Psalm 17 begins with David asking The Lord to hear both his cry and his prayer. He is obviously distressed. He reminds God that he has chosen to avoid transgression even with his words and he has followed God's ways in all his dealings with men. After complimenting God on his loving kindness, strength and ability to save he comes out with what he wants God to do. It appears from the next verses that David has some enemies that are tormenting him and he wants The Lord to intervene. He describes the enemies: They are fat, proud, surround him and his people stopping progress, and stalk him like predators. What David declares next frankly astounded me and caused me to view my own tormentors in a new light. PS17:13 "...Deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword: from men which are thy hand O Lord from men of the world, which have their portion in this life." David understood something that I didn't until I read his words. God uses people as a sword and as His hand. When enemies come against me I must consider the possibility that God has raised them up for His purposes. There are other reasons that enemies can rise up and I should ask The Lord for discernment in determining the cause.
Davids final words in this Psalm are encouraging and are an Old Testament prophecy to which all believers look forward. "As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness." This same promise is echoed in 1John3:2 "We shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is."
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Jail-house Nachos and Trashbag Popcorn Balls
Some of the men of the Prison attending my Character Study Group on Tuesday night asked if they could honor me with a party/movie night. I had no idea what that would look like but was promised a couple of delicacies that are not well known to those of us who do not reside inside the prison world; "Jail-house nachos and Popcorn Balls".
I arrived at a few minutes past 7:00PM and saw the men gathered around two long folding tables. They were preparing the nachos which I will describe to the best of my ability; cameras are not allowed inside so I have no photos. Upon the tables had been stretched two large garbage bags which provided a tablecloth of sorts as well as a barrier protecting the tables from what was placed on them. On top of the trash bag table clothes was an 8 feet by two feet strip of tortilla chips covered in a thick layer of canned chili, sausage, and melted cheese. The sheer enormity of it caused my mouth to drop open(wish I had pics). I knew the men must have sacrificed greatly and denied themselves in order to provide such a treat and I was humbled by the thought of them hoarding chips and cans of chili for this one night. We had a wonderful time of prayer and fellowship, watched a movie together as we ate every last bit of the nachos; a couple of men even went to their cells, retrieved their sporks and scraped the tablecloths clean of the last remnants of chili and cheese. At this point in time an inmate said that it was time for desert and he retrieved from safe keeping, somewhere within the recesses of his cell, a large trash bag of what he called, "popcorn ball". This was a strange looking popcorn ball because rather than being round it was instead flat and cut into shapes approximating ten inch by ten inch squares and about 3/4 of an inch thick. It looked as if it were coated and permeated with chocolate but the taste was better than just chocolate. The flavor was a combination of chocolate, honey, peanut, and buttery flavors; very sugary sweet. The man had spent considerable resources to make this prison treat. An apparently large quantity of various candies: Bit-O-Honey, Malow-Mars, and Snickers Bars, Had been melted down into liquid form, poured over the approximately 5 gallons of popcorn, mixed together thoroughly in a trash bag and flattened out to dry. I was amazed at his resourcefulness. One prisoner confided in me that his family on the outside had provided him with extra funds to purchase his share of the supplies necessary for this party. What an honor to have had bestowed on me! I did not deserve it.
One of the men said to me last night, "You can scratch this one off your bucket list!" Yes I can! How many people can say they have shared in this rare treat and I'm not talking about the food here. I mean the rare treat of having friends so dear that they would sacrifice almost all that they have to honor one who has served them. I owe them an incredible debt.
I arrived at a few minutes past 7:00PM and saw the men gathered around two long folding tables. They were preparing the nachos which I will describe to the best of my ability; cameras are not allowed inside so I have no photos. Upon the tables had been stretched two large garbage bags which provided a tablecloth of sorts as well as a barrier protecting the tables from what was placed on them. On top of the trash bag table clothes was an 8 feet by two feet strip of tortilla chips covered in a thick layer of canned chili, sausage, and melted cheese. The sheer enormity of it caused my mouth to drop open(wish I had pics). I knew the men must have sacrificed greatly and denied themselves in order to provide such a treat and I was humbled by the thought of them hoarding chips and cans of chili for this one night. We had a wonderful time of prayer and fellowship, watched a movie together as we ate every last bit of the nachos; a couple of men even went to their cells, retrieved their sporks and scraped the tablecloths clean of the last remnants of chili and cheese. At this point in time an inmate said that it was time for desert and he retrieved from safe keeping, somewhere within the recesses of his cell, a large trash bag of what he called, "popcorn ball". This was a strange looking popcorn ball because rather than being round it was instead flat and cut into shapes approximating ten inch by ten inch squares and about 3/4 of an inch thick. It looked as if it were coated and permeated with chocolate but the taste was better than just chocolate. The flavor was a combination of chocolate, honey, peanut, and buttery flavors; very sugary sweet. The man had spent considerable resources to make this prison treat. An apparently large quantity of various candies: Bit-O-Honey, Malow-Mars, and Snickers Bars, Had been melted down into liquid form, poured over the approximately 5 gallons of popcorn, mixed together thoroughly in a trash bag and flattened out to dry. I was amazed at his resourcefulness. One prisoner confided in me that his family on the outside had provided him with extra funds to purchase his share of the supplies necessary for this party. What an honor to have had bestowed on me! I did not deserve it.
One of the men said to me last night, "You can scratch this one off your bucket list!" Yes I can! How many people can say they have shared in this rare treat and I'm not talking about the food here. I mean the rare treat of having friends so dear that they would sacrifice almost all that they have to honor one who has served them. I owe them an incredible debt.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Anger Is Cumulative
I have discovered through long experience that anger is cumulative. I have not always believed that. I remember thinking , "tomorrow is a new day and I won't be angry then." or "I just need time to cool down and I'll be fine." What I've discovered is that anger results from past hurts not properly dealt with, and until I repair those hurts the resulting anger never goes away. When I am hurt by another person and respond in an unhealthy way I also create guilt which sets me up for an anger trigger that will be touched off whenever I am reminded again of that pain. When I continued to stuff my anger down inside I became like an unattended pressure cooker. I would eventually explode. When I was stuffing my pain down inside and telling everyone around me that I was "fine" I developed an angry spirit. My spirit of anger which people sensed coming from me prevented me from developing relationships. It caused others to be afraid of me and limited mypersonal and professional life. For me, learning to resolve anger quickly and completely is one of the keys to a successful life.
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