“I Pity the Fool”

By Janet Morris Grimes –

“I pity the fool who _______.” These words were made famous by Mr. ‘T,’ the daunting, Mohawk-topped figure of the one of the television series The A-Team a couple of decades ago. For those that did not see things his way, he considered them ‘fools,’ and had the strength, ammunition, and where-with-all to convert them into submission.

He taught quite a few lessons with this method.

God, however, does not handle things in this way. Sometimes, on my hard-headed days, I wish that He would. I would love for Him to blast me with a fireball to redirect my path. I need it to be that obvious, because there are times when I borderline on being foolish.

God has harsh, but loving, words for fools. The book of Proverbs is full of them. “A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in his own opinion” (Proverbs 18:2 ESV). My favorite is this: “Like the lame man’s legs, which hang useless, is a proverb in the mouth of fools” (Proverbs 26:7 ESV).

God knew we needed guidance long before we did. He offers wisdom and points the way, but is our choice to accept it. It must break His heart when we repeatedly learn the hard way.

There are times that He seems to pull back, like a teacher during a test, to see what we’ve learned. Still, He always comes to the rescue when we call, even if our pain is a result of our own poor choices.

In recent months, life has taught me two great lessons about being a fool. First, God is not afraid to make a fool out of me, in the eyes of the world, if I pursue something that does not fall within His will, or if the timing is not yet right. This is a sign of love, correction, and telling me ‘no.’ It’s required of any loving father.

Satan also seeks ways to make a fool out of me. He stays on the prowl to find me at my most vulnerable state; alone and doubting. He longs for my story to story to end in defeat, for my words to become meaningless.

He would love nothing more than to make a fool out of me on a daily basis.

But He forgets that I belong to Jesus now, and am no longer available to him. Jesus now fights my battles for me, and sometimes, in triumph, I can almost hear him saying, “I pity the fool….”

PRAYER: Dear God, Your ways are not my ways. Thank You for that. Though I fail to understand, at times, where you lead me and for what purpose, I trust You. Guide my steps and protect me when I am at my worst.

Pet Peeve

By Elaine James –

Oh boy! My husband left the shower head arm up again. I like it put down after use; it is a pet peeve of mine. If he leaves a cabinet door open I can care less, but it just bugs me when the shower head is up. I can’t explain it!

It is so hard to be nice when I remind him to please leave it down. He nonchalantly asks “What’s the big deal?”

A pet peeve (or pet hate) is a minor annoyance that an individual identifies to a greater degree than others may find it. Your spouse, children, dear friend, or co-worker might ask “what’s your problem?” or “what’s the big deal?” In addition to their question, and to annoy you further, they roll their eyes or curl their lip.

In response, you boil over inside and wonder, “Why don’t they see what a big deal this is?”
Here’s an idea. Got to www.getannoyed.com for the world’s largest list of pet peeves. As a family, we looked at the list and laughed. Conversation proved to be interesting.

In our fast paced, quick solution world we snap at those we love when we are annoyed. You have done it, right?

I hate when my husband leaves mail on the counter. I want to belt out “For the hundredth time please don’t leave the mail on the counter.” But last time this happened, I held my tongue. I was convicted. I asked the Lord for His perspective, “What do I do about this situation?” The Holy Spirit brought to my mind the verse found in Colossians below.

It took time to sort it out. Good thing I did not say a word. I later learned that he forgot the mail because he was busy putting the dog out. The dog almost had an accident on the floor. My husband’s pet peeve is that no one pays attention to the dog accept for him. Literally a pet peeve!

We can pray for someone to change, but quite often they don’t. But we can ask God to help us to change our response. I am humbled after writing articles like this. I am reminded of how much I need a Savior.

Learning to laugh a little it could take the edge off a tense situation.

PRAYER: Lord quite often people annoy me. Help me love others with Your peace reigning in my heart. Thanks for not letting go of me. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

“Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing; sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way” (Colossians 3:15 MSG).

Jesus

By Donna McCrary –

If Jesus had a Facebook page or Twitter account would you be His friend or follow His tweets?

Absolutely!

Can you imagine Jesus “tweeting”?

• Just healed another one.
• Going for a walk across the lake this evening.
• HMMMM feels like rain.
• Hungry – Got fish?
• I saw that….yes, I am talking to you!

With today’s modern technology it is nothing to accumulate over 500 “friends” via Facebook. It takes two seconds to click the “like” icon on someone’s post. It takes a few more minutes to type a comment. Two clicks and you have sent a happy face to a “friend” who is struggling. We might be “connected” to a lot of “friends” yet these relationships are emotionally void. In other words, we know the status of a lot of “friends” but we are a far cry from BFF’s.

I read this quote by Dr. Greg Fizzel, “No one’s relationship with Christ will ever rise above the level of his or her praying. Put simply, if your prayer life is inconsistent and weak, so will be your relationship with God.” It made me question my own prayer life. Is my relationship with Jesus any stronger than my relationships with my Facebook friends? Am I a fan who just follows His tweets? Do I really spend T-I-M-E with Him?

What I discovered is that I often treat my prayer life with God like my Facebook status. I login and update how I feel periodically from time to time throughout my week. I express my feelings, desires, frustrations, funny experiences, and then log out. I don’t log back in until I have a few extra minutes in my busy day or maybe a struggle that needs posting for some prayer.

I don’t want to be just a person who read the tweets and smiles. I want to be a friend that experiences an intimate relationship with an Amazing-All-Knowing-All-Powerful-God.

Being a friend to Jesus starts with a devoted prayer life where we read His word, give thanks, ask for help, pray for others, and simply enjoy His presence. This type of prayer life requires commitment and time.

What about you do you need to log in and update your prayer status?

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV).

The Workout High

by Elaine James –

I wanted to try something different and have some fun, so I went to a Zumba class at my gym. It was so stinking hard. I couldn’t keep up with the instructor. My feet went one way while my hips went the other. My dancing looked nothing like my the moves my instructor demonstrated.

“With time, the dance will become more familiar and things will get easier.” She said, encouraging me to keep coming. Things were going well until she changed the routine. Ugh!

I continue to drag myself to some kind of exercise class or to use the machines. My crotchety body still gets sore. But you know the old cliché “No pain, no gain.” I have to admit a membership to a club, cute proper workout clothes and protein power bar (need that boost) help make the experience a little better. Still, it is not always something I look forward to.

If I get in a rut and slack off. I remind myself of the reasons why I workout; I feel better, it is good for my health, helps keep my weight down and gets those endorphins going in my brain. I feel that work-out high or “Runners high”.

But I still needed more motivation. That is when I came up with the idea to get a personal trainer. It was her job to help motivate, challenge, support me and give me fresh perspective. But it became too expensive, and as soon as I stopped training, my motivation dropped again.

Lasting motivation and zeal for life needs to come from my true personal trainer, Jesus Christ. I decided to give myself permission to have a McDonalds drive through mentality. I want things fast so I can go, go, go. So, for motivation, I pick a verse and go. I know I will benefit from it. Here is the first one I selected: “So that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power” (1 Corinthians 2:5 NIV).

Man’s wisdom for exercise is excellent today because of technology. You can get an eating and exercise app on your phone. Greater than all of that knowledge and resources man gives us is reassurance from God.

Where does your faith rest? You can’t rely on the workout high. This simple reminder helps me pray for faith so the power of God will rest on me to get through the day.

PRAYER: Father in heaven, forgive me for leaving You home and not taking You with me at times. Thanks for Your word that gives me a power boost for the day.

Hatorade

by Elaine James –

I overheard my daughter asking her angry friend “did you, like, drink some Hatorade today?” One of her friends had made a hateful comment toward another friend. My daughter took up for her, which is why she asked the Hatorade question. I heard her say ‘Hatorade’ and thought “What a funny question and word.” This is precisely the way slang words are created today.

Gatorade was invented with the idea that it is a high performance drink that absorbs quickly into your body to give you energy to activate your muscles. If there was a drink called Hatorade, I would imagine that after drinking some, it would absorb quickly into your soul and then cause you to spew hate out your mouth. Spewing words is an age old problem. Speaking without thinking will always get you into trouble.

Controlling the tongue is a difficult thing to do. You wouldn’t have got snappy with your husband if he did not get snappy with you. You are hurting so you want to hurt someone back. It is easy to be nice when life is going well.

Perhaps you feel like Paul when he said “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate I do.”

A binding exchange of promises with God should help us to watch what we say. That is the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

I don’t think we will see a drink called Hatorade at the grocery store anytime soon. It wouldn’t surprise me to see it in a Hollywood movie someday.

Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

PRAYER: Father in heaven I have trouble at times doing good. I ask you to give me the strength to say and do the right things. Thanks for listening. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

“People with understanding control their anger; a hot temper shows great foolishness” (Proverbs 14:29 NLT).

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