Today ~ on the radio...Chip's still talking about perspective and focus and whatnot. And the Scottish guy in the morning was talking about Joseph. At least, I think he's a Scot. Could be Irish. I just dunno! He has a nice accent though...he kept saying "Psalm" this morning and at first I though he was saying Sam!
Anyway. Joseph was not protected from circumstances, but in them. He was protected by God's presence...protected from the silent killers of Resentment, Self-pity, and Bitterness. And he was protected for a unique purpose {echoes back to Jeremiah 29:11}.
And Chip says this about perspective:
Our feelings follow our focus,
Our focus follows our affections,
Our affections follow our thinking.
That and we're like a sponge...when we get squeezed by life, we find out what we're really retaining, what we're really filled with.
So - Since I seem to be leaking Resentment, Self-pity and Bitterness...then that means my focus has been off...and that I haven't been in God's presence. Ahh - more verses from James. "Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you." If memory serves, that's right after talking about submitting to God.
Is it just me, or did my brother just spank me down below in the previous post? ouch. consider me chastened. I think I'm gonna start calling him Spanky!
Seriously though...the people I am in the contact with the most right now seem to be consistantly irritated with me {{{shrug}}}
Anyway. Joseph was not protected from circumstances, but in them. He was protected by God's presence...protected from the silent killers of Resentment, Self-pity, and Bitterness. And he was protected for a unique purpose {echoes back to Jeremiah 29:11}.
And Chip says this about perspective:
Our feelings follow our focus,
Our focus follows our affections,
Our affections follow our thinking.
That and we're like a sponge...when we get squeezed by life, we find out what we're really retaining, what we're really filled with.
So - Since I seem to be leaking Resentment, Self-pity and Bitterness...then that means my focus has been off...and that I haven't been in God's presence. Ahh - more verses from James. "Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you." If memory serves, that's right after talking about submitting to God.
Is it just me, or did my brother just spank me down below in the previous post? ouch. consider me chastened. I think I'm gonna start calling him Spanky!
Seriously though...the people I am in the contact with the most right now seem to be consistantly irritated with me {{{shrug}}}
Ok. Back to talking about God's presence. I saw what they call a sundog today. It has something to do with ice crystals in the atmosphere - which makes sense since we have a storm coming in tonight. I've found a photo from NASA to show what I'm talking about. I was going to just post it, but I noticed it had a copyright on it and wasn't sure if I should do that. So here's the link:
Sundog
I was driving the bus and the 'real' sun was hidden by a mountain...and off to the left...was this faint sundog. I'd never seen one before and it was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. It was a God moment.
Comments
*sigh*
BTW...still no pukes! *yeah*
His first name is Alistair. That's all I know right now, but I'll try to find out.
Does sitting down and stubbornly refusing to move count as staying on the path? Cuz that's what i've been doing recently. Sheesh. I guess that means I've backslidden to.
Glad you're not sick.
How cool is that!
And in terms of not being where you want to be emotionally/spiritually, think of it this way, at least you recognize that you have self pity, etc, and that you recognize that they are not what you want to be, not the emotions you want. Some people never realize that the problem is internal, not external. That makes it very hard to solve the problem if you don't know its roots.
Oneida - I've been accused of being deeply introspective before. {blushing in embarrassment} I'm not always like this, honest...just most of the time. But you made some good points. thanks.