. Please help me to be more like that; to be free of my negative mind-set, my harsh outlook, my knotted reasoning. I am always asking You to change the world; but I find myself most in need of change: transform my mind and renew my spirit, heal my heart, Lord. Please give me good eyes and honest understanding. Help me to be a man who expresses positive faith in every situation.
Amen
**Note: Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible is available in the Public Domain.
Retrieved from BibleGateway.com is © Copyright 1995-2005 Gospel Communications International
All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)
If you know of someone who would like to subscribe to
my daily devotional, please forward.
jamesdinsmore_32907@yahoo.com
Short, concise, thought-provoking.
More features:
http://SaintJamesPoetry.blogspot.com
http://recoverydevotional.blogspot.com/
http://jamesezadventures.blogspot.com/
posted by James M. Dinsmore at 4:47 AM
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