How Often Do We Trade In A Good Relationship For Something Worthless

                                                 When The Door Slams

A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare. The tongue of the wise makes knowledge appealing, but the mouth of a fool belches out foolishness. The LORD is watching everywhere, keeping his eye on both the evil and the good.                                                                                                         (Proverbs 15:1-3 NLT)

            Relationships are not strengthen through negotiation. If anything, they are weaken. In negotiation each side gives as little as necessary,  trying to get as much as possible...then waits for the next round in hope of getting more and giving less than the time before. Recovering what was traded earlier is the strategy.

            Negotiation generates competition, not cooperation. It cause to endure, rather than producing an alliance. In negotiation, to lead from strength is fundamental. Vulnerability is to be avoided at all cost. To be vulnerable is bad business. But good relationships comes through love and forgiveness. Somebody has to be vulnerable, to lead from weakness, to give in, to lose. Which is repulsive to human ego. 

            Good relationships are not based on 51/50 principle. Someone has to be willing to go all the way, all the time. What is of greater value than secure relationships! How often do we trade in a good relationship for something worthless? 

            Think about this: Love and forgiveness are costly, but they are the price of good relationships: between husbands and wives, parents and children, blacks and whites, neighbors, friends, government and immigration. Which is why it is so easy to talk peace...and so costly to have it. Peace talkers are a dime a dozen. Peacemakers are rare and priceless. 

            The LORD Jesus. He never negotiated. He loved. He gave and gave, all the way to the cross. Relationship begins when somebody leads from weakness! "Since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."

            Intercession: And this his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us. Those who obey God's commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us.          (John 3:23 NLT)

 Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness.   

                                                            Never Rest Ministries            

          

If You Put Your Trust In Fools, There Is A price To Pay

                                       When The Door Slams

As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness. There is more hope for fools than for peoples who think they are wise.      (Proverbs 26:11-12 NLT)

            We almost invariably repeat the patterns of the past; our old problems revisit us again and again. It is easy to slip back into familiar sinful patterns; that is why we need to be diligent to preserve our spiritual gains. In 2 Peter 2:22 They prove the truth of this proverb: "A dog returns to its vomit." And another says, "A washed pig returns to the mud.   

            The fool says in his heart, There is no God (14:1; 53:1). The apostle Paul argued in Romans 1:21-22 that there is no excuse for such rejection: "Although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became useless in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools."

            Think about this: Do you joke about things you don't understand and think it's funny? "Doing wrong is like a joke to a fool, but wisdom is pleasure to a man with understanding. "The discerning sets his face toward wisdom, but the eyes of a fool are on the fleeting pleasures of this world. Is it more important to you to express your opinion than to listen? "A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his own opinion. If these describe you, you might want to consider the danger of your foolishness as described in Proverbs. Dogs lapping up their own puke is funny to a fool, but when humans do it, no one is laughing. 

            If you put your trust in a fool, there's a price to pay: "Whoever sends a message by the hands of a fool cuts off his own feet and drinks violence"(26:6). And if you confront a fool, you could wind up in a world of hurt: "A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty, but a fool's provocation is heavier than both" (27:3). Solomon offered a similar saying: If a wase man has an argument with a fool, the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet" (29:9). Whether it's a foolish employee, a wild neighbor, or an outlandish buddy, a fool leaves a fire of pain in their path. 

            Sometimes you find fools in bars, sometimes in churches. The crowns of Israel were not immune to foolishness fatal attraction. Foolishness cost Saul his kingdom when he disobeyed God's commands (1 Samuel 13:13). Amnon's foolishness robbed him of sexual self-control, leading him to rape his half sister (2 Samuel 13:14). 

            Matthew 5:22 do not warn us against using the word fool. Rather, warns us against weaponizing words to demean or destroy others. There are times when it is kind to inform fools of their folly. Without a righteous warning, many won't recognize the monster they keep poking. We want to avoid foolishness at all costs. How? Start by recognizing the weight of influence in your life must be from people of faith. If your family member or co-workers are followers of Jesus Christ, you can afford more friends who are Christians. You may need to do a serious audit of how much time you spend with people inside and outside the faith so that the weight of influence is tilted toward the Holy Spirit.  

            Affirmation: Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him (James 1:12). This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin (1 John 5-7 NLT).

Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness. 

                                                            Never Rest Ministries

                       

                

             

The Dark Triad Personalities Are Extreme Evil

                                      When The Door Slams

The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day. But the way of the wicked is like total darkness. They have no idea what they are stumbling over.            (Proverbs 4:18-19 NLT)

            We seem to have a fascination with evil. We are curious to what set evil people off and perhaps wonder how much darkness is in us. Psychologists have identified three personalities they call "the Dart Triad": Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. Narcissism combines flamboyant and a need for admiration with the lack of empathy. Machiavellianism involves a mastery of manipulation, exploitation, and deceit. Psychopathy is marked by impulsivity, selfishness, callousness, and a lack of remorse. 

            The Dark Triad are capable of extreme cruelty. We see in historical figures like Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Mao Zedong. Not only in dictators. But also in public figures such as government, politicians and religious leaders have been identified as exhibiting the behaviors of the Dark Triad. The book of Proverbs simply calls these behaviors "wicked."                

            Think about this: While fools stumble blindly, the wicked calculate their steps. That is the difference, and it is not inconsequential. Fools and the wicked share some of the same behaviors, but the wicked are far more nefarious. Not only are they more cunning and prepared, but their personality traits also enable them to rise to positions of power. 

            "The wicked accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the ways of justice" (Proverbs 17:23). This frustrated Solomon as he grew older. He grieve over the success of the wicked: "In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing" (Ecclesiastes 7:15). "Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?" We all  have felt the sting. 

            Yet the Scriptures promise that the righteous will be rewarded and the wicked punished: "The fear of the LORD prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be short" (Proverbs 10:27). This promise is repeated throughout the Old Testament (Psalms 37:13; 92:7; Proverbs 24:19-20; Isaiah 57:20-21). What should we do with our frustration over this seemingly unfulfilled promise?

            Petition: Don't do as the wicked do, and don't follow the path of evildoers. Don't even think about it; don't go that way. Turn and keep moving. For evil people can't sleep until they've done their deed for the day. They can't rest until they've caused someone to stumble. They eat the food of wickedness and drink the wine of violence! (Proverbs 4:14-17).

Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness.

                                                 Never Rest Ministries

                

                      

Stop Depending On Inadequate Human Resources

                                        When The Door Slams

Happy is the one who cares for the poor; The LORD will save him in a day of adversity. The LORD will keep him and preserve him; he will be blessed in the land. You will not give him over to the desire of his enemies.                                                                                                                                                                                      (Psalm 41:1-2 HCSB)

            Recognition and acknowledgment of our helplessness is also the quickest way to that right attitude which God recognizes as essential to prayer. It deals a mortal blow to the most serious sin of all--man's independence that ignores God. 

            Another reason is that we cannot learn firsthand about God--what He is like, His love for us as individuals, and His real power--so long as we are relying on ourselves and other people. Fellowship with the Lord Jesus is the true purpose of life and the only foundation for eternity. It is real, the daily fellowship He offers us. 

            So if your every human plan and calculation has miscarried, if, one by one, in your human understanding which props up, self-delusion and wishful thinking have been knocked out, and the doors slams in your face over the years, think about this: God is trying to get a message through to you, and the message is: "Stop depending on inadequate human resources. The Lord God said let Me handle the matter."

            "The polite part of speaking with God is to be still long enough to listen." If our hearts are listening as we pray, we will from time to time, hear "Why are you praying? Do something!" And we will know what it is that we must do. A wrong to put right, repent of a sin to confess, a letter to write, a friend to visit or a family member to call.

            Think about this: Here are three suggestion for presenting to the LORD Jesus the Prayer of Helplessness and Repentance. First, be honest with God. Tell Him that you are aware of the fact that in His eyes you are helpless... Second, take your heart's desire to the Jesus. You have accepted your helplessness. Now with all of your strength, will and belief that God can do through you what you cannot... Third, watch now for opening doors.

            Renewal: But what does it say? "The word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation.                  (Romans 10:8-10 NKJV)   

Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness.                                              

                                    Never Rest Ministries