JUST LISTEN

Someone has to listen for communication to happen. There is more to sharing than just talking. It helps to listen. Sometimes I don't do a very good job of listening. I am a preacher by calling which makes me inclined to proclaim, or preach, or teach, or talk. Preachers can talk and talk and talk.

Listening requires focus, patience, and a good measure of care. Listening puts more attention on the other party and what they consider as important. Their words become the center of attention, not yours. That raises the level of consideration and value of the other.

Love listens. It places higher importance on what is on the other's mind.

God is love and He listens.

Why don't men listen very good?

We are easily distracted. We don't multi-task very well. We need to raise the level of love. We must realize that what is important to our mate must be important to us.

Something funny happened as I started writing this blog. Wanda asked me a question and needed my attention. I listened some, but she had to repeat. She then asked me what I was writing. To be perfectly honest about it, I couldn't bring myself to tell her that I was writing on my very failure at the exact moment she was talking. I wasn't listening very well.

Ha!

What did I do?

I closed the computer and listened until we had clearly communicated. She talked. I listened. I understood. I got it. Clear communication took place. That is important.

Now, here is another take a way. Pause in your prayer life. Don't talk. Focus. Wait. Be patient. God will speak. You will hear. Communication will take place. Prayer is more than asking. The better part is the listening part.

GOOD HABITS

I am reading a great book by Chip Ingram entitled Good to Great in God's Eyes. It is inspiring and motivational. Some of the chapter titles are:

Think Great Thoughts
Read Great Books
Pursue Great People
Dream Great Dreams
Develop Great Habits

Develop Great Habits is the last chapter in Chip's book, but I read it first. That is a bad habit that I have. Ha!

It takes about 21 days to establish a new habit and maybe even longer to break a bad habit. All of us do things habitually. We have patterns that we repeat over and over. New things and new ways crimp our style. We get stuck in the routine. The same ole becomes same ole.

Benjamin Franklin once said that if you take all your good habits and subtract all your bad habits, the results is your contribution to society.

Some habits can't be improved like reading your Bible, or praying, or regularly attending church, or treating others the way we desire to be treated.

But we all have bad habits.

I asked my staff in our last meeting to share with us one good habit and one bad habit. It was interesting and inspiring. We all felt good about the good habits and we all felt and need and motivation to break bad ones.

I share one habit that I have lived with for probably 30 plus years. I established a personal devotional habit of making sure that I had read 5 chapters in the Bible every day before I did any sermon preparation. Why do that? Because the temptation for ministers is to read the Bible to "get" a new sermon. That leads to a professional, prideful, non-relational walk with the Lord. That is dangerous.

Oh, I have some bad habits too.

Like, eating too fast, or watching too much football, or tending to put off doing things I don't like. I am working on all of those, well, except football. After all, it is football season, and Alabama is # 1.

Roll Tide!

Opps!

TWO LEFT SHOES

Wanda and I were headed to church early  this past Saturday for a special work day. We left just in time to be on time, but got down the road when Wanda said she had brought two different shoes. She had gotten into the car wearing flip flops but was going to change into a pair of tennis shoes. The problem was she had hurriedly pick up two different shoes.

I thought silently, "Well, you could just wear them." But I didn't say it. I was quietly, silently aggravated.

Then she said, "I'd wear them, but they are both left footed shoes."

That broke the aggravation. We laughed hard. I turned around and rushed back to get a right foot shoe for her to wear. Then we headed to church to work. It was a great day.

Here is the deal. None of us are perfect, but we see the flaws of others clearer than we see our own flaws.

On Tuesday I headed for church and work and left my cell phone at home. That may sound small and simple, but here is the point. It was aggravating and hindered my work. I use the IPhone throughout the day because of all the info and data it contains.

Kindness and mercy is a good gift to give. It helps to laugh at life's little flub ups. They are inevitable for all of us. I am really glad my aggravation didn't show or even worse that I didn't say something really smart to Wanda about her tennis shoe flub up. It helps in life if we build up our grace account with others so that when we need some grace our account isn't overdrawn.

Real love doesn't get upset over two left shoes.

OOPS! MISSED OPPORTUNITIES....

Well it is football season in full swing. Alabama is #1, but the Jags are losing again already. They had victory snatched by the jaws of defeat. With 20 seconds left in regulation, they went up by 3 points with a miraculous pass for a touchdown only to let the opposing team (The Vikings) tie it and then win it in overtime.

Rats!

What a bummer!

I danced a premature jig when they went up by 3 and then slumped in sadness when they lost in overtime.

It was a missed opportunity.

Everbank, one of their sponsors, has a commercial they have planned far too many times about missed opportunities. It features a TV exec who laughs at a proposal for a channel for music. He laughs and says, "Why not a weather channel or food channel or sports channel?" Of course all of those channels are big time now. That was a missed opportunity by the exec.

Yes, the Jags missed one big opportunity, but there are far larger missed opportunities in life than losing a football game.

Like missing the chance to offer a good word.
Or forgiving someone.
Or doing a good deed.
Or praying for someone.
Or sharing the Gospel.

I wonder how many missed opportunities I have had. God help me to be more sensitive to His voice and the needs of others.

And God help the Jags. They really need it.

NOW IT IS OFFICIAL

I have only watched a few moments of the recent Deomcratic Convention. It is hard to stomach their support of abortion, gay rights, and socialism. Now they are on record of officially booing God. Yes, sadly it is so. They loudly booed the inclusion of God in their platform.

God is not a Republican or Democrat but the Democrats have gone to an all time low. They have applauded a whoremonger who introduced and nominated their candidate and they have booed God.

I wonder what God thinks of all this?

SEEK THE LORD

Wanda and I are spending most of this week in prayer seeking the Lord for His guidance, will, and blessing over our lives and family. I believe there are answers to prayer that are on the way. Waiting on God provides far greater results than waiting in any other place in life such as doctor's offices, banks, or certainly red lights. Yet, we wait endlessly in those settings.

I am praying Jabez's prayer over my life and family. God will answer. I know He will.
See I Chronicles 4: 9-10.

There is much to do but prayer is the beginning of success. Without it I surely will fail.

IT'S LABOR DAY

Work is a good habit. It is productive. It is ego boosting. It completes tasks. It is a promised part of life.

The Bible notes, no worky, no eaty!

Well, that is not exactly how it reads, but it does say that if one is not willing to work then they should not eat by handouts . How is that for eliminating the need for welfare. I know that there are times when people need a helping hand, but there is a huge difference from a hand out and a helping hand.

My first small tasks were making my bed, putting clothes in the clothes hamper, and washing cars. That progressed to cutting the yard, cleaning the church, and working as a deliveryman for a furniture company. I have worked on construction sites, washing dishes at the college cafeteria, serving as a librarian, working in the credit department at Sears, as a youth intern, youth pastor, school teacher, pastor, traveling evangelist, denominational leader, and probably some other jobs too.

I will admit I have worked for pay. The workman is worthy of his hire the Bible teaches. I have also worked to follow what I have felt God was calling me to do regardless of pay. I still have vision, desire, and burden to preach and lead a church. That is my calling.

Completed tasks make for a good feeling. Completed tasks make you feel productive and that you have personal value.

Wanda has a "to do" list on her IPad for me that automatically carries over into my IPad and IPhone. These are household items or her "Honey Do" list. There are several items on that list right now, but I have completed some of the tasks that she has for me. Of course there are many tasks that we share that are not on the list.

I created a "To Do" list on my IPad that goes to her's. It is titled "Wanda's To Do List". Want to know what is on it? Just one "To Do" item. It simply says: Keep a Smile on Milton's Face. Ha!

Work is what life is all about. That is the nature of life. There will always be work to do. It's Labor Day, so let's celebrate the day and the privilege and ability to work.

I've got a smile on my face. How about you?