“Never put a sock in a toaster.”~~Eddie Izzard
(BrainyQuote)
Today’s word of the day, from the Oxford English Dictionary, is broomball, “A team game similar to ice hockey and played on ice, but in which the players wear shoes or boots rather than ice skates and use (specially designed) brooms in attempting to push a ball into their opponents’ goal.” I have always wanted to play broomball, but, thus far, have not had an opportunity.
Today is Lost Penny Day. Not so much about actual lost pennies, this day is set aside to encourage people to gather up all of their loose change and donate it to the charity of their choice. Even “lost pennies” add up.
Let me tell you, it is good to be home. It is almost good to be getting up to go to work. I said, “almost.” I’m really tired after this week’s activities, but that’s not a complaint. My mother was feeling much better yesterday, and getting around pretty well when we left to come home. We had a nice afternoon with Rachel and Justin, having a late lunch with them. I also drove around town and took some pictures mostly of places that used to be something else when I was living in Mineral Wells. You can see the photos, if you so desire, on my Facebook page. I have set it to “public” so everyone should be able to see it. Oh, and if you’re wondering about all the pictures in the flower shop, I had stopped in to get something for Valentine’s Day. Plus the assistant at my mother’s surgeon’s office is the mother of the owner of the shop. Plus it’s allegedly haunted.
It’s Friday, so my “back to work” will only be for one day, and I’ll have the weekend to rest up for next week, which will, hopefully, be a week without bad news. I don’t think I’ve had one of those, yet, in 2016.
TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL
(From Praying With the Psalms)
To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me.
Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
Psalm 25:1-5
If you really think about it, the concept of “trial and error” is really a pretty “poor strategy for learning how to live.” We have the “way of faith” shown to us with bright, shining “precedents and examples . . . that can save us both the embarrassment of being foolish and the pain of making mistakes.” Yet, we still manage to do both.
“O God, even as Abraham ‘set out, not knowing where he was going’ and arrived at the land of promise by your guidance, so I would make my way believing in your promises and guided by your commandments, looking to Jesus, the ‘pioneer and perfecter’ of my faith (Hebrews 11:8, 12:2). Amen.”
(From My Utmost For His Highest)
Today’s reading is “Must I Listen?”
. . . and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.”
Exodus 20:19
“We do not consciously disobey God, we simply do not heed Him.” We have the commands of God right in front of us, but we consistently fail to heed them, “not because of wilful disobedience but because we do not love and respect Him.” We certainly don’t want to hear that, do we? “But of course I love and respect God!!” What does Jesus say in John 14:15? “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” When we come to the realization that, based on the words of Jesus, it is possible that we truly don’t love God, we become “covered with shame and humiliation.”
The words of the Children of Israel in Exodus 20:19 are tragic. “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” “We show how little we love God by preferring to listen to His servants only.” Here’s how it works: If God speaks, we know that “either the thing must be done or we must tell God we will not obey Him.” But when his servants speak, we can say, “Well, that’s just the voice of a man, and it’s his human thoughts. It might be God’s truth, but I really don’t have to do it, because it’s only a man telling me.”
The delight of hearing God, when once we do, “is tempered with shame in having been so long not hearing Him.”
Father, open my ears and my heart, that I might hear your voice. Mold my heart that I might love and respect you by doing that which you command me to do.
Come, Lord Jesus!
Grace and peace, friends.
Spaces of Beauty, Grace, Prayer, and Mercy 