THROUGH THE BIBLE IN THREE YEARS
The foreman of the construction crew had hired a new carpenter. That new carpenter kept throwing nails away! He'd take one out of his bag, look at it, then he might nail it in the wood. But then he'd take another out, look at it, then throw it away.
The foreman went and picked up some of the nails the new carpenter had thrown away. He couldn't see anything wrong with them at all.
He went to the new carpenter, and asked, "Hey, why did you throw these nails away?"
The new carpenter said, "Well, I can see you haven't done much work on houses. Watch me for awhile." He pulled a nail out, and nailed it in the wood. But the next nail he pulled out had the head facing toward the house, and he threw it away.
The foreman said, "Hmmm....I see the problem. It's not me that hasn't done much work on houses, it's you. Anyone can see that the nail you just threw away was supposed to go on the OTHER SIDE of the house!"
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________SCRIPTURE____________________________________________________________________
Lam 3:21
This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
KJV
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_______THOUGHT______________________________________________________________________
Most of us are slaves to our memories. We meet a situation, with which we have had some experience before, and we immediately begin to think about the BAD parts of that experience.
The memory, it seems, is filled with "gloom and despair." Buckets of that stuff pour down on what could be a genuinely joyful experience.
What we need is to fill our memory banks with WISDOM from God.
Then, we need to rely on the WISDOM from God rather than our memory.
God had brought Jeremiah to an experience where he was humbled greatly. But, now, Jeremiah says, "This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope."
Jeremiah remembered that when self is put in the hands of God, then goodness comes from it.
As Christians, we need to use this WISDOM from God. Instead of simply remembering the bad parts of an experience, recall how God brought us THROUGH it, and gave us joy on the other side.
Today, if you meet with an experience that brings bad memories,
LOOK ON THE OTHER SIDE!
Love ya,
Bruce