Matthew 7:12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Mark 12:30-31 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.
Luke 10:27 So he answered and said, “‘And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.'”
This verse states clearly the same thing. The message is clear. Treat others as you wish to be treated. Be kind even if someone is sharp and impatient, and try to maintain to pleasant and loving countenance.
I love seeing my friends or others be kind despite the way others may be acting. I admire it. When my anger tips at someone’s rudeness, obvious impatience or reluctance at their job, or someone not wanting to deal with my issue, I find it difficult to maintain and not strike back. And although I strive to remain pleasant, patient and kind, I feel my displeasure with them boiling up. But I have several friends who seem to deal levelly with these similar issues. Their behavior is something I admire and aspire to, a goal I work toward.
I know that I am a more critical critic than God. He applauds the fact that I try to be better and do better each day of my walk with Him. I may still see a huge flaw or lack in my behavior or attitude, but God sees more of my advance, my progress than my lack. How fortunate! And I must admit, I do consistently and persistently try harder each time I receive His ‘good job,’ or ‘you could have handled that better.’ Treating others the way I wish to be treated is doing what God wants each of us to do; to be the best of all He has created.
The fact that He sometimes scolds me when I behaved poorly or less than ideally indicates He loves me and wants me to act better. His admonishments are much like my parents. “Kath, that is definitely not the way to treat your sibling. You know….” And whatever it was I did not do properly was discussed. The expected level of behavior was always made clear. I knew the expectation and I strove to achieve it; because I did not want to be a disappointment.
And, it is the same with God’s mandates. I don’t want to be a disappointment. I will never achieve excellence. But I can achieve and master better than before. So I strive to treat others the same way I want to be treated each and every day. Keep the Holy Spirit correcting me.
I want to be better for and to others; I want me and “mybellaviews” to positively touch others.
Ephesians 6:10-13 (NKJV) Finally, brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of HIs might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we don’t wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rules of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Ephesians 6:13-17 (ESV) put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand firm Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and as shoes for you feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (boldness added by me)
Romans 13:12, 14 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. . . . But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts.
One of my favorite verses is Ephesians 6:10-19. I like the ‘whole armor’ scenario. And it reminds me that my protection is actually me KNOWING the word and promises of God. When I need to, I repeat these words I need, sometimes as a reminder that I am a soldier and fight against the enemy called Satan and his nasty minions. His weapons are many, MANY—hatred, doubting, fearfulness, anxiety, insecurity, a nasty spirit, anger, and worry and so many other things that he whispers in your mind as often as he can. He is the Deceiver, the Liar, the one who taunts, the one who tries to reach out and hurt you. And he frequently sends others to make you doubt, make you fear, worry, and not trust in the promises. That is why it is important to read your Bible, to equip yourself for war. The enemy is all around us, and he wants us to fail, to doubt, and to find no comfort in the Comforter.
And if you don’t know His words, His promises, His comfort, His ways, you can fall victim to the lies and deceits of the Evil One. So the armor of God is knowing His words, in your heart, your mind, and to always be prepared to throw out His words as though a spear to hit the enemy. Satan hates when you are armed with God’s words and his taunting lies are unable to penetrate you to cause doubt, hurt, and worry.
And I don’t know all the verses, but I have an arsenal of my favorites. I know the ones which have spoken to me, have touched me, and remind me of what I am to do each day, sometimes many, many times in one day. And that is to pray, to keep His words in my heart. Knowing them is what girds you with the armor to fight.
I am not saying doubt does not sometimes tickle my mind, causing me a few moments of disquiet. But I have learned that when I feel unease or anxiety, to seek God. Maybe He is warning me I am about to make a mistake, or not follow His path for me. So I ask, I seek His guidance.
If I don’t become reassured the unease I am feeling is because I am doing something wrong in His eyes, I ask if this is Satan. And then rebuke the deceiver with God’s words and quote a promise, while seeing myself girded like a Wonder Woman warrior, because I do dress as a warrior, carrying my sword, and looking about, staying on guard. I want to keep myself under God’s guard, being diligently ready for the enemy’s attacks. And Satan flees. . . for a time.
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I like my house to be clean from Satan’s deceptions. And without diligence, it does not stay that way. That’s why I share some of ‘mybellaviews’.
Psalm 141:3 Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips.
Proverbs 2:6 For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
Matthew 15:11 It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.
James 3:8 But no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
One of the biggest flaws I continue to fight on a daily basis, and frequently still lose the battle, is my mouth. I can sometimes hear my speech as coarser than I like. Often, I will say a curse word, or use His name in vain, as an exclamation either good or bad, but the thought is prefaced with His name. I hear it before the thought crossed my brain barrier and out my mouth, and I cringe. My desire is to always have kind speech and words coming out of my mouth. That does not always happen either; surely, it is more frequent than years ago, but still it is not constant. I want it to be constant as 2+2=2×2. That’s a constant, unchanging.
My other issue with my mouth is the overeating. And I love sweets. Oh my, I am adept at tuning out the Holy Spirit or really deaf, and unfeeling to little, soft nudges. . .because I respond to those cakes, cookies, or other bakery products, AND THEN AFTER the deed and sweet has been appreciated, I groan and realize I have mistreated His temple, my body again. I only get to use this vessel here, but am supposed to honor and treat it with all the respect and honor since it is a part of the representation of honoring my Savior and Lord. UGH! But when I want to obey the Tempter, it is MY immediate gratification I want filled. And then am left feeling empty, and yuck.
Daily, I pray for help and guidance for this; and resolve that I am going to be more adept at “hearing” the reminder I can do without that second helping, and I certainly don’t need that bakery product. One of the other mouth problems I still have is having too much wine. That is a bit easier for me to control, but it can still be that I have one or two many glasses at a neighbor’s house before going to mine. I don’t keep wine in the house unless I know someone is coming to dinner—I can be too easily tempted to ‘have one’ and then realize I have had half a bottle.
So many issues with the mouth are noted throughout the bible, and certainly in my life. I don’t want coarse language. How awful is that to praise and worship Him, and then use the same organ to say something crass, or gossipy, or crude about something? And overeating? I have an abundance! How much more control I would have if I had to depend on ‘daily bread’ instead of shopping for two families (I live alone!)and packing it into cupboards and fridges until needed. So, not just overeating, but then cramming myself with sugars/desserts and foods that are NOT needed and have NO nutritional benefit.
Lord, I apologize and confess my sinful mouth tends to rule over my desire for obedience and honoring You. You know it’s a several times a day struggle. . .yet, I can see improvement in the area of speech, but I want better in all aspects. Yes, yes, You are correct again, God, that is my impatience whining loudly. Yes. You know me so well. (Sigh)
Yes, all in Your timing. I just need to do my best and follow You and believe You will, with the Holy Spirit help me improve in all areas. Thank You for loving me, and reminding me improvements take time and will happen. . .and You are happy I want to improve in all mouthy areas of my life. It is a walk and a process. And You love me.
Thank You, Lord for knowing we walk a path with You, and we are not going to be perfect until You call us home. Thank You that Your love is not conditional as human love can sometimes be. You have so richly blessed me and ‘mybellaviews.’
Psalm 34:18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Matthew 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build
Loss can be so incredibly difficult. OUCH! I recently lost two very close friends and along with my tears there was anger. Why? In both cases I was increasingly frustrated regarding our current medical system. For an RN who loved what I was doing, I find there are huge problems with our care and testing and promptness in determining why someone is ill. Also, as a nurse, I know we didn’t win every battle to save each life. Patients died in the ICU environment I primarily worked in. As difficult as those were or cold be for the families and friends left behind, the worst seemed to be the sudden ones—a major stroke, a massive heart attack, something sudden, with little warning and no heroics able to save.
The losses which were the easiest to deal with were the one’s when a family had been able to witness how hard the nursing and medical personnel worked to save, but after a struggle and numerous complications, death still took that person.
So as I raged and cried my grief for the loss of these giants of strength, faith, and support in my life, God let me carry on for a while. Then quietly I was reminded He has numbered each of our days and He is in charge. COVID did not come as a surprise to God, nor did the massive stroke who took my other friend. Their days were numbered, predestined and although I lost two treasures, I was somehow comforted that He knew they were coming when they did. Yes, those of us lieft behind dealt with the shock, the loss, the grief—and the anger—but God’s shoulders are big enough and compassionate enough to hold us as we cry, scream and grieve. It’s okay. He holds us in the palm of His hand, and understands and empathizes with our hurt, loss, and anger. He gives us strength to deal with the pain and grief.
I still have questions about some of this loss. Both of these wonderful women had young grandchildren—one had an 8 year old granddaughter, and the other a 5 year old. Who will be the loving grandmother that these little girls had with these women. The older grandkids understand more, but they will lose so very much not having these fun and wacky women teaching them gardening, making fairy gardens, cooking, baking, making Easter eggs, buying something special for “mommy and daddy” for birthday, Christmas, or Mother’s Day or Father’s Day? Who is going to guide them? Who is going to be the magic, wonderful woman in their life?
I still don’t know. But God does. It still pulls and yanks at and hurts my heart. I do KNOW He’s got this, but who is going to guide these gorgeous young girls? They need these vibrant, fun, loving women to guide them—to create hidden worlds, magic, and pique that imagination. These women had it!! They had imagination, they had joy, they were creative, and they wanted to introduce these young grand-girls with their imagination and how to create new worlds, new vistas….
And my heart aches they are no longer here. But You are here. You are steady. . . and these two beautiful girls have something else You have prepared for them. Your workd promises, “I know the pans I have for you.” In Jeremiah. So regardless of my hurt, loss, and concern for these beautiful girls. . . .You have this. I know My heart hurts. I know You have promised that You have plans for each of us. . . You have plans for them, that means these beautiful young girls who have just lost their precious and fun grandmothers, and are hurting and wanting. . . You have a plan for them, and they will be okay.
Thank You. You always have a plan, no matter how have messed up. You are in control with the numbers of our days, and so forth. Keep these precious babies hugged closely so they can healthily recover from the loss they have endured.
Thank You, Lord. You have a plan for each of us. . . and Thank You our plan is not matching my timeline. Thanks for all You have done for me and ‘mybellaviews.’ Protect these beautiful girls always… I know You have special plans for them. Heal them and remind them who their special grannies were. They were awesomely fun ladies in my life. Thank You for them.
Ecclesiastes 3:13 . . .and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Ephesians 2:5 . . .even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), (GRACE, WHAT AN AWESOME GIFT THAT IS! My thought and highlight)
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
I am blessed to live in eastern NC, and have family and friends who will be concerned every time they hear there’s a possibility of a hurricane heading this way. I have lived here for very close to 22 years, and in all honesty, have only experienced one severe hurricane in 2018. I feel abundantly blessed God placed me in this area.
We were stationed in Germany—and again I was very blessed with each location. It is an awesome, pretty, majestic, and historic country. Of course not perfect, no place is perfect, like no person or animal is perfect. All have quirks, flaws, and things that annoy others. But I can certainly claim far more good than bad to every place I have been blessed to be planted for a few years.
Anyway, in the late 1990’s, my husband’s mother was having frequent bouts of pneumonia, cardiac issues and so forth, and I felt we were too far away to get to her quickly. I thought perhaps we should look for an assignment closer to her. It took awhile, but my husband was offered a position not with the Army, which he had been with for 27 years, but with the Marine Corps. Welcome to Cherry Point.
I had a cousin who was retiring from the Marine Corps also living in the area. Another blessing as we were able to borrow sheets, silverware, dishes and pots and pans. We purchased a beautiful home, and arriving in January were very pleasantly surprised to have moderate temperatures—certainly compared to Massachusetts and we were just leaving Garmisch, Germany, where there was over six feet of snow, and the snow had been coming down slowly, but daily for six weeks.
For the past several decades, I have been able to claim that each day is good, not always the best—certainly there are stressors, worries occasionally, but as I have grown closer to God, those happen less and less often. Easily, I spot the good things—my plants need rain and watering, rain smothers out some of the pollen that plaques so many of my relatives and friends; there are plentiful birds showing up to my feeder and that is a source of entertainment for me; my health and eyesight are good; I am blessed with family nearby as well as many friends; I am involved with a great church and enjoy the various bible studies I attend, and so much more.
And then of course, there is the ocean out my front window, while I get to enjoy the sights of the sound while looking at birds, working in the kitchen and doing dishes. Each day to me is present and poignant, and there are so many reasons for me to be thankful. I get a gift of the present daily, if not several times a day.
Do you look for gifts in your day? Blessedly, mine feel easy to spot. I pray you find good things in each day. He gives abundant presents; open your eyes to see, your ears to hear, your hearts to receive.
Thank You, Lord for the many gifts your Presence have given me in my everyday present. You have blessed me and ‘mybellaviews.’
Hi, I'm Kathy. Welcome to my website!