Category: Word Prompts

When Patience Wears Thin

by Innermost Being, posted in Word Prompts

Patience is one of my greatest strengths. Impatience is one of my most frustrating weaknesses. How can this be?

In normal circumstances, I am patient. I have enough self-control to wait. I believe my patience will be rewarded. I don’t feel the need to control other people. I can accept that things won’t always go my way. I can suffer through situations that others would find insufferable. I can see light at the end of the tunnel.

At other times, my patience wears thin, which implies that it was thick to begin with.

If I am feeling stressed or overwhelmed, patience is the first virtue to go. Things that would otherwise not even phase me annoy the heck out of me. People get on my last nerve. Maybe it is because when I am stressed, I need all of my emotional energy to deal with it. I have nothing left to give.

My patience also wears thin if I am faced with the same trying situation over and over again. I don’t like to be distracted when I am trying to concentrate. I don’t like to be interrupted or to have my plans thrown into disarray. I can put up with these little annoyances a few times but eventually my patience wears thin.

The first patience-thinning situation is a sign that something in my life needs to change. The second situation is really a matter of personality; my introverted mind needs peace and quiet.

via Daily Prompt: Thin

Clip art credit: https://clipartxtras.com/

 

The Core of the Gospel

by Innermost Being, posted in Word Prompts

Today the sermon at my church was based on 1 John 2:18-29. In this passage, John warned believers against antichrists, anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ. In the new church, there were many false teachers trying to lead Jesus’s followers astray. John said, I’m not writing to you because you don’t know the truth. You do know the truth. See to it that the gospel message you heard from the beginning remains in you.

As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.

What is the core message of the gospel that remains in me?

  • We all sin
  • God still loves us
  • Jesus intercedes for us
  • We are to love one another, as he loved us

Of course, there is much more to the message I have heard than this. But at its core, the message of Jesus Christ is the redeeming power of God’s love.

via Daily Prompt: Core

Scoffing at Deceit

by Innermost Being, posted in Word Prompts

Yesterday, I read the psalm David wrote after Doeg the Edomite, King Saul’s chief herdsman, betrayed the High Priest, Ahimelech (Psalm 52), which resulted in Ahimelech’s death. David’s description of Doeg reminds me of the wicked man I see in the news everyday. Like Doeg, he regularly practices deceit, loves evil rather than good, and loves falsehood rather than speaking the truth. When I hear him speak, I find myself laughing at the absurdity of his claims.

1 Why do you boast of evil, you mighty hero?
    Why do you boast all day long,
    you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God?
2 You who practice deceit,
    your tongue plots destruction;
    it is like a sharpened razor.
3 You love evil rather than good,
    falsehood rather than speaking the truth.    Selah
4 You love every harmful word,
    you deceitful tongue!

The evildoer of today is considered a hero to his followers, sadly even to millions of people who call themselves “evangelicals.” But surely he is a disgrace in the eyes of God.

David was sure that God would bring Doeg down to everlasting ruin. I also trust that God will judge this evildoer. And when the Lord brings him to his knees, this “hero” will beg for God’s mercy and the righteous will laugh saying (Psalm 52:6-7):

“Here now is the man
    who did not make God his stronghold
but trusted in his great wealth
    and grew strong by destroying others!”

Knowing that God will eventually bring this man to justice does not fill me with joyful laughter. While I wait for God’s justice, the evildoer destroys others.

If he is going to boast, he should not boast of his riches. If he is going to boast, he should not boast of his business successes. If he is going to boast, he should not boast of his knowledge. If he is going to boast, he should not boast of ratings.

If he is going to boast, let him boast that he knows the heart of God (Jeremiah 9:24).

24 but let the one who boasts boast about this:
    that they have the understanding to know me,
that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,
    justice and righteousness on earth,
    for in these I delight,”
declares the Lord.

Selah

 

via Daily Prompt: Laughter

Snowpack and Rivulets

by Innermost Being, posted in Word Prompts

When I saw the daily word prompt this morning, I read a couple of posts to find out how the word of the day inspired other bloggers. Today someone wrote a short poem about rivulet being another boring, uninspiring word. Au contraire!

Rivulets: the little streams of water that trickle down the mountains when the snow melts or after it rains.

I love to run in the rain. Jumping over puddles and running in the rivulets, I am one with nature. I love bodies of water no matter the size: oceans, lakes, rivers, mountain streams, creeks, waterfalls, rivulets.

Living in a semi-arid environment, I don’t take rivulets for granted. I have experienced drought. This year, the Colorado snowpack is far below normal. Ninety percent of the state is abnormally dry. I worry about wildfires this summer. There won’t be as much runoff to supply the water we need. Not so many rivulets.

Seasons changing. Soil nourished by spring rains and rivulets of water from melting snow. The earth coming alive after a long winter. Flowers blooming.

I find this riveting.

via Daily Prompt: Rivulet

To partake or not to partake

by Innermost Being, posted in Word Prompts

When my husband and I shop for our weekly groceries, we always walk down the bakery aisle to pick up bread and bagels. I sneak a peek at the donuts and cakes and pastries but rarely partake because I know they’re not good for me. Yesterday, the cinnamon rolls looked especially yummy.  We picked up a four-pack and each of us ate one for breakfast this morning.

Was it worth it? Yes and no.

Yes, because indulging myself once in a while keeps me from feeling deprived. I love the smell of cinnamon rolls. I savored every bite. If I ate sweets everyday, I would not enjoy them nearly as much. Knowing that I can afford to indulge myself occasionally motivates me to stick to my healthy habits the rest of the time. Partaking of treats now and then is a reward for being disciplined about diet and exercise.

No, because the cinnamon roll wasn’t as good as it looked. I have noticed that I often feel disappointed after eating a donut or a slice of cake. I don’t feel that way when I eat fruit or Greek yogurt or crunchy peanut granola bars. No, because I consumed a bunch of empty calories that will go straight to my gut and I work too hard to do that to myself.

There are two more cinnamon rolls left. They still look yummy. My husband can have them.

via Daily Prompt: Partake