A COMMENTARY FROM THE HEART

I’m sure we’re all familiar with the terms speck and bolt…  Don’t try to remove the speck from your neighbor’s eye while you’re toting around a bolt.  It’s paraphrased – but short, sweet and to the point.  God doesn’t want us to judge others.  For one thing, it’s burdensome to take on someone else’s baggage and try to change them – and besides that’s not my job!  My job is to pray that God makes any changes in their life – and pray that He keep working on my life as well.  None of us have “arrived” and we never will – not until we get to Heaven.

How many of you watched the show NEWHART in the 1980’s & 1990’s?  Dick & Joanna Louden ran the Stratford Inn in Vermont.  Let’s take a look at the jury here – and the judgment.  In case Youtube takes the video down, this is episode 145 “Twelve Annoyed Men… And Women.” 

I like to “people watch” – it seems a harmless way to pass the time, and my husband would rather I sit on a bench and observe the activities of others at our local mall than spend money in a store.  LOL!  When we’re making those observations, we need to be very careful that our motives are right.  For example, if I see a young lady with tattoos, purple hair, and piercings everywhere , I should not assume anything beyond the obvious – those things are not what I like for myself, but I mustn’t say that God would disapprove, for we know that God looks upon our hearts and attitudes – not the color of our hair or how many holes or tattoos a person has.  I’ve seen some beautiful tattoos, but to be honest, I’m a coward.  I avoid needles at all cost.  I’ve actually started praying for the people I see…  I may be the only one to pray for them!  I ask that God be in their life.  It’s a short prayer – and even though I don’t know their names… God knows them!

I was raised to believe that we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God – there is no degree of sin – one is as bad as the other, so why judge someone when you can just as easily pray for them?  To judge a person is your bad – to pray for a person is your good – and God smiles!  I don’t want to make God sad, do you?

In this journey called LIFE, I believe we are to help one another as we can, and pray for each other always.  Even though I’m not able to do very much right now, God reminds me that I can still write, and more importantly, I can still pray.  There is power in prayer and I’m making prayer my first resource instead of my last resort!  Prayer is the most positive force in the universe.

God can do all things in my life, regardless of my limitations and pain level.  He will do great things in His perfect timing, and He hears our prayers.  it’s up to us to be patient and wait for His answers.  We know that He will make all things beautiful in HIS time.  Please send some prayers up for me, friends.  Thank you!  God knows what’s going on. ❤

When you’re tempted to judge, resist the temptation and make a conscious decision to pray instead.  🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

A COMMENTARY FROM THE HEART

I don’t just pay it forward, I throw a free prayer in with the deal. – Linda Palmer

What a unique day I have had! We are having a garage sale now and day one has gone quite well. I did manage to leave the garage for just a few minutes from time to time to check what’s going on in facebook land and check my email and so forth.

A friend and I are going to have breakfast soon and she sent me a note that said, “I want to buy your breakfast this week, but you have to promise me that you will PAY IT FORWARD.” I smiled and shot her a reply that said, “You bet I will – and there will be a free prayer thrown in with the payment!”

The day went along and I didn’t think much more about the email. I decided to go see my hair stylist to get my hair trimmed. I walked in expecting to be charged for the service. When she got done she said, “I’m not going to charge you this time – it didn’t take me five minutes – but you have to promise to PAY IT FORWARD!”

Am I racking up some debt here, or WHAT??? I thanked her and said, “You bet I will – and there will be a free prayer thrown in with the payment!” I headed out the door and began wondering how I would do all of this paying forward.

I got back to the house and one of our neighbors was looking at what we had for sale. He saw me walking toward the garage and smiled and said, “I’ve got something out in my car for you.” He motioned for me to follow him. When we got to the car, he picked up a bag of the most beautiful home-grown tomatoes I’ve ever seen. I thanked him for them and asked how much I owe. You already know where this is going, don’t you? He said, “Oh, no charge, just PAY IT FORWARD.” I was grinning from ear to ear and said, “You bet I will – and there will be a free prayer thrown in with the payment!”

If everyone throws in free prayers for the people they are helping, I imagine I have been more than sufficiently prayed for today. I feel so very blessed in so many ways today. Thank you, LORD for the wonderful people in my life! 🙂