SANCTIFIED COMMON SENSE

Tuesday, June 30, 2020

SANCTIFIED COMMON SENSE

Ps 32:8-9

8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.

9 Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.

1 Cor 2:6

6 Yet when we are among the full-grown (spiritually mature Christians who are ripe in understanding), we do impart a [higher] wisdom (the knowledge of the divine plan previously hidden); but it is indeed not a wisdom of this present age or of this world nor of the leaders and rulers of this age, who are being brought to nothing and are doomed to pass away.

AMPLIFIED NEW TESTAMENT

           So many Christians seem to struggle with knowing the will of God and they are frozen in place by that struggle. “Sanctified common sense” is the ability to discern a proper path and the discipline to follow it. Part of our struggle comes from a resistance to doing those things that are hard or uncomfortable. Sometimes we resist God’s direction because it seems to contradict God’s previous calling. Would God lead us in one direction and then change course? We become confused and frozen on a course He has blocked. We will stay there until we discern His course change and yield to it.

           When God came into our heart He also came into our head. Psalm 32:8 says, “I will instruct thee and teach thee.” It seems reasonable that we should not remain in a kindergarten stage of learning. Lessons learned should not need to be learned over and over. We award certificates of achievement to those people who progress to the next level.

Eph 5:15-17

15 Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people),  16 Making the very most of the time [buying up each opportunity], because the days are evil.  17 Therefore do not be vague and thoughtless and foolish, but understanding and firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is.

AMPLIFIED NEW TESTAMENT

Dear Jesus, help me to put on my thinking cap and follow you. AMEN

ORWELLIAN THOUGHT CONTROL!

Sunday, June 28, 2020

ORWELLIAN THOUGHT CONTROL!

Prov 23:6-9

6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:

7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

8 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.

9 Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.

           The word “Orwellian” in my title means characteristic of the writings of George Orwell, especially with reference to his dystopian account of a future totalitarian state in Nineteen Eighty-Four.

           I scanned my emails this morning and, once again, was told what to buy, which promo-code to use, how to vote, how urgently it is to donate NOW, and who to hate. I hadn’t even finished my coffee before I had been conditioned to be angry and disappointed at life. All this after a pretty good night’s sleep.

           Some guy named Phil sent an unsolicited email that said “ Some time ago you said you were interested in living longer and living better.” Honestly, I do not remember ever saying that! So, I replied to Phil and said: “Dear Phil, We have had Covid-19 (or not), riots, and the most ridiculous demands from an unthinking citizenry. Add a tornado in my small town, threats of a hurricane in the Gulf and a dust storm that has nearly shut my eyes, and I am no longer “interested in living longer and living better.” I’m not sure how you found me, but please unsubscribe me from your list.

           So many thought suggestions come our way that we no longer have to produce any original thought – and it shows! We CAN control our thinking and we should.

Phil 4:8

8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Dear Lord, let your blessed Holy Spirit lead me into all truth according to your promise. AMEN

NOT KNOWING!

Saturday, June 27, 2020

NOT KNOWING!

Ps 119:105

105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Ps 18:28

28 For thou wilt light my candle: the Lord  my God will enlighten my darkness.

           We are approaching the mid-point of the year! July 1^st is actually the half-way point and who could have predicted the amazing and terrible things that have filled this first half? It is absolute insanity!

            Mary Gardiner Brainard (June 19, 1837 – November 30, 1905) was an American writer of religious poetry. She was born in New London, Connecticut. She was daughter of William Fowler Brainard (1784-1844), a New London lawyer, whose younger brother was the poet John Gardiner Calkins Brainard, and his second wife Sarah Ann Prentis. Her poem "Not Knowing" first appeared in The Congregationalist, March 1869, and was set to music as a hymn by Philip Paul Bliss in the 1870s. It is based upon Paul’s comments in Acts 20:22.

Acts 20:22

22 And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there:

I know not what will befall me: God hangs a mist o’er my eyes;

And thus, each step of my onward path, He makes new scenes arise,

And every joy He sends to me comes like a sweet surprise.

I see not a step before me as I tread on another year;

But I’ve left the past in God’s keeping,—the future His mercy shall clear,

And what looks dark in the distance may brighten as I draw near.

For perhaps the dreaded future is less bitter than I think;

The Lord may sweeten the waters before I stoop to drink;

Or, if Marah must be Marah, He will stand beside its brink.

It may be He keeps waiting, for the coming of my feet,

Some gift of such rare blessedness, some joy so strangely sweet,

That my lips shall only tremble with the thanks they cannot speak.

O restful, blissful ignorance! ’t is blessed not to know;

It keeps me still in those mighty arms which will not let me go,

And lulls my weariness to rest on the bosom that loves me so.

So I go on not knowing, —I would not if I might;

I would rather walk in the dark with God than go alone in the light;

I would rather walk with Him by faith than walk alone by sight.

My heart shrinks back from trials which the future may disclose,

Yet I never had sorrow but what the dear Lord chose;

So I send the coming tears back with the whispered word, “He knows.”

Dear Lord, today we approach the second half of a difficult year. It looks dark in the distance but we know that you are near and that you will guide each step with your lamp. AMEN