Our Daily Thread 6-6-14

Good Morning!

It’s Friday!!! 🙂

And it’s also the 70th anniversary of the D-Day Invasion.

Sadly, there aren’t many of these brave men left. So it’s important to remember their sacrifices and stories, as well as those of their fallen comrades.

From WYFF News 4

From ARIRANG NEWS

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On this day in 1813 the U.S. invasion of Canada was halted at Stony Creek, Ontario. 

In 1924 the German Reichtag accepted the Dawes Plan. It was an American plan to help Germany pay off its war debts. 

In 1933, in Camden, NJ, the first drive-in movie theater opened. 

In 1944 the D-Day invasion of Europe took place on the beaches of Normandy, France. 400,000 Allied American, British and Canadian troops were involved. 

And in 1968 U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy died at 1:44am in Los Angeles after being shot by Sirhan Sirhan. Kennedy was shot the evening before while campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination. 

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Quotes of the Day

“Better to fight for something than live for nothing.”

George S. Patton

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“I greatly fear some of America’s greatest and most dangerous enemies are such that thinks themselves her best friends.”

Nathan Hale

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Today is Fletch Wiley’s birthday, so that means Gospel Jazz. From GospelJazzHawaii

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Anyone have a QoD?

51 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 6-6-14

  1. My Dad, by sheer determination, made it to the 50th D-day reunion of his unit. He died a week later. As I’ve said before, he was a captain as a medical officer in the 101st parachute troop.

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  2. Morning Aj and Janice. Enjoy your Friday. I am so glad to have finished another week of school. This is a three day weekend as we celebrate the Queen’s birthday on Monday. It is nice to have the extra time to do report cards. Six days of school left as we always begin on a Wednesday and end on a Tuesday. Helps with all the flights everyone has to catch.

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  3. Beautiful tulips!

    Just read more on yesterday’s discipline thread. I used various forms depending on the incident. But when a child is having an angry fit they need to be away from others they can take it out on. So a time out is totally appropriate until they calm down enough to listen to reason if they are old enough to do so. If there is a higher authority available, you can take the child to “the principal” to see what that person has to say about their behavior. As my son got older I think I told him sometimes, “That is something you need to talk to God about.” It is not so much about making the authority the heavy or bad guy as it is letting the child know there are other viewpoints that are worth considering and it gives a different form of time out, away from the area in which the anger was felt most acutely.

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  4. Good morning, Janice. Good evening, Jo.

    Jo: Hope you enjoy your three day weekend! Today is L.’s last day of junior high. They’re watching some kind of presentation this morning and having a dance for the eighth graders in the gym this afternoon.

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  5. Blessings, Annms, on this special day. We had a dance for the graduating seventh graders when I was that age. We went from elementary to high school. This month is such a time of transition for so many people.

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  6. QoD: Does God speak to us through other people? (Or, more specifically, does God speak to women through their husbands?)

    I witnessed a conversation where one woman said to another, in effect, “Remember that our husbands are one of the ways God speaks to us.”

    To which the second woman replied along these lines, “Unless a husband is abusive, in which case God doesn’t really speak to them through their husbands because the messages their husbands are giving are satanic.” She went on to note that anyone in authority, even husbands, are not from God or speaking on God’s behalf if they are saying things God wouldn’t say.

    Thoughts?

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  7. I happen to believe that God sometimes does you others to speak to us. He used someone yesterday to tell me some things I needed to hear.
    I am not much of a submissive wife/woman. I often pay the price for it. I won’t fight and I won’t argue, but I will resent and go about what I want in another way.

    On a more positive note, there may be hope on the homefront. So instead of asking you to pray a certain way I am asking that you pray things will work out the right way.

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  8. Now for a tale of When God Actually Spoke to Baby Girl:
    It was the summer before she turned 3 in September. I drove a Blazer at the time and she was in the back in her car seat. Back then we only listened to Wee Sing songs. I am a C, I am a Ch, I am a C-h-r-i-s-t-i-a-n….you can sing it for yourself. We had a series of conversations- always in the Blazer.
    “Mommy!!!!” Can God hear us when we( clucks tongue)? ” “Yes, Baby, Got can here us when we cluck our tongue.” Then followed a discussion about God and how he watches over us and hears us when we say our night, night prayers.
    Time passes. “Mommy! Can God here us when we (tries to snap fingers, but makes the sound by clucking her tongue)? ” “Yes, Baby, God hears us when we snap our fingers. He hears us when we play with out friends. He hears us when we are afraid to sleep alone in our big girl bed. He hears us when we pray.”
    Time passes. “Mommy! Can God hear us when we (flutters eyelashes–and yes I did have to turn my head to the back seat and look at what she was doing)?” “Yes Baby, God even hears us when we flutter our eyelashes. God hears everything”.
    Time passes. “Mommy! Can we hear God?” Mommy is silent for a moment or two asking God just how to explain that. “Yes Baby, sometimes we do hear God, but we have to be really quiet and listens because He doesn’t speak to us often.”
    Time passes. I am in my room getting dressed and she is in her room having a tea party or playing with her dolls. She comes running across the house, “Mommy, Mommy, Mommy! I heard God!!!!” Well when your child hears God speak, you stop and listen. “Baby, what did God say?” Are you ready for this? It is profound…
    “God said Chloe be good and let Mommy get dressed and Mommy let Chloe watch a video.”
    There you have it folks God spoke and I let her watch a video.

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  9. Yes, Chas, it is indeed Friday!. Doesn’t mean as much to me in the summer. This is the second day of five straight days at the cave. I don’t usually have to work on a Sunday, but everyone takes vacations in June since it is a slow month, and that leaves fewer people to give the tours.

    Mrs L, and I wee just discussing what the ‘D’ in ‘D-Day’ stands for. Anyone know? We know that V-E Day and V-J Day mean Victory in Europe and Japan, but cannot figure out what the ‘D’ is for.

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  10. God is good and one of the ways He was good to Chloe was to give her you for her mom, Kim. ❤

    Anytime a husband is using Scripture in discussion in a positive manner about how to approach a problem then God is probably communicating to the wife through her husband. Some other communication probably qualifies, too, depending on the level of the husband's Christian maturity. But I would not go so far as to say a husband always speaks for God to his wife. To me that sounds like a form of idolatry, IMHO.

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  11. And just to add to her running across the house with profound statements, just a few years later she heard the garage doors go up and ran across the house, “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Thank God Mommy graduated with the cop!”
    Mommy had some ‘splainin’ to do.

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  12. I don’t believe that God directly speaks to anyone, anymore. If He did, that would be scripture and He’s already warned against anyone “adding to this book.” However, He has spoken plenty to us through the Bible and, for sure, folks in our lives can counsel us (and we, them) using scripture.

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  13. Cute stories Kim. 🙂

    God speaks primarily through His Word (some might say ‘only’ in that we have all we need there to understand His will). I think He can also reach us through circumstances and people, though we need to be careful in those cases. Most often we see how God has worked in specific areas of our walk only in hindsight.

    Jo, so glad your dad got to attend his reunion. These guys are all 90ish now, they won’t be with us for many more of these milestone anniversaries. Next year will mark the 70th year since the end of WWII.

    There’s a D-Day commemoration in our area on one of the WWII-era merchant marine ships on Saturday, they’re expecting more than 40 WWII vets and 9 of them will receive the Legion of Honor medal from the French Consulate in LA.

    Meanwhile I’m working late tonight, covering a 101-year-old violinist who will be feted at an English pub where he still regularly performs every week.

    Maybe I’ll tell my editor I’m taking Monday off for the Queen’s birthday. 🙂 Think that’ll fly?

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  14. I believe God speaks to us through impressions rather than verbal enunciations, although I would not say He can’t speak verbally for He is God and can do as He chooses. I ask for help from the Holy Spirit when deciding on activities for Sunday School class. I spend time in the Scriptures and often I am given an impression of an effective activity to use to reinforce the lesson. I may be given an enhancement to the curriculum activity or something entirely different.

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  15. Actually, this question hit as I was reading in 1 Samuel and considering the impression to do something with, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” Coincidental, huh?

    Impression: Children draw Samuel speaking those words and God’s response in return (copy Scripture). Then they draw themselves asking that same question, and then show Jesus and red letter quotes from the Bible. I don’t think I would have had an impression to do this without help from the Holy Spirit.

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  16. I think the question of whether there are prophets, who speak to the world for God, is a different one than how God speaks to us in our lives. Just as He uses our hands and feet to accomplish His goals, I believe He uses our voices as well. I have found it isn’t always the person or situation that you would expect. So yes the words a husband, or wife, or child, even an enemy or an unbeliever utters, can be God’s way of getting our attention to something we need to hear. There have been times for each of these where I have been quite certain that another’s words were being used by God to reach me. I think you really need to listen closely and be open, in order to hear, however.

    That said, I would be extremely suspicious of someone who actually claimed “God told me to say this”, and invoke that authority as the prophets of old did. Not saying that it could not happen, but it is too extraordinary a claim and too open to being claimed for the benefit of the person saying it, for me to accept it without extraordinary proof along with it.

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  17. Good points Roy.

    One speaks God’s word only when one’s words reflect or mirror accurately God’s specific written word. Speaking beyond or outside of that — but saying it is somehow directly of God — is always a red flag.

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  18. Good Morning….beautiful tulips!! None of my bulb flowers made it this year….I had an entire hill of grape hyacinths that blossomed beautifully last year…not a one this year! 😦
    I have had people in my life tell me that “God told me to tell you this”….I have politely responded telling them I know His voice…One man came up to me after church and told me God told him to tell me that my headaches were going to be healed…I told him I don’t have headaches….he looked so confused. An assistant pastor, who had moved away from the area, called one day and told me he had a dream that Paul was going to lose his job…and that God was warning us to prepare….Paul did not lose his job….
    “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”
    We are also instructed
    “Iron sharpens iron,
    and one man sharpens another.”
    I have friends in my life who encourage me in my walk with the Lord…one of those friends happens to be my husband….God does not speak to Paul in order to control me….we sharpen one another…my three dearest gal friends encourage me…support me…and are painfully honest with me….and yes…we must weigh everything we are faced with in life with scripture…

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  19. Peter, good question. Wikipedia says: “The terms D-Day and H-Hour are used for the day and hour on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. They designate the day and hour of the operation when the day and hour have not yet been determined, or where secrecy is essential. For a given operation, the same D-Day and H-Hour apply for all units participating in it. When used in combination with numbers, and plus or minus signs, these terms indicate the point of time preceding or following a specific action. Thus, H−3 means 3 hours before H-Hour, and D+3 means 3 days after D-Day. (By extension, H+75 minutes is used for H-Hour plus 1 hour and 15 minutes.) Planning papers for large-scale operations are made up in detail long before specific dates are set. Thus, orders are issued for the various steps to be carried out on the D-Day or H-Hour minus or plus a certain number of days, hours, or minutes. At the appropriate time, a subsequent order is issued that states the actual day and times.”

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  20. Interesting, Kare.

    God’s word is so precious. Opening up the Bible to His words is even better than if the Bible held within its covers the Hope diamond. His word has infinite facets and value pointing out purpose and direction for each person for each moment of their life. Nothing else is like it.

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  21. From World Magazine:

    http://www.worldmag.com/2014/06/midday_roundup_dirty_kids_might_be_healthier_kids

    Let them eat dirt. That joke about building up your kids’ immune systems by letting them get dirty might have some truth to it, a new study finds. Kids in urban areas who breathe in higher levels of dust and dander before their first birthday are less likely to develop respiratory allergies, according to an article released today by the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. The lesson for parents? There is such a thing as a house that’s too clean.

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  22. Thank you for all your thoughts on the QoD. On a related note, not too long ago I heard a sermon online, preached by Voddie Baucham, on Romans 12:2. In his discussion on discerning the will of God in our lives, among other things he made mention of the unbiblical idea many of us may have that God speaks to us through our experiences, giving us “signs”, or telling us what He wants us to know by way of the things that happen to us. (He explains this much better than I do.) 😉

    It’s fairly long (a little over an hour, if I remember correctly), but, overall, it’s a good listen. I won’t say I agree 100% with everything he said — it seemed to me he got off on a tangent or two that wasn’t necessary — but he had many good thoughts, IMO. If you’re interested in giving it a listen, you can find the sermon here:

    http://www.gracefamilybaptist.net/sermons/2011-08-modern-spirituality-and-your-mind/

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  23. And on a different note, and much shorter…

    You may not have heard of Aram Khachaturian, who was born 111 years ago today, but it’s very possible you’ve heard this music… 🙂

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  24. I disagree with the idea that God does not speak to us today or only through the bible. I believe He speaks to us in several different ways. We are not adding to the bible. Anything that is clearly unscriptural should be discounted as from God, of course. We need to learn to be spiritually discerning and the main way that happens is through the bible and prayer. Just as a husband and wife learn to know each other’s thoughts, we learn more and more to hear God’s voice by studying His word.

    Some people are too quick to claim God spoke to them. I would never believe God spoke to someone something about me, without praying and thinking through what was said. There are plenty of people who like to think they speak for God and plenty who exploit others. It is foolish to think otherwise.

    Sometimes God does speak through other people, including your husband. However, your husband is NOT God and is not infallible. No person is.

    I do believe God rarely speaks to us. Most of what we need to know is already in the bible. However, just as He may send angels to aid us or do miracles in our lives, He may speak to us.

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  25. Jesus said the Holy Spirit would be an advocate and helper to the disciples. Doesn’t that include us? The Holy Spirit will bring to mind things we need to know. Maybe not so much verbally, but in some way. It is a mystery and maybe we don’t have a good word for that type of communication. Do any of you ask the Holy Spirit for help as I do when making lesson plans? Whether the ideas given to me are through the Holy Spirit or just the working of the creative brain God gave me by making me in His image, for all that I do that glorifies Him, I give Him credit for providing that goodness.

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  26. My two cents on the temper tantrum issue. I had one child whose temper tantrums were unbelievable. She was 3 1/2 when she was the worse. I tried many things, such as sending her to her room, holding her until she calmed down or spanking. There was no magic bullet. I told her once, she would get over this, if it killed us both. I prayed and prayed. I was so distressed I even had a nightmare over the situation, that woke me up terrified for her.

    Today, she is a wonderful mother and has been a preschool teacher for many years. She often says, “Use your words.” That is a common expression in that field. She is extremely calm when any child has a temper tantrum, since she remembers her own quite well. She has been hit etc. by some of the preschool children and finds it frustrating that there is little one can do with these children.

    I agree with mumsee. Most children don’t care what you SAY. They will let you talk yourself silly. In fact, sometimes they will, very cleverly, get you talking more.

    I think it is important to let children know that you will not tolerate them hitting, kicking or hurting anyone during a tantrum. It is important to let them know that they MUST learn to control themselves. You cannot reason with a child in the middle of a tantrum, however. At that point, you may have to just remove them from the room, ignore them or whatever seems appropriate.

    Karen, it seems to me that when you watch a child for someone else, you have to also have your own say about some of the discipline. While honoring your daughter’s wishes is important, children can be told that YOU have your rules and when he is with you or in YOUR house this is what will be done. Children can very easily change with each situation. Mine knew very quickly what the rules were for each grandparent and for home. They are not as fragile as you may think. They are really good at pitting one person against another or exploiting weaknesses. You want to be a team player, but not dismissed as someone with no input. Your feelings and desires are also important.

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  27. OH Temper Tantrums!!! I know how to handle that. I just told mine she was not doing it properly and proceeded to drop down on the floor, flail my arms and legs and yell it wasn’t fair it wasn’t fair. She stopped and watched me for a minute or two —I really am not that good of an actress— but I think that is the last one I remember either of us had.

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  28. up in the middle of the night for an hour again. At least it is Saturday so I could sleep in. I remembered that Michelle used aloe vera for her burn and realized that I had some. Also that I think that my face and neck rash is a burn from the perm I got. So, yes, the aloe vera helped.

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  29. One problem with the “God speaks to us today (outside of Scripture)” argument is that once people believe they have heard from God, they generally aren’t open to any further discussion. And yet I bet it’s safe to guess that 50% or more of the things people say they have heard from God, even when it’s Christians claiming it, are at least worthy of further discussion, if not obviously false. Throw into the mix the people who say “God told them” to do something that’s clearly sin (divorce their spouse and marry this other person, engage in fornication) and the people who actually build religious doctrine on such things (the Mormons as just one example), and it really seems that such a belief at least holds one open for confusion.

    In one sense it’s “harmless” if someone believes that God told him to go to the store now and not this afternoon as he originally planned. But it does seem to trivialize God to make His “job” into a micromanager of our life’s trivia. Scripture tells us plainly that the Holy Spirit will bring to mind the truth of God’s Word, that He will guide us in our witnessing, that He will convict us of sin. He also gives us spiritual gifts and some have the gift of discernment. But by the time the Holy Spirit is telling us what checkout lane to use, I think we’re misreading things.

    Even in Scriptural times, direct words from God were never “the norm.” He came to specific people at specific times in history, for important purposes, not for everyday small stuff. Many of those prophecies and words from God looked forward to the Messiah, or they were communicating a word from God to people, or they were guiding the formation of the nation of Israel through whom Christ would come. Now we have the complete Word from God. Do we need anything more? Yes, He applies the truth of Scripture. But I get uncomfortable when I hear people saying things like, “God told me this is the best time to quit my job and start my own business” or “God told us to pull our child out of public school and enroll her in this other school” or “God told me to marry this guy, even though my initial reaction was ‘No way!'” Would disobeying such leading be wrong–would it be sin? Can we add sins to Scripture in such a way? And if in Bible times God led a few people for very special reason (when they didn’t have the written Word of God), what on earth is so significant about your little life that He is giving you direct words that He didn’t give to most people before the Bible was complete?

    There is so much danger that we will try to take shortcuts on what He actually tells us about decision-making. What need is there for wise counsel, study of Scripture, further prayer, weighing one’s options, if we already have a word from God? Why do we even need Scripture if God bypasses it all the time?

    We all know people who think they heard a word from God and within a couple years they’re second-guessing it. “I sure thought God told me to marry that man, but now I don’t think I heard Him right.” But God isn’t the Author of confusion, and I think this concept that every Christian will get direct, personal direction from God may well be unique to this time and this culture; and the confusion people feel afterward is just part of the negative fall-out from something that really doesn’t seem to be based on Scripture in the first place.

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  30. To clarify my comments from yesterday: Forrest rarely has what we would call temper tantrums. He does get angry or frustrated at times, but those times do blow over pretty quickly.

    Although Emily doesn’t discipline in the same way many of us here do or did, she does give consequences. She’s not “all talk, no action”. If he misused a toy, for instance, he’ll lose that toy for a while. If he makes a big mess of something, he needs to clean it up, or at least help.

    He’s also great at saying “please” & “thank you”. Well, he needs a reminder at times to say “please”, but “thank you” or “thanks” seems to come naturally.

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  31. Not sure if you listened to the sermon I linked to, Donna, but I think that was one thing Baucham mentioned, the mistaken notion that if “I have a peace about it”, then it’s a certain sign of being in God’s will.

    Yeah right.

    Someone in our church, too, in explaining why she divorced her first husband and married a second one, said, “I found a better one.”

    Wow.

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  32. Cheryl, those objections can also apply to all the ways people misread and misuse the bible. I agree that God speaks to us mainly through his word. However, I would never limit him to how he may speak to me or anyone else. If it goes against the clear teaching of scripture, it is error. Just as when someone pulls scripture out of context or strings verses together incorrectly or any of a thousand ways people do to build a case for what they desire.

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  33. Sometimes videotaping their meltdown and showing it to them later gets them to see what they really look like behaving like that. Some will think twice about pitching another fit after they see themselves like that.

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  34. Speaking of Kathaleena’s remark, “build[ing] a case for what they desire,” another saying that gets abused is “I prayed to know God’s will, and He led me to…[fill in the blank with something unbiblical].”

    Like the couple we knew who were severely in debt, but they prayed, and God “led them” to buy a huge house that was something like $800,000.

    Or another couple where the wife prayed to know God’s will about applying for a job hours away from where they lived, when the husband had made it clear beforehand that he did not want to relocate. But no, she had prayed, and it was God’s will to apply. Fortunately, she did not get offered the job (nor even an interview, to my knowledge).

    If she had been offered it, well then surely it would have to be God’s will that she also accept that wonderful offer, would it not?

    Would it have then been God’s will to leave behind her (in her mind) stubborn husband to fulfill “God’s will”?

    She was opening herself up to the potential for all sorts of marital problems deciding she wasn’t going to submit to her husband on such a major decision.

    Thankfully it did not come to that.

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  35. Kathaleena – I was thinking the same thing.

    The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit is our Counselor, among other things. That counsel often comes in impressions, or promptings, or urgings. But we need to realize that our own imaginations can fool us sometimes, so we need to pray for confirmation, & make sure what we are “hearing” is scriptural.

    But if the prompting or whatnot matches up with God’s word, there’s a good chance we’re “hearing” right.

    I’d say that the “peace about it” that some people feel, when they are actually going against His word, is really a sense of relief in getting away from a difficult situation, & doing what they think will make them happy. They may think it is peace, but it’s not God’s peace.

    But there are indeed times when God will give us “a peace about” a given situation. The times this has happened to me, that stick out most in my mind, were when I truly let go of a great desire for something to happen, or ceased resisting His will in something. Then His peace blanketed my heart.

    I’ve also felt that peace when we’ve made a difficult decision, after much prayer for guidance, & had the assurance we were in God’s will in it.

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  36. Oh, rats. It’s my bedtime. I need my rest for babysitting all day tomorrow.

    I’ll catch up with you all sometime later tomorrow, I hope.

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  37. Cheryl, from what you wrote it sounds like God is a bit impersonal. I believe He is involved at the detail level of our lives and that does not trivialize Him, but makes Him all-knowing, all-caring and all-loving. He is the God who counts the hairs on our heads. To me that makes Him be bigger than a God who is only concerned on the larger major issues of life. Where do you think He draws the line as far as what He stoops to care about? Jesus stooped to wash the feet of the disciples and he came down to earth as a helpless baby. Our God is a personal God. His creation is so detailed in design. That is another way to see He is in on the little things. Maybe I am misunderstanding your point of view or why you make God sound impersonal.

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  38. I think there’s always been a certain amount of tension for Christians between God’s immanence and transcendence. He is both, of course. But the temptation is to stray from that balance (which is hard to maintain) and emphasize one over the other sometimes.

    So my evening assignment covering the 101-year-old violinist was rather abbreviated. I think I have what I need, but I guess it’s been a while since I’ve been in a hopping bar on a Friday night. 🙂 Loud. Chaotic. Definitely not conducive to trying to interview a 101-year-old while being jostled by competing TV crews and waitresses with full trays needing to get by in a very cramped space.

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  39. The comments above remind me of the verse in Proverbs – there is a way that seems right to a man, but it is the way of death. Sorry, will have to look it up, but that is the sense of it.

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