11.09.19 - week 28
on wasting your breath
a fool takes no pleasure in understanding,
but only in expressing his opinion.
proverbs 18:2
our instinct is to speak. to convey our feelings. to try and make clear our position and point of view. but as more than a few of my elementary school teachers urged me to learn, ‘you can’t learn when you are talking.’
i have spent a ton of time in the book of proverbs this year, and this theme comes up over and over. beware of those who want to speak with the assumption of understanding, rather than listening for the assurance of it.
when you come to the unfortunate place of realizing someone in your life is a fool, stop trying to get them to understand. it doesn’t work. it won’t help. it isn’t useful. it will only cause frustration for you and will likely invoke rage from them.
sometimes it isn’t that they can’t understand, it’s that they don’t want to.
KG Korner
(a few wise words from lady kristen macdonald)
“It’s ALWAYS going to be this way” - Satan
This is a lie that you can hear the devil say to you day after day if you are going through a difficult time. John 8:44 tells us that the one telling us this is the Father of lies and there is NO truth in Him. And we must rebuke this statement because it couldn’t be further from the truth. But, if it’s so far from the truth why do I/we so often fall into the trap of believing it?
Other than Jesus there’s no outcome or situation or person who is ALWAYS anything. You may not be an idealist by personality but we all desire some bit of idealism. (Think of how many times you say “i wish…” in your day.) Our marriage to go on and on without a fight, a friendship without conflict, a house not needing to be fixed, a life free from illness or heartache. But as we well know we live in a world full of sin. And these interruptions of idealism force us to chose what we are living for and who we are believing.
As I rebuke this thought myself, I have been reminding myself or replacing this lie with these truths, I pray they benefit your thinking as well.
“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:18-19
This verse reminds me that He is at work now…. The past isn’t the same as the future because He declares He is doing something new in the present tense. Thank the Lord today for the new He is doing in your situation or if you can’t see a speck of new then pray by faith that God would do a new thing..
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6
Only a good God could see to the completion of a good work in sinners like you and me. He not only declares us righteous because of His blood he’s covered us with but he is at work in you this very moment to make you more like himself. The goal being that when we show up to the pearly gates we are more like him than when we began. How beautiful is that? But sometimes the chipping away at the old or the gritty in us hurts and feels the opposite of beautiful, (a.k.a the process) but we are promised a glorious end is coming of wholeness and completion which reminds us that the process is more than worth it!
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4
Our choices matter. When we remain steadfast and faithful under our trials they produce steadfastness which produces character. When we are frustrated in the mundane, especially in the midst of trial and when we are choosing to do the right thing and not seeing the result those very actions are producing things in us that would not be there had we given up.
Kanye’s new lyrics from ‘Hands on” spoke to this very point :
“Told the devil that I’m going on a strike, told the devil when I see him on sight, I’ve been working for ya my whole life.”
Maybe that’s what you need to say to the devil today. I’m on strike from believing this lie!
-Kristen
Cup of Leadership
(first published october 26, 2018)
if you find yourself doing something w. one of these motivations // stop for a moment and be careful. all of these are good things in the right amount and time, but they are some of our most manipulatable places. our foolish choices often come from uncertainty or fury or desire // this is why social media feeds us these things constantly. go look at your feed. politicians + products incessantly cultivating our worst. and yes, sometimes churches do this too. we get better when we ask ‘why’ — why do they want me furious or anxious or aroused? the answer tends to push me towards a more rational + spirit-filled place.
Book Review
this is a really needed book. it’s the right antidote for so much of what ails our society.
john mark has taken the care not to attack the fruits of our frustration, but rather propose root solutions that lead to lasting forward movement. this book draws wisdom from many sources but anchors its prescriptions in the word. i also have enough relationship with the author to know that he’s working to put these ideas into his daily rhythms. you should definitely buy this book and read it. your soul needs it.
Podcasts This Week
the listenership is slowly but surely growing. would love for you to rate/review to help us along
a fun ‘tales from the 405’ w my friend laura weigle. we discuss gender relationships in the workplace, i tell of a celebrity bathroom mishap, and other fun stuff.
part 6 on the life of joseph .. a message called phases of forgiveness. this one really challenged me and i hope will do the same for you.
3 Things I Really Liked This Week
1. if you are in a time of refining right now, this lovely sermon clip won’t excite you, but it will definitely encourage you.
2. my friend laura started a business selling high quality vintage and contemporary apparel at attainable prices. i don’t understand it, but she’s my friend and i believe in her, so please click and scope it out.
3. this profile of a security company and how its desire to monetize its product drove it to crime will kinda blow your mind.