May 31-Gods Word

Happy Friday. This is the day my trip begins. I have all my things together and I only need one thing from Walmart before I get on the plane this evening (which is pretty good I’m thinking!). 


Yesterday, I happened to see an infomercial about a table for your back. The premise was to strap down your ankles and this table would turn you upside down. It is supposed to “decompress” your vertebrae so you have less back issues. Hmmm.  


I kept looking at people with their feet in the air and thought. “There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.” Proverbs‬ ‭14:12‬ Don’t get me wrong—I don’t think the table is good or bad or leads to death, but I kept thinking it was a perfect picture of how confused we get at times. We get completely turned upside down in our thinking. 


I’ve been studying Psalm 119 and the beauty and power of the Word of God. And, it seems I’ve had several conversations in the past few days about what we see as “acceptable” and consequently, what churches find acceptable. It’s a bit disconcerting to watch how much that is changing and seemingly so very rapidly. I think so many times in order to be seen as “kind and compassionate” we start to look at things the way the world around us looks at it and forget we have a standard—a right-side-up standard. 


“Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord. Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts. They do not compromise with evil, and they walk only in his paths.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭119:1-3‬ ‭NLT‬‬


That table didn’t just flip people fast. It was a gentle, slow motion, so that you would gradually be upside down—but not entirely on your head, just at a steep angle. I think that’s how our view gets distorted. It’s not just one day we wake up and think it wasn’t right yesterday, but it is today. It’s a smooth, slow motion that skips us into complacency. But it still doesn’t make it right. The up side is down. 


Joyful are people who follow Gods instruction, who obey His laws. 


Father God, open our eyes. Help us to see when things are tilting out of focus and we have our eyes off you. Teach us your ways and your instructions. When we stray, bring us back to you. We want to have good relationships with the people around us yet we want to stand for your standards. Please keep forming us into the people of integrity you want us to be. Don’t let us get in the way of what you have planned for us to be. Please continue to renew our minds with the holiness that is you. We love you Lord and we praise you today. We ask for your touch for those we love who are sick and hampered by disease. Bless them Lord. Thank you for your goodness and your great grace. Amen and amen. 


Love you dear one,

Pam

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