Digging Up the Past

"In 1642 England was caught up in the Civil War with Cromwell and the roundheads. Five years later King Charles the First was captured, tried and sentenced to death. He was executed on January 30, 1649. Fifty-nine men put their signatures to the death warrant.

"When Charles II was restored to the throne some eleven years later, he wanted to avenge his father's death. However, by that time, some had died and others were living abroad. They were arrested, taken back to England, and ordered to stand trial.

"As for those who had died, the bodies of fifteen signatories, many of whom had been dead for years, were exhumed and then hung on the gallows."

That's exactly what resentment does. It digs up the past. It is caused by nursing grudges and failing to forgive—a practice that God's Words warns us not to do. This is because buried and/ or unresolved anger, hurt, grief, bitterness, etc., work like emotional cancer that "rots the bones," destroys relationships, and keeps one bound by the past.

As I've quoted before, "Failing to forgive is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die."

Dear God ...
please deliver me ...
from the sin of nursing grudges ...
and holding on to all negative emotions ...
so that I can become a happier, healthier person ...
and a clear channel of your love ...

Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer ...

When to Speak Up and When to Shut Up

"When we speak out against others we believe are in the wrong, are we being judgmental ?"

This is a good question to ask and a lot harder to know the right answer.

when is it right for us to speak out and when do we need to keep silent?

How do we know we aren't projecting our own unresolved issues onto other people?

Or when someone attacks us personally, when do we need to turn the other cheek, and when do we need to stand up and confront?

Or when we see wrong in society, business, or politics, should we speak out or should we look the other way and say nothing?

The bottom line is motive.

What we need to do if we are going to make a difference in our society is, first of all, to acknowledge our own shortcomings and, with God's help, work at overcoming these. Second, we need to love the things God loves and hate the things he hates and speak out against these. These are the things we need to be angry at too. We simply cannot love righteousness without hating and opposing unrighteousness.

Meekness is not weakness and let us not forget the words of Edmund Burke who said, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

Dear God ...
please continue ...
to purify my motives ...
and give me ...
the insight ...
to know ...
when to keep silent ...
when to be non-defensive ...
and give me the courage ...
to speak out against evil ...
when I see it ...

Thank you for hearing and answering my prayerz ...

Because We Are What We Are

Have you ever felt in the pits when a well-meaning friend told you that you shouldn't feel that way ?

It makes you feel worse.

Right ?

 

Whether we should or shouldn't feel what we feel is beside the point. We feel what we feel because we are who and what we are.

Feelings are neither right nor wrong. They just are. It's what we do with them that counts. And, contrary to what many of us were taught, feelings are important. They are a God-given vital part of our humanity.

In one sense feelings are an "emotional thermometer." They tell us what's going on inside of us—what our emotional temperature is and, when interpreted correctly, can indicate when we are emotionally well or if there is some issue in our life we need to resolve.

When feelings are repressed, one's "thermometer" is out of order. It's a very unhealthy way to live. You don't even know when you are sick (emotionally and/ or spiritually). Furthermore, people whose feelings are repressed may be clever but can, at the same time, be very cold, calculating, insensitive, callous, and—in the extreme—even murderous.

Feelings can be trusted. What we can't always trust is our interpretation of them. That's the difficult part, but with help it can be learned and learn it we must if we are to be emotionally, spiritually and physically healthy.

Learn to listen to your emotions. Take time to write something daily. Record what you are feeling without any kind of self-judgment. Get into a support, recovery or therapy group where it is safe to express your feelings and get them out into the open where they can be accepted and examined. If emotions are deeply buried, chances are you will need a capable therapist to help you work through and resolve the barriers in your life that are blocking your feelings.

Be aware, too, that the negative emotions we fail to talk out creatively we will inevitably act out in one way or another destructively. Also remember that how to feel or how not to feel—only how to act.

Dear God ...

help me ...

to get in touch with ...

all of my emotions ...

—both positive and negative—

and learn ...

how to express them ...

creatively ...

in a healthy manner ...

so that ...

I will become ...

an honest ...

and real person ...

 

Thank you for hearing and answering my prayerz ...

People Who Need People

Many readers will be familiar with the song made popular by Barbara Streisand, "People who need people are the luckiest people in the world." She's right of course.

We all need some close, supportive friends. "Bear one another's burdens" and "love one another"

Make time to develop and maintain close friendships. In a day of trouble you will need them. You will also need them in good days. We were created for relationships and can only live healthy lives when we are in healthy relationships.

A poet wrote:

    I went out to find a friend,
    But could not find one there.
    I went out to be a friend,
    And friends were everywhere.

Dear God ...

help me first of all ... 

to be a loving friend ...

and then find loving friends ...

to be with ...

 

Thank you for hearing and answering my prayerz