WISDOM IS

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Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.                        Proverbs 4: 7NKJV)

And again in Proverbs 13:16 we are told that Every prudent man acts out of knowledge, but a fool exposes his folly. Great description…but because we are emotional creatures our emotions are often in conflict with wisdom and we are not then prudent and we do play the fool.

Therefore, post these two questions in your mind’s eye and let’s see what we can come up with.   What exactly is wisdom, and what can we do to get more of it? 

This friend to our days the dictionary describes “wisdom” as accumulated knowledge, or common sense. 

The Bible is full of moments that lack wisdom.

Take those first two inhabitants of the Garden of Eden.  God had warned Adam and Eve not to eat the forbidden fruit, so it is obvious that when Adam succumbed to his wife’s suggestion to take a bite, it was not one of his most intellectual moments.

His common sense must have told him it was wrong, but he ate it anyway.  No wisdom there.

We all know the old phrase, Curiosity killed the cat.  In the case of Lot’s wife, it turned her into a pillar of salt.  No wisdom there.

Nor was Peter utilizing a great deal wisdom, and loyalty, when he denied Christ not once but three times over.

But fear makes us do a lot of things we otherwise would not do.  We know what is right yet sometimes we fear what people will say or do…and we go into self-protection mode.

Dumb comes easily to all of us. 

I’ve hit my finger with a hammer.  I’ve slammed a car door on my hand.  I’ve stuck my foot in my mouth by saying what afterwards I knew I should have had the good sense not to say.  No wisdom there, either.

We’ve all had stupid moments. 

The Bible uses a different, gentler word for it – Foolishness

The foolishness that leads us to sin when we know the sin is just going to get us in trouble.  This kind of stupidity is a moral issue and we break the rules quite often and then suffer the consequences.

It’s bad enough to practice a sin – occasionally, but to make a sin a habit… That’s the kind of foolishness that ignores God.  And it’s hard to be more stupid than that.

What was it Paul complained about over and over again?  “I’m stupid.”  Well, he didn’t actually use those words, but he keeps complaining about making the same mistakes again and again and again.

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

One thing is for sure.  We’re all just a hoot and a holler AWAY from performing some foolish, stupid trick that could ruin our lives.  Making some decisions in anger, or in haste, or simply because it’s a wrong thing we simply want to do.

Luckily for us, God gives us second..and third.. and..infinite chances to get it right.  And watches with joy when we slowly but surely learn from our mistakes.

Well, I have… sometimes.  When I crashed a hang glider at 54 I stopped flying hang gliders… not that I didn’t know before the crash that flying hang gliders could hardly be called a safe recreational pursuit, but I stopped because wisdom shouted more loudly in my ear that at my age I might not survive another crash.

I have diabetes and I have it under control.  But, if I put on too much weight or consume too much sugar, I’ll have problems.  So I practice common sense and I watch my diet: Very seldom do I eat sweets these days, and I don’t let myself put on unwanted pounds.  And things are fine. 

The list goes on and sometimes I am fairly intelligent in my decisions and sometimes I am still trying to learn from my mistakes. 

Does this sound familiar to you?  Are you in just about the same predicament?  It seems to me we all have pretty good reasons to stay heavy with prayer. 

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a handbook that tells us how to get more wisdom and act with less stupidity?  Well, the Lord provided us with just that.  The Book of Proverbs.

So if you are serious about wanting to be better, to live by wisdom not foolishness, read The Book of Proverbs.  Memorize large portions.  Repeat these wisdom words many, many times.

            “Let the wise hear and add to their learning.”  And, “Let the insightful acquire guidance.”  Both of these more straight thinking out of Proverbs (1^st chapter.) 

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”  (7^th verse)   

You won’t get any better instructions. 

            But therein lies the rub.  Though we know God is smarter than we are, we sometimes prefer to ignore Him because His commandments keep getting in the way of our present plans. 

We claim we want wisdom…and we do… just as long as it doesn’t conflict with any ingrained way of thinking, or doing, or being.

Be it Prophet or a King Solomon or Jesus, himself…we rewrite and edit and conveniently forget.

            Why do we do that?  Because we are like children playing marbles with diamonds.

            Actually, I am referring to a true story,,,where missionaries came upon children in an isolated village daily playing their game of marble with little round marbles that were actually diamonds.  But they had an excuse, they didn’t know their worth.

            So it is when we play the game of life surrounded by the diamond-ideas and diamond-teachings and diamond-power of Almighty God, and with a lack of wisdom, keep playing games with these diamond-thoughts as if there were not much worth there at all. 

            Treat their faith like a game.  And earning their spiritual dunce cap.  And missing so much peace and power they otherwise might have.

Not very much wisdom…is it?

            Two men were talking, and the first man asked, “Do you know the Commandments of the Lord?”

            And the second man answered, “Yes.”

            “And what do you do with them?”

            “I pick and chose.” he replied.  “I pick and chose.”

            Ephesians 5:15-17 aims at the problem.  "So be careful how you live, not as fools but as those who are wise.  Make the most of every opportunity for doing good in these evil days."

            Matthew 5:6 reads, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled”.

            Now there are wisdom pieces that can rearrange a way of life, “be careful, not careless, how you live.”  “Make the most of every opportunity…” hunger and thirst after righteousness.”

            Good advice.  Good call, but poor follow-through too often by too many of God’s children.

            M.D., PhD, DD…we see these titles after a name and we think wisdom…I see these titles and I think knowledge…there is a difference.

Knowledge is the beginning of wisdom, but it is no guarantee.  I have known some wise fools and so have you.

Tell me what a man’s knowledge has produced and I will tell whether I think he is wise or not.

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STARTED SUNDAY MARCH 5, 2011 Serialization of another book SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING 

This book, SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING, is about dealing positively with the challenges of getting older and fosters the belief  that “If we would have new knowledge, we must get a world of new questions.”  (Susanne K. Langer)

MANY OF THE SUGGESTIONS IN THIS BOOK ARE GOOD FOR IMPROVING ONE’S LIFE AT ANY AGE

“I am come that they (you) may have life and have it to the full.  (John 10:10)

Anyone who lives long enough gets older.  There are no other options.  How we handle the adventure is filled with options.

Keep both eyes on life, and not on the calendar.  Admit your age, but don’t admit to the fallacy that you have to act like it.  Saying, “I’m 39 and holding,” is more tragic than humorous because it argues that age has no attributes.

V. Neil Wyrick

Below a quote from it…

“Be like the farmer who, when asked what he was building, replied, “if I can rent it, it’s a rustic cottage.  If I can’t, it’s a cow shed.”

It’s called attitude and it can make us prematurely old or longer young.  For truly, things aren’t just what they are, but rather how we choose to see them.”

To access his other book’s; BOUNDARIES UNLIMITED, RUST ON MY SOUL, POOR RICHARD’S ALMANAC, I AM SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING, THE ABC’S OF PARENTING AND GRANDPARENTING, LETTERS TO AMERICA…go to Amazon.com (books) and type in Neil Wyrick.

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Below is a quote from Thursday Jan 20th Wyrick’s writings blog entitled ANGER VS. PATIENCE“After the old man had departed, God called out to Abraham and asked where the stranger was. Abraham replied, “I sent him on his way because he did not worship you.”
God answered “I have suffered him all his eighty years although he dishonors me. Could you not endure for just one night?”

God suffers us, endures us! And forgives us and loves us and sets such a perfect example for us.”

*************************************

BELOW IS A QUOTE FROM THE SERIES  “A HEAVENLY CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM” …quoted from Sunday Jan 2 2011
(1st in series) (on this Wyrick’s Writing blog)

It began Sunday Dec 26, 2010

“I have always been intrigued by a question God put to Adam, “Where are you?” Why did He ask that? What is the meaning behind this? It wasn’t a geographical question, for certainly God knew the answer to that one.

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To view an abundance of unusual stories and comments by Neil Wyrick go to Neil’s other blog ONE A DAY, YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS

Click on the following URL

http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

BELOW IS A QUOTE FROM A NEW SERIES “Depression…the Alien Within”  on this Wyrick’s Writings …each Thursday

”Sometimes the best thing do, if depression descends on you, is for a little while to try to wipe clean the slate of your worried mind.  To give such thoughts some muted silence.  Seek an emotional whiteout.  Just let the soft breeze of nothingness blow for a while.  And then, read John 14:27 and hear Jesus saying, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” 

“Do you enjoy visiting friends? More than likely you’re thinking, Preacher, of course, I do.
Now let me ask the other side of the coin - Do you enjoy visiting enemies? No?
Well, I know you must enjoy visiting at least one enemy because, like myself, you probably visit this one quite often. Unfortunately, we all …visit this enemy…whose name is anger.

Some visit anger seldom . Some on a regular basis. And during those visits, some spew and others stew.”

CLICK ON THE URL BELOW

http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

IT WILL TAKE YOU TO NEIL’S OTHER BLOG.

There are over 600 stories and commentaries on this blog that began Nov 24, 2009. It is added to daily.

***********************

TO WATCH NEIL WYRICK IN HIS ONE MAN DRAMAS (Presented to millions all around the world) (Ben Franiklin, Martin Luther, Charles Wesley and Abraham Lincoln (this Lincoln film takes 11 seconds to download but is worth the wait)

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING

http://www.speakerneil.com/

**************************

V. Neil Wyrick’s ninth book THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN and is available at

MAGNUS PRESS

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.COM’S Kindle

http://www.magnuspress.com/OurProducts2.html 

25% off all books, buy 4 get 1 free and free shipping

Winter Sale through March

Phone Orders:  800-463-7818

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RUST ON MY SOUL (55th in series)  APRIL 26 2011

If you would like to share this blog with a friend, go to the bottom and click on the TELL A FRIEND

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The Serialization of RUST ON MY SOUL is added to each TUESDAY Go back to April 13th and start the Series.
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RUST ON MY SOUL (A Novel) (Published by Bridge Press in 1985 & Distributed Internationally) (A new Series that began on Tues April 13th and will continue every Tuesday thereafter until finished) (Thursday & Sunday will continue to cover a variety of subjects as in the past)

INTRODUCTION (Repeated for those new to the series)

In an old loose leaf notebook, Thomas Kettering wrote when there was a cry from his heart. He wrote when his inner longing spilled over into the reality of his days. He did not write every day, only when he felt he must. How often he wrote or when is not important. The journey is what counts, for it is a diary about all of us, to all of us. “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” and even a stumble is a step.

 Late night

Lord, please, may I build a new house? Not on  

Prestige Lane , but on an avenue leading to the Halls of Heaven.

A new house whose north wall is love, whose south wall is faith, whose west wall is tolerance, and whose

east wall is humility.  I've lived with hate, doubt, intolerance and vanity long enough.

Afternoon

I have seldom seen Nancy speechless. This morning she was. It is my half-century birthday and I gave myself a one-year college scholarship. It wasn't for me. It was for a ministerial student in Mexico. On my birthday card I wrote, "On the grave of an unknown missionary are written the following words: 'When he came there was no light, when he died there was no darkness.' "

Evening

The color of fall is like a brass band playing. Red is a bugle and yellow is a trombone. All the trees in their late-flung brightness march gaily to the beat of the wind' grown newly cool. Even the sun has a chill to it.

I'm alive and I don't just refer to my half-century old body, now stabilized and functioning.

I'm alive to the wide world about me and beyond me.

There is an adolescence to my existence just now. I delight more easily. I'm too old to giggle and too long with life to believe this exuberance will stay so wild. But as an overture to a new way of life and thinking, I have now such vivid days. I run out of wind sooner than I like, but who needs aerobic conquest to put a smile on their senses?

 I once had to hold in my anger; now sometimes I must force myself to hold back some of my joy. People look at me as if I 'm on something, and I am: a new order of progression. God first, me second.

No bolt of lightning struck down from Heaven. No deep voice from within or bright shining figure from without brought me to this refurbishing of my soul. I stand where I now am with a resolve born of having walked without God and walked with God. There is a difference.

To be continued next Tuesday

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STARTED SUNDAY MARCH 5, 2011 Serialization of another book SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING 

This book, SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING, is about dealing positively with the challenges of getting older and fosters the belief  that “If we would have new knowledge, we must get a world of new questions.”  (Susanne K. Langer)

MANY OF THE SUGGESTIONS IN THIS BOOK ARE GOOD FOR IMPROVING ONE’S LIFE AT ANY AGE

“I am come that they (you) may have life and have it to the full.  (John 10:10)

Anyone who lives long enough gets older.  There are no other options.  How we handle the adventure is filled with options.

Keep both eyes on life, and not on the calendar.  Admit your age, but don’t admit to the fallacy that you have to act like it.  Saying, “I’m 39 and holding,” is more tragic than humorous because it argues that age has no attributes.

V. Neil Wyrick

Below a quote from it…

“Be like the farmer who, when asked what he was building, replied, “if I can rent it, it’s a rustic cottage.  If I can’t, it’s a cow shed.”

It’s called attitude and it can make us prematurely old or longer young.  For truly, things aren’t just what they are, but rather how we choose to see them.”

To access his other book’s; BOUNDARIES UNLIMITED, RUST ON MY SOUL, POOR RICHARD’S ALMANAC, I AM SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING, THE ABC’S OF PARENTING AND GRANDPARENTING, LETTERS TO AMERICA…go to Amazon.com (books) and type in Neil Wyrick.

************************

Below is a quote from Thursday Jan 20th Wyrick’s writings blog entitled ANGER VS. PATIENCE
“After the old man had departed, God called out to Abraham and asked where the stranger was. Abraham replied, “I sent him on his way because he did not worship you.”
God answered “I have suffered him all his eighty years although he dishonors me. Could you not endure for just one night?”

God suffers us, endures us! And forgives us and loves us and sets such a perfect example for us.”

*************************************

BELOW IS A QUOTE FROM THE SERIES  “A HEAVENLY CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM” …quoted from Sunday Jan 2 2011
(1st in series) (on this Wyrick’s Writing blog)

It began Sunday Dec 26, 2010

“I have always been intrigued by a question God put to Adam, “Where are you?” Why did He ask that? What is the meaning behind this? It wasn’t a geographical question, for certainly God knew the answer to that one.

*************************
To view an abundance of unusual stories and comments by Neil Wyrick go to Neil’s other blog ONE A DAY, YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS

Click on the following URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

BELOW IS A QUOTE FROM A NEW SERIES “Depression…the Alien Within”  on this Wyrick’s Writings …each Thursday

”Sometimes the best thing do, if depression descends on you, is for a little while to try to wipe clean the slate of your worried mind.  To give such thoughts some muted silence.  Seek an emotional whiteout.  Just let the soft breeze of nothingness blow for a while.  And then, read John 14:27 and hear Jesus saying, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” 

“Do you enjoy visiting friends? More than likely you’re thinking, Preacher, of course, I do.
Now let me ask the other side of the coin - Do you enjoy visiting enemies? No?
Well, I know you must enjoy visiting at least one enemy because, like myself, you probably visit this one quite often. Unfortunately, we all …visit this enemy…whose name is anger.

Some visit anger seldom . Some on a regular basis. And during those visits, some spew and others stew.”

CLICK ON THE URL BELOW

http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

IT WILL TAKE YOU TO NEIL’S OTHER BLOG.

There are over 600 stories and commentaries on this blog that began Nov 24, 2009. It is added to daily.

***********************

TO WATCH NEIL WYRICK IN HIS ONE MAN DRAMAS (Presented to millions all around the world) (Ben Franiklin, Martin Luther, Charles Wesley and Abraham Lincoln (this Lincoln film takes 11 seconds to download but is worth the wait)

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING

http://www.speakerneil.com/

**************************

V. Neil Wyrick’s ninth book THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN and is available at

MAGNUS PRESS

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.COM’S Kindle

http://www.magnuspress.com/OurProducts2.html 

25% off all books, buy 4 get 1 free and free shipping

Winter Sale through March

Phone Orders:  800-463-7818

SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING (continuation of Serialization of book)-- SELF PITY IS AN EMOTIONAL SEWAGE DUMP

If you would like to share this blog with a friend, go to the bottom and click on the TELL A FRIEND

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This book was published in 1996 and has been read by and still fills thousands of libraries.  I am now making it available for you my friends of this blog.  From time to time used copies are available on amazon.com

BELOW IS 60 PLUS PIECE FOR SUNDAY APRIL 17 (how much better is worse?) 2011 INPUTTING IT TO MY BLOG NOW

Martin B. Copenhaver tells a story about his aunt who one day declared she was tired, went to bed and never got up again. Many years later, her muscles shrunken and useless, she died in the same bed. He wrote, "Her world (had) shrunk until it could be covered by a blanket."

Dodo Cheney holds 297 national tennis championships. And at 82 years young she is still going strong. Though she has a bad knee she has a great attitude. Not that long ago she personally laid 500 bricks in the construction of a walkway to her garden.

Whether you are 61, 75 or 91, recovering from a cancer operation, a heart attack, a badly sprained ankle, or trying to survive the loss of a loved one, self pity can only make the bad worse.

When you find yourself behind life's eight ball, don't to hide behind it. Rather pick up a cue stick and get on with the game of life. Will such positive thinking and action guarantee never having to take up residence in a nursing home?

 No.

But it will up the odds because while others get tired of hearing nothing but complaints, so does one's own psyche.

Wrinkles on the face and arthritis in the bones are not that easily fixed. Wrinkles on the soul are another matter. Or as that old comedian George Burns used to say, "Retirement at 65 is ridiculous. When I was 65, I had pimples."

Sam Walton, founder of WalMart was another positive voice on the network of response. When he was dying of bone cancer he had a hospital bed brought into his office and in his final months, while taking chemotherapy, would continue to work.

I once heard the late Dr. Ralph Sockman, one of the great preachers I have listened to, tell a story about a young doctor who spent eighteen months wasting away, and yet never showing bitterness nor fear. Indeed, anyone who visited him with anxiety walked away with a strange kind of peace. Describing this man of faith, Dr. Sockman said, "He died as he had lived; with patience, love and submission in his heart. He died with the simple faith of a trusting child and the superb gallantry of a great soul."

One woman came up with a beautiful response to a virus that had her down and out. "God made the virus, and God made me. But he made me bigger than it is!" From that moment on she got better.

Give life your best by not embracing the art of indecision. By giving your heart to God and also to other human beings. By accepting defeat without letting it beat you down. By being happier because you choose to go out on a limb rather than perpetually hugging the trunk of a tree.

Should you cry? It definitely cools the heat of anger and warms the chill of sorrow. Weep at the drop of every emotional hat? No! But to never cry or be able to? A no to that, too.

Would you ease stress?

Train yourself to accept arthritic knees and the like. Just don't have arthritic dreams. Avoid anger. It is an acid that will harm you as much or more than the person you hurl it at. Elude boredom by becoming a person you enjoy keeping company with. Don't spend so much time looking over old year books you have no time to take new pictures.

Perhaps finding a balance between being too serious, morose, silly or square headed is the beginning of a decent answer to shoot down self pity.

Rose Kennedy was certainly another notch up on the ladder to a solution when she said. "Birds sing after a storm. Why shouldn't we?"

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK?  IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG?  IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

**********************************

To access his other book’s; BOUNDARIES UNLIMITED, RUST ON MY SOUL, POOR RICHARD’S ALMANAC, I AM SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING, THE ABC’S OF PARENTING AND GRANDPARENTING, LETTERS TO AMERICA…go to Amazon.com (books) and type in Neil Wyrick.

************************

A HEAVENLY CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM(1st in series) (on this WyrIck’s Writing blog)

It began Sunday Dec 26, 2010

“I have always been intrigued by a question God put to Adam, “Where are you?” Why did He ask that? What is the meaning behind this? It wasn’t a geographical question, for certainly God knew the answer to that one.

************************************

VISIT NEXT TUESDAY FOR A NEW ADDITION TO THE  “Rust on My Soul” SERIES (The Internationally distributed novel)

To view an abundance of unusual stories and comments by Neil Wyrick go to Neil’s other blog ONE A DAY, YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS

Click on the following URL

http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

**************************************

BELOW IS A QUOTE FROM the SERIES on this Wyrick’s Writings site entitled ANGER IS A KILLER. It began Thursday January 6, 2010.

“Do you enjoy visiting friends? More than likely you’re thinking, Preacher, of course, I do.

Now let me ask the other side of the coin - Do you enjoy visiting enemies? No?

Well, I know you must enjoy visiting at least one enemy because, like myself, you probably visit this one quite often. Unfortunately, we all …visit this enemy…whose name is anger.

Some visit anger seldom . Some on a regular basis. And during those visits, some spew and others stew.”

***************************

TO WATCH NEIL WYRICK IN HIS ONE MAN DRAMAS (Presented to millions all around the world) (Ben Franiklin, Martin Luther, Charles Wesley and Abraham Lincoln (this Lincoln film takes 11 seconds to download but is worth the wait)

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING

http://www.speakerneil.com/

***************************************

V. Neil Wyrick’s ninth book THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN and is available at

MAGNUS PRESS

To visit this to find out some truly unusual books CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING URL

http://www.magnuspress.com/OurProducts2.html 

25% off all books, buy 4 get 1 free and free shipping

Winter Sale through March

Phone Orders:  800-463-7818

WHO WINS IF YOU DO NOTHING BUT BATTLE LIFE? 2ND IN SERIES

If you would like to share this blog with a friend, go to the bottom and click on the TELL A FRIEND

                Have you ever wondered how any intelligent individual could behave in such a manner that actually drives away the very people he or she wants and needs?  How can anyone smart sometimes act so dumb? 

Well, actually it is surprisingly simple.  Psychologists tell us that intelligence isn’t everything we think it’s cracked up to be.  It actually influences only 20% of our decisions.  The rest of our actions fall heir to our emotional responses.  

Or, let’s put it this way; when we allow a gut-feeling to take over when a God-commandment would be better, we are only asking for trouble. 

The young man we saw on television a few years ago or read about in the news, sentenced to jail for 30 years for killing his grandparents, was angry. 

I don’t know how smart he is but his emotions were certainly off the scale.

 His lawyer argued that he was not to blame, his actions were affected by his medicine.

 But whichever side of the courtroom discussion you agree with, we all know that the commandment, Thou shalt not kill certainly wasn’t shouting at him. 

Certainly didn’t have his attention.  Intellectually he more than likely could understand the words, but emotionally they meant absolutely nothing.

Do you hold a grudge for days or weeks or years?

 Do you require that everyone in your family dislike everyone you dislike, and the list is long? 

Does everyone feel they have to walk on eggshells when they are in your presence?  Are you an individual who cannot manage your emotions, and part of the reason is because it is just you by yourself trying to manage them? 

I’m not suggesting that you should work at being dead in the water emotionally.  You want to be able to get excited and dance and sing, but you also don’t want to become permanently hyper and out of control.

                 Psychiatrists say that anger is the hardest emotion to master. 

Few of us need a doctor to tell us that.

 Several years ago, some people were advocating that we should let it all hang out.  It was called “Scream Therapy” - that if you didn’t scream on a regular basis you would perpetually steam.  In other words, gain control by losing control. 

The theory, thank goodness, didn’t last. 

Certainly there is a better way of doing it, infinitely better than having screaming sessions. 

It is called “reframing” or “reinterpreting” what has just happened in a more positive light.  I’ve been doing this for years, I just didn’t have a name for it.  It made sense to me that if someone gave me a hard time, it was because they had just finished having a hard time, or the night before, or were just having a bad day.

 I figured it was a waste of time and common sense to take aggressive words or actions personally.  

Yes, some people really are nasty and mean on a regular basis, and they do not like you, along with a host of other people they do not like. 

But they are in the minority and if you run across someone like that, pray that you don’t emulate them. 

And there is no doubt that some people are too smart for their own good.  They take arrogance to new heights, and figure because they have reached great heights of success, anyone below them deserves any rudeness they receive.

Unfortunately, none of us can always be nice anymore than I could always get a hit when I played baseball or score a touchdown every time I ran the ball. 

Nevertheless, if I simply stood tall, dumb and inactive it was a guarantee I would never find success.  So it is a given that in the world of niceness vs. nastiness, you won’t get any better if you allow yourself to be satisfied with worse.

  I can’t imagine there is anyone who wants to be described as someone difficult to get along with. 

No one should want that reputation. 

But then again, there are some people who are proud of being jerks. Or, as one man put it, “If I wasn’t a jackass I’d have no personality at all.”

Oh, being a jerk or a jackass, or both, seems to come easy for some.  2^nd Timothy doesn’t exactly use these terms, but he really spells it out. 

It reads, “…mark this:  there will be terrible times in the last days. 

People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”

Remember the poem in the beginning of these thoughts?

 Well, wherever you see yourself in Timothy’s descriptive phrasing…that is the sermon you are preaching to the world. 

By your daily actions does the sermonizer called you show the world that Christians are different?

   Or do your daily actions show that you are but one more Christian who talks a great game but spends the whole game seated on the bench?  People are neither deaf, dumb nor blind, and if what they see is that as a Christian, you really aren’t any different… ….well?...

One of the things I like about most Christians is that they are like Avis - they try harder. 

And the Apostle Paul tells us that this is exactly what we have to do. 

In his letter to the Ephesians he says, “You were taught, in regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on a new self…”

What we are talking about is a personality upgrade. 

A faith-lift might be another way of putting it.  Allowing the Lord, who knows and always has known your potential, to let you find it and do something about it. 

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DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK?  IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG?  IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE

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STARTED SUNDAY MARCH 5, 2011.  Serialization of another book SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING 

This book, SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING, is about dealing positively with the challenges of getting older and fosters the belief  that “If we would have new knowledge, we must get a world of new questions.”  (Susanne K. Langer)

MANY SUGGESTIONS IN THIS BOOK FOR IMPROVING THE ART OF LIVING ARE GOOD FOR ANY AGE.

“I am come that they (you) may have life and have it to the full.  (John 10:10)

Anyone who lives long enough gets older.  There are no other options.  How we handle the adventure is filled with options.

Keep both eyes on life, and not on the calendar.  Admit your age, but don’t admit to the fallacy that you have to act like it.  Saying, “I’m 39 and holding,” is more tragic than humorous because it argues that age has no attributes.

V. Neil Wyrick

Below a quote from it…

“Be like the farmer who, when asked what he was building, replied, “if I can rent it, it’s a rustic cottage.  If I can’t, it’s a cow shed.”

It’s called attitude and it can make us prematurely old or longer young.  For truly, things aren’t just what they are, but rather how we choose to see them.”

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To access his other book’s; BOUNDARIES UNLIMITED, RUST ON MY SOUL, POOR RICHARD’S ALMANAC, I AM SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING, THE ABC’S OF PARENTING AND GRANDPARENTING, LETTERS TO AMERICA…go to Amazon.com (books) and type in Neil Wyrick.

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A HEAVENLY CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM(1st in series) (on this WyrIck’s Writing blog)

It began Sunday Dec 26, 2010

“I have always been intrigued by a question God put to Adam, “Where are you?” Why did He ask that? What is the meaning behind this? It wasn’t a geographical question, for certainly God knew the answer to that one.

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VISIT NEXT TUESDAY FOR A NEW ADDITION TO THE  “Rust on My Soul” SERIES (The Internationally distributed novel)

To view an abundance of unusual stories and comments by Neil Wyrick go to Neil’s other blog ONE A DAY, YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS

Click on the following URL

http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

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BELOW IS A QUOTE FROM the SERIES on this Wyrick’s Writings site entitled ANGER IS A KILLER. It began Thursday January 6, 2010.

“Do you enjoy visiting friends? More than likely you’re thinking, Preacher, of course, I do.
Now let me ask the other side of the coin - Do you enjoy visiting enemies? No?

Well, I know you must enjoy visiting at least one enemy because, like myself, you probably visit this one quite often. Unfortunately, we all …visit this enemy…whose name is anger.
Some visit anger seldom . Some on a regular basis. And during those visits, some spew and others stew.”

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TO WATCH NEIL WYRICK IN HIS ONE MAN DRAMAS (Presented to millions all around the world) (Ben Franiklin, Martin Luther, Charles Wesley and Abraham Lincoln (this Lincoln film takes 11 seconds to download but is worth the wait)

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING

http://www.speakerneil.com/

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V. Neil Wyrick’s ninth book THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN and is available at

MAGNUS PRESS

To visit this to find out some truly unusual books CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING URL

http://www.magnuspress.com/OurProducts2.html 

25% off all books, buy 4 get 1 free and free shipping

Winter Sale through March

Phone Orders:  800-463-7818