Daily Gratitude Year 5-Day 295: Today, I am grateful for the right word at the right time.And, the right artist. Please search out Hannah Dunnett. She is literally a word artist. She adds scripture or faith related truths into her designs. It might be busy for some people's tastes, but the pleasure in discovering new little elements with each look is pure delight for word lovers and lovers of The Word.
"Wisdom" is the name of this image. I can't stop looking at it. This is my scripture for the day.
"Everyone enjoys a fitting reply; it is wonderful to say the right thing at the right time!" -Proverbs 15:23
When the image and scripture come together like a gift, I have to smile. Our God is like that. Generous in all of his ways. He gives us His Word, so that we always have the right word at the right time available to us, if we open it up. Other times, wisdom is spoken through others who seem to know and understand.
We choose our attitudes and responses to tough spots and hard times. Those choices are profoundly impacted when we are familiar with The Word and his ways. I am grateful for those who pour out his wisdom into my days when I am too weary or too stubborn to see clearly on my own. The right word... at the right time is priceless counsel.
I love being in the scriptures and finding something new or seeing an old familiar passage with new eyes and an different heart. In recent years, I've been fascinated with the "fits like a puzzle piece" links between the Old and New Testaments. My friend and encourager, Diana Hovey, shared this scripture on an image yesterday:
Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows. -Isaiah 1:17
The Lord looked and was displeased to find there was no justice. He was amazed to see that no one intervened to help the oppressed. So he himself stepped in to save them with his strong arm, and his justice sustained him. 17 He put on righteousness as his body armor and placed the helmet of salvation on his head.He clothed himself with a robe of vengeance and wrapped himself in a cloak of divine passion .-Isaiah 59:15-17
Jesus many times referred to caring for and protecting orphans and widows. Caring for the sick, the hungry and the unprotected. When Jesus was rejected at the temple, he was given this scroll to read from Isaiah.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” -Luke 4:17-19
Their rejection didn't make it less true. He came to free us from our sins, our failures and hopeless circumstances. We are called to be his hand and his feet and clean our hearts.
"So clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor, and you will be clean all over. “What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things." -Luke 11:41-42
Do I ignore justice? I give of my resources to the work... but ignore justice?
Funny... this all comes together as I am trying to decide if I will take commit to "Dressember" for another year with my friend Sheila. And then a news piece breaks about an FBI raid on a child sex trafficking ring... with arrests in Illinois.
The right word at the right time. Dressember. http://www.dressember.org/
Dressember stands to stop the slavery of this generation. It helps fund the rescue and restoration of lives in jeopardy. It does not ignore, but supports those who need to navigate the justice system.
Ugh... Dressember here I come.
Today, I am grateful for the right word at the right time.
No comments:
Post a Comment