Gotcha! & Insight for the Day

Good Morning,
I hope all you DDO's are sparring well these days. Darting in and out as life unfolds.
Ever been going along minding your own business when BAM! something happens that knocks you right off your feet? Something you never thought about or imagined. Whether good or bad, this is part of life. As you read this devotion, you will probably do as I did. I did a hindsight on all the events in my life that I would consider a whopping surprise...Took me off guard...Moments I'll never forget... Actions and statements that are life changing.
Memories came in no particular order from
*a tender stroke on the cheek to
*a simple statement, "I want a divorce" to
*another simple statement, "Mother and Dad have been in a car accident" to
*Mother didn't make it." to
*"I love you. Will you spend the rest of your life with me as my wife?"
*"You are 3 months pregnant"
*"I already know...for your sake, you need to tell me"
*"You are already forgiven"
* "It's a boy"
*"I want to live with my Dad" (that one about killed me)
*"Mom, I'm coming home" (You Lift Me Up!)
*"Are you my daughter"?
*"You died when I died over 2000 yrs ago"... and the list could go on and on.
A lot of 'Whews' in life when you stop and think about it.
See if you don't walk down memory lane as well.
My walk helped to bring alive the emotions Chuck has reminded us of in this devotion. Which also is testimony that God goes before us, meets us there, prepares us for the surprises in life, without us even knowing it is going on.
I would love to hear some of your Whews in life...Share some events with me and let me know if you want me to pass them on.
Love and blessings to you,
Mom/Meme/Linda


December 17, 2009
Surprises
by Charles R. Swindoll
Genesis 17:15-17; 18:9-14; Joshua 6:1-22; 1 Corinthians 15:52-58


The feelings are familiar. Mouth open. Eyes like saucers. Chill up the spine. Heart pounding in the throat. Momentary disbelief. We frown and attempt to piece the story together without a script or narrator. Sometimes alone, occasionally with others . . . then boom! "The flash of a mighty surprise" boggles the mind, leaving us somewhere between stunned and dumb with wonder. "Am I dreaming or is a miracle happening?" So it is with surprises.
O. Henry did it with his endings. World War II, with its beginning. Surprises start parties and they stop partnerships. They solve murders, they enhance birthdays and anniversaries, they embellish friendships. Kids at Christmas love 'em. Parents expect 'em. Coaches use 'em. Politicians diffuse 'em.
We like 'em and we hate 'em. Just a few one-liners illustrate both reactions.
"Dr. Brown would like to discuss your X-rays right away."
"Class, take out a clean piece of paper . . . it's pop quiz time."
"We've been on the wrong road for an hour. Here, look at the map."
"The alarm didn't go off. It's almost noon!"
"Hello . . . I'm calling from the bank regarding your checking account."
"Honey, the doctor heard three heartbeats today."
"The boss wants to see you. No need to take off your coat."
"Congratulations---you made the cheerleading squad."
"We are happy to inform you your manuscript has been accepted for publication."
"This is Officer Franklin. We have your son down at the station. He's under arrest."
"The tumor we suspected to be malignant is actually benign."
"It isn't a carburetor problem, ma'am. Your whole engine is shot!"
"Sweetie, that wasn't leftover stew. It was Alpo."
"Did you know the bathroom scales weigh twelve pounds light?"
"Mom . . . Dad . . . Byron wants to marry me!"
And on and on they go. The highs and lows of our lives are usually triggered by surprises. Within split seconds we are sobbing or laughing like crazy . . . staring in bewildered confusion or wishing we would wake up from a dream.
Ever stopped to trace the surprises through the Bible? That Book is full of them when you look at certain events through the eyes of people in that day. Like . . . when Adam and Eve stumbled upon Abel's fresh grave. When Enoch's footprints stopped abruptly. When Noah's neighbors first realized it wasn't sprinkling. When aged Sarah said, "Ze angel vasn't kidding, Abe!" When Moses's ears heard words from a bush that wouldn't stop burning. When Pharaoh's wife screamed, "He's dead! Our son is dead!" When manna first fell from the sky. When water first ran from the rock. When Jericho's walls came tumbling down. When a ruddy runt named David whipped a rugged warrior named Goliath. When a judge named Samson said yes instead of no. When a prophet named Jonah said no instead of yes. When a woman from Samaria had a Jewish Stranger tell her all her secrets. When the disciples discovered that Judas was guilty. When the only perfect One who ever lived was nailed to a criminal's cross. When Mary saw Him through the fog that epochal Sunday morn.
And that's just a quick review of the snapshots. I mean, if we had time to enjoy the whole album, we'd be up 'til midnight. It's gasp-and-gulp city right up to the end.
And speaking of the end, that last page will be the greatest shock of all. Talk about "the flash of a mighty surprise!" How does "like a thief in the middle of the night" grab you? How about "in a moment . . . in the twinkling of an eye"? Gives me the willies just writing those words. Imagine all those open mouths, eyes like saucers, spine-tingling chills high up in the clouds!
Jesus's return will be the absolute greatest surprise. Well, maybe I had better not say that. The greatest surprise is that people like us will be included in the group, stunned and dumb with wonder. Let's face it, that won't be just a surprise or a dream. That'll be a flat-out miracle.

Excerpted from Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life, Copyright © 1983 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by arrangement with Zondervan Publishing House.
Philippians 4:7, "... His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

Listen Slowly & Insight for the Day

Listen slowly & Insight for the Day

Good Morning,
I'm learning the 'fine art' of lisenting. If I'm in a hurry, busy mind, or tired it is difficult. I am finding I have to listen between the lines which takes concentration (time) and care. I've always valued as gold the way the Lord 'hears my feelings'.
May that be our prayer. It is mine.
Love and blessings,
Mom/Meme/Linda


December 9, 2009
Dialogues of the Deaf
by Charles R. Swindoll
Leviticus 26:14, 18, 21, 27, 40-46; Luke 8:4-18; John 4:1-26; James 1:19

It is impossible to overemphasize the immense need humans have to be really listened to, to be taken seriously, to be understood. No one can develop freely in this world and find a full life without feeling understood by at least one other person. . . .
Listen to the conversations of our world, between nations as well as those between couples. They are for the most part dialogues of the deaf.¹
So wrote Dr. Paul Tournier, the eminent Swiss psychiatrist and author. His words convict me. They usually do . . . but these especially. Because they probe at an area of weakness in my own life. Not a glaring weakness; a subtle one. One that I'm able to hide from most folks because I'm often the one who's expected to talk. But some time ago it began to dawn on me that I needed to cultivate a discipline far more difficult than talking . . . and one that required an exceptional amount of skill.
Listening.
I don't mean just hearing. Not simply smiling and nodding while somebody's mouth is moving. Not merely staying quiet until it's "your turn" to say something. All of us are good at that game---cultivated in the grocery store, local laundromat, or on the front steps of the church building.
Dialogues of the deaf! Sounds come from voice boxes; guttural noises are shaped into words by tongues and lips. But so little is listened to---I mean really taken in. As Samuel Butler once stated: "It takes two people to say a thing---a sayer and a sayee. The one is just as essential to any true saying as the other."²
Illustration: Children. They express their feelings. Deep down in their fragile, inner wells are a multitude of needs, questions, hurts, and longings. Like a tiny bucket, their tongues splash out these things. The busy, insensitive, preoccupied parent, steamrolling through the day, misses many a cue and sails right past choice moments never to be repeated.
Or how about the person we spot without Christ? Have you ever practiced listening evangelism? Unless we're careful we usually unload the goods and go for the scalp. But people bruise easily. Sometimes irreparably. We must take care not to fold, spindle, mutilate, or assault! Sure, the gospel must ultimately be shared, but taking the time to listen patiently and respond calmly is an essential part of the process. I nodded with agreement when I read the admonishment of a rough and ready tycoon as he began the meeting with: "Now listen slowly!"
Check out Christ with the woman at the well (John 4). He could have blown her away with an endless barrage of verbal artillery. He didn't. He genuinely listened when she spoke; He "listened slowly." He read the lines of anxiety on her face and felt the weight of guilt in her heart. As she talked, He peered deeply into the well of her soul. It wasn't long before she found herself completely open, yet not once did she feel forced or needlessly embarrassed. His secret? He listened. He studied every word, each expression. Even the tone of her voice.
What does it take? Several things. Rare qualities. Like caring. Time. Unselfishness. Concentration. Holding the other person in high esteem. Sensitivity. Tolerance. Patience. Self-control. And---perhaps most of all---allowing room for silence while the other person is thinking and trying to get the words out. Wise is the listener who doesn't feel compelled to fill up all the blank spaces with verbiage.
Solomon said it clearly in Proverbs 20:12:
The hearing ear and the seeing eye,
The LORD has made both of them.
Two ears. Two eyes. Only one mouth. Maybe that should tell us something. I challenge you to join me in becoming a better listener. With your mate. Your friends. Your kids. Your boss. Your teacher. Your pupils. Your clients. Your fellow Christians as well as those who need to meet Christ.
If those who battle with blindness need Seeing Eye dogs, we can be certain that those who struggle through dialogues of the deaf need Hearing Ear friends.

1. Paul Tournier, To Understand Each Other (Atlanta: John Knox, 1967), 8.
2. Samuel Butler, "The Art of Listening," The Royal Bank of Canada Monthly Letter 60, no. 1 (1979), 2.

Excerpted from Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life, Copyright © 1983 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by arrangement with Zondervan Publishing House.

Philippians 4:7, "... His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

Freeedoooom!!! & Insight for the Day

Dear Devoted Ones,DO's
Can you hear it? Freeedoooom!!!
I can still find myself falling back into that old trap of the flesh...being who I think someone wants me to be. I'm a conformist at heart anyway. Before the Lord began the renewing of my mind, I conformed to the person I thought I needed to be accepted by another. I don't think I even knew who I was suppose to be. Now...well, now I am conforming to HIM. I love the word "Conformed"
1. (intr; usually foll by to) to comply in actions, behaviour, etc., with accepted standards or norms
2. (intr; usually foll by with) to be in accordance; fit in he conforms with my idea of a teacher
3. to make or become similar in character or form
4. (Christianity / Ecclesiastical Terms) (intr) to comply with the practices of an established church, esp the Church of England
5. (tr) to bring (oneself, ideas, etc.) into harmony or agreement
There is just something warm and comfortable, cozy about that word to. I think it is the 'fitting' that feels good.
To be free to be who it is that God created you to be is 'fitting', it is being comfortable in your own skin...that feels good, doesn't it? It makes you love yourself and I see that as freedom. Do you know how many people do not love themselves...and have you noticed that if you don't love yourself, it is almost impossible to love others?


A Renewed Mind
by Charles R. Swindoll
2 Corinthians 10:11-12

No hypocrisy, no competition. Wouldn't that be refreshing to live such a life? It all comes to those with a "renewed mind" . . . those who determine they are going to allow the Spirit of God to invade all those walls and towers, capturing the guards that have kept Him at arm's length all these years.
I can't recall the precise date when these truths began to fall into place, but I distinctly remember how I began to change deep within. My fierce tendency to compete with others started to diminish. My insecure need to win---always win---also started to fade. Less and less was I interested in comparing myself with other speakers and pastors. This growing, healthy independence freed me to be me, not a mixture of what I thought others expected me to be.
And now my heart really goes out to others when I see in them that misery-making "comparison syndrome" that held me in its grip for so many years. Not until you start thinking biblically will this independent identity begin to take shape.
It is when God is in control of the servant mind that we can realize as never before that life's greatest joy is to give His love away to those poor souls who are still stuck in the rut of comparative living.
The more you give, the more you'll get!

Excerpted from Day by Day with Charles Swindoll,
Copyright © 2000 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. (Thomas Nelson Publishers). All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.

Will I practice what I preach? & Insight for the Day

Dear Devoted Ones...DO's,
Giving Thanks on Thanksgiving Day may be a side dish. Our minds on food, gathering, and timing...giving thanks thrown in before the meal. Now none of us do that, I know...but going beyond this day is what I want to write about...where the rubber meets the road.
When I got the call 20 years ago that my Mother and Father had been in a serious car wreck my first thought was, "Am I going to practice what I preach"? I'm sure it was the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
I went upstairs by myself, got on my knees and said Thank You to the Lord. I could not say, "Thank you that my Mother and Father have been in a serious car wreck"...the fact that she was probably not going to make it and thank Him for that. But I expressed the desires of my heart, thanked him for the situation, acknowledged He was in charge/control and their life was in His hands. A peace filled my heart about the whole thing..not an assurance that she was going to make it, but a peace. It has NEVER left.
Of course all the human emotions were felt, but the Peace was bigger than all of them.
I experienced Satan trying to steal it from me. That's his job, you know...that sinking, sick, desperent, frozen feeling tries to take over.
God always brings to my mind to act as one who has Hope...not as those who have no Hope. Giving thanks in and for all things in this life does guard our hearts with Peace. Can't you just see that? What a picture!
So, DDO's, on this one day set aside for Thanksgiving, I want to encourage each of us to carry Thanksgiving where the 'rubber meets the road' in our daily lives.
I thank God for you allowing me to fill your Inbox full of emails from me. Blessings and love,Mom/Meme/Linda Giving Thanks:Philippians 4:7, "...Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

November 26, 2009

Count Your Blessings

by Charles R. Swindoll

Psalm 95
Sometimes when you don't feel like praying, or you're consumed with needing to speak to the Lord but can't gather the words, try that old standby---count your many blessings, count them one by one. lt's amazing how you can get carried away from worries and woes and self concern when you start naming out loud what you're thankful for. Right away your focus shifts from your needs to the Father's graciousness and love. Try this:LOOK UP . . . thank You, Lord . . .for Your sovereign control over our circumstances for Your holy character in spite of our sinfulness for Your Word that gives us direction for Your grace that removes our guiltLOOK AROUND . . . thank You, Lord . . .for our wonderful country for close family ties for an opportunity to help others for a place to live, clothes to wear, food to eatLOOK WITHIN . . . thank You, Lord . . . for eyes that see the beauty of Your creation for minds that are curious, creative, and competent for memories of pleasures and recent accomplishments for broken dreams and lingering afflictions that humble us for a sense of humor that brings healing and hopeHe is worthy of our highest praise and gratitude. To Him goes all the glory.If you can't pray, make a personalized list of blessings.
Excerpted from Day by Day with Charles Swindoll,
Copyright © 2000 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.
(Thomas Nelson Publishers).
All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.