PATH OF TRUTH

Today’s Scripture
The start of a quarrel is like a leak in a dam, so stop it before it bursts.  (Proverbs 17:14, MSG)
    
Stop the Leak
One of the biggest challenges we all face is getting along with other people. We have different personalities, different temperaments, and come from different backgrounds. When somebody doesn’t agree with us, or they’re doing what we don’t like, it’s easy to quarrel with them, try to straighten them out, and prove our point. Before long we’re at odds, mad at each other, and offended. You can feel the tension and stress. What’s happened? We’ve allowed strife in. When we let our guard down and say things that are disrespectful, hurtful, and demeaning, we damage our relationship and open the door to strife. That’s why the Scripture says, Give no place to the enemy. Strife can’t just come in whenever it wants; you have to open the door. To never have an argument or say a wrong word is not reality, but when we allow strife to become common we’re constantly arguing, saying hurtful things, being disrespectful, we’re headed down the wrong path. Stop strife before it bursts and tears relationships apart.
    
A Prayer for Today
“Father, thank You for the promise of blessedness when I take the high road and am a peacemaker in relationships. Give me wisdom to know when to keep my mouth closed and overlook something that bothers me. I recognize the destructive power of strife and give no place for it. In Jesus Name, Amen.”

Ken’s Thoughts,
In Hawaii, when there is gossip and slander going by someone it is called “Talking Stink” and the term fits very well.   And by and large the church thinks nothing about destroying another person with unfounded gossip.  Even in the past election with all the dust in the air, no one really knew what was the truth unless by divine revelation.  Not me for sure, I am sitting on a little grain of sand 2,000 miles from any big land mass in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. trying to use a computer on the internet trying to effectively decide the course of my vote for this nation in a state where the vote is never a conservative vote.  But folks sure get steamed about it, they sure do.  And mostly about issues that really no one has any empirical knowledge about.

So to get an overview on all this there are some thoughts to consider:

1    Am I defending my little ego and pride or is this conflict to help someone really find Jesus as LORD?    (If we sow to the flesh we will of the flesh receive corruption. )

2,    Am I truly standing in God’s complete forgiveness as I have forgiven everyone else?  This is a thought that we tend to ignore.  Pride tells us that we have the right to walk in unforgiveness towards others when we really want and need HIS total forgiveness.  We are taught that it can not happen.  God will not forgive unless we totally forgive as well.
3.    We often feel that we are so right that someone who objects to our position must be stupid and out to lunch.  Pride goes to war, Humility listens.  Only as we know a subject from the Bible in Context with all 66 books can we have “REAL” faith about any thing.
    Or if we actually see it and handle it as John records, Empirical, First Hand knowledge or otherwise we are just parroting something that seamed right to us at the time.  Some times we tell stories and even talk stink when we really don’t know if they are true or not.  And the more we tell it, the more we believe it.  I have had the Holy Spirit ask me, in the middle of a story, if I really knew whether it was true or not, empirically, first hand.  And come to realize that truly, it was just fiction that made me look good to others;  That fed my Pride.  

4.    When we stand before Jesus and give a true accounting of our lives on the things and sins that we have truly and totally repented of will be hidden under the blood.  The other stupid stuff of pride and rebellion and being self centered rather than Jesus centered will come up to the top and be critical to the outcome of our judgment.  What we did with our abilities and talents will be judged.

Of course if you make it to the 1st seat of Judgment your are IN.   If you end up at the 2nd seat of Judgment your name will not written in the “Book of Life” and you are OUT.  Waiting to later to consider all of this in not very wise and you don’t know the date of your graduation.  And you don’t know what will be the condition of your mind to even make decisions at a later date.  We are given one life time to decide to love light and go for it or to become involved with the world and allow ourselves to become a part of it.  John put it this way: “    Do not love or cherish the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him.  16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh [craving for sensual gratification] and the lust of the eyes [greedy longings of the mind] and the pride of life [assurance in one’s own resources or in the stability of earthly things]—these do not come from the Father but are from the world [itself].  17 And the world passes away and disappears, and with it the forbidden cravings (the passionate desires, the lust) of it; but he who does the will of God and carries out His purposes in his life abides (remains) forever.”  1 John 2:14-16.

Worthy Brief <worthybrief@worthynetwork.com&gt;    Thousands of U.S. soldiers and sailors are refusing to receive the COVID-19 vaccination and at this point there’s not much more frustrated military commanders can do about it.   Nearly all of South Carolina’s Democrat lawmakers walked out of the state House chamber in protest Wednesday before a vote on a bill that would ban most abortions in the state once the baby’s heartbeat is detected. Republicans voted to pass the measure and it will head soon to Republican Gov. Henry McMaster for his signature.   The central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh registered 23 cases against Christians and Muslims in the first 23 days of the country’s newest and most severe anti-conversion law, International Christian Concern reports. The government of Madhya Pradesh is dominated by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, the current ruling party in India.

Washington Riot:
https://worthy.watch/the-false-and-exaggerated-claims-still-being-spread-about-the-capitol-riot