Two Things I Ask

Two things I ask of you;

    do not deny them to me before I die:

Remove far from me falsehood and lying;

    give me neither poverty nor riches;

    feed me with the food that I need,

or I shall be full, and deny you,

    and say, “Who is the Lord?”

or I shall be poor, and steal,

    and profane the name of my God.

Prov 30:7-9

 

 

Give us this day our daily bread and help us to live with integrity glorifying your Holy Name, Lord.

 

God's Peace - Pr. J

A New Day!

   You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

   Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.  (Eph 4:22-28 NIV)

St. Paul reminds the Ephesians and us that as followers of Jesus Christ we are to put off our old selves; to put away our deceitful desires. In order to live a new life in Christ; the old way of living must die.

If yesterday or many of your yesterdays did not been turn out so well for you; maybe, just maybe, it's not the world's fault. It is not God's fault. It is not anyone's fault but your own. Just maybe there is some desire or habit; call it a sin, in you that must die. Just maybe it's time for the old man or woman in you to go away to make room for the new person in Christ. If you are sinning and suffering the consequences of that sin then maybe it's time for you to stop repeating that sin. Each and every day we have another chance to live life and to enjoy life according to God's good will for us. Each and every day, hour, and minute God will forgive you your sins. Each and every day, hour, and minute you have the opportunity to start all over again.

It is a new day! Love it and live it in Christ!

God's Peace - Pr. J 

Fall Off The Crooked Path

Whoever walks in integrity walks securely,
    but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.
                                                             Proverbs 10:9 NIV

When my youngest granddaughter was very young, she would sometimes attempt to blame others for things that occurred. I would simply tell her that her nose was growing in reference to the Pinocchio fairy tale. She would grab her nose and then tell me what had actually happened in an attempt to keep her nose from growing. She's not buying that story (my exaggeration and falsehood)any longer. Fortunately, I think both of my granddaughters have figured out that I can figure out when they are exaggerating to make themselves look more innocent. I cannot always prove when someone is telling me a falsehood. But, that does not mean that I don't know.

I have found that most often those who choose the crooked paths of deceits will be found out. They either fall of the path or simply loose their way and those who love them have to try to find them and bring them back even as the Good Shepherd would do and would have us do. The bringing back often involves confronting the lack of integrity; the out right lies, the gross exaggerations that were used to justify their actions and to make others look like the ones in the wrong.

It is not just children who take the crooked paths and choose to walk without integrity. They usually learn it somewhere outside of themselves. Politicians, businessmen and women, churchmen and women (and the list goes on) all have a tendency to look after themselves and if a little deceit helps our goals then that seems to be the best path at the time. But, is it? For some reason humanity just hasn't been able to figure out that those who walk without integrity will be exposed. We haven't quite figured out that no matter what we've done; trying to justify our actions or inactions with lies, only gets us more lost. We will eventually fall off that crooked path and lose even ourselves.

May God help us always to speak and act with integrity. Help us to speak the truth in love.

God's Peace - Pr. J