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Morning Devotional...

Been Thinking About...


I don't want to walk with the proud. But neither do I want to be counted among the humble.

Humility has P. R. problems. Pride has done a good job ruining the reputation of its rival. Many of us cannot even think of humility without suspecting pride in disguise, or an unhealthy and self-defeating personality.

Part of the problem seems to be that humility acts a lot like pride. Both show up at the same parties. Both have a closet full of disguises. Both try to avoid detection. What is different, however, are their motives. While pride hides to avoid guilt and conviction, "H" stays in the background because of its concern for the joys and pains of others.

With these differing motives in view, see if you recognize the following tactics and strategies of the "H" factor.

Leading humility—While known for producing followers, the "H" factor can also produce leaders. Caring about the needs of others can be a strong motivation for taking the risks of leadership.

Hating humility—While having a reputation for genuine love, humility also knows how to hate anything that threatens the well-being of others.

Speaking humility—Sometimes seen as shy, humility will speak up quickly and loudly, even at its own expense, when it sees the interests of others at stake.

Defending humility—Often known for "turning the other cheek" in response to insults, humility can use physical force against an enemy if the situation calls for personal or national self-defense.

Receiving humility—Known for giving sacrificially to meet the needs of others, humility also knows when to gratefully receive help and kindness.

Laughing humility—While humility knows when to cry, it spends a good deal of its time laughing with the joys of others and enjoying the favor of God.

Urgent humility—More often than not, the "H" factor practices patience so as not to force its will on others. But sometimes, when conditions call for it, humility runs to the side of those who need help.

Well-groomed humility—Humility has made a name for itself by knowing when to rip its clothes and wear the look of dustcloth and ashes. But more often than not, the "H" factor hides behind "normalcy" to avoid advertising its presence.

Discontented humility—Most people see humility as willing to be satisfied with what it has been given. But nothing is as dissatisfied as the "H" factor when it sees the needs of others being ignored.

Nondeferring humility—Known for taking insults rather than repaying evil for evil, humility also knows when to stand up to threats if it is in the interests of others to do so.

Unforgiving humility—Humility has a deserved reputation for giving to others out of the forgiveness that it has received. But the "H" factor also knows how to lovingly hold feet to the fire when there is a lack of repentance.

Questioning humility—In noted cases, the "H" factor does what it is told without asking questions. But it is not too proud to ask for clarification—or even for justification—when the needs of others seem to be at risk.

Skeptical humility—Humility knows when to give others the benefit of the doubt. But on important occasions it knows when to lovingly and courageously disbelieve what it is hearing.

Noncompliant humility—The "H" factor has a reputation for being cooperative. But there are times when humility scorns the kind of pride that would comply with evil rather than risk the disapproval of others.

Self-protective humility—Although humility doesn't protect itself at the expense of others, it does know when to look after its own interests to avoid becoming burned out and useless to others.

Self-helping humility—While self-help can be an arrogant way of rejecting the help of God and others, humility also knows when to educate and improve itself for the good of others.

Successful humility—While the "H" factor doesn't seek honor or success to put itself in the spotlight, humility is comfortable with recognition that is good for the general welfare.

Attention-seeking humility—Humility doesn't call attention to itself for its own sake. But it knows when to pick up a towel, wash the feet of others, and say "follow my example."

Knowledge-seeking humility—While knowledge can give big heads to those who amass it (1 Corinthians 8:1), humility knows how to lovingly seek out information and truth for the sake of others.

In each of these examples it should be clear that humility is not made out of appearances. On the contrary, the "H" factor is another way of looking at honest love. When we genuinely care for the needs of others in the Spirit of Christ, pride is displaced by humility.

There is no better description of humility than that described by the apostle Paul. While pointing his readers to the example of Christ, he wrote, "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus . . ." (Philippians 2:3-5).

Father, forgive us for being so disinterested in the attitude that brought Your Son from heaven to earth. We know You resist the proud and give grace to the humble. But we so easily revert to our own instincts. Please help us to love the kind of humility You love. Please enable us to adopt the kind of attitude that will help us to care for those who have an eternal place in Your heart.

I watched Bill Cosby's appearance here in Detroit from a few months back.  One of things he used was a quote from George Foreman....

George said, "When God tells you to sit down, you don't look around for a chair."  You think about that.

I'm off to bed.  Gotta go to Cleveland (actually Solon) Ohio on the morrow.

Well I'm at work, and I'm stitting at a desk glad I'm not out driving around in the snow coming down.
Just enough light stuff to cover the roads and make them treacherous.

March 11   

Pastoral Ministry: The Economic Squeeze

But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of
an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
--2 Timothy 4:5

A number of factors contribute to bad spiritual leadership....

The economic squeeze. The Protestant ministry is notoriously
underpaid and the pastor's family is often large. Put these two
facts together and you have a situation ready-made to bring trouble
and temptation to the man of God. The ability of the congregation
to turn off the flow of money to the church when the man in the
pulpit gets on their toes is well known. The average pastor lives
from year to year barely making ends meet. To give vigorous moral
leadership to the church is often to invite economic strangulation,
so such leadership is withheld. But the evil thing is that
leadership withheld is in fact a kind of inverted leadership. The
man who will not lead his flock up the mountainside leads it down
without knowing it.  God Tells the Man Who Cares, 61-62.

"Lord, again I pray for any pastor who may be facing this economic
squeeze today. Help him to be faithful and give strong leadership
no matter the cost. Then, Lord, I pray that even today You would
grant one of Your special, generous provisions as a powerful
reminder of Your great faithfulness. Amen."

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Smokey - I pray the roads will be better when you have to go home.
Chris - how true!  Boards of elders/deacons can be quite intimidating.  Some of them want what they want to hear - only.  And they hold the purse strings.

Good Morning Everyone!

It's so chilly here today and I just feel like crawling back into bed!  (but I won't!)

How are you all?


Ed, drive safely!  Is Cleveland very far from where you live?

Smokey, thanks for dropping in from work. 

Hi Al

Thanks Chris for sharing Dr. Tozer's great study. 


I'm having a friend drop in in a few minutes so I'm off for a little while.   Got to put the coffee on.

Good morning.  I wish you all a good day. Bye!

Terrible shooting in Atlanta, GA about an hour ago.

In a courtroom on the 8th floor, the judge and a court room reporter were shot dead and others wounded.  What a terrible happening.



Hi Janet!  You have a busy day? 

Thanks to everyone who have been clicking on the Google Ads.

We really appreciate it. 


Pretty soon, we'll have been together on the net for two years. 

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I haven't posted here for a very long time.  And I want to thank you, Pat, for your morning devotional about Humility. If I may, I would just like to comment that I don't think we see very often, the virtue of  humility of people in today's world, as we did in the past generations. I have talked about this with some other people from time to time.  And it is really sad to say, but it may be true.

My day here at home has started out fairly well and I am feeling God's peace in my life at this moment. Thanks to all you for the good thoughts that you posted here.

Good morning, almost afternoon, everyone!  It is a sunny, cold day here today.  Not a lot planned.  I'm going to a friend's house this afternoon to do a facial and makeover.  Should be fun.  I'm building a portfolio of before and after shots.  It's a lot of fun, and the results are amazing sometimes. 

Pat, I heard about that shooting.  I haven't read any details, though, just hte headline.  It is a sad world.

Have a good Friday.  Tomorrow is SATURDAY.  YEAH.  <karmat loves the weekends, because nards is home!!!!>

It's wonderful to see you posting Mary Frances.  Yes, it's been a long time since we've heard from you but hopefully now that your computer is fixed, we'll see your lovely photo pop up more.  Thanks!


Hi Karma!  It will be nice to have Nard home for the weekend. 

Hello everyone, I am just running through on my way back out the door. Things to do, places to go, people to see. Have a great day. My pain is much less today. those deep tissue massages and the Tai Chi are working for me, Thank you Jesus no drugs needed.

Red Hats tomorrow.

TTYL

Because they had no reservations at a busy restaurant, my elderly neighbor and his wife were told there would be a 45-minute wait for a table. "Young man, we're both 90 years old," he told the maitre d'. "We may not have 45 minutes." They were seated immediately. 

--Contributed to "Life in These United States" by Rita Kalish

First of all, my medical insurance premium almost doubled from last year to this year.  A very good insurance...covered about 100% for everything.  But I opted to take a less expensive premium but now have a decuctible and then 80%-20% coverage.  If feel that if I stay healthy, I am coming out ahead.  Almost the latter insurance was a pay ahead plan and this one might be called a pay as you go plan.

First, my Urologist told me in December that I didn't need to come back for 6 months.  I had been seeing her every 3 months for almost 4 years @ $600 a visit.  That will be a savings for me.  Then today I went for my yearly check up and my family doctor says he doesn't want to see me until this time next year.  I have been going to him every three months for blood work for a year and a half to get my cholesterol in check.  Also when I first went in the office, he said, when looking at my blood work report, "Cholesterol.....perfect.  Triglycerides.....perfect.  Sodium.....perfect.  Potassoim.....perfect.  Glucose.....perfect.  Calcium....perfect.  Total Protein....perfect.  Blood chemicals.....all look perfect.  I HAVEN'T SEEN A BLOOD REPORT THIS GOOD FOR A LONG TIME!!"  I even asked him if it was MY report.  Yes, it was!  I have been taking Vytorin for my cholesterol so it must really be working.  And I was on no particular diet the last three months except a See-food diet...when I see food, I eat.  Anyway, I am psyched!!!! 

Then Ivalou and I went for Chinese lunch.  Then to Kohl's to purchase a Bridal gift for my g-nephews fiance.  A very good day.  I was wanting to take a nap this afternoon but I will have to calm done to do that!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS, Etta Sue!!  That's a GREAT report to get from your doctor!  Tomorrow is our health fair, and I will be having all the lipid profile tests done, which I haven't had since this time last year.  I will be so happy if my report is anywhere close to yours! 

My girl is here and she is engrossed in a TV show.  So she will have to turn that off if she wants to learn to sew!!    She wants to make a dress, so guess we will tackle that maybe tomorrow afternoon or Monday.

I am disappointed because I thought today was an "all day cropping" at Hugoton.  Got my sister and all our stuff loaded up and drove over there----and turns out the gal says I had the date wrong on my calendar.  Drat!  (For you non-scrapbookers, that is a day to work on scrapbooking stuff, cropping photos, etc.)  But not today!

Hi everyone.  Think the treadmill of this week may be slowing down a bit.  We had our Learning Center volunteer meeting this morning and before I went to coffee this morning was finally able to get the PC User Group Newsletter e-mailed to everyone on the mail list.  We had a very nice business luncheon after our meeting.  When I got home I even took a short nap, the first time in several days I have been able to rest in the afternoon.  Now am sitting in my easy chair and watching the Georgia Tech/Virginia Tech ACC Basketball game.  Will be working on some other computer and website updating projects while keeping an eye on the action.

Janet, nice that Abby can be with you for a time and know you two will enjoy your sewing project.  She will never forget that you were the one who has gotten her started in the painting and sewing and other areas.  I am sure that is quality time as you two work together.

Etta Sue, a doubling of insurance premiums is a serious matter.  Our premiums go up about 10% each year.  Hope you change works out well for you.  Congratulations on such good test results.

Pat, that was a good devotional today. 

We have had a terrible thing happen here in Atlanta with the killing of a judge, the court reporter and a deputy.  The man was being held in a jury room prior to his appearance before the judge and apparently overpowered the guard and got her gun and shot her in the mouth.  She has come out of surgery and is expected to be ok.  He then went into the courtroom and killed the three people, was then able to escape and a manhunt has been underway for him ever since here in Atlanta.  Some of the schools had a lockdown as a precaution.  I just checked for an update and he is still unapprehended.  The court reporter lived in the town where we go to church, Snellville, GA.

Karmat, your before and after photos sound like a very good technique. 

Marilyn, glad to read that you are feeling better after the deep tissue massage. 

Francis, good to see you posting today and hope we will see more of you.  Also good to see all of the other postings. 

ETTA SUE, congratulations!!  That must feel great.  I'm so happy for you.

I'm not 90, but I may try that someday, Janet!  I love it!

Quote from: Janet on March 11, 2005, 03:12:12 PM

Because they had no reservations at a busy restaurant, my elderly neighbor and his wife were told there would be a 45-minute wait for a table. "Young man, we're both 90 years old," he told the maitre d'. "We may not have 45 minutes." They were seated immediately.

--Contributed to "Life in These United States" by Rita Kalish

HAHAHA!  That's given me my giggle for today!

Etta Sue, what a wonderful health report.  That is really thrilling.

Janet, you'll have to get step-by-step photos on her learning to sew.  What a precious time with Grandma!

Larry, it's been awful watching the news today about that horrific shooting in your city.  Just awful.

Nice to see you Nita.

Quote from: Pat Scott on March 11, 2005, 10:33:01 AM
Ed, drive safely!  Is Cleveland very far from where you live?/quote]

Cleveland or where we went (Solon) is about 175 miles (+ 5 hrs  roundtrip) from where I live....which is 18 miles west of Detroit.  If you buy a Ford Focus or or Lincoln Navigator...it is made in my hometown, Wayne.

We have been going all over Ohio...it is getting late in the model year and Explorer Sport-Tracs are hard to come by.  Four of us went in two cars and we brought back 4 Sport-Tracs.

If my B.W. is not busy, she can go with me.

One of the great things about being on the road....I get to listen to a lot of christian radio and some good speakers from all parts of the mid-west.  If not radio, I have christian speakers on CD.  So either way, I spend a lot of time with God, learning from others and getting insights from their perspective.

Boy did I ever have a hard time getting to read allt he posts. It kept going to page 1 only.

Anyway I am have been trying to tell you all is that I have just installed another 256K memory into this computer. Man is it every fast now.

Good night.

TTYL

I taped the memorial service for the 4 fallen officers in Edmonton yesterday as I was not home to watch it.  What a blessing that the father of one of the boys did the eulogy for his son.  They were only given 3 minutes for it, and this father gave a 3 minute witness, and said at the end that he was only following his son's wishes.  That if anything happened to him, he wanted people to know about JESUS.  Wow!

that's wonderful.  When I go, I want to have a salvation message and alter call... 

Good night everyone.. 

I think I'll lock the door on this NEM as folks are posting in the new one.

Thanks Janet for putting up the new New Every Morning.

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