The Other Side

Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Ephesians 5:17

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The devil is laughing.

Literally full of glee.

People are so dumb and we give him plenty to chuckle about.

8th grade boys writing about how dumb serving the less fortunate is.

A daughter who ignores her parents and sneaks out anyhow.

A student who steals answers from his teacher.

A cell phone which demands the attention of the husband, ignoring real life instead.

A company who devalues their workers, looking instead at the bottom line.

An advertising company selling inferior products, lying to their loyal customers.

A news show inflaming facts, intentionally stretching the truth to anger the population.

And that’s just the things we see…..

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A child’s snide remark, confirming the lie in the mother’s head, declaring her unfit.

A bully’s words sinking into a teen, confirming their lowered status.

A boss devaluing his employee through unnecessary long hours away from home.

A young adult who moves out turning her face from God despite her upbringing.

The devil is laughing.

Because we are so fooled.

He shows us people with whom to compare, stirring jealousy and discontent.

He creates doubt in our abilities whether it is dinner, meetings, or haircuts.

He causes anger when he convinces us how important we are compared to others.

Why do we fall for his foolish ways?

Because we are human.

Fallen.

We choose it.

But there is another choice.

Life.

Specifically, the tree of life.

Remember the Garden?

There was a choice handed to Adam and Eve.

If you eat, and disobey God, you will be like Him.

You know what happened.

Folks, the devil has been laughing at us from almost the very beginning.

Time to stop.

Time to choose life every time the devil provides us with his choice.

His days are numbered.

That’s why he works on us.

He wants to take as many as he can to the pit.

Or, with Christians, he wants us to live in the pit each and every day, decreasing God’s influence on others.

Ouch.

But laugh instead at him, because the jokes on him.

We win.

Let me hear you laugh.

We have already won, we currently win, and we will always win.

Why?

Because God has done it all for us.

Choose life and live as if it matters.

Turn the tables and laugh instead at the devil.

Feels great, doesn’t it?

Photos by Ben WhiteJustin YoungTim MossholderLucas LenziPriscilla Du PreezMarcus Cramer & Scott Webb on Unsplash

 

Mowing the Lawn

Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered. Proverbs 28:26

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Ever made a dumb decision?

I have.

Like yesterday.

Folks, I’ve decided I like mowing our giant lawn.

I see steady progress and it doubles as exercise.

Plus my dear husband loves the help.

Decided to surprise him for the second time.

Yesterday.

With temps in the 90’s.

Sunshine.

Let’s mow for an entire hour in the sun with high temps.

Great idea!

It was not.

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This time I did prepare with some water.

Forced myself to stop and drink.

However, I still came in dripping with sweat, and literally collapsed in front of our lovely fan.

Rinsed off and changed.

But that’s when it all went down hill.

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I was sick for the rest of the day.

Could hardly move.

Hours later, I decided to swallow my pride and reach out for help.

My neighbor nurse declared me afflicted with heat exhaustion.

My dear mother wanted me to drink electrolytes as that was the only thing that would help me feel better.

I wanted to, but all I could manage were baby sips.

It was so ridiculous.

All because I wanted to mow.

Once I finally managed enough liquids in my system, I began to feel a bit better.

Today, I’m even better, but still not myself.

Good grief.

Life sometimes demands we “do something” to move forward.

We want to, but it’s painful!

Baby steps will get you there just like giant leaps.

Or in my case, baby sips.

I suppose I should apply that to the lawn the next time that brilliant idea pops into my head.

I don’t have to mow the entire thing at once.

I’ve actually been fired from mowing, unless I mow in chunks.

Or in the early morning hours.

Today will be a better day.

I wish I hadn’t lost yesterday!

But, hey, the lawn does looks great!

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Photos by Vectorbeast ,amirhossein abdollahi ,Daniel Watson ,& Zé Zorzan on Unsplash