Today's Seed Water

Today’s Seed Water

(January 2002)

 

“In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you,

for this sums up the Law and the prophets.”

 --Matthew 7:12

 New International Version

 

 

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE...

 

The Golden Rule -- golden because it’s genuine, lasting, and

valuable. Imagine how different our world would be if we

practiced this principle -- not just in our “church life” but

in our daily life with our family, with our coworkers and

employer, with the people we manage, with the folks on the

freeway and in the neighborhoods where we drive, toward the

waiters and waitresses who serve us. What a wonderfully

different world it would be if the Golden Rule were to be

practiced. I think I’ll start changing my world with it today!

 

How about you?

 

 

MY PRAYER...

“Generous Father, you have blessed me with so many rich and

wonderful gifts. I can never repay you. One thing I want you

to know, dear Father, is that I especially appreciate the way

you have treated me with grace and not with justice or

judgment. Give me the power to do the same with the people my

life touches this week. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”

 

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THE FRUIT OF A DEEPER ROOT

 

“A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be

successful. But if he confesses and forsakes them, he gets

another chance.” (Proverbs 28:13, TLB)

 

Problems. Nobody is immune from them. However, often the

problems we see are not the problems that are! For instance,

a problem, whether it is emotional, spiritual or physical,

is often the symptom of a deeper problem…”the fruit of a

deeper root.” The root cause may be an unresolved emotional,

spiritual or moral problem which can express itself in any

one or more of ways such as the following: relational

conflicts, worry, stress, anxiety, insomnia, depression,

addictions, spiritual dryness, physical sickness, abuse,

etc., etc.

 

Many physical symptoms can be symbolic. Ulcers, for example,

sometimes can be caused not so much by what we eat but by

what is eating us. Tension headaches can be caused by

“jamming up” anger in our head. Aching shoulders may be

caused by our feeling that we are burdened by a heavy load.

And if I have a pain in the neck, I may be one or feel that

someone in my life is!

 

Acknowledgment and confession open the door for recovery:

not only from the symptoms but also from the causes.

 

After David confessed his sin, he said, “What happiness for

those whose guilt has been forgiven! What relief for those

who have confessed their sins and God has cleared their

record. There was a time when I wouldn’t admit what a sinner

I was. But my dishonesty made me miserable and filled my

days with frustration. All day and all night your hand was

heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water on a sunny

day until I finally admitted all my sins to you and stopped

trying to hide them. I said to myself, ‘I will confess them

to the Lord.’ And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.”

(Psalm 33:1–5, TLB)

 

A good example to follow.

 

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, here’s the symptom/s (be

specific–name it/them) in my life. I confess these to you.

Please give me the courage to face the cause/s of these and

lead me to the help I need to resolve them. Gratefully, in

Jesus’ name. Amen.”