No Excuses

By Pat

Many times in my life I have allowed the actions of others to dictate my actions. Have you? For instance, when I was yelled at, I yelled back. ("But you yelled first!") When someone was angry at me, I became angry with them. ("Well, I wasn't angry until you got angry!") When someone has been argumentative, I have argued back. ("You started it!")

It's difficult sometimes to swallow pride, zip lips and walk away. We want to be right, so we blame the other person for making us behave in a way unacceptable to God. We justify our bad behavior by pointing out that WE didn't start it. But that doesn't make us right, does it? The bad actions of others is never justification for our own bad actions. We are called to show others what God looks like, but we can't do that unless we rise above the temptation to return fire. We can never show the world what God looks like unless we allow Him complete control of our thoughts, words and deeds...especially when we are provoked, hurt or wronged. It is NOT okay for us to retaliate. Proverbs 16:32 says, "Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city." And Proverbs 21:23 advises, "He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity."

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God Is... Infinite

By Dusty (Reflections on the Life of a Christian)

Our God is infinite, but what does that really mean?

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines "infinite" as:

1. extending indefinitely : endless <infinite space>
2. immeasurably or inconceivably great or extensive : inexhaustible <infinite patience>
3. subject to no limitation or external determination
4. extending beyond, lying beyond, or being greater than any preassigned finite value however large

Our minds cannot truly grasp the concept of a being that knows no limits. We try desperately to define everything within the boundaries of our experience and understanding... But God is so much more than that. Any description we give Him cannot begin to reveal all that He is.

Knowing our limitations, how can we understand God as infinite? Truly, we cannot. It defies our logic. But it does not make it any less true.

Instead of trying to define God, we need to accept and be blessed by His limitless nature. Scripture references several aspects of the infinite God:

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Comfort From God

By Pat

"Whenever the spririt from God came upon Saul, David would take up his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better and the evil spirit would leave him." (1 Samuel 16:23)

Do you ever feel the need for a comforting word from God? I know I do. In this scripture passage from 1st Samuel, Saul was being tormented by an evil spirit. But God provided comfort and relief for Saul in the form of David playing his harp.

What harps does God send us? My harps have shown up in various forms; a call from a friend, a timely song, the right passage of scripture, a word of encouragement (sometimes from a person I would not expect to hear it from). My harps have been the sound of a child's laughter to chase away the blues, or the soulful eyes of my beautiful dog. Whenever it's needed, God finds just the right thing to send my way at just the right time.

We all receive our own little personal, comforting touches from God. The question is do we recognize them as God's personal message to us? We must always seek God's touch, and strive to recognize it when it arrives. God sometimes uses very unconventional means to reach us. He knows exactly what to do! We must also allow God to use us to be a "harp" for someone else, and to obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit to reach out to others with a smile, a hug, a random act of kindness. Who knows? It could be just the personal touch from God, just the harp song that's needed! God always finds a way to reach us when we need to feel His touch.

"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion for the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me." (Isaiah 49:15-16)

Pat is a good friend who is passionate about her faith and her family. She works from home supporting a family business, and loves to read, write and garden when she can, and spends every spare moment with her grandkids.

God Is... Wisdom

By Jason S (Connecting to Impact)

People throughout history have attained a certain measure of wisdom. From the practical to emotional to the spiritual, I would say it's fair that the vast majority of us have no desire to be or appear stupid.

We chase after wisdom through education and experience. We gather as much as we can like trophies on a shelf. Wisdom is not a bad pursuit at all, but without the Author of wisdom, it is unfulfilling at best.

Solomon, arguably one of the wisest people and leaders who ever lived, devotes a whole book called Ecclesiastes to the idea that wisdom is not enough. In fact, it's oppressive apart from truly knowing the Creator who would give wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those who please Him anyway (Ecclesiastes 2:26).

All the wisdom we hold dear in the world is foolishness to God. He dismantles and destroys the wisdom of the wise so all the hoarding we try to do ends up in vain (1 Corinthians 1:19-21).

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One Word At A Time: Sacrifice

By Ginny (MAD21)

Something happened last week that made my heart ache. I was sitting in the waiting room while my girls were in gymnastics class. The room is usually pretty chaotic with kids running around and parents coming and going. I was concentrating on my book so I wasn't listening to any particular conversation going on around me. But suddenly I found myself tuning into a woman sitting near me. It was one of those moments when it seems that everything slows down and the room goes quiet except for the thing that got your attention.

I looked up to see who was talking. It was a mother I had seen there before. She is one of those ladies who once she starts talking to you, you are committed to listening to for the duration of your time together. Don't get me wrong, she's a nice lady, but she obviously loves to talk and will do so as long as she thinks she has someone's attention.

We had all been in the waiting room for some time, probably about half an hour. The woman had been talking to the lady sitting next to her and to anyone else within earshot. I vaguely remember hearing about car repairs and sick kids, but that isn't what really what made me take notice of their conversation. I'm not sure what they were talking about that led them to this particular topic, but she began to describe an experience she and her family had when visiting a church.

I didn't hear why they were at the church, but it seemed like a recent visit. She liked having her young children go to Sunday school to help teach them morals. I think this is what initially got my attention. As a person who has worked in Children's Ministry for years and is passionate about planting seeds of faith in their hearts, this really bothered me. I'm glad the mother likes to take her children to Sunday school, but there is more to God and faith than good morals. However, that wasn't what upset me.

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