PROVERBS 10:8 ON 10/8

The wise in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin.  – Proverbs 10:8

You know, the thing about  those Proverbs…  they don’t mess around.  Some portions of Scripture dilly dally around to get to the meat of the matter.  Wow – the Proverbs – not so much.  They say what they mean and they mean what they say! 

Whether your boss is wise in heart or a chattering fool…  once in a while they will criticize you about something.  Let God worry about which they are…  you just make sure you are wise in heart and know how to be accepting of corrective criticism.  😉

You may ask, “Can you combine the wisdom you get from God with a quick wit?”  I’d ask how you couldn’t?  Maybe it’s just how God works with me, but more times than not, if I’m enduring some corrective criticism and asking God’s Spirit for help – He not only provides wisdom, but He also gives me thoughts about how to lighten the moment.  It’s very unusual to not have His wisdom and a joke or a story pop into my mind simultaneously. 

Is it necessary to explain what a chattering fool is – or how they can ruin???  I pray I’ve never been one, but I was young and immature at one time, so…  here’s the thing…  we are all works in progress.  God’s not done with any of us yet. 

By the same token, God loves us too much to leave us in an immature state.  He wants us to grow in our faith.  Let’s focus on the positive…  how do we become WISE IN HEART???  How do I learn to accept commands, to accept corrective criticism, to accept help given by authority to make me better?  What is that key attitude that God wants me to have as part of my armor to navigate this life?

• PRACTICE DISCERNMENT.  I say “practice” because discernment is a part of wisdom that only comes with practice…  lots and lots of practice.  When a person in authority corrects you and you are tempted to let it hurt your heart, stop that process in its tracks – stop it right there.  Pray that God’s Holy Spirit would help you discern whether the correction is 1) necessary and 2) helpful to your future workmanship.  If God’s Spirit lets you know that it is both necessary and helpful to your future workmanship – then and only then can you accept it, learn from it – and move on.  When corrective criticism is given about your work – something you are being paid or compensated to do a certain way – and it meets this criteria…  it is not aimed at you personally.  Take notes…  do what you have to do to get it right – but don’t let the criticism set in your heart!
• BE GRACIOUS.  We’ve all received corrective criticism – and a few of us have received the rantings of a fool who just happens to be our boss, am I right?  Regardless of whether you work for a wise person or a fool, always be gracious.  There are times to scream and cry and shout and yell at the top of your lungs.  That time is not as soon as you’ve been chewed out.  Go to the bathroom and stand in a stall or if it’s raining, go outside for a while (rain is great camo for tears).  My new go-to is a workout, followed by a shower.  Take it out on those machines…  they can take it! 
• TOW THE LINE BETWEEN STRENGTH AND UNDERSTANDING.  God did not make you to be a door mat.  If you are unjustly called on the carpet, do what I call “the quick prayer” – you know, like, “Lord, please help me here – this isn’t right.”  He knows!  It’s amazing how quickly he answers those prayers.  He answers as quickly as you pray them.  If you work for a wise person, they can show understanding and answer any questions you may have.  If you work for a fool, it could get tricky – but God’s going to work that out for you because you asked Him to!  A foolish boss will just chatter and chatter to hear him/herself talk.  It’s frustrating.  But, when God makes your boss need to take a breath, don’t be afraid to be strong and find out more deets about the proverbial raking over said coals.  Ask nicely, but be strong, keeping a calm, even tone.
• STAY SWEET.  Sweet words are like honey to the soul – even the soul of a foolish boss.  The wise boss will understand where you’re coming from, but the foolish boss will mistake your sweetness for weakness and assume you are afraid of people.  Nothing could be further from the truth, but in any case, stay sweet.  If you have been criticized and have prayed about it – and discern that it is unjustified, don’t lose your cool.  That wrecks your witness to your foolish boss.  Remember that God hasn’t given up on him/her.  You shouldn’t either.  The battle is the Lord’s.  Be still and let HIM fight it for you.
• BE PRUDENT.  Once in a great while, we really do have to choose our battles very carefully in the workplace.  We need to be wise and think about consequences that follow actions.  Is X worth Y???  Again, we pray and ask God for HIS way to handle things.  When Jesus was taken before Pilate, remember how He didn’t speak, even though He was heading for a horrific beating and subsequent death on the cross?  One without wisdom just pops off without a thought of what follows.  Keep emotions in check – God’s got the big picture under control.  Sometimes it’s a matter of just taking the criticism and keeping your mouth shut.
• EXERCISE INTELLIGENCE.  Before I explain, I want to say that intellect and common horse sense don’t even graze in the same field.  There are educated idiots running around all over the planet; however, if you are hearing corrective criticism from your boss and you actually have some knowledge about the subject at hand, it’s okay to speak up and explain why you did what you did the way you did it.  If you want God’s wisdom, it’s not always going to be intelligence that He wants you to use – but if it is, you’ll know it.
• HUMILITY DOESN’T HURT.  If you can accept the criticism from your boss, pray about it (in your head – God hears), and be wise in your response…  add a dash of humility into the mix.  Most bosses, whether wise or foolish, come down off their high horse long enough to let a humble person know that it’s okay to be human now and then.  Again, take a note…  do what it is you need to do to keep it from happening again.  Being humble is a huge (pronounced UGE) part of acquiring God’s wisdom.

God’s wisdom in the workplace will give you true joy and satisfaction of spirit.  It’s true…  read Proverbs 16:16.  🙂

 

SPUNKY OLD BROADS DAY

Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.  – William Harris

Today is SPUNKY OLD BROADS DAY!!!  Some of the sassy, spunky broads I’ll feature here are not necessarily OLD.  I’ll leave it to your discretion which ones are and which ones are not.  This is one of those posts that could go on and on with many examples, but I have to put a limit on it.  I will name my top ten picks.

1.  I feel blessed to have been around some of the sunniest gals with spunk ever – through the medium of television and radio.  Here from the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville is cousin Minnie Pearl.

http://youtu.be/__X3in5bMso

2.  While we’re on the subject of country spunk, check out this video from Dolly in the movie 9-5.  I think I read her lips when she was telling her boss she’d change him from a rooster to a hen…  whew!

http://youtu.be/_Z3ScqlwiYk

3.  How about our favorite redhead – Reba McEntire?  Natural red-head have built-in spunk.  It’s just part of the territory.  She shares some of her spunk with us on her TV show – Reba.  I think she has some attitude in this song too.

http://youtu.be/OVXNOIWqcTc

4.  Even our greeting cards got a kick in the attitude when Maxine came along!

http://youtu.be/28_jlWQOuSc

http://youtu.be/W3BltEJcKNc

5.  How could I even consider making this list without the remarkable and spunky Vivien Leigh?

Can’t you just hear her saying FIDDLE-DEE-DEE???

Spunk is that quality that sets older women apart from the rest.  I meet my friend at the beauty shop every Friday, and let me tell you…  that shop is full of women with SPUNK – and they are all over 60 years of age!  I listen to them talk every week and I walk away thinking, “I want to be just like them when I get older.”  Yep – watch out world – you’ve been warned.

God gives us dreams a size too big so that we can grow in them.  – Author Unknown

6.  Did you know that Katharine Hepburn was a natural redhead???  Does it surprise you?  Talk about some major spunk, she had it!  Remember when women would not entertain the notion of wearing slacks?  This is the gal who changed all that, and her 5’7″ frame wore slacks very nicely.  She was tough and bold even as she got much older.  When she developed the shaking of her head, she was quick to set the record straight when she proclaimed that it was not Parkinson’s, rather it was inherited from her grandfather.  She was known as “The First Lady of Cinema” for movies which are now considered classics.

http://youtu.be/08TUi44paCQ

7.  Today we know Betty White as a legend, but I thought it would be fun to show a video from 1945 when she was just starting out.  Even in this video her spunk is showing.  I like that she is now a spunky lady, but I wish she’d throw some of that off-color language to the curb.  She would be funnier without it.  

http://youtu.be/ZnREvTHj3g4

8.   There are so many great quotes from Eleanor Roosevelt, and I believe I’ve used every one of them at some point or the other.

http://youtu.be/9pAbaHjLaP4

She overcame loss and it made her more determined to be a strong woman with character, intelligence and spunk.  I was surprised to learn she had lost both her parents by the age of ten.  She really must have had to dig deep into her faith pocket to keep going.  It’s a woman just like this who needed to be beside FDR when the country was going through the stock market crash on October 29, 1929.  Known as Black Tuesday, it was the worst economic collapse in the history of the modern industrial world.  Close your eyes and image him talking with her about this situation – and about The New Deal.  She had to be strong – and a very good listener, I suspect.  Spunky women don’t always talk – sometimes they know when it’s time to be quiet and listen.

9.  Della Reese showed her spunk in the hit show on CBS called “Touched by an Angel”.  Here she is explaining the premise behind the show.

http://youtu.be/CMvQastGhf0

As I previously mentioned, spunky women do not have to be loud and irritating to show their spunk.  Della is a great example of this as an angel “supervisor” – which brings me to…

10.   Roma Downey, the “angel girl” whose gift from God was not music or art.  Her gift from God was truth.  She spoke truth with kindness, but also with her own brand of spunk.  You GO, angel girl.  Here are Della and Roma in real life.  This is so powerful, I had to share it.

http://youtu.be/qe5_zlJjNUE

You can’t go wrong asking God for His brand of spunk.  I will continue to do that as I get older.  🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

APRIL FOOL’S DAY

https://youtu.be/lWNlKgHR5vs

We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature – trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence… We need silence to be able to touch souls.  – Mother Teresa

As most of you already know, today is APRIL FOOL’S DAY!!!

The fool has said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that does good.  – Psalm 14:1

In this text, the Hebrew word is nabal, which refers more to a “moral fool.” Fools do not lack intelligence, rather they are usually the ones who strive for higher education! The atheists, or moral fools, do not want to be held accountable to anyone in this world and will certainly not consider being held accountable to a Holy God. They give in to every whim and fancy with no feelings of guilt for their refusal to be accountable to a Holy God. Nobody will tell them what to do! That makes them foolish in the eyes of the Lord. I don’t judge anyone as a fool because that’s not my job. For me to assume one way or the other is to say that there is not hope for change in that person’s life. I can’t do that. There’s always hope for all our lives. Besides, before I met Christ, I was the biggest fool of all!

I have a message for you, fool. Christ died on the cross for you too! Whether you choose to accept it or not, it’s true.

There is a way to avoid foolishness. Seek God while He can still be found. I enjoy solitude.  The time I spend alone reading or playing the piano is the time that my soul is nourished and my mind renewed.  When I’m alone I can gather my thoughts and organize them better.  My devotionals each morning consist of reading scripture and praying.  The time I spend alone with God is precious to me.  He provides much strength and comfort to my soul and mind so I can carry on.

You can’t find God if you are distracted by the noise of life.  The enemy of your soul would love to get you so wrapped up in the everyday drone of life that you leave devotions behind.  It happens so easily – and innocently.  You miss a couple of days and you say you will get back into the habit of having devotionals – your alone time with God.  Then you miss another day – not on purpose – but pretty soon, you have pushed the devotional time completely out of your day.

Let me ask you a question.  If you did not look at the needle on the gas gauge of your car, how would you know when you need to stop at a gas station?  Could you just assume your gas tank will never need filled again and keep driving?  Well, of course not!  Guess what?  Your soul needs to be filled every day!  You can either fill it with the love of God or believe me, the people in the world will find tons of different things – good or bad – to fill your soul. Technology comes to mind. It is a major distraction for many people.

If you expect to do any good for another human being, then you have to be properly filled yourself .  That makes sense, doesn’t it?

A soul does not grow in the center of fanfare, but in simplicity and humility.  I’d like to challenge you to turn off all the electronics that would distract your mind.  Take a devotional book outside – perhaps out to your garden.  Sit there on a bench and read one section of the book.  Let it sink in – don’t just lightly read through it just to go through the motions – but let God speak to you through what you’re reading.  If you will open your heart – He will fill it.  God is a gentleman and will never force Himself on you.  He waits to be invited into your life and into your morning.  Invite God to share your morning and see what a difference it will make in the rest of your day.

https://youtu.be/zWIsMDsxeBI

Be still – and know that HE is God. ❤