THE ANSWER HAS NOT CHANGED!

WHEN WILL WE LEARN?

WRATH DOES NOT HEAL WRATH!

BIGGER GUNS ONLY MAKE BIGGER HOLES!

THE ANSWER?

PRAY, LISTEN, FOLLOW!

 

ARE YOU A CARROT OR A PEA?

Grocery shopping can be vexing.  

In order to obtain what we need, to meet health restructions, etc., we must read every label, hope for full and clear disclosure, yet still discover we have not seen enough to judge.

WHY then, knowing only God can know a human heart, do we persist in placing a label on one another?

 

LEST WE FORGET

We were created by God in  His image and thus created entirely in and of love. KNOW IT! SHOW IT!  – Martha L Shaw

 

ROBBERY

I need to restore my peace and joy

and so must filter out

all whichkeeps stealing it,

at least for a time.

I look to the left without success,

to the right is no better.

I look up

and there is my source and compass. . .

strength for the journey.

By Martha L Shaw – © 2017

 

 

SIMPLY BLESSED

Seeking answers,

seeing none,

I look to the left

and look to the right.

My feet are still leaden.

I hear a bird call

and glancing up,

I understand.

By Martha L Shaw – © 2017

 

When Will We Learn?

By Martha L Shaw © 2-23-2016

Isaiah 11:7

⁷ The cow will feed with the bear,
    their young will lie down together,
    and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

In God We Trust America?

Good thing we trust in God but we sure can’t trust our government officials.

Okay, this is not the post you may expect from me, but I sit here in my home on a cast off computer given to me by a friend.  I am job hunting as I have for way too many months (years) to count.  I am a born-again Christian.  I am saved and loved and God has a plan for my life.

That being said, I listened to the news over lunch.  I have looked at the papers.  I have done networking.  Much of what I read comes back to this.  There many people like me out there.  We are smart.  We are educated.  We have a lot to offer.  We are jobless and without healthcare.  We are also judged, assumed lazy, and scorned.  God will provide, but that doesn’t let the government off the hook.  It’s time they listened and acted.  Oh, but they are acting.  The names are many but the game is constantly the same.  What I’d like to know is:

Does anyone smell a rat?

Overpaid and ineffective politicians, often known sex abusers,  whether we want to call it that or not, still have paid government jobs and great benefits, while millions of Americans, like me, have no income nor benefits. Again, I ask you, does anyone else smell a rat?

What Color Is Peace?

Your thoughts, words and deeds are painting the world around you.  – Jewel Diamond Taylor –

I’m not overly political, I must admit and I’m taking no side in this post but this quote gave me pause for thought.  It seems I can’t pick up a paper, click on a website, or listen to television or radio without angry thoughts becoming angry words and deeds.

It is always somebody’s fault . . . or somebody else’s . . . does it matter in the end who the blame ultimately belongs to?  We are changing the world around us with fighting in the White House and fighting in the churches and fighting in the grocery store parking lot and the classrooms where our children learn . . .

Where’s it getting us?  What did our forefathers fight for?

What color is peace?  

Easily Shaken?

These are tough times.  I can’t think of a soul in my life who doesn’t feel “it” and know what I mean.  While perhaps there are always “big” issues to be dealt with, these times seem to provide MANY and all at once.  Coping, maintaining a positive attitude, knowing what to do, knowing where to turn . . . is not always simple.  What’s the answer?  For me, it’s to try to stay in step with the Lord.  He is with me in the present.  If I turn  back, I am likely to stumble, and racing ahead isn’t any better, really.  Rushing through things is seldom the most effective approach and often results in a failed effort followed by a “do-over.”  There is an answer though:

“I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” Psalm 16:8 NIV

Piety WITHOUT A Church Pew?

WOW!  I just “heard” a conversation . . . okay, read it on Facebook, which I found so disturbing.  Sadly, as I say this I realize that we could all be convicted of the same thing at some point or points in life.  Perhaps that is the reason it troubled me so. 

Someone had stated an opinion on a comment made by a political candidate.  The individual was clearly not a fan and the comments made by others in response were, all but one, equally opposed and eager to be critical on the candidate.  I must say that not one person mentioned issues or policies, and all used only vague statements like “idiot” and “stupid” and worse.  Then there was one comment that in my mind and heart was set apart from the rest.

This person quickly stated that said candidate “goes to church every Sunday” spent the rest of a very long comment SCREAMING at all who might read it about “I bet YOU don’t go to church at ALL.  Well I always do and anyone who does knows that I’M RIGHT WHEN I SAY” and on he went raving and accusing and judging.  Wow.  There was no expression of faith.  There was not one actual fact stated.  His comment was rudely expressed assumptions and opinions based on those assumptions. 

Consider for a moment that, as impossible as it is, he actually knew who did or did not attend church on Sundays.  Relevance?  Consider as well that, since our faith regardless of denomination or religion, does compel us to reflect it in all we do and draw others to faith.  Being a Christian, I have to ask, which is more likely to draw others to faith, how much piety I show in a church pew or in the grocery store, the parking lot, the highway as you speed by me, cut me off . . . Does my behavior when I knew I’m being watched convince you to change?  Does my behavior when I think nobody’s looking reflect the same?

Anyone can behave well in church, but if we simply define church as a building in which we sit on a regular basis, we’re missing something.  The church is US.  I can quote Jesus, mention something I read in Paul’s letter to Romans . . . but if I put the Bible down, leave the room and chew you out for rushing to the checkout counter ahead of me in line . . . curse you out to “keep that kid quiet” or pitch a fit because you worked a few minutes late and “I slaved over this dinner!”  and more . . . are you likely to want to learn more about this faith that I’m trying to get you to believe in?  I don’t think so.