Should not be surprised if they find themselves arriving to the wrong location.
Simple. Obvious. Yet ignored by so many. For example, Memphians vote for Democrats and are surprised by the upturn in crime. They are taken aback when they have the worst schools in Tennessee.
1st, let me speak of the well known. Of all sin, pride is one that angers God most. I can easily reason why. It does frequently stand in the way of a man’s salvation. The man that believes himself good, also believes that he has no need of salvation.
Ludacris as this sounds, it is a common stance by many. How many times have you heard, I am far better than most. Why shouldn’t I be allowed into heaven.
I suppose, this means anyone better than Hitler will have to be permitted in.
Another problem with pride is that it causes us to have a distorted view of things. It causes one race to think of themselves as being superior to another. I am xyz, so WE are better than them. WE always will be and God has said so. Some think that was how Hitler thought, this even though he consiered himself superior to God’s chosen people, this even though he was half Jew. ( That’s crazy nuts) This is what happens when you let Satan use pride to twist your mind.
Then of course, there are the atheist who plant their feeble 2 feet and say to the world, there is no God. It is the ultimate pride. He believes that, poof, the whole Universe just exploded out of thin air.
Oops. That would be impossible, right. there was no air, thin or otherwise.
To get to my point, finally. Jesus, while walking this planet was born a Jew. That is to say, He very probably appeared to be Jewish. His hair was likely dark brown black or even red, unlike painted by the Europeans. His skin might have had an olive overtone or maybe pale. I will be the first to admit, I don’t know. He was a decendant of David, who was pale and red headed.
On the other hand, the possibilities of His skin being black are very remote. I won’t plant my feet and defiantly say his skin was not dark, but I am just going by the hints in the Bible.
I know there are those who prefer to buy manger scenes with black characters. The only thing I add. Be careful that you don’t turn the figureines into idols. The is the first step in idolotry is pride.
It seems when I use the daily prompt, I get a lot more traffic. However, I am not one who likes to write about myself. Even more, some of the prompts were getting very personnel. It guess it’s okay for those who like to talk about themselves. I’ve known a few folks whose favorite subject is himself.
Even with me, it is okay for a trip or two around the block. Then, maybe it’s time to change the subject. In a round about way it is almost as if I am writing about today’s prompt. I like to think one of my better traits is that I prefer to write and talk about other people, other things. However, even here, my subject is more about the prompt than me.
I guess, among other things, those who like to talk about themselves are likely proud. I have been taught to be thankful for what God has provided me. Pride is not one of those things we should be thankful for.
I have had no formal training as an evangelist. If I were fortunate enough to address an audience of a hundred and 3 of them made decisions to accept Jesus as their savior, I would consider it a success. If it were 5, I would be ecstatic.
I guess most preachers would hope for something greater than that; maybe 10 or 12. I mean, when the plan of salvation is presented, it is usually rejected. I really don’t have the foggiest idea why. It is really a good thing to accept Jesus as your savior. Yet, many reject him. I suspect, mostly the things of this world are more important to them than their eternal souls.
Well, some have better success than others. Billy Graham certainly had his success. He had a mostly simple straightforward way to present the plan of salvation and certainly God did his part. Paul, the one who wrote much of the New Testament presented the gospel to his thousands, and in a way, he is still helping to persuade people to accept the Lord today through the printed word.
A person might ask, who could possibly be more successful than that? Yet there is one, percentage-wise, who has us all beat. Moreover, he had a very simple sermon. “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” Simple and straightforward as it was, it apparently had 100% effectiveness. Everyone who heard the words repented and worshiped God.
Wow! I wish I could have that kind of success. However, there were two more things that made the conversion different. First, Jonah did just about all he could to keep it all from happening. He hated the people of Nineveh and he did not want to see them saved. In other words, perhaps the most successful preacher in history wanted to be an outright failure. Secondly, when the people repented God relented and did not destroy the city. Now that angered Jonah and he pitched a fit. (my interpretation)
In essence, it appeared God used Jonah’s rebellion for success. After all, it was very likely that the people of that great city knew of Jonah and what all he went through to keep from going to the city. When they saw Jonah arrive, when they all saw the sad expression on Jonah’s face, the people likely decided that God did really did mean it and that if they didn’t repent something bad was going to happen.
Now, that was success. Oddly, it was his determination to fail that made it succeed. It does make me wonder. What would have happened if Jonah would have done as he was told immediately. Maybe his success would have been 80% or 70%. I don’t know. It’s a guess and likely not a good one. Maybe, had Jonah done as he was told, no one would have listened and the city would have been destroyed, which was the very thing Jonah wanted.
At any rate, the people of that great city backslid and went back to their previous ways. Then, God did as he said he would. The city was destroyed so badly that some doubted the story of Jonah. No one could find the city. Then, one day they did. They not only found proof of its existence but also of its destruction. I have no idea if Jonah lived to see it or not. At any rate, those people did have their second chance and they ignored it.
I just wonder, how much is God going take from the US before he destroys this great country? At this point, I’m not sure we are not that much better than Nineveh. How long will God allow us to ignore his messengers and destroy the US?
Just as He destroyed that great city, He can also destroy this great nation. He needs no one’s permission and He need not send any warnings. We have the examples of the Bible. If we ignore them, then we will likely ignore any other warnings.
Certainly, one of those things that He will not overlook is the killing of babies. Children are very special to Him. Calling it family planning does not make it look one iota better to Him
Channel ten is the local station for PBS. I do watch it from time to time. They do have two or three good shows. Although here lately, it’s getting rarer. Then too, they like to preach to me about climate change. Not that it matters but I would suspect the folks that run that network generate a lot more carbon dioxide in an hour than I do in a month. I likely use less water and I certainly don’t take up nearly as much space in my little 900 square foot home. I really don’t think they have any right preaching their message at me. They are the ones who need to take their own advice.
Nonetheless, they like to ask me for contributions. That is not going to happen. Certainly not while they try to convince the world of that garbage. Now, here lately, they’ve gotten on that homosexual related binge, the one where they uses up almost all the letters in the alphabet. If I were to give one dime to any outfit that preached that stuff as normal, God would be completely justified in taking me off this planet immediately.
Why should I give anyway. Ignoring the homosexual thing, they don’t have any programming worth it. What they need to do is just simply go commercial. Then, if they were really smart, they would know better than to put stuff like that on TV. Look at what it did to Budweiser. People don’t like seeing things like that. It’s not just me. I’m not the only one complaining. Why do you think they are losing the public funding so fast? People do have objections and they don’t like their money squandered as they do. They ought to figure it out as I’m sure the contributions are dropping. I’m sure their audience is shrinking as well. If it continues, they will just simply disappear, they will simply fade away. It won’t hurt my feelings.
Why should I contribute one dime to any organization that hates God the way they do. I know they hate God because of what they say and because of what they do. If they liked God, even a little, they wouldn’t talk like that and they wouldn’t act like that. They are openly and actively rebelling against the Him.
As for me, I’ll have no part of it. Believe me, if the stations were to be dropped tomorrow, we wouldn’t miss it. Those shows that are good will find their way onto other platforms. If they don’t, they must not be that good.
If they really want my support, they will need to change what they say and what they do. My guess is, that is not going to happen, not in my lifetime.
Any time that you are looking for employment, if you get to the point of an interview, I suggest you promise that you will keep your mouth shut and do your job.
Well, I suspect that just might overdo it just a little. Sometimes talking, such as in sales, requires talking. Nonetheless, there are those who think talking is their job when it isn’t. Indeed, talking may irritate customers and coworkers. Moreover, it can actually reduce productivity. The boss is not paying you to discuss last night’s date or the score of yesterday’s ball game. When it drives up the din in the dining room, it can actually drive customers away. It can become an irritant.
This is especially true when yelling and, or foul language is used. Believe it or not, there are still some of us who prefer a dinner in a restaurant where such language is not common. Even though I spent 9 years in the Marines, I am still irritated by such language.
Finally, when a person who is supposed to be taking orders is talking to a fellow employee or on a cell phone, it prompts people like me to look around. If there is another place across the street, maybe we’ll just go over there. Worse, we might discover we like the other place and never return to your place. It happens.
In summary, there are some places where loudmouths are not appreciated, especially in the workplace.
As a side note, the rest of us should remember that when in a restaurant, we customers really ought not be obnoxious to the other guests. As guests, we are encouraged to carry on conversations, not yelling contests.
Over the years, working in the Marines and then in a few different civilian organizations, one thing I have learned is the importance to detail. Being a large picture person, I realize that I must constantly remind myself of the importance of dotting all the “i”s and crossing all “t”s with precision.
Maybe one of the best examples I’ve heard is the story of the couple that went to a classy restaurant where they were given nice flatware wrapped in high quality napkins. Once the couple took the flatware in hand, they noticed water spots on the flatware.
They each took a few seconds and the nice napkins to rub out the water spots and soon the spotless eating implements were set neatly in place. They then sat and enjoyed the dinnner. When done, they left without mentioning the water spots at all. Then, of course, they never returned.
As for me, the water spots would have not mattered. On the other hand, I have seen folks that would have asked for “clean” silver. Then others would have simply walked out before ordering.
Regardless of anything else, it is an example in 2 ways. First, as in a previous post, it speaks of competition. It seems, in this case, the lacking in one detail causes the loss of repeat customers. There are any of dozens of such details that can cause a restaurant owner, or any such businessman grief.
Worse, the managers might not be aware, which brings me to my second point, the un-voiced complaint. Every owner, every manager should seek complaints vigorously. Otherwise, how will he become aware thar something needs correction?
If the couple in the little story complained, the restaurant might have still lost the customers, but it might allow the correction before the loss of others.
Yet, I look this way and that way, and I find one business after the other where the owners seem to continue to try to remain oblivious to any problems in their business. In the long run such businesses will surely suffer. They may continue but not strong as they could. Mostly, they will fall behind the competition.
It would seem to some that encouraging complaints from a customer is contrary to success. However, how can a person hone his ability to compete if he doesn’t see where honing is truly necessary.
You might consider the following. There are customers that will notify the management of of a messy restroom and those who won’t. On the other hand, there are businesses that will clean the restroom when notified and there are others that basically say, “So what.” There are those who simply don’t care about customer complaints, even when they are meant to be helpful.
The question, “Do you really want to lose customers over water spots?”
On my first day of college, I learned something we should all learn in junior high, the true meaning of the word expert:
An expert is a person who knows a whole lot about very little.
Throughout my life, I have been reminded of that. Let’s take Dr. Fauci. To be sure, he is very knowledgeable, but I don’t think I would let him treat me for a bad cold. He is an expert. He knows a whole lot about very little. Even so, even within his field of expertise, he keeps getting it wrong.
It has reached a point that whatever the man says, we should do the opposite. I simply put no faith in the man. For that matter I put no faith in the CDC. They also have been getting it wrong regularly, almost 100% of the time. Moreover, it would appear that they are now being run by the teachers’ unions. Really, do the unions know more about the virus than the CDC? Of course at this point, I’m inclined to agree. Then again, what do the teacher unions know?
If it were up to me and I would be able to do anything about the CDC, the first thing I would do would be to cut their budget and payroll to about a tenth of what it is now. Then I’d be sure to move them to smaller digs. It might do them some good to suffer a blow to their ego.
By the way, Fauci and his cronies have had all kinds of help from the press and big tech. Every time someone said anything about a real possible cure, they got shut down. It is quite possible that thousands died because of that. It is also quite possible that the press will never answer for it.
It is exactly what Coolidge meant when speaking of people who make decisions and are responsible to know one. When they make a mistake, who gets fired. Who gets thrown into the lockup when people die as a result of their carelessness. When people ask who was responsible, all the experts that work there say, “Not me!”
Please note the following from the King James version of the Bible
Ephesians 2: 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Almost all preachers concentrate on verse 8 and rightfully so. However we should never overlook verse 9. I cannot say exactly what God meant by what he said, but I know His result. Those who think that they will be received in heaven because of what they did or said, will never be accepted. Those that expect that they will, are going to be very disappointed. For if they think they will contribute to their salvation is pride.
Hence, I think I can safely say that the those who are proud will not find room for them in heaven. Maybe that was His purpose, though I cannot say for sure. Yet it does serve the purpose.
I caution you that if you plan on telling God all your good works, He will not be impressed by them or you. You see, you will have had your chance to rely totally on His Son for your salvation and you decided not to. You decided to rely on yourself at least in part; or to follow the false teachings of some so called church whose teachings lead people astray by the millions…and ultimately to hell.
If you try to stand before God your pride, your home is not in heaven. For those of use who bow humbly at the feet of Jesus Christ and accept His gift of salvation, without trying to add anything to it, heaven is already our home. We have been assured of it. It is not bragging on what we did, but what Jesus did.
Of all the sins of man, pride is the one that God hates the most. I suspect it is because it leads us from him and to our own means. So, it is my deduction that, no matter how large heaven is, God will make sure that there will be no room for the proud.
Something a man told me a long time ago is that it is better to be thankful than to be proud. For sure, I have no reason to be proud of the United States, though I do believe it is the greatest nation in modern history. However, I am thankful that God made it so. God did not have to put in Los Angeles, California when I was born, but He did. For that I am grateful. God did not have to put me in a Christian family with really good brothers and sisters, but I am thankful He did. God did not have to send his Son to die on the cross for my sins, but He did, and I am thankful beyond words He did. Moreover, I will not try to add anything to it. If I try, not only will I mess things up, but it would mean that I think His work is incomplete or insufficient, a lack of faith.
God does not make us go to heaven, though He could. He has given us the choice. It is a gift, not a something to be forced upon us. To be sure He pleads with each of us to accept the gift for which He paid so much. However, should you turn it down, it will be your greatest mistake. The pride you insist on holding onto will lead to an eternity of suffering.
Of all the allusions that Satin presented to man, the one that man can earn, or help earn his salvation is the most devastating. The reason it succeeds more often than not is because of the pride of mankind.
bfrhodes99 