A Simple Mind Exposed

Posted on June 15, 2018 by wiseopinion53

Do This !!!

My last post…Don’t Do That !! explained some thoughts about restrictions and boundaries and why we have them.

Remember, I am simple minded, a woman who loves the Lord with all my heart, soul, and mind, who believes the Scriptures are Truth, God-breathed and for our benefit and good.

Today I will use only God’s word to show what we should do…this is fairly long & I gleaned some of it from trusted websites…and it is not exhaustive.

The study of Scripture shows many laws, precepts, commands, proverbs & parables that instruct us on how to live.

When I was a babe in Christ, I was studying Scripture and didn’t understand it at times. I remember calling my dear friend and mentor Kathy saying something like, “I wish there was a manual or instruction book in my mailbox !!” She chuckled and told me, “You have the greatest instruction manual EVER written in your hands right now !!” I have never forgotten that.

Over the years, I’ve realized that when I have a question regarding something in Scripture, if I keep reading and studying I will find the answer in Scripture.

As far as the ‘gray” areas? Well, the Holy Spirit, the third part of the Godhead resides in me. His moral compass is my conscience. Over the years while in the Scriptures I have been given a great gift, which is regifted every time I open the Scripture…what is that gift? Discernment. I am truly thankful for this precious gift, and never let it rust or decay. I keep it fresh, clean and polished by staying in the Scriptures.

Well, enough about this simple-minded woman…here are some Scriptures about the “Do This!”

“I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life”

(Deuteronomy 10:12-14) “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, {13} “and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I command you today for your good? {14} “Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the LORD your God, also the earth with all that is in it.

(Deuteronomy 30:19-20) “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; {20} “that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

(Psalms 105:3-4) Glory in His holy name; Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the LORD! {4} Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face evermore!

(Isaiah 55:6-7) Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. {7} Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.

(Isaiah 58:6-8) “Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke? {7} Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh? {8} Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.

(Hosea 6:6) For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

(Micah 6:8) He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?

(Zechariah 7:9-10) “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Execute true justice, Show mercy and compassion Everyone to his brother. {10} Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, The alien or the poor. Let none of you plan evil in his heart Against his brother.’

(Matthew 18:2-4) Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, {3} and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. {4} “Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

(Mark 12:29-31) Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. {30} ‘And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. {31} “And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

(John 3:3-6) Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” {4} Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” {5} Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. {6} “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

(John 4:23-24) “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. {24} “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

(John 6:53-56) Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. {54} “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. {55} “For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. {56} “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.

(John 14:15-18) “If you love Me, keep My commandments. {16} “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever; {17} “the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. {18} “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

(John 14:23) Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

(John 15:4) “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

(John 15:7-13) “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. {8} “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. {9} “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. {10} “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. {11} “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. {12} “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. {13} “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

(John 17:20-26) “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; {21} “that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. {22} “And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: {23} “I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. {24} “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. {25} “O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. {26} “And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

(Acts 1:8) “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

(Acts 2:38-39) Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. {39} “For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

(Acts 17:24-27) “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. {25} “Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. {26} “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, {27} “so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;

(Acts 19:2-6) he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” So they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” {3} And he said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?” So they said, “Into John’s baptism.” {4} Then Paul said, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.” {5} When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. {6} And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.

(Romans 13:10) Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

(1 Corinthians 13:13) And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

(Galatians 2:20) “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

(Galatians 5:22-25) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, {23} gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. {24} And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. {25} If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

(Ephesians 1:3-7) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, {4} just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, {5} having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, {6} to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved. {7} In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

(Hebrews 11:6) But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

(Hebrews 12:14) Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:

(James 1:27) Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

Some more for your own study….

1Corinthians 13:13; Acts 1:8; Acts 17:24-27; Acts 19:2-6; Acts 2:38-39; Deuteronomy 10:12-14; Deuteronomy 30:19-20; Ephesians 1:3-7; Galatians 2:20; Galatians 5:22-25; Hebrews 11:6; Hebrews 12:14; Hosea 6:6; Isaiah 55:6-7; Isaiah 58:6-8; James 1:27; John 14:15-18; John 14:23; John 15:4; John 15:7-13; John 17:20-26; John 3:3-6; John 4:23-24; John 6:53-56; Mark 12:29-31; Matthew 18:2-4; Micah 6:8; Psalms 105:3-4; Romans 13:10; Zechariah 7:9-10

Posted on June 12, 2018 by wiseopinion53

Don’t Do That!

Don’t do that!!!

When I was little my Mom always said

Don’t touch the stove it might be hot!! Well, I had to find out myself.

Don’t touch the hot water tank, it might be hot!! Surely, not everything in the world is hot?

Don’t touch the fan, it might cut off your fingers!! That one I obeyed.

Don’t put your hand over a candle flame, it might burn you. Well, I just had to try it.

Don’t run where running is not safe? I couldn’t understand that running was a problem in some places. I was running the moment my feet hit the floor in the morning.

Don’t shout or scream when it’s not necessary. My Mom was very sensitive to nose…except when she was yelling at us!!

Don’t leave the kitchen with the water running at the sink. My older sister did that once and flooded the kitchen, so my middle sister and I heard that warning the rest of Mom’s life.

Don’t go to Mr. Cunningham’s house today, he has a migraine. I admit I was a pest. Loved Mr. Cunningham and when he was well, he would put up with my curiosity and answer, or at least try to answer my bazillion questions. Hmm, maybe that is why he has migraines!!??

Don’t go any further than the mailbox at the end of the street. Hmmm, the mailbox was that Big Blue box bolted in the cement at the end of several streets in my large neighborhood. Ours was about 10 houses from my house. I use to sit on top of it and wait for the mailman.

Don’t whine outside the screen door while I am mopping the floor! She would lock the screen door on cleaning day and make us eat PP&J sandwiches outside.

Don’t eat stuff that smells. To this day I still smell everything before eating or drinking.

It didn’t matter what it was my Mom always had a warning. Some were silly.

Don’t step on a crack, you’ll break your Mama’s back.

Don’t walk under a ladder. Bad luck.

Don’t cross a black cat. More bad luck.

Don’t break a mirror. Even more bad luck.

Don’t spill salt. The worse of bad luck!!!

Don’t cross your eyes. I have a lazy eye so this shouldn’t count!

Don’t shoot arrows at people. (??)

Mom had lots of don’ts. It seemed to me that she was the cosmic killjoy with all of her don’ts. I couldn’t wait till I was older and didn’t have to listen to her warnings any longer. To be old enough, mature enough, wise enough to do what I wanted with minimal consequences.

Then came reality.

Crossing the yellow line isn’t brave…it’s often very stupid.

Testing authority isn’t brave, it’s foolish. Resisting conformity never means you have to disobey or shun the laws of a civil society. Curiosity doesn’t always mean testing the boundaries. Boundaries are there to protect us.

Now my Mom is gone…what I would do to hear her tell me again not to mess up her newly mopped floor.

I have a higher authority in my life now. Much higher than any government or human authority.

There are lots of don’ts in the Bible…

Do not swear, say Yes or No

Do not judge others

Do not seek revenge

Do not fight nor resist

Do not speak against the Holy Ghost

Do not show your alms

Don’t worry about tomorrow

Do not make your own rules

Do not offend / trouble believers

Do not live a worldly life

And of course The Ten Commandments

You shall have no other gods before Me.
You shall make no idols.
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
Keep the Sabbath day holy.
Honor your father and your mother.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet.

God has boundaries for our protection…He is not a cosmic killjoy any more than my Mom was. My Mom’s desire was to keep me safe and to teach me the ways of life that needed attention and obedience when I was 5, 10, 15, 20….and God is doing the same with me now.

There are also a lot of do’s and many promises in Scripture. Those are easier and that’s why most Pastors & churches concentrate on the more pleasant and ignore the warnings.

Would my Mom have been more loving to let me do what I wanted and expect the very best out of every situation of life? Would I have known not to cross the street without looking at 5? Or that that stove was hot? Or that staying close to home and the protection of my parents & family was never enforced? Of course not. I needed the warnings and the boundaries then, and I still need them today.

I have a Savior that loves me a bazillion times more than my Mom…and His word is truth and His truth will set me free and keep me safe.

Some more thought about this next time.

Posted on June 9, 2018June 9, 2018 by wiseopinion53

What’s a matter with you !!

Worry? What, me worry?

Actually, I am not prone to worry.

Friends tell me how worried they are about something that is totally out of their sphere of influence or control and I do my best to talk it over with them to see how they can diminish the worry, even stop it.

These same friends, sometimes get a little exasperated with me and say “What’s a matter with you? Everyone worries.”

Here is where my simple mind is once again exposed. I take this verse seriously and literally: “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:34

When I share this simple but very significant saying of Jesus some often scoffs at that…they say “Well, yes I know that what Jesus says, but it is impossible not to worry.”

What? Jesus is giving directions for that which is impossible?

Jesus doesn’t give us direction without first teaching.

Matthew 6 is loaded with instructions on how to eliminate worry…

Take care of the less fortunate. (focus on someone/something other than your worry)

Pray with sincerity. (pray in faith and belief)

Fast with a pure heart. (fast with purpose and authenticity)

Understanding true wealth. (not what the world offers)

Do not hoard. (the one who dies with the most toys is foolish)

Keep eyes from all unwholesome things. (a clear eye is an unspoiled eye)

God is the master of your life. (it’s true we cannot serve two or more masters)

Understand and believe God cares for us. (If you have seen God help you, sustain you, guide you, comfort you in the past, why would he not do it at all times)

Then comes the last verse in the chapter with the catchy first word…Therefore…therefore…some translations use the word So. Jesus is saying if you understand, believe and do what is in the first 33 verses you will have no reason for unnecessary, unfruitful, life-sapping worry.

I’ve been told I am too simple-minded. Or I have no intellectual depth. Or I have my head buried. Or I am too naive.

Hmmm, maybe, but the last part of verse 34 means a great deal to me…Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is not here (nor is it guaranteed) and today is the only time I can handle the trouble as best I know how with the help of Christ and His wise words.

So when my friends say “What’s a matter with you?” I can only shrug my shoulders and point them to the life saving, not life-sapping words of a Savior I know cares for me.

Posted on June 8, 2018June 8, 2018 by wiseopinion53

Gathering My Thoughts

Distractions and worthless thinking are thieves of contentment and joy. The Bible states “As a man thinks in his heart so he is.” The famous quote “I think therefore I am” underrates the power of our thoughts in our lives.

Words have the power of joy or despair, contentment or contention, encouragement or hopelessness, indeed, even life or death.

I’m on a quest…a quest of decluttering my mind of my hoarding of unnecessary and oftentimes disruptive & destructive thoughts. Mindless thinking as well. You know, those thoughts where you find yourself having an imaginary conversation with someone that is so pointless and futile because you know, you just know in reality you will never have that conversation. Such a waste of brain power and time.

My life verses Philippians 4:6-8

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”

: Photo by Ian Turnell on Pexels.com