27 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 10-14-22

  1. Good Morning. I am letting you all know that I am running away to the beach with Mama Ruth’s youngest daughter and another friend. I am going to do my best to stay off of my phone and computer.

    Liked by 4 people

  2. Morning all!
    No trouble accessing the blog for me Janice but there have been times that it has happened to me…refreshing my browser has helped.

    Enjoy your time away Kim. Refresh will be the word of the day for you! 😊

    Will be meeting my closest friend, her husband and son for dinner. Her birthday is tomorrow and we shall celebrate God’s goodness and provision. She is a breast cancer survivor and a survivor of a husband who went off the rails for a year wanting a divorce. Some very deep valleys were walked through…and our Lord was right beside. Praising Him for never leaving nor forsaking just as He has promised….for us all!

    Liked by 3 people

  3. Good morning, all. Company arriving here today as well. And tomorrow. Today for a few days is fourth daughter and family. Tomorrow is first daughter and family. We had planned an early Thanksgiving. Husband won’t be home in time to help us eat. He is usually the one who does the cooking. We will survive.

    Liked by 4 people

  4. After looking outside our youngest granddaughter asked her mom if it was Christmas. Looking a whole lot like Christmas in our state today. The little ones have already been out to play in it. The joy of littles for the first real snow fall is fun to watch. I did not get to see them, since we live way too far away for that.

    Liked by 3 people

  5. Nice to hear the pleasant plans for many here. I am still in bed, under the covers, allowing my body some down time trying to allow the antibiotic to clear the infection I developed. So thankful to God that I do have downtime available. I need to go out and pay a bill. I also need to buy a new thermometer to keep a watch on my temp. I am enjoying reading in Colossians this morning as a followup to our Bible study in Galatians.

    Liked by 2 people

  6. Family is here so I will be enjoying them. Their flight didn’t get in until 9 last night and then we stopped for dinner. So midnight was bedtime.
    Time to enjoy them all.

    Liked by 3 people

  7. Kathaleena – (re: your comment to me last night) I understand and agree that it does matter what we do even while believing that God is sovereign in it all. In one of my comments, I said something about making these voting decisions “prayerfully”. I am not a fatalist.

    NancyJill – You wrote to Kim, “Refresh will be the word of the day for you!” Shortly before reading your comment, I had prayed that Kim’s day would be restful and refreshing. 🙂

    Jo – Praying for a good, blessed day with your family.

    Liked by 3 people

  8. Good days for many. Rest day for Janice. Partial work day and partial tomato processing day for me. I’m sooooo sick of cutting tomatoes in half and scooping out the seeds. But I do enjoy the roasting and blending to get the sauce. Our freezer is overflowing. I am thankful, but the house continually smells like tomato.

    I might also get out to pick up leaves this afternoon. It’s relatively warm today with no wind after two days of ferocious winds. No snow yet, so Kathaleena has this northerner beat! (I’m okay with losing)

    Liked by 4 people

  9. Not sure whether to share this on the daily thread or the news thread (where the matter of being winsome to unbelievers has been raised), so I’ll share it on both. This starts out seeming to argue about being winsome, but that is not his point. The point is that even when we are winsome, as we should be, we will face opposition.

    Winsomeness is a failed strategy if you think that you will stave off the attack dogs by being so.

    Does that mean don’t be winsome? No, not at all. Winsomeness is not a failed stance. As Christians we should always be winsome. But don’t expect it to be a strategy that will get you by in the increasingly hostile Sexular Age. Because it won’t. And don’t use it as a cover for cowardice. Check whose approval and blessing you really want.

    Because if you’re putting all your eggs in the winsome basket, thinking people will be reasonable with you if you are, then there’s a risk you have forgotten the words of Jesus in Matthew 5.

    “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.”

    The key word is “falsely”. In other words Christians have to learn to smarten up and realise that without the Holy Spirit, our opponents in these matters will be under no compulsion to speak truthfully. We’re playing the game by a different set of rules. If you think that the only difference between you as a believer and our unbelieving friends and neighbours, work colleagues and social media sparring partners, is that we are a bit more winsome than they, then you’ve got a less than orthodox view of sin and spiritual death.

    In the Beatitudes Jesus has to reiterate that we are actually “blessed” when stuff like this happens, cos it sure won’t feel like it. It will sure feel like a curse, and unfair treatment. Who likes having all kinds of evil pronounced against you “falsely”?’

    https://stephenmcalpine.com/well-they-got-their-man-and-it-only-took-one-day/

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Janice, good to hear you’re able to rest today. I ordered my last thermometer from Amazon (2-day delivery), but you may need one sooner than that.

    It’s cloudy, foggy and we’re expecting (maybe) some more rain this weekend, but it could hit mostly in the mountains and deserts. Still, the coast got some of it earlier this week as well, which was lovely for our parched land. I remember a rare rain a couple years ago and seeing Cowboy, Tess and Annie all out in the backyard, just standing in it. I joined them. Lol

    You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone.

    We’re getting some cooler weather right now as well.

    I’m actually back into long-sleeved T-shirts.

    The return to work continues to be a struggle as I still feel so out of touch. I’ve spent the past 2 days making calls, sending texts, trying to get my bearings on what I’ve missed, what may be coming up, but so far there’s not much to latch onto for an actual story. My dockworker union contact is out with Covid (their contract negotiations are going long, I was hoping for an update), my local political contacts haven’t gotten back to me (we have a major LA City Council seat race ongoing), nothing much out of the ports (and one of my most helpful contacts there is out this week for the Jewish holiday) … Editor said he may tap me for something today which would be welcome as I’m feeling rather useless.

    I did dream about work last night, but woke up still without a story in view. Kind of feeling lost in the woods, it’s all vaguely familiar but nothing is connecting or is as familiar and easy as it usually is.

    Meanwhile I’m fiddling with my home office chair, trying different pillows for the lower back support to help this neck situation, but I may need to get one of those actual bolsters from Amazon — if that’s not helpful, I could wind up looking at a new chair. This one is old, a good chair but maybe too padded (when I bought it I didn’t need it for long, daily use like I do now), I also can’t get the back to go up straighter, it slants back just a little too much; and the control lever that brings the chair up and down also gave out about a year ago so I had it set at a static position and that’s also now not adjustable, chair is sitting maybe too high (but I use a foot rest).

    Call me Goldilocks.

    I also need to call a couple painters to start getting bids to paint the inside wood casement window which was installed new 3-4 years ago but only got painted on the outside.

    Noticing the front porch rail and outside of some of the window wood frames are starting to peel a little bit as well. Minor, but I’ll need to address that maybe once we get into spring.

    Liked by 3 people

  11. Understanding God’s sovereignty doesn’t excuse us from having to make wise and biblically informed choices, which can be a difficult process but is a necessary one God expects us to follow.

    Voting — and, in some rare cases, based on conscience, not voting — are both choices we have and should not be done lightly or without prayer.

    Liked by 2 people

  12. I found two thermometers at Walgreen’s on a deal of buy one/get one 50% off. That was along my way to Sam’s. I needed to shop at Sam’s but did not feel like staying after waiting in line to pay the bill. I am back under the covers now😀 No where else I want to be!

    Many times I can get things from Amazon in a few hours because we must be close to a distribution hub. It seems like a miracle when that happens, but it does not happen with everything. And I can choose to let them hold and deliver the ordered goods altogether which makes sense. At times I order office supplies so I see how Amazon is on top of things.

    Our two Senate candidates are debating in Savannah tonight. Art does not want to watch, but I would like to see it. He controls the remote so I said we can just watch his shows, but he said if I really want to watch that we can. Decisions, decisions. We already know who we will vote for. The Dem is a black preacher from Savannah. The Republican is a former UGA football player. I mainly want to watch to see our daily local Fox Newscaster do his thing as moderator. His son is on the football team my former church is doing outreach with so he has been to my former church. It’s a small, small world.

    Liked by 1 person

  13. I did order some OTC cold medicine from Walgreens when I had Covid, I think it was delivered within just a couple hours.

    But the prescription cough medication my GP called in a couple days later got stalled somehow so I finally had to have a friend just pick it up for me. My cough by then was almost gone, though. I think I just took one pill (after reading that a rare side effect could include “sudden death”! lol)

    Liked by 1 person

  14. Re 1:18
    From childhood, I have always thought the Beatitudes among the most inspiring, consoling and convicting words in the Bible. Those words were some of my earliest guides and have a very special place in my heart.

    Winsome. I know some people like it, but I don’t ever use the word winsome, nor do I view it as a particular virtue. In my mind I can’t connect it to scripture, and words the scripture use, work just fine for me. When a situation calls for being pleasant or joyful or charming (all definitions of ‘winsome’), I can be pleasant or joyful, but scripture says charm is deceitful. And in my experience, it is. I guess the closest I can come to charm is humor–which is not really the same thing. :–)

    When we call out lies and deceit wherever we feel compelled and have the freedom and ability to do so, we are also being salt and light in a very dark world. This is not always ‘winsome’ work. And yes, we will be reviled by the world, and also too often by people who we think should be helping us instead of criticizing. But in the body of Christ we have to remember that we are not all hands or feet or ears or tongues or hearts. We are gifted and inspired for different purposes, yet all to God’s glory. So we might as well persevere and set our face to bear with each other and help each other as best we can, knowing that the world is never going to agree. And the world’s expression of disagreement will become progressively worse until it eventually gives way to persecution, as indeed, it already has in some cases in the US. Regardless of how ‘winsome’ you are.

    Liked by 2 people

  15. Debra – I don’t know which version of the Bible you prefer, so here is Colossians 4:6 in the NKJV:

    “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.”

    The ESV is very similar:

    “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”

    According to at least a couple other versions, which attempt a fuller translation (such as the Amplified Version), “winsome” is used in the place of “with grace”/”gracious”. Even when it is not used, it seems to me that “with grace”/”gracious” means the same thing, or very close to it.

    Proverbs 16:21 (NKJV) says,

    “The wise in heart will be called prudent,
    And sweetness of the lips increases learning.”

    A more worldly “proverb” says “You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar.” 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  16. Intersting graphs from that Piper piece, loved the “we are not cool” reminder lol

    ________________-

    ~ … What makes this so relevant today is that American culture is increasingly out of step with the way of life which the Bible calls “how you ought to walk and to please God” (1 Thessalonians 4:1). Proposals about how Christians should respond to this situation include (as a recent symposium in Christianity Today illustrates) the Benedict Option (Rod Dreher), the Wilberforce Option (Peter Wehrner and Michael Gerson) and the Dr. King Option (Gabriel Salguero).

    It seems to me that all of these options embody aspects of the response to culture that are needed in our day: ongoing engagement, creating alternative communities, readiness to surrender dominance.

    What the apostle Peter contributes to this debate, among other things, is this: Baby Boomers (like me) who grew up with an assumed overlap between Christian morality and cultural expectations, and Millennials, who desperately want to be hip and cool, must both joyfully embrace the calling to be weirdos. It is not our culture. And we are not cool. … ~

    ____________________

    Liked by 2 people

  17. I use to listen to Chip Ingram a lot and I seem to recall he used the word winsome in a favorable manner many years back. He seemed to be a solid rock Bible teacher back then. I suppose I always thought it was about speaking truth in love, but as we well know, the meaning of words can evolve drastically over time.

    Liked by 1 person

  18. Yeah, I know. Lots of people like the word. I guess I’m just old fashioned. But I totally agree that we are not called to be “cool” and the pressures and efforts to do so can lead one astray. :–)

    I have “The Benedict Option” and have read it, but I had not heard of or read the other ‘options’.

    Liked by 1 person

  19. Back from birthday dinner celebrating my friend. Such a lovely time of chatting and fellowship.

    Winsome and gracious do not to me seem to be similar. I seem to connect the word with lighthearted or likable. Gracious means something very different. I am of an age where I truly don’t put much weight onto whether people like me or not. I treat others with kindness and remain unyielding when aggressive personalities try to manipulate, mischaracterize me and such. Truth is truth, there are no gray areas.
    I read the article Kizzie and came away with “what’s the point”? Perhaps I am missing something

    Like

  20. I see winsome as similar to gracious. It’s more of a reaching out in grace that I associate it with, not wanting to be “liked” or funny, I see the two words as very much implying the same thing. But gracious works just as well, of course. I’ve used both.

    Liked by 1 person

  21. Gracious is an excellent word and speaks to a Christian’s approach toward our personal attitudes and dealings with individuals all made in God’s image — our neighbors, our friends, our enemies, all. I’m fine going with that. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  22. I love the word grace. It’s so rich; sweet enough to melt on the tongue yet steely enough to pierce the spirit. And we’re reminded that it’s one of God’s actual attributes, so when I think of participating in that, it is not a human work but divine. His grace to me is more precious than words can express. It’s one of those attributes that can also pass from God himself, through me, to someone else. Or, from God himself, through someone else, to me. No other word quite captures that movement for me….the movement of love.

    Liked by 3 people

  23. 9:33 Debra thank you for that post. Beautifully expressed and close to the heart. The Lord has been so gracious to me and grace is truly originated in and through Him. ♥️

    Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.