Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Ruth 1 & 2; Psalms 51 & 63 ; 2 Corinthians 5 and Chasing Daylight

Inflence is contagious: ER McManus
Have you ever looked at the middle of the word influence? What do you see? It's hidden right there. F-L-U. That's right the flu. People who are inluential pass on what they have like the flu.If you don't want what they've got, stay away from them, because they'll sneeze all over you. You may not even see it happen. Those aggressive, invisible germs passing from one person to another- there's no escaping them.
Influence is contagious, and i f you want to know how influence works, just follow the trail of influenza. It is airborne and passes most quickly through human contact, but proximity still endangers your contamination. And like the common cold, some things have no vaccines and no cures. You can't see them pass from one person to another, but you know when they have you. And we are all carriers - not of a dangerous virus, I hope but carriers of character. And through our character, we pass on attitudes, values and other life- shaping virtues. All of us pass a bit of ourselves on to others. You better like who you are and make what you give to others from yourself a gift and not a curse.


Ruth 1: 16 But Ruth said, "Don't force me to leave you; don't make me go home. Where you go, I go; and where you live, I'll live. Your people are my people, your God is my god; 17where you die, I'll die, and that's where I'll be buried, so help me GOD-not even death itself is going to come between us!"

Naomi must have 'infected' her DIL's or at least Ruth w/something, with a love of her God. For her to give up her own family and whatever they worshipped and adopt Naomi's. Even though at this point she is bitter at having lost her husband and son's......

2 Corinthians 5: 5 The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what's ahead. He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we'll never settle for less. (infects us)
5: 7It's what we trust in but don't yet see that keeps us going.
5: 10 Sooner or later we'll all have to face God, regardless of our conditions. We will appear before Christ and take what's coming to us as a result of our actions, either good or bad.
11 That keeps us vigilant, you can be sure. It's no light thing to know that we'll all one day stand
in that place of Judgment. That's why we work urgently with everyone we meet to get them ready to face God. God alone knows how well we do this, but I hope you realize how much and deeply we care. 12 We're not saying this to make ourselves look good to you. We just thought it would make you feel good, proud even, that we're on your side and not just nice to your face as so many people are. 13 If I acted crazy, I did it for God; if I acted overly serious, I did it for you. 14 Christ's love has moved me to such extremes. His love has the first and last word in everything we do.
Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: One man died for everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat.
5: 19 God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. 20We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you.
21How? you say. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.

Wow I read Chasing Daylight yesterday and started thinking how quickly I can and have spread cancer....a poison ...a negative attitude. ....And then today I read all this....I don't know how to tie it together...I see it....I want to be able to live it....I have lived my whole life scared and timid, so about me and protecting myself....we are called to live contagious?? I have to be done with asking 'what if' and live in vulnerability, trusting what I don't see......
God is LOVE.....He loved us enough to send His son.....Jesus died for us....that is LOVE.....I hope I am contagious........

2 comments:

jel said...

bjk, thank you, Ilove this post,
esp. the last part, that is me to a tee!


have a great day!

Bruce said...

Thank you Becky. I really needed to read this. McManus is always a good read, but then so are you.

B~