Are You Eyesome or an Eyesore?

March 17, 2015March 17, 2015 / insightbyseymour / Leave a comment

Eyesome is a word that I had never seen or heard of until yesterday, and it means, “Pleasant to look at.” When I discovered its meaning, I thought of the words of Peter when he spoke of the “incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God (I Peter 3:4).”

I see fewer eyesome people who are noted for their “incorruptible beauty” and “gentle and quiet spirits.” Instead, there seems to be a proliferation of people who proudly exhibit a spirit that is reckless and impetuous. This sort of person is less eyesome and more of an eyesore with a spirit that is rude, crude and arrogant.

What can you learn when you focus your eye on some of the Scripture below?

In Ephesian 4:1-3, Paul said I “urge you to live in a way that is worthy of the calling to which you have been called, demonstrating all expressions of humility, gentleness, and patience, accepting one another in love. Do your best to maintain the unity of the Spirit by means of the bond of peace.
In his advice to young Timothy, Paul instructed him to “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness (I Timothy 6:11).”
Paul emphasized the importance of gentleness when he wrote to the church at Philippi: “Let your gentleness be known to all men (Philippians 4:5).”

To be perceived as more eyesome and less of an eyesore, I encourage you to give some thought to Psalm 90:17: “Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands for us.”

The “beauty of the Lord” does not speak of any physical feature, but it does mean that God can make you an eyesome creature. When His beauty is upon you, He will begin to develop the “incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious” in His sight.

Blending In and Standing Out

March 13, 2015 / insightbyseymour / Leave a comment

A recent article in Nature Communication reported on the unique ability of chameleons to adapt to their surroundings by changing their colors. The article stated: “Many chameleons, and panther chameleons in particular, have the remarkable ability to exhibit complex and rapid color changes during social interactions such as male contests or courtship.”

While most people are familiar with chameleons, researchers have discovered something new about this colorful lizard. The ability of chameleons to change color is more than just manipulating their pigmentation. They change color by actively tuning the positions of light-reflecting guanine nanocrystal cells that are embedded in their skin.

When I read this article, I thought: “This is exactly what Paul did throughout his ministry.” Chameleons change color to adapt to their surrounding and to benefit them in their social interactions, but this change doesn’t alter their basic constitution—they remain lizards.

Paul adapted his methods, but he never changed his message. He emphasized different distinctives of the Gospel, so he could proclaim certain principles to specific segments of society.

Notice how The Message describes the chameleon ministry of Paul:

“Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it (I Corinthian 9:19-23)!”

By laying aside all pretense and pride, Paul was able to reach people for Christ. Read it again: “I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life.”

Paul laid his life on the line, so people could align their life with God:

“You know that from day one of my arrival in Asia I was with you totally—laying my life on the line, serving the Master no matter what, putting up with no end of scheming by Jews who wanted to do me in. I didn’t skimp or trim in any way. Every truth and encouragement that could have made a difference to you, you got. I taught you out in public and I taught you in your homes, urging Jews and Greeks alike to a radical life-change before God and an equally radical trust in our Master Jesus (Acts 20).” ~The Message

Are you willing to blend in, so you can stand out for the sake of the Gospel? Will you “discard the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light (Romans 13:12)?”

A Joyful Heart

March 11, 2015 / insightbyseymour / Leave a comment

My concept of God might be different than yours. I believe God is loving, caring, and full of joy. God gave us our sight so we can have the pleasure of seeing rainbows, butterflies, and majestic mountain ranges.

I thank God that He blessed me with the sense of smell, so I can enjoy the aroma of a freshly baked cake; and I am overjoyed that He created me with taste buds, so I can savor the flavor of apple pie topped off with a big dip of vanilla ice cream.

On my journeys into the wilderness, I’ve enjoyed the solitude of silence that is only interrupted by the chirping of a bird, the whistle of a quail, or the refreshing sound of a flowing river.

I’m glad that God wants His people to experience the wonder of joy and the fruit of happiness. Solomon wrote of this in the Proverbs: “A joyful heart makes a face cheerful, but a sad heart produces a broken spirit . . . a cheerful heart has a continual feast (15:13, 15).”

A couple of chapters later, Solomon draws a contrast between the joyless and the joy-filled: “One with a twisted mind will not succeed, and one with deceitful speech will fall into ruin. A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones (17:20, 22).”

Since a joyful heart is good medicine, here’s a medicine chest full of quotes:

The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things. ~ Henry Ward Beecher
I think I began learning long ago that those who are happiest are those who do the most for others. ~ Booker T. Washington
If we try hard to bring happiness to others, we cannot stop it from coming to us also. To get joy, we must give it, and to keep joy, we must scatter it. ~John Templeton
You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; this is why God, Your God has anointed you with the oil of joy. ~Hebrews 1:9
I have spoken these things to you so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. This is My command: Love one another as I have loved you. ~John 15:11-12

The key to living a life of joy is found in the words of the Psalmist: “You reveal the path of life to me; in Your presence is abundant joy; in Your right hand are eternal pleasures.” ~Psalm 16:11

Three questions come to mind when I think of the verse above:

Since God reveals the path of life to you, why take a detour?
If abundant joy is found in His presence, what do you have when you refuse it?
If eternal pleasures are in God’s right hand, what is left? Temporary and unfulfilling worthless worries?

I’ll close with the words of Paul: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” ~Philippians 4:4

It’s The Time of Your Life

March 5, 2015 / insightbyseymour / Leave a comment

Being on time and staying on schedule could be a difficult task for me, but it isn’t. Google Calendar is an application I use every day to help me manage my life.

Each morning when I start my day, I have an email from Google waiting on me. When I open it, I find my schedule for that day. I don’t have to wander through the day wondering what I am supposed to do. Thanks to Google, I already know.

The person who waits for the right time to do something fails to realize that time is a precious commodity that quickly rots when wasted and spoils the opportunity of the moment. It doesn’t make any difference if you think you are living in the best of times or the worst of times, this is the only time you have—it is the time of your life.

You have 60 minutes in every hour; 1,440 of them every day; 10,080 of them every week; and a whole bunch of them in a year. If you will manage the minutes of your life, the hours will take care of themselves.

The time of your life is so important, the psalmist said: “Teach us to number each of our days, so that we may grow in wisdom (90:12).” The idea is not that you assign a number to each day of your life. The concept is that you get the most out of each day, so you are living it for the glory of God.

Carl Sandburg captured the essence of this discussion when he said: “Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.”

It is the time of your life, so spend it wisely.

Are Your Defined and Confined by Fear?

March 3, 2015 / insightbyseymour / Leave a comment

Do you easily connect with the principles of the New Testament, but neglect the precepts of the Old Testament? If you do, you are like many other people who read the Bible.

When you are a stranger to the Old Testament, there’s the danger of missing key concepts. If you don’t read the writings of Moses, I’m afraid you’ll miss the “fear not” statements of God:

Genesis 15:1: “Fear not, Abram! I am your shield and the one who will reward you in great abundance.”
Genesis 26:24: “Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you.”
Exodus 14:13: “Do not fear! Stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord that he will provide for you today.”
Deuteronomy 3:22” “Do not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God will personally fight for you.”
Deuteronomy 31:8: “The Lord is indeed going before you—he will be with you; he will not fail you or abandon you. Do not be afraid or discouraged!”

Are you defined and confined by the fear of what “might” happen? If so, you’ve forgotten that you’re designed to be inclined to God’s promises. Peter challenged a congregation of persecuted people, “Cast the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, [once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully (I Peter 5:7 ~Amplified Bible).”

The next time you find yourself in a pickle because your faith has turned fickle, reflect on this potent proverb from Solomon:

“Dear friend, guard Clear Thinking and Common Sense with your life; don’t for a minute lose sight of them. They’ll keep your soul alive and well, they’ll keep you fit and attractive. You’ll travel safely, you’ll neither tire nor trip. You’ll take afternoon naps without a worry, you’ll enjoy a good night’s sleep. No need to panic over alarms or surprises, or predictions that doomsday’s just around the corner, because God will be right there with you; He’ll keep you safe and sound. (Proverbs 3:21-26 ~The Message).”

Is That Kitty A Cat?

February 25, 2015 / insightbyseymour / Leave a comment

When discussing the pros and cons of some item or subject matter, you want to make sure you are not comparing apples to oranges. I was reminded of this last week when working a crossword puzzle. The clue was “kitty.” The answer required a three letter word, so I wrote “cat.” After working other parts of the puzzle, I came to the conclusion that “cat” was wrong and the correct answer was “pot.”

The synapse in my brain had created a visual image of an animal, but the clue was correlated with gambling: When you place a bet, you add to the “kitty” or the “pot.”

I asked myself: “If the clue had been “pot,” what would I have answered? I doubt I would have associated it with gambling. Some people may have thought of marijuana or weed, but since I like to eat, I would have thought of pots and pans for cooking.

When I think of “pot,” I also think of Jesus. He stirred the theological pot with each one of His “I Am” statements. Whenever Jesus said “I AM” He was making a Messianic claim, and this angered the Pharisees:

“I am the bread of life” (6:35, 41, 48-51)
“I am the light of the world” (8:12, 9:5)
“I am the door of the sheep” (10:7, 9)
“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep” (10:11,14)
“I am the resurrection and the life” (11:25)
“I am the way, the truth, and the life” (14:6)
“I am the true vine” (15:1,5)

Jesus also brought the pot to a boil when He overruled the powers of nature and performed the following miracles:

Jesus changed water into wine at a wedding feast (2:1-12).
Jesus healed the son of a royal official (4:43-54).
Jesus healed a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years (5:1-15).
Jesus multiplied seven loaves and fishes to feed the 5,000 people (John 6:1-5).
Jesus walked on water and calmed the waves to rescue his disciples (6:16-24).
Jesus healed a man born blind, giving him sight (9:1-12).
Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead (11:1-44).

There are people today who will say Jesus was a good man and a religious teacher, but they deny that He is the Son of God and Savior of the world. There’s a problem with this line of thinking. A good man and a religious teacher with high morals would not make false claims about the essence of his being.

This leaves three options. Either Jesus was a liar, a lunatic, or He is the Lord. If I had to throw my chips into the “kitty” or the “pot,” I’d go all in on Jesus: He’s my Lord and Savior!

Delightful and Frightful Goodness

February 16, 2015 / insightbyseymour / Leave a comment

You may want to take a look in your rear view mirror to assess the bottom line aspect of Valentine’s Day. When I wrote Friday’s blog, I didn’t have the heart to do a lead story on the lead contamination of chocolate. An examination of this delightful treat may have frightful consequences.

A California based watchdog group has released a study concerning your chocolate yearning. An independent lab examined 42 products, and it found lead and/or cadmium in 26 that were above the levels considered safe by California standards.

The findings of the report have been disputed by several people:

Jeff Beckman, director of corporate communications for Hershey, has said: “People have been eating cocoa and chocolate for centuries with no evidence of a single incident of concern regarding these naturally occurring minerals.”
Susan Smith of the National Confectioners Association offered this rebut to the study: “Heavy metals such as lead and cadmium are naturally-occurring elements found in the Earth’s crust. Since these elements are present naturally in the soil and water where plants are grown, there are unavoidable traces occurring in virtually all foods, including fish, meats, grains, fruits and vegetables. Like these other foods, cocoa beans, one of the main ingredients in chocolate, may also contain small amounts of heavy metals depending on the natural conditions in which it is grown.”

Diets have been debated since the creation of Adam and Eve. If you remember, there was quite a discussion over what could or could not be eaten in the Garden of Eden.

There was also a controversy in Corinth concerning what was permissible to eat, and Paul said:

“I’m not going to walk around on eggshells worrying about what small-minded people might say; I’m going to stride free and easy, knowing what our large-minded Master has already said. If I eat what is served to me, grateful to God for what is on the table, how can I worry about what someone will say? I thanked God for it and he blessed it!

So eat your meals heartily, not worrying about what others say about you—you’re eating to God’s glory, after all, not to please them. As a matter of fact, do everything that way, heartily and freely to God’s glory. At the same time, don’t be callous in your exercise of freedom, thoughtlessly stepping on the toes of those who aren’t as free as you are. I try my best to be considerate of everyone’s feelings in all these matters; I hope you will be, too.” ~The Message, I Corinthians 10

There is no need for a state of gloom when you consume that piece of dark chocolate because most research speaks of its benefits. A 100 gram bar of dark chocolate with 70-85% cocoa contains:

11 grams of fiber.
67% of the RDA for Iron.
58% of the RDA for Magnesium.
89% of the RDA for Copper.
98% of the RDA for Manganese.

My conclusion? “Please pass me another Ghirardelli.”

Disciplined Discernment

February 10, 2015 / insightbyseymour / Leave a comment

After I read Psalm one, I am always struck by the contrasts it offers as it looks at the differences between two men, two ways, and their two destinies. The first verse serves as the thematic sentence for the rest of the Psalm:

“How blessed is the one who does not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand in the pathway with sinners, or sit in the assembly of scoffers (NET Version)!”

The message of this verse is that the input you receive and believe will determine your output. Being aware of this, the “blessed” will not:

Receive and believe the “advice of the wicked.”
Follow the “pathway of sinners.”
Set in the “assembly of scoffers.”

To accomplish the three points above, you must learn to discern, so you’ll know what to spurn. The apostle Paul refers to a discerning walk as walking in a worthy manner (Ephesians 4:1). To reach this goal, Paul gave some instructions to the Ephesians:

Don’t walk like the Gentiles who walked in the futility of their mind (Ephesians 4:17).
Make sure you “walk in love, just as Christ also loved you (Ephesians 5:2).”
“Walk as children of Light (Ephesians 5:8):
Don’t walk as “unwise men but as wise (Ephesians 5:15).”

The key component of the discerning life is found in the second verse of Psalm 1 and Jeremiah 15:16:

Ps. 1:2: “He finds pleasure in obeying the Lord’s commands; he meditates on his commands day and night.”
Jer. 15:16: “Your words were found and I ate them, and Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart” (Jeremiah 15:16)

Once you begin to practice a life of spiritual discernment, you will gain a greater understanding of verses like Psalm 16:11: “You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever.”

The pleasures and treasures of the Lord are promised to the blessed man of Psalm One, and through a life of disciplined discernment, they can be yours as well.

Havoc Among the Holsteins

February 6, 2015February 9, 2015 / insightbyseymour / Leave a comment

Did you hear a strange noise the last time you drove the dusty back roads that line the dairy farms in rural America? Instead of hearing the characteristic “moo” from the herd, you may have heard ole’ Bossy and her cohorts mournful “boo.”

A new product from Coca-Cola, Fairlife, will soon find its place on the shelves of grocery stores. It’s described as “science milk” that has 50% more protein, 30% less sugar, and lactose-free. I imagine that Holsteins hate these whole steins of engineered lab milk, and many dairy herds are be-mooing its existence.

The fact that Coke sells its product for twice the price that the dairy farmer has been getting for his milk is enough to make any udder shudder in disgust. These Holsteins must be thinking that Coke has little concern about a fair life for them.

There’s a good chance that some situation has caused you to question the fairness of your life. Even David struggled when he tried to solve life’s riddles. In Psalm 73 he said:

But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end . . . I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory . . . it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge that I may tell of all your works.

The next time you feel like you are caught-up in a stampede and life isn’t fair, remember these words from Peter: “Humble yourselves under God’s strong hand, and in his own good time he will lift you up. You can throw the whole weight of your anxieties upon him, for you are his personal concern (I Peter 5:7).”

Ogres of The Mind

February 3, 2015February 3, 2015 / insightbyseymour / Leave a comment

Some people fail to distinguish the difference between their wants and needs. The difference between the two can determine whether you live a hapless life or a happy life.

What are your real needs? A person needs food to eat, water to drink, and air to breathe—these are the bare necessities of life. You could also list shelter from the elements, clothes to wear and such items as being needs; however, when you start to classify your wants as needs, you run the danger of compromising your health and your wealth.

This can happen when your brain morphs into a nasty ogre and starts to play mind games with you. Your brain may lie to you and try to convince you that you need some “thing” to make you happy. It may create a craving for some substance that is harmful to your health or it may tell you that you have little self-worth.

You may not recognize this Ogre, so let me describe him for you:

Overthinking problems that are out of your control
Getting stuck or panicked by unfounded fear
Repeating past patterns of behavior that are unhealthy
Emotional reactivity

The more you allow the Ogre to run wild, the greater the likelihood that unhealthy habits will develop. Through the process of repetition, habits become engrained in the neural pathways of the mind. This is true whether the habit is beneficial or destructive.

T0 tame the Ogre you need to reclaim your thoughts. Either you control your thoughts or they control you. Paul said you are to “take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5).”

This Ogre carefully cloaks himself in the secrecy your thoughts. To be more specific, it is what I call your “self-talk.” It is those little mental messages that flash rapidly through your mind, so lightening quick, you are almost unaware of their presence.

Here are a couple of tips on how you can tame the Ogre and take your thoughts captive:

Respond to the presence of these thoughts. When you become aware of the “self-talk,” write it down. Journal your thoughts.
Re-evaluate what you have written down. Validate the messages that attack your self-worth. Beware of catastrophic thinking that is seen in words like “always” and “never.”
Refocus your attention toward healthy thought and behavior. Purge the urge! You cannot think positive and negative thoughts at the same time. If necessary change your location or environment to one that is more wholesome and beneficial.

I have found that reading or quoting Scripture is a great way to overcome the Ogre, and to regain control of my thoughts. A favorite passage of mine that speaks of the power of Scripture is Psalm 119:9-11: “How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word. With all my heart I have sought You; Do not let me wander from Your commandments. Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You.”

I’ll leave you with this thought: When you emphasize the positive (Scripture) you paralyze the negative (Ogre).

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