Just finished giving Blaze a bath, having a cookie before and after makes him more amenable to the process.  I prefer these treats to some of the store bought where we have no idea what is in them.  I still do use some, but the ingredients are okay.

We are still missing one of our cats, she disappeared a few days ago.  She does that sometimes, not sure why she does, but hopefully she hasn’t come to harm.  It is the same one that got trapped in our shed for several days and took time to recuperate – yep, we checked the shed.

Getting a few outside chores done while it is still cool, should be that way for a few more days.  80’s aren’t too bad, cooler at night so we can shut off the air conditioner and open up windows to air out the house.

Mathew 18:7 Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!

As Christians we need to be very mindful of our actions and how they reflect on God.  When we choose to give into temptation, especially around other people, then, in their minds, it appears to be okay to do what you do.  They will often transpose that into another area of sin and justify that sin by saying it isn’t as bad, or at least, no worse than what we, a Christian, have done. 

While we are not the reason the sinned, we may have been the excuse, and we would be hard put to deny it.

We don’t need to be so paranoid that we don’t do anything in fear of leading someone astray, but we do need to remember that satan is watching us and he wants to do anything he can to make our life non-threatening to him and his cause.  Helping us fall in front of others can be a big help to him; not to mention leading others into sinning.

I had a discussion with someone a while back who couldn’t believe that someone was allowed back into the ministry after his sins of adultery had been exposed.  He had repented, he went through counseling, but he should not have attained the position of minister again, in their minds.

It is a difficult call, on the one hand to sinners it appears that Christians didn’t hold him to the standard they say they do; however, one of the things that we are taught and obliged to obey is forgiveness.  How we reconcile the two can have a bearing on how we actually appear to others.

We are not condoning his behavior, we are recognizing that he acknowledged his sins, asked for forgiveness and received it from Christ.  His denomination allowed him back into the ministry only after he had spent time in counseling, and a hiatus of about a year as I recall.

The man sinned, but he had the gift of ministry, he had been a strong servant before the fall and his desire was to serve him once again.  Explaining the reasoning to non-Christians can be difficult, no one is applauding his sin, and he will always have that cloud over his head where people will watch closely for any falling away.  Many will no longer allow him into their lives, because they feel that as a result of that sin they cannot fully trust him. 

His testimony has been undermined by his actions and the sin will follow him wherever he goes, there will be many people who might have listened to him in the past that will not listen to him now.

But sinning doesn’t just impact our leaders, it impacts us and we must be as careful as we can to avoid even the appearance of sin.  People use any excuse they can to find fault with us, we don’t need to give them ammunition.

If we focus on working for God, and not trying to impress the world, we are going to be less apt to sin; less apt to lead others into sin. 

If we work for a person, we need to work for them and give of our best – others may be more talented, but that doesn’t matter, it is our best that we must give.  That is our responsibility to God.

Colossians 3:23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

²⁴ Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

People notice, they watch, they know when we are just coasting along and not giving it our all.  We might not even be aware of how our actions are affecting our testimony, but they do.

As you know, I am a bit outspoken.  I was appointed by the County Court to represent the county’s interest in working out a plan to accommodate users on the Lower Deschutes River.

I got into the process a couple years after the original committee had been appointed – I was a replacement for the original representative who had resigned.

From the beginning, through the process I was vocal about the interests of the county (to the point that one of our county commissioners who had been appointed by the Governor as one of the representatives for the public told me he thought he needed to speak up more.)  But I also did the best I could to hammer out the agreement that would be satisfactory to our county and the 20+ other special interest groups.  We all worked hard and while it was frustrating we eventually hammered out a plan.

Several years later, long after I had retired and was a realtor, one of the members of that committee, who had represented one of the state agencies, came to me.  He wanted to move from the Salem area to the Hood River area.  He asked me to find him a home – his reason was that I had worked hard on the plan, and he knew I would work hard representing him as a buyer.

We often think we work for someone.  We are an employee, even those who have a business work with the idea that they are working for the customer or they will not be successful. 

But, no matter what we do, we work for ourselves.  We may get a pay check from someone, or some other kind of reward, but we do it to satisfy a need within us – either money or a means to live, or recognition of our talents. 

As a Christian we must give our all to God, we need to turn that self-service into our service to God.  The work we do is a direct reflection on our relationship with Him.  When we work hard and do our best people recognize that – and even if it is something that we have no talent for and must be relieved of those duties, people understand we didn’t have the skill set, not that we were lazy and just trying to get by.

There are times when we are just having fun and enjoying ourselves, the activity that we are participating in has no real consequence other than enjoyment.  But even, here, if we participate without following the rules, or undermine the fun of others (within reason of course, some people are so competitive even in the most innocuous activity they have to WIN!) it can reflect poorly on our testimony.

Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, people watch us.  We want to do the best we can to be a Christian they can follow into righteousness and not be led astray.  Part of that witnessing is to do everything we do as onto God – with that mind set, we are more apt to keep from sinning and thus leading others into sin.

Later, Art :-)  

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again