Dear GPC friends and family,
I pray you are enjoying the full measure of God’s infinite grace!
A friend of mine sent out a devotional thought, and i believe it to be so good i wanted to share it with you:
James 1:19-21
9 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
I may be dating myself here, but does anyone remember PF Flyers? They were a
tennis shoe that every kid in my neighborhood wanted to have. Their slogan was “Run Faster, Jump Higher.”
The day I got my first pair, I remember going outside and running off the porch and over the 8 steps to land on my feet. Of course, I jumped higher but didn’t make it. Instead, I got some great sidewalk burns on my knees. But there was no stopping me! I ran fast, very fast…so fast that I didn’t see my Dad coming around the corner and boom! I ran right into him! So much for “Run Faster and Jump Higher”!
Sometimes we move through this world so very Quickly that we forget to stop and smell the roses! We move way too fast; meeting to meeting; here to there; get this done, get that done; and suddenly we find ourselves all discombobulated and running smack dab into walls that we didn’t even know were there!
Sometimes, we are way to quick to speak too! We say things that we didn’t mean, and suddenly, we find ourselves being misunderstood and then people get angry with us and the intent of what we wanted to say gets lost in mistranslation.
We should all slow down! We should not be so quick to anger, so quick to point fingers and start gossip because of what we hear, and what we do with our misunderstanding!
James tells us to be “quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry”! What a world that would be if things like Tweets, or posts on Facebook or Snapchat would have some thought put into them before they come out! Misunderstandings could then move to zero!
So, save the running faster and jumping higher for the tennis shoes! But in all your conversations, in person or online, be slow to speak and slow to anger!
Pretty poignant i thought. Sunday before last in Joshua chapter 7 we saw the Israelites and Joshua face a resounding defeat at Ai! After victory in Jericho they let their guard down and, well, they fell and “skinned their knees” pretty badly. BUT… This Sunday we will see in chapter 8 how God had them “Get Back Up” and press on to victory once again! You don’t want to miss it!!
See you there. Be blessed!
Pastor Ben