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I have made some really bad choices in my life. I have made them and I have asked forgiveness for them. I have paid the price of natural consequences in many of them. In many of them, I have been amazed how God has lathered his Grace over me and I have not had to pay the full price of horrendously wrong choices. I am and will forever be grateful to the God Most High for those gracious gifts of easier-consequences He has bestowed upon me. But, as I have moved through life I have found the reality of answering to God at the end of my life a huge motivator in making right choices. I remember making choices without this awareness. They were choices that were motivated by my feelings, or my plans, or my thoughts of how such-and-such would work out in the end. I never got into drugs, never smoked and was never a heavy drinker - BUT OH MY how much I have sinned and how many wrong choices I have made. I won't even go into those bad choices here. That is for a book! All that said, at some point in my life I began to understand the reality of God caring about the choices I made. Many choices we make are simple. If a choice is wrong, illegal, hurtful, or manipulative, DON'T choose to do it. That, my friend, is really a no-brainer! Others are a bit more confusing. Should I take this job, or that one? Should I let my child go to the party or keep her home? Do I wear this pair of shoes or the other ones? Okay, well that last one really makes no difference in the long run, so have fun making any choice you want! In fact, most of the choices we make are not really life altering. And I remember a parenting technique I used with my own children. Try to say YES as often as possible. What I mean by that is, if you can either give several good choices to your child or if you can simply say yes to their request, DO IT! I think God is the same way. I don't think He is in the heavens just waiting to drop a piano on our heads. I believe with all my heart the scripture that says: "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him?" Matthew 7:11 I believe that God wants to bless us. I think He desires for a relationship with us with the thought to bless us. He is a Good Good Father!
But, there are things that come up in our lives that are crossroad situations. They can be peer pressure situations, They can be male/female heat of the moment situations. They can be texting while driving, etc. the list goes on. I have found that when I am in these situations, it is best to ask myself what will I want to say to God when I have to stand before Him at the end of time. "I have to answer to God." I don't have to answer to my husband, my children, my friends, or my boss. I have to answer to God. If I have to answer to God, I want to be able to say to Him. I did what I thought was right. Presently, I am in a situation that creates hardship in my life. I have no way of staying in touch with my elderly mother. I live in a different state. I don't have endless financial means. I have commitments and responsibilities away from her. She is in a rehab center and my sisters have the only phones available to her on their persons. The situation is such that I find myself in a quandary. My mother often cannot remember if I have called or not. If my sisters don't call me while they are at her location, I can go for weeks not talking to her. I call my sisters, text my sisters. They are not that good about cleaning out their message boxes, so they don't get my messages. Or they forget my texts. Granted they are under stress in this time of being stretched to the limit. That is not the issue. The issue is that they are really ready for me to stop calling and/or texting. I hesitate, because I know that it might be considered a bother, a nuisance. I know that sending her cards is a good idea too. And I am up for that. But hearing my mom's voice is important to me. I have wondered why this has been such a difficult situation. My sisters know I am trying to talk to mom. My mom knows I am trying to connect with her. Why don't I just quit calling? texting? She is probably not going to remember anyway... BUT here is the truth. I must stand before God on the end of my days. I must answer to Him. Did you keep your commitment to your parent? I want to be able to say, "Yes, I tried to do everything in my power to do so, dear LORD. I did." I have to answer to God. And that is the most important question I must ask myself before I begin any journey. Before I begin any task. Before I begin any relationship. If He has impressed upon me to do something. I must trust that He knows why. So have a wonderful week. Be blessed in Him. Remember He is the giver of good gifts. Remember He is also the Great Father that disciplines us in love. Remember He wants to say yes to our requests when He knows it won't leave us in a disaster, or damage us, or hinder us in any way. I have a good good father in Jehovah The God Almighty. And if you are a child of God, you do too! Because He IS the I AM, i am robyn cox God has more to share with us. Consider reading the bible to find nuggets for living life well and wonderfully. We would enjoy your thoughts here on RR&BCommunity. The cost is minimal - we know it is good for some financial commitment - but the cost is less than 3 coffees from McDonald's . Come along. Until next week on Monday at some time... Thanks for meeting me here today. See you then. Robyn & Biff Cox RR&BC, LLC©2016 http://www.readthebiblewithrobyncox.com/ Come and join us for reading the bible together... Just click here
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Do I ever mean well, but make things worse? Do you? A life of faith says: Let what doesn't belong to me go. Uzzah found that out the hard way. And he has been an example for us to follow for centuries. Do you remember Uzzah? I know it is not a name we hear a lot in Bible studies, or even in church. He isn't a great hero of the bible. He doesn't play a major roll in any of the Gospels. But Uzzah gave us a wonderful example of what NOT to do. And he was only trying to help! Let's take a look into 2 Samuel for the rest of the story... Moving the Ark to Jerusalem 2 Samuel 6:5,7 5. David and all the people of Israel were celebrating before the LORD, singing songs and playing all kinds of musical instruments ⏤lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals. 6. But when they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled and Uzzah reached out his hand and steadied the Ark of God. 7. Then the LORD'S anger was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him dead because of this. So Uzzah died right there beside the Ark of God." Three short verses. In these three short verses we find David doing what he thought would be a good thing. And it was. We find all sorts of excitement and happiness. The Ark of God was being moved to Jerusalem. The people of Israel were filled with such joy. Until. Until something happened that changed the entire trajectory. It wasn't planned, it wasn't even bad. It was a problem, yes. But not a large one. I wonder if Uzzah even questioned whether or not he should reach out and steady the Ark? Because Uzzah reached out and touched the Ark, he died. Remember that God had given direct instructions to NOT touch the Ark of the Covenant (The Ark of God). But, I can see that Uzzah simply wanted to protect the Ark. Instead, he died. Not only did he die, but David was so disturbed by what happened he sent the Ark to stay in another town and did not take it to its rightful location. I can see myself doing exactly what Uzzah did. Can you? I'm reminded of my response to protect someone when they are sitting beside me in the car and I slam on the brakes. I automatically try to protect them by putting out my arm. Will it protect them. Not one iota! But I do it. And I do it automatically. Let's take that to another level. I know that I always want to help people. But I am not in charge of protecting everyone. How often have I seen someone protecting a loved one when the natural consequences for their actions would stretch them into growing. What would happen if faith was applied in the situation? Faith that God would bring about the end into a deeper faith walk, a journey. Faith growth not only for me, but for my loved one. Or, let's take it one step further. How often do I do more damage to a relationship, or a situation by putting my two cents in when it has not been asked for? Did I really need to add anything to the dialogue, to the event? Did I keep someone from growing in my efforts to protect? Did I exercise FAITH, or did I steady the tilt? We really don't have control over much. When you get right down to it, we have control over our responses and that is really all. And if we are honest, that can be a crazy ride as well. And if I reach out and try to steady something that really is not mine to control, what damage might I cause? The next time you are in a situation and about to reach out and steady something (or someone), think about Uzzah. Ask yourself, "Does God want me to stay out of this and let Him handle the situation? Does He want me to build my FAITH muscle instead of my reaction muscle?" Letting God handle the teetering situation is often the best decision. What would our faith be like if we took our hands off and let God handle it? My big question to my own heart — "Could I ever have enough faith that I didn't even think about responding in any way but - "YOU'VE GOT THIS GOD - I'M GOING TO WATCH YOU DO IT!" And me not responding in anyway but prayer. May you think a little about the huge lesson shown in three verses. Uzzah. A lesson to be learned on what NOT to do. God has more to share with us. Consider reading the bible to find nuggets for living life well and wonderfully. We would enjoy your thoughts here on RR&BCommunity. The cost is minimal - we know it is good for some financial commitment - but the cost is less than 3 coffees from McDonald's . Come along. Until next week on Monday at some time... Thanks for meeting me here today. See you then. Robyn Cox RR&BC, LLC©2016 Come and join us for reading the bible together... Just click here  An apology for my not being here last week. Things were off. I had company and it was a blessing. But, several things weren't handled well. My fault. Blaming anyone else would be simply wrong. I am sorry. Please continue following us. And we would love you to join us in our community. Gracious living is what it is all about. And God has an overabundance of love and grace. We live in a Noisy World. Most people don't really listen to each other instead they are listening to some electrical paraphernalia around their body, or in the room. I can be just as plugged in as the next person. I have to force myself to LISTEN! As a teacher, I often touch my ears and at the same time I say to my students, "If you can hear me, put your hands on your head." I whisper this instruction. Some students are already in tune to my voice because they catch the action of my hands going to my ears. Then, I will give another instruction that requires an act of doing. It takes a few minutes, but usually the whole class is listening; we can move on to class instructions. This actually works for any age group. Duh! Even Adults! The world crashes into our ears every day, all day long. As a young girl I remember radios, and record players. We got our first TV when I was around 4 years old. I also remember our piano being practiced by one of my siblings or myself. And then there were band years, and choir years. But, there was not constant sound. And the time was broken up. We would have large spaces of time in quiet. I remember quiet days and nights. I remember reading books. I remember locking myself in my bedroom to read on Saturdays. I remember reading and talking about what I had read with my family over dinner. But, we all shared about our days at the dinner table. We talked and we listened. We took turns. Talking and listening. We communicated. We could have done a better job of this. We were in the 60's and 70's so we kept things on the surface. It was safer to never go too deep. But, for what we knew a family was supposed to be, we did our best. During the late 80's, I wasn't as successful with this sitting at a dinner table and communicating while I was raising my own children. More noise had come into the world. Radios, computers, and the inability to round them all to the table at one time. Yes, early 80's we had meal times nightly. But then middle school hit. After about 7th grade, they had after school commitments, sports activities, band, church and friendships causing the nightly mealtime somehow dwindle away. We were a bit odd because we didn't have a TV. Not because we didn't want one. It was simply no matter what house we lived in, they always broke down, or blew up, or didn't work to begin with. Not kidding! So finally, we decided after the fifth one we just weren't meant to have TV. After the first 8 weeks of not having one, we always found it more gratifying than when we did. Someone would find out we didn't have one and let us have one of their many. But, as I said, they never lasted. Two of my grown children still run their families pretty much TV free. After my kids dad and I divorced, we as a family unit were falling apart at the seams. I sought counseling. One of the benefits was learning a bit about communication. My kids and I implemented a powerful tool into our home and life. It helped us cope. When my kids and I learned how to actually use this tool it changed not only our lives then, but continues to be a part of my life today. This tool is something I think people might talk about, but few really implement. We did. It changed our relationship with each other. What was the tool? It is called Family Meetings. In these family meetings we learned how to listen to each other. Anyone of our family members could call a family meeting at any time. We all made it a priority to be there. There was me, a frazzled single working mom. There were three siblings. We made it work. The Rules?
We learned to not play the blame game. We remembered that nobody can MAKE you do anything. So, blaming is simply a way of trying to get out of taking responsibility for your own actions. Listening skills are becoming a lost art. I read an article on Listening Skills recently in Forbes magazine, yes, the Forbes Magazine is interested in Listening Skills. It relayed how important listening skills are to every facet of our lives. When we don't have them, we lose money, time, energy. We can lose jobs, respect, and most importantly relationships when we don't have this important skill set. (see the link to the article below) But, unfortunately, our world gives less and less opportunity for listening. Something is moving constantly, making noise, or infiltrating our brains. This noise is what I used to call, "Unnecessary Noises." As a child my youngest son was always making unnecessary noises. I used to kid him when he was about seven years old. I told him that I expected him to become a famous Jazz musician because of all those 'Unnecessary Noises'. I should get something for being stuck in a mini-van with three children, and a dog traveling halfway across the USA and listening to all of those noises. Hours I am telling you ⏤ hours on end. Some of you know what I am talking about! You too are smiling and shaking your heads - trying hard not to pull out all your hair! I really thought he would become that famous trombone jazz player... But, he didn't. He became a chaplain instead. He's went from making noises to learning the value of how to listen. And he listens a lot. He's good at it. When you think about your relationship with God, do you think about listening? 21. Then Jesus asked them, "Would anyone light a lamp and then put it under a basket or under a bed? Of course not! A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light will shine. 22. For everything that is hidden will eventually be brought into the open, and every secret will be brought to light. 23. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand." 24. Then he added, "Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given ⏤ and you will receive even more. 25. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them." Mark 4:21-25 NLT I find that my listening skills are needed in my spiritual walk. Jesus makes it pretty clear. I hope I can learn to listen better every day. Thank you for being here
Think about these wonderful truths this week. See you here next week at some time on Monday. Love having you here. And yes, our membership is a place where we practice LISTENING to God. Come and join us. Be blessed. Because He is the I AM, i am robyn rochelle cox Robyn & Biff RR&BC, LLC©2016 www.readthebiblewithrobyncox.com/ Come and join our membership. We are on a journey. |
Robyn Rochelle Cox
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