The 3 Ms

Lately I have had three prayer requests for those who ask how they can pray for me.  Each begins with the letter m to help make it easier for them.  Mouth, mind, and motivation.  These are the key areas of my life in which I strongly and urgently need divine assistance from.

My mouth often gets me into trouble.  It speaks without hesitation at times.  It spouts off bitter words rather than the sweet ones for which it was designed.  It responds in anger when something has been said to me that my flesh did not like.  Because I am a writer, my mouth is connected too closely to my fingers and like my lips, they don't always know when to stop.

My mind thinks about all of this as it happens.  It wonders and wanders about the best response.  In the space of a millisecond, it can rationalize, argue, and draw on past memories to send it into one orbit or another universe, all while battling against itself for the rightful response.

And there's where motivation comes in.  I can please the flesh or I can please the Father.  I don't always choose correctly.

This morning while reading Proverbs 15, verse 28 stood out to me.  It reads likes this:  The heart of the righteous studies how to answer, But the mouth of the wicked pours forth evil.

A righteous heart is what I yearn for but too often have to contend with a self-righteous one instead.  Thus, my prayer request for the 3 Ms.  If my mouth will fall in line with my mind's thoughts--when they are seeking the good things, that is--my motivation for pleasing the Lord and reflecting a Christ-like attitude will all work together.  

Something happened yesterday and it really set me off.  I was in danger of losing control of my actions and fumed for quite a while.  The things I wrote and then deleted.  The thoughts I had that were filled with such meanness!  And let's not even talk about the self-recriminations for being so vile.

When my husband came home and we discussed our days, I of course had to share all of this with him.  Then, as he so often does, my hubby balmed my disquieted soul with this reminder from James:  Be angry and sin not.  

"Get mad," he said.  "Be furious!  God never said you couldn't be upset.  But tell Him.  Rant and rave to Him.  He can take it.  He can deal with your mean thoughts.  He can handle your unkind words.  They don't surprise Him and they don't lessen you in His eyes."  

Something like that.  Steve wasn't giving me a license to be Hate Goat Queen of the Year but he was validating my emotions and my right to them.  At the same time, he was reminding me that if I look for fault over one incident then I am probably going to have a wealth of material to draw from as I ruminate over the past mistakes of the one who infuriated me and before long an avalanche of bitterness may well up in me, taking me down a path that is not meant to be trod.  As I dwell on past infractions, my mind is filled with things that are not lovely, not good, and not Christlike.  

It's so easy for the devil to sidetrack me.  An innocent conversation can quickly turn into a place for him to stick his nasty foot and interrupt something good with insinuations, falsehoods, and damage my calm that was too easily blown away.  See why I need the 3 Ms prayed consistently and fervently for me?  Let's do that now, shall we, lest I ramble on and on?

Dear Lord, 

To begin with, I need to apologize to You for being such a late bloomer.  Things that have resonated with others for years I seem to have a harder time grasping and applying.  Controlling the tongue has been taught to me for years but somehow I keep failing the test.  You know how I strive to achieve success in this area but Father?  I keep faltering.

As I come to You now and ask for help with my mouth, my mind, and my motivation, I ask for You to implement Your Word more thoroughly into my life.  My aim is to be more like Jesus and when I miss the mark, Lord, it saddens me.  

Thank You for Your Word, Your mercy, and Your longsuffering as I continue this journey.  Thank You for the opportunities You place before me to do better.  May I do better today is my prayer.  Amen.

Who is that?

September 28, 2015

This week, I will be exploring this verse from II Corinthians 13:5.  As I do so, I invite you to journey alongside of me as I seek out what is truly inside of me and how I am representing Jesus through it all.  

Do you ever look in the mirror and see someone else staring back at you?  Maybe it was a hint of the girl you used to be, the one who was more fun, light-hearted, and not so serious all the time.  Maybe it's the reflection of your mom (gasp!) looking back at you, reminding you of where you came from.  Or perhaps it's the resemblance to another family member, a sister or even brother (this happens when my hair gets cut too shortly).  Whatever the case, when your eyes meet those of the one peering at you, something about the whole situation causes you to ponder.

The other day, as I was holding and feeding my youngest grandson, I looked into his eyes and saw...me.  I saw my innocence shining back at me as he trustingly lie in my arms, knowing he was protected even though he didn't know protection was needed.  I saw depth in those beautiful blues that made me think he understood more than he was ready to deal with so instead, he'd just stay a baby a little longer.  I also saw a tiny boy, so lovable, and wondered how on earth someone could be so cared for at one time and then later left to his own devices and tossed carelessly aside.

Lastly, as my other two gsons were flitting about, Steve and I remarked to each other different things/actions they do now that we had done when we were younger.  For instance, the oldest one has a mouth on him.  It gets him into trouble when he talks back, or when he tries to make a joke out of a situation when his charm hasn't lessened the effect he is about to receive for some careless act that he had been repeatedly warned to not perform.  So much like me, poor child.  I've fervently admonished him to control his tongue and not be like ol' Granny.  He listened, wanting to know what I'd done to get me in such trouble, and then...then he was off again, letting it go in one ear and out the other.

Just how many selves of us are there?  As I ponder of these three examples this week, I am going to need some revelations.  What am I portraying to those around me?  What needs to change so I can be better and also so that I can be less?  Yeah, that's an odd phrase but sometimes we try to be more than we should so I am going to need to study up on what I do in life that works and what doesn't so that when the test comes around, I may pass with flying colors!

Let's pray!

Dear Lord,  

I know I didn't go into much detail today but I'm hoping that the words I penned will help others to begin their process today in discerning what You would have us to glean from today's verse.  Father, I don't want to say with my mouth that I am Your child while my actions are telling a whole other story.  Help me, I ask, to find the answers and to illustrate that I am indeed Yours without browbeating it into my kids, friends, and others who may be watching.  May I be the real thing is my prayer today.  In the holy name of Jesus I pray this:  amen.