Hi Everyone,

Did you notice your inner person over the last week? Did you observe how it (you) reacted to various circumstances?

I noticed mine getting irritable one afternoon. I was hungry and making lunch for everyone at home. And then everyone was busy doing other things. During this time I recalled doing some other useful things for my family over the past several days and how they were content to let me do it during those times too. Slowly but surely, the seeds of bitterness were being sown in my mind as I started to think I was being taken for granted.

Ah ha!!! My cockroach of pride slithered from under the counter of my emotions. As it scurried about, my behavior was thinking of turning ugly too. Yes, a sharp word of sarcasm was long overdue. A snipping at my wife and kids looked so delicious. Perhaps I shouldn’t be so
accommodating… “Don’t know what you got until it’s gone”! Yessss!

And then moments later I was rescued from that awful weed of resentment. The alarm of my conscience rang out in my head… Almighty God bared down on me:

1st Peter 1:16 …You shall be holy, for I am holy

Coming to my senses and taking a deep breath, I whispered a prayer at the kitchen sink, “Heavenly Father, forgive me for not loving my wife and kids. Please strengthen me by Your Spirit in me to be patient and kind at this time, for I am unable to be so on my own. Thank you. In His name I pray, Amen”.

I also remember my spirit reacting more joyously on another day. I was driving to work just as the sun was about to rise. Off in the horizon, I beheld deep purples, oranges, pinks, and blues in the sky. Wow! Sooo beautiful. There’s no getting tired of gazing at such a sight. And later that same day, as I was leaving work, I saw the sunset!  More glorious handiwork of God on display! I thought to myself that wintertime produces some great sunrises and sunsets. But then another thought entered my mind… Almighty God who made those fascinating skies has set His love on me. And my heart leaped!

Mark 5:19 … Go… and report… what great things the Lord has done for you…

I could not help but praise God in song while driving home.

So notice from these two reactions I had, they came from within and manifested themselves on the outside. And this reveals a monumental principle:

What we say or do is motivated by what we think,
and what we think is motivated by what we believe.

Matthew 7:16 You will know them by their fruits…

Our words and deeds are our “fruits”. So if you look at how your spirit (you) reacts to good things and bad things, easy things and hard things, simple things and complex things…. mandatory things and voluntary things, certain things and uncertain things… Over time, you
can see your pattern of behavior. And your pattern of behavior is simply a manifestation of your inner person. You know that axe- murderer has some serious internal issues… and those saintly people who never strike out have something entirely different going on in the inside

You know this as “Garbage in, garbage out” – “Stupid is as Stupid does” – You are what you think (not eat, ha ha) – and maybe some others.

Homework assignment: Get to know yourself better. Let’s take another week and observe what fruit comes forth from us 😉

Peace,
Jim