Another cooler day with winds
blowing through in the 20-25 mph range and 35 mph gusts; while the sun isn’t
bearing down, the wind can be almost as bad.
The wind dries out the plants and ground so we must be sure the garden is
still getting plenty of water.
It is also bringing in lots of
dust and pollen that is dealing rather harshly with my allergies. Not one thing, ‘tis another.
Blaze is finally getting used to
having to live around Wanda – not easy for him.
They still have their differences especially when Blaze thinks Wanda is
usurping his place with me.
Meanwhile the cats are being
careful not to be seen by Wanda, she goes crazy when she sees them – runs around
and bulls her way into things. Have to
be careful when she does that as it usually means that she is hitting things
that can be broken.
She has no idea of her own
strength – fortunately she is one of the most gentle natured dogs I have seen in
a long time.
Galatians
5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the
Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the
other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye
would.
What do we deserve?
Last night Carla and I watched
the movie, ‘The Queen,’ (who was portrayed brilliantly by Helen Mirren) based on
the week after the death of Princess Diana and all the turmoil that resulted in
both the Royal family and the citizens.
How much was true and how much
was speculation is not important. What
was important, to me, was background, the palaces and their grounds.
The Royal Family lives an
opulent lifestyle. I am not begrudging
that, just saying. Their palaces and
land holding are vast. They have wealth
that many of us would desire.
Do they deserve it?
This morning I read an article
of a man who converted from Islam accepting Christ as his Savior; in a country
where that was a crime. He further
insulted the Islamic Laws by preaching to others.
He was imprisoned, tortured and
eventually placed in a five foot by five foot cubical without any amenities,
without any light and was fed every few days through a porthole in the
door. No communication with anyone,
living in his own filth, with no one to talk to; just him and his memories. He was living O-dark-thirty for weeks.
Did he deserve that?
He did, by the way, come to a
much closer understanding of God when he was about to give up completely (as
many before him who became insane before they were let out) when the Holy Spirit
came to Him and he realized even in this state, Jesus loved Him.
A mother is murdered, a child
contracts a terminal illness, a father watches as all he loves is destroyed
before him, a son cries out in pain as he dies from a car crash.
Did they deserve it?
A mother watches her child waste
away and die of starvation because she has no food to give him.
Did they deserve that?
Jesus was arrested, He went
through humiliating trials, He was beaten and tortured, He was forced to carry
the cross on which He was to be hung, He was mocked and spit upon, He suffered
greatly before He gave up His Spirit.
Did He deserve that?
What do we deserve?
Our flesh calls out for
recognition, for respect, for money, for the things money can buy.
Our flesh wants to be known and
wants to be treated fairly. If something
is given to one person it should also be given to me.
The flesh becomes upset when
credit is given to others who may not have done as much or as well as he has in
a given task.
What do we deserve?
In our society we give respect
to positions, even if we cannot respect the person that holds the position. A judge is due respect by virtue of the fact
he is a judge and is there to decide who is right and who is wrong.
A General is saluted by everyone
who is lower in rank because of the star(s) on his shoulders, his rank deserves
that respect.
What do we deserve?
When we look at all the things
we have accomplished, when we look at all the deeds we have done, what do we
deserve?
When we look at all our sins,
the multitude of times we have refused to listen to God’s Spirit, the times we
have passed by those that need our help, what do we deserve?
What do we deserve?
A person is a human being, he
deserves respect. An elderly person
speaks, he deserves respect. A minister
is preaching, he deserves respect.
But what if the human being is
vial and deliberately creating chaos?
What if the elderly man is inciting a riot? What if the minister is preaching heresy?
What do they deserve?
Our flesh claims that we deserve
what we want.
But, what do we deserve?
If we rely on our flesh to tell
us what we deserve, we become distant from God.
We are self-serving; we become jealous because another has something we
deserve. We deserve these things so we
should have them.
But, what do we
deserve?
The only thing we deserve is to
die and go to hell; to be cast off eternally.
Yet, Christ died that we might
use Him as a substitute for our just deserts and be able to live with Him
eternally.
What we receive is what God
chooses to bless us with, we deserve none of it.
When we become concerned that we
are not being given our ‘just deserts’ we are focusing on ourselves and not God
– we need to re-evaluate what our responsibility to God is and disregard that
flesh that keeps telling us we are special because of who we are, not who God
is.
What do we deserve?
Death; what we have been given
is eternal life.
Later, Art :-)
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