🌿Breathe Truth🌿
“Teach me your ways, O Lord, that I may live according to your truth!
Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor You.” —Psalm 86:11
🌿Believe Truth🌿
One baseball game. One volleyball practice. Two sick kids. A hurried mom. Today, I had 15 minutes spare to purchase cough drops for my son. He had asked for them for his pending game.
The nearest place was a local Walmart Neighborhood Store. My oldest daughter and I quickly drove there, bought what we needed, and then left.
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Walking to our minivan, a car pulls out in the parking space next to mine. The woman rolls down her window and screams at me: “Is that your car?”
Me: “Yes.”
Lady at Walmart: “You parked your car over into my lane.”
I walked with my daughter over to look. Sure enough, my right rear wheel was slightly two inches into her parking lane.
Me: “I’m sorry about that.”
Lady at Walmart: “This is America. You can’t park here like that….”
I won’t share with you the rest of what she said or the profanities she effortlessly uttered.
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The last words I spoke were “I’m sorry about that.” I didn’t respond to a single statement from her.
I’m pretty sure my daughter didn’t even recognize all the obscenities that lady at Walmart threw at us. My daughter is going to read this devotional entry and why I’m writing this.
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God teaches us His ways so that we can live according to His Truth. His Truth, His words in the Bible for us, purifies our heart, renews us, and washes us clean so we can honor Him.
What it means in real life:
God teaches us His ways so we can live in alignment to His Truth so we can honor Him……..in places like the parking lot at Walmart.
In church, choir, Sunday School, AWANA Bible Club or wherever you are surrounded by a community of believers, it’s not so hard to focus on God, think godly thoughts, and respond in godly ways.
But when you are faced with ugly words that are racially fueled with no justification, the situation can be overwhelming.
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Recall this. God’s Truth hasn’t changed, and He is still teaching you to live and act according to His Word, and to do the right thing.
Have no expectations that the world seeks truth nor lives in alignment with God’s Word. Have no expectations that those who inhabit the world will act in accordance with righteousness and do right acts. The world isn’t accountable to God, but we are.
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We make a choice. To choose an accountability to conduct ourselves in a manner humbly and worthy of the gospel we want our children to believe in.
In church. Outside of church. In our homes. Outside our homes. Among Christians. Around non-believers. Among people you like. Around people who don’t like you. In a random parking lot at a Walmart Store.
In season. Out of season. The gospel doesn’t change. Our hearts’ desire is to honor God in every times. Live out God’s Truth so that it shines even when the world tries to darken and dim yours with ugly words and ugly thoughts.
God teaches us His ways. Let His ways and His gospel be real. No matter the setting or the people in the scenery. Remain faithfully accountable to God as you live out the Real Truth and honor Him.
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