It is an innate human drive to be understood.

It is an innate human drive to be understood. Even when someone


cannot help our circumstances, we feel a little bit better just

knowing someone understands. I think we feel a little less alone.



But what about those times when someone does misunderstand us?

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _



Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her

voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk and said to her, "How

long will you keep on getting drunk? Get rid of your wine." "Not so,

my lord," Hannah replied, "I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I

have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to

the LORD. Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been

praying here out of my great anguish and grief." (1 Sam 1:13-16 NIV)



Prayer: LORD, even though people sometimes misunderstand me--what I

do and why or how I do it--I am grateful that You know my heart and

motives. Help me deal with the hurt and rejection I feel when people

do not understand me, especially when they are critical or

judgmental. Thank You for understanding me, listening to me, and

being the One I can always trust to be there, even when no one else

cares or understands. In Jesus' name, Amen.

mini-message about watching our words.

It's harder to make amends with an offended friend than to capture a


fortified city. Arguments separate friends like a gate locked with

iron bars. Words satisfy the soul as food satisfies the stomach; the

right words on a person's lips bring satisfaction. Those who love to

talk will experience the consequences, for the tongue can kill or

nourish life. (Prov 18:19-21 NLT)



Prayer: LORD, help me choose my words carefully today as I interact

with others. I want to sow joy and encouragement into their lives.

Strengthen me and help me go back and reconcile and restore any

damage I have caused to others in the past by my words. Words can

hurt and cause emotional and spiritual damage, or words can heal and

bring life. I will choose healing and life today. Thank You for Your

words of life to me. In Jesus' name, Amen.

LORD, it is easy to overlook little things

Prayer: LORD, it is easy to overlook little things. A smile, a warm


embrace or handshake, or just a pleasant look does not take great

effort, but it can make a life-changing difference to someone. It

could be the only love they receive all day. Help me look beyond the

big, religious, deeply-spiritual-appearing things and share Your

love and presence in "little" things today. Smile through me to

touch someone because someone out there needs it today. Tomorrow, it

could be me. In Jesus' name, Amen.

some days I just do not feel like being joyful

Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy. Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone. See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people. Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. (1 Th 5:14-18 NLT)




Prayer: LORD, some days I just do not feel like being joyful in my

circumstances or thankful for them. When I feel that way, help me

override my feelings and remember that if I trust You and have

faith, You can work in everything for my good in the end. For that I

can be thankful, because I have hope that the way things are is not

the way they must remain. Thank You for making a way for me to have

real joy that does not depend on circumstances or my feelings. In

Jesus' name, Amen.

Building Up

When someone invests time in me, I have a choice.


I can keep everything for myself, close my fist, and hold it tight. Or, I can turn around and let wisdom, encouragement, and motivation trickle into others.

The best way to appreciate those who take time with me is to bless someone else.

We are all in a different place in our lives. There will always be someone ahead of me in the journey and there will always be someone behind me.

Turn around and look at the person following in your footsteps and take notice. Make time to ask about her about work and really listen. Save some energy to brainstorm his new idea. Encourage her latest achievement.

After all, picture this—you are standing behind the accomplished person ahead in the line. Isn't it great when they look back and smile?

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths,
but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs,
that it may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29).

Build someone up today.

Judas, The Man Who Never Knew

From Max Lucado's book - Shaped by God




Judas, The Man Who Never Knew



I’ve wondered at times what kind of man this Judas was. What he looked like, how he acted, who his friends were.



I guess I’ve stereotyped him. I’ve always pictured him as a wiry, beady-eyed, sly, wormy fellow, pointed beard and all. I’ve pictured him as estranged from the other apostles.



Friendless. Distant. Undoubtedly he was a traitor and a quisling. Probably the result of a broken home. A juvenile delinquent in his youth.



Yet I wonder if that is so true. We have no evidence (save Judas’s silence) that would suggest that he was isolated. At the Last Supper, when Jesus said that his betrayer sat at the table, we don’t find the apostles immediately turning to Judas as the logical traitor.



No, I think we’ve got Judas pegged wrong. Perhaps he was just the opposite. Instead of sly and wiry, maybe he was robust and jovial. Rather than quiet and introverted, he could have been outgoing and well-meaning. I don’t know.



But for all the things we don’t know about Judas, there is one thing we know for sure: He had no relationship with the Master. He had seen Jesus, but he did not know him. He had heard Jesus, but he did not understand him. He had a religion but no relationship.



As Satan worked his way around the table in the upper room, he needed a special kind of man to betray our Lord. He needed a man who had seen Jesus but who did not know him. He needed a man who knew the actions of Jesus but had missed out on the mission of Jesus. Judas was this man. He knew the empire but had never known the Man.



Judas bore the cloak of religion, but he never knew the heart of Christ.



We learn this timeless lesson from the betrayer. Satan’s best tools of destruction are not from outside the church; they are within the church. A church will never die from the immorality in Hollywood or the corruption in Washington. But it will die from corrosion within—from those who bear the name of Jesus but have never met him and from those who have religion but no relationship.



Judas bore the cloak of religion, but he never knew the heart of Christ. Let’s make it our goal to know … deeply.

accountabilty

9 Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”10 He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.” 11 “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” 13 Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.” (Gen 3:9-13 NLT)




Notice that Adam not only blamed Eve but also God by saying "It was the woman You gave me who gave me the fruit." In Genesis 2:16-17, God specifically told Adam before He created Eve, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." So from the beginning of time, people have not accepted accountabilty for their sin.



Prayer: LORD, nothing is new under the sun. We humans have been

trying to evade accountability for what we do since the beginning.

When something goes wrong, we blame circumstances, genes, parents,

spouses, ex-spouses, bosses, government, and even You! Help me stop

the blame game and take responsibility for my life and

circumstances. Help me admit my failures, confess them, and accept

Your forgiveness. Then I can move on and continue our "walk in the

garden" in our relationship. In Jesus' name, Amen.