Lelia
----- Original Message -----
From: "Donnie Parrett" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, October 07, 2007 11:44 PM
Subject: DAILY DEVOTION FOR MONDAY OCTOBER 8
> THE FATAL FLIPSIDE
>
> Nutmeg was a beautiful young horse with this white blaze on her nose and
> what looked like white
> boots on her feet. Her owners learned that her grandmother
> had actually been a prize-winning jumper. Apparently, Nutmeg had her
> grandmother's blood; she kept
> jumping every fence her owners used to try to restrain
> her. One day, trying to get out of another fence, she broke her leg. The
> veterinarian told the
> owners it was the worst break he had ever seen in a horse,
> and there was no way to save her. She was a horse with such great
> potential and a very sad ending.
>
> That horse's great strength was her instinct and ability to jump, but it
> also ended up killing her.
> Her strength, uncontrolled and untamed, became her fatal
> weakness. Not unlike a lot of us. So often, our greatest weakness is the
> flipside of our greatest
> strength. And untamed, uncontrolled, it will eventually
> bring us, and others, great injury and great pain.
>
> Think about Samson, for example. He was Israel's conqueror, conquering
> every Philistine in sight.
> But he ended up conquering every woman he was attracted
> to, as well, until one named Delilah conquered him and brought him to
> destruction. It's really
> important that we look with brutal honesty at the downside
> of our strengths and confront the weaknesses that go with them before they
> do any more damage.
>
> Hebrews 12:1-2, our word for today from the Word of God, says, "Let us
> throw off everything that
> hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us
> run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on
> Jesus..." Identify, this
> says, what trips you up and what slows you down, and
> "throw it off." And don't be surprised if it's the other side of a
> strength you have.
>
> You may be a strong, goal-oriented person with a lot of drive who, on the
> other hand, may drive
> right over people or cut corners with what's right to get
> to your goal. Maybe God has given you the ability to communicate well -
> you're a good talker, but
> sometimes those people can use that ability to deceive
> or to manipulate. Then there's the person who's very determined and hard
> to derail who may, on the
> other side, be stubborn and even disobedient when God's
> way differs from their way.
>
> You may be known to those around you as a gentle, loving, encouraging
> person, and that's good. But
> because you don't want to hurt anyone and you like being
> liked, you won't confront people, you won't confront situations that need
> confronting, thus, setting
> the stage for some terrible explosions. Then there's
> the person who prides himself on always being honest about how they feel,
> not realizing or not
> caring how much their "honesty" is hurting people - crushing
> people. You can be a logical person who boxes out God's miracles, a
> disciplined person who is also
> rigid and inflexible, or a spontaneous person who is
> lazy and undisciplined as well.
>
> Thank God for the strengths that He has given you. Turn to God to help you
> see, repent of, and
> conquer the fatal flipside of your strengths. Often, those
> weaknesses are the last ones for us to see and repent of. They're
> strongholds to the Lordship of
> Christ in our life. This Biblical prayer, prayed often
> and with an open heart, can save you so much grief: "Search me, O God, and
> know my heart; try me and
> know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any
> hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way" (Psalm 139:23-24,
> NASB).
>
> Contact me at:
> Donnie Parrett
> 1956 Asa Flat Road
> Annville, KY 40402
> Home # 606-364-3321
> Cell # 606-438-2557
> Church # 606-364-PRAY
> Skype Name: Donnie1261
> Email: [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
>
>
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