The Nile River Spent a little time watching “news” this week. It seems that many people in political leadership are given to what we used to call fibbing. I know most Americans find this hard to believe, as all politicians admit to some sort of faith in God and we just find it hard to believe that such up front believers in some form of Deity would fib. Perhaps the media makes all this up, for bad news sells. Could be, but then who among us would actually believe our media would tell a big one? The very idea is absurd! Or could it be that our entire society is on the brink of sinking into a large sinkhole of oblivion?
I came across a quote from the great American philosopher of another era, George Washington Carver, who wrote: “Ninety nine percent of failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.”
Excuses are couched in placing blame on circumstances, other people or the weather. I must add Mother- in- laws are also mentioned.
To be fair, people tend to follow parental examples, with the poor example being the most emulated. This is not to say that most parents are all bad, but the tendency of the offspring to love the poor and repress the good is obvious to even the least interested in such things.
Often the tendency to excuse making is liable to pop up without a modicum of poor example from a parent the procreator of the child, or I should say, a poor example from the Creator. There is no known procreator in all of history without a poor example. Some more, some less, but it not only stares us in the face, but leaps off the page.
The truth that humans are given to placing blame is carved in granite and set in letters of lead. The phrase “The Devil made me do it” is not original with the old time comic, Flip Wilson, but echo’s down the halls of time all the way back to the Pristine innocence of Eden.
When confronted with her failure to obey, to believe, to trust God, Eve, the mother of us all, blamed the devil. It’s amazing how this is still on the list of getting the blame. Actually the blame leapfrogged over the devil to God who made the devil, and if God had not created the devil, Eve, our mother, would not have failed. So, in the end it is at last God’s fault, therefore Eve should bear no consequences for her action.
Adam was a little more subtle in his blame placing, although he immediately put the blame with first breath on God and let it trickle down to Eve. You may be familiar with his phrase, “The woman that you gave to me…”
It is observable to all, many of whom profess no form of religion, that the fibbing gene has passed down to all generations. Even Abraham the father of the faithful, told a fib about Sara. The otherwise good men who have lied about or blamed their wife would fill the legions of Caesar. In over fifty years of trying to help men, the number complaint/blame remains, “Larry, if you, if people, only knew the cross I bear called wife.” One told me, “I suffer today from the mess my five wives made of me.” Adam’s gene is still intact!
I thank God for the magnificent wife He gave to me. However, her greatness has been unable to this point (50 years) to stamp out the awful trauma of knowing beyond a shadow doubt that Mom loved my younger sister, “Darling little Bertie,” more than me. Now there’s a bonafide reason if there ever was one. Oh, I could say more, but why?
Some find it strange, but the healing from the failures of life is as simple as ABC, though considering the state of modern education, ABC may be tough. Jesus told a story, true, of a man we call the Prodigal Son. The entire story is found in Luke 15:11-24, the gist of which tells us a young man received a great gift from his father and immediately set about wasting it and made a jerk (another designation actually fits better) of himself and ended up homeless eating hog slop. You really need to read Luke 15:11-24 and discover for yourself that the key to this man’s restoration with the father revolves around one verse and this one verse washes away all the future need for therapy, for rehab or whatever else may be the current cure-all. Here’s the verse:
Luke 15:21 “And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.”
The Prodigal first discovered this truth while eating slop in the hog pen, Luke 15:18 “I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,…”
When any person quits blaming, accepts personal responsibility and goes to the offended party/parties he/she is then delivered. Quit denying your blame and accept God’s forgiveness the same from others if they give it. If not, be satisfied with the greatness of Christ, enjoy the forgiveness from heaven and proceed with life.
God is good.
Copyright © 2014 Larry Lilly
Oral Deckard is doing wonders in the IT world. Contact him at:
http://development-resources.com/index.html
I came across a quote from the great American philosopher of another era, George Washington Carver, who wrote: “Ninety nine percent of failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.”
Excuses are couched in placing blame on circumstances, other people or the weather. I must add Mother- in- laws are also mentioned.
To be fair, people tend to follow parental examples, with the poor example being the most emulated. This is not to say that most parents are all bad, but the tendency of the offspring to love the poor and repress the good is obvious to even the least interested in such things.
Often the tendency to excuse making is liable to pop up without a modicum of poor example from a parent the procreator of the child, or I should say, a poor example from the Creator. There is no known procreator in all of history without a poor example. Some more, some less, but it not only stares us in the face, but leaps off the page.
The truth that humans are given to placing blame is carved in granite and set in letters of lead. The phrase “The Devil made me do it” is not original with the old time comic, Flip Wilson, but echo’s down the halls of time all the way back to the Pristine innocence of Eden.
When confronted with her failure to obey, to believe, to trust God, Eve, the mother of us all, blamed the devil. It’s amazing how this is still on the list of getting the blame. Actually the blame leapfrogged over the devil to God who made the devil, and if God had not created the devil, Eve, our mother, would not have failed. So, in the end it is at last God’s fault, therefore Eve should bear no consequences for her action.
Adam was a little more subtle in his blame placing, although he immediately put the blame with first breath on God and let it trickle down to Eve. You may be familiar with his phrase, “The woman that you gave to me…”
It is observable to all, many of whom profess no form of religion, that the fibbing gene has passed down to all generations. Even Abraham the father of the faithful, told a fib about Sara. The otherwise good men who have lied about or blamed their wife would fill the legions of Caesar. In over fifty years of trying to help men, the number complaint/blame remains, “Larry, if you, if people, only knew the cross I bear called wife.” One told me, “I suffer today from the mess my five wives made of me.” Adam’s gene is still intact!
I thank God for the magnificent wife He gave to me. However, her greatness has been unable to this point (50 years) to stamp out the awful trauma of knowing beyond a shadow doubt that Mom loved my younger sister, “Darling little Bertie,” more than me. Now there’s a bonafide reason if there ever was one. Oh, I could say more, but why?
Some find it strange, but the healing from the failures of life is as simple as ABC, though considering the state of modern education, ABC may be tough. Jesus told a story, true, of a man we call the Prodigal Son. The entire story is found in Luke 15:11-24, the gist of which tells us a young man received a great gift from his father and immediately set about wasting it and made a jerk (another designation actually fits better) of himself and ended up homeless eating hog slop. You really need to read Luke 15:11-24 and discover for yourself that the key to this man’s restoration with the father revolves around one verse and this one verse washes away all the future need for therapy, for rehab or whatever else may be the current cure-all. Here’s the verse:
Luke 15:21 “And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.”
The Prodigal first discovered this truth while eating slop in the hog pen, Luke 15:18 “I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,…”
When any person quits blaming, accepts personal responsibility and goes to the offended party/parties he/she is then delivered. Quit denying your blame and accept God’s forgiveness the same from others if they give it. If not, be satisfied with the greatness of Christ, enjoy the forgiveness from heaven and proceed with life.
God is good.
Copyright © 2014 Larry Lilly
Oral Deckard is doing wonders in the IT world. Contact him at:
http://development-resources.com/index.html
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