08Dec2009 My Reflections from Todays Devotion

Today's Devotion: A Legacy Of Repentance
Today's Passage: Psalm 51
 The cool thing about Psalm 51 is that in the end King David put the blame on one person and one person alone...himself. I think this is solely needed in this day and age. When watching the news, talk shows, interviews I see time and time again how it's the "other" person's fault for their actions or it's the government fault or a business fault for their short comings. We have lost the sense of the term, "you made your bed now you have to lie in it. I love the terms now of calling drug addiction an "disease" or adultry "addicted to sex". We all fall short of the glory but to constantly place the blame, the actions of ourselves on others is kinda lame.

It doesn't feel good to face the situations we put ourselves in but we have to face them. The wonderful thing about being a Follower of Christ is that even though God will not remove the consequences for our actions but His love never ceased toward us and when we have true repentance we learn from our actions and believe it or not if you were not under the arm of God it could be a much worse. I know from time to time I have made some knuckle-headed decisions that has cost me time, money, friendships but knowing that my Lord and Savior has my back is the most important thing in my life because earthly friends are so important but my relationship with God is the MOST important because he looks after me on this earth and when I die He will look after me from this earth.

It's not easy to live God's way and this is why he sent Christ Jesus to die for us because in our own strength we cannot live the Christian way but with prayer and obedience and just taken it one day at a time we can. We will make mistakes because we are not perfect but by living His way we truly learn the being responsible for our actions and when we do make a misstep we can look in the mirror and say, "Okay Lord, what do I need to learn from this" instead of passing the buck like our first Mother and Father did (Adam and Eve)

Have a Blessed, Wonderful day.

~DarrenKeith

Photo: Violent Crashing Waves
By michaelmjc
InterfaceLIFT

My Reflections From Monday's Devotion

Monday's Devotion: War . . . Then Peace
Monday's Passage: Luke 22:32-43

For some reason this devotion made me realize something in regards to other people action...when they are rude to me it reflects on them and not on me...now if I react rudely then it reflects on me. I'm not going to lie, it's easy to say and hard to do for me because I guess of the era I came up. I grew up in the 70s, that was a time when you respected your elders, when you were acting out in public and if someone that knew your parents they could say something to you and if they told your parents it was a good chance you get a whipping (or in my time a "whoppin'"). Those days are long gone and I have keep reminding myself those days are long gone.

You have people that if you do not tell them what they want to hear, even if the rules are spelled out to them in black and white they throw fits, speak harshly to you; when working in customer service I have customers that just "hang up". We live in an age where people don't want to read the fine print but are "surprised" when they hear the bottom line price. I'm realizing this is nothing new, Christ Jesus went through the same thing when it came to becoming a Christian.

We live in a time when people want you to be tolerant of the way they live but don't want to be tolerant of Followers of Christ. It's a catch 22 really, accept their views of the world, their rules of the game so to speak but don't tell me yours then when things begin to fall apart in their lives many cry out, "Why God did you let this happen!?!" The older I'm become the more I realize that it's better to live the Christian life instead of preaching the Christian life. When you do this either people will enquire about your life or they will reject you plain and simple...either way it's a win-win situation for your light to shine as a Follower of Christ and you will not have any regrets about the path you have chosen and at the same time you have not been rude to others around you and if people are rude to you know it reflects on them and not on yourself.

Be Blessed, Be Safe,
& Have a Wonderful Monday

~DarrenKeith

photo: Unforgettable Bryce by Philippe Clairo/InterfaceLIFT

Reflections From Sunday's Devotion

Sunday's Devotion: Advent Adventure
Sunday's Passage: Matthew 12:vv 11-21

The goodness of God. I have to sit back and really think about that at times. I know God knew what his Son would have to bare when coming to earth and dying for me. I have seen movies on the physical pain He had to suffer but sometime I think of the verbal abuse He had to face because sometimes that is worse than physical scarring. The things Christ Jesus heard about his father Joseph...the snide remarks about his mother Mary. Even though He was all God but Christ was also all man as well.

I know growing up as a child I was called so many names, teased about me stuttering and stammering over words. Teased about my physical appearance to this day sometimes stings when even thinking about it and I guess sometimes that is the reason why I try not to think about my hometown. Now I'm not painting my self as a victim because I had my sharing of mouthing off about people myself and now that I look back at it it's in all of us: we get bullied and we bully, we tease and we get teased and when I think about all of this I think of one of the reasons that God sent His Son to die for us because left up to us we would forget about what we have done to people and focus on what was done to us. We would paint ourselves as victims and not deal with our own shortcomings.

When reading Proverbs one thing God despises to the utmost is gossip, slander and I understand why because it can ruin a person's reputation, it can sprew hatred. Before you even get a chance to know someone it can cause one to dislike a person. When you really sit back and think about you wonder who came up with the nonsense,

"Sticks and Stones
May break my bones
But names will never hurt me"

Man that was huge lie. When being called names and teased it warps your mind sometimes on how people are and makes one put up walls around their heart many times. But also in being teased sometimes it makes you strive to become a better person, to have empathy for others and to realize in the end, "you're not the one with issues...it's person that sprewing the poison with their words." Yes Jesus Christ endured physical abuse but from a child to his death he encountered much worse when it came to gossip, slander and in the end abandonment and when I think that he took that all for me I can go one another day because I have someone to rely on and converse with because what I went through is nothing compared to my Savior. Thank Jesus for loving me for me and accepting me for me.

Be Blessed, Be Safe,
& and Have a Wonderful Day

~DarrenKeith

photo: Driftwood By rcheng99/InterfaceLIFT

message to check out today: Sustaining Grace {06December2009 Sunday}

Message We ALL Need To Hear

The cool thing about being a Follower of Christ is that sometimes we as Christians may not agree on some issues but many times we want the same thing. I have to admit I may not agree with Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family on many levels. I don't question his love for God because I know he is a true believer but by us being from different cultures I feel we will never see eye to eye but hearing this 2 part message is something many parents today need to hear in regards to wayward adult children.

Allison Bottke is the author of the book, "Setting Boundaries with Adult Children" is not only talking the talk but is walking the walk in regards to this matter. If there is any message you should check out this is the one.

Help for Parents of Adult Prodical Children (Part 1 of 2) 
Help for Parents of Adult Prodigal Children (Part 2 of 2)