12.08.20— Legalism!--Galatians 4:15
My friend, may I ask you a question? Does joy seem to be a rare commodity in your life these days? If so, is it perhaps because someone or something is infringing on that joy? Perhaps you?
My friend, life’s a story, welcome to This Passing Day.
I’m M. Clifford Brunner
Over the years I’ve discovered that joy is a very fragile thing, while joylessness is not. Did you ever notice how,
when you’re at the peak of your joy, all it takes is a remark, a look or some small action to bring that joy down? We are able to remain in our dark moods for hours or days despite what anyone says or does to the contrary. Yet, when we are at our peak happiness, we often seem the most vulnerable, the most susceptible to other peoples emotions and actions. It’s no wonder that “wet blankets” can often put a quick damper on even our deepest joy.
Chuck Swindoll writes: “One of my favorite stories comes from a man who used to be in our church. He and his wife were close friends of our family, but they have now moved to another part of the country. We really miss their joyful presence. When he was a youth worker many years ago in an ethnic community, he attended a church that had Scandinavian roots. Being a rather forward-looking and creative young man, he decided he would show the youth group a missionary film. We’re talking simple, safe, black-and-white religious-oriented movie. That film projector hadn’t been off an hour before a group of the leaders in the church called him in and asked him about what he had done. They asked, ‘Did you show the young people a film?’ In all honesty he responded, ‘Well, yeah, I did.’ ‘We don’t like that,’ they replied. Without trying to be argumentative, the youth worker reasoned, ‘Well, I remember that at the last missionary conference, our church showed slides--’ One of the church officers put his hand up signaling him to cease talking. Then, in these words, he emphatically explained the conflict: ‘If it’s still, fine. If it moves, sin!’You can show slides, but when they start movin’, you’re gettin’ into sin.” (C. Swindoll, The Grace Awakening, Word, 1990, pp. 160-161.)
Does joy seem to be a rare commodity in your life these days? If so, perhaps it is because someone or something is infringing on that joy. It may even be you. Take a look around you today and look for those unnecessary rules, the ones that someone just made up to make themselves feel good, and put them behind you. Perhaps you are feeling guilty. Is there really good cause for those feelings? Are you being hard on yourself when all it would really take is a new look at being humble? Is performance the overriding factor in your life where relationships ought to be? Are you looking at how far you’ve got to go when you could be looking at how far you have come? Feeling guilty or inadequate can be a real wet blanket, not only for yourself but for others. Check your focus today. Are you living by faith or by performance? Remember, nobody likes a wet blanket.
We pray. Heavenly Father. Often we feel guilty. It seems without a good cause for those feelings? Are we being hard on ourselves when all it would really take is a new look at being humble on a personal level? Forgive us when performance becomes the overriding factor in our lives instead of where relationships ought to be. Help us by Your Spirit to look at how far we’ve come and not how far we have to go. Lord, when we feel guilty or inadequate we can be a real wet blanket for our family and friends. May we check our focus today to see if we are living by faith or by performance. Nobody likes a wet blanket Lord. That’s not what we want to become. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen!
Therefore my friend, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry for itself; each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matt 6:34) This Passing Day. May this passing day honor our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and be a blessing to you and everyone you meet. Find a stranger and say hello. Don't let another day pass without your day blessing someone else.
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<thispassingday@gmail.com> From Beech Springs, God bless you for Jesus sake.