Beverly Joy Roberts

   I get coupons in the mail and at the store all the time.  These coupons are for food items or things as large as furniture.  Whenever I get a coupon, I look them over and make a decision to redeem them, save them for later or toss them in the garbage. It doesn’t matter to me that the coupon has value.      If I don’t want that item, the coupon isn’t remotely enticing to me.      On the other hand, I hate it when I save a coupon, and then I forget about it buried in my purse somewhere and find out later that it’s expired.   I missed out on something of value that I wanted or needed.   There is a small verse, in a small book, in the New Testament that sorta reminds me of a  “spiritual coupon.”   In Titus 2:11, the ESV says this,    For the grace of God has appeared,  bringing salvation for all people.   If this verse came in the form of a  “spiritual coupon”  it might say something like this,    ·        Available for centuries.  ·        Expires at death or the Rapture. ·        When

I'm all about getting what I deserve.  Let me clarify that…if what I deserve is AWESOME!  But, if what I deserve isn't so wonderful, I'll take a hard pass on that. There’s something about that word deserve .  It can depict a reward worthy of something good...or bad.  When I think of deserving, my mind usually goes to the good, not the bad.   "Hey, wait a minute.  I deserve ice cream too." When I was a child...you know this isn't going anywhere good.  I may have rightfully deserved discipline on, let's say, many occasions.  There were five children in my family.  We rushed on the scene in less than 7 years.  I was number four in the birth order but held first place in naughtiness.    I could go on and on here listing all my childhood infractions, but they are probably nothing new to your own childhood misbehavior.   If, you also skipped school in the 1st grade and spent the afternoon alone at the park--multiple times.  Or at the age of nine, you took a blac

You know, sometimes there are people we don't really jive with.   Maybe they are a bit irritating, or they don't follow social boundaries.  Maybe they never learned the art of listening without sharing a one-upper.    And by this I mean, if you had a flat tire on the way to work, they had all their tires slashed once at the mall.  You know that person. You don't want to be unkind, but really, those people will never have a place in your inner circle.   Right?   You'll be kind.  You'll be polite, but they will never be the one you invite over to watch a Hallmark movie, go out for lunch, or go on a girl's weekend out. In 1 Timothy  2:1-2, from the NLT we are given a pass on having to include the people I mentioned above in our inner circle.  You know, the ones who are disagreeable, ornery, or can't seem to ever live up to our high standards.    Well, guess what?  You don't have to go out to dinner with them or spend the weekend doing puzzles in front of a

Not everyone wants to follow directions.   There have been times I have ignored directions or fought against them.   Maybe some of these will sound familiar to you as well.     ·        Tossing the written directions aside when putting a toy together on Christmas Eve ·        Ignoring the directions on a recipe ·        Discounting someone’s overbearing step-by-step directions, when you are the one cleaning up the mess.  "Do it like this.  Do it like that." ·       The over-complicated math directions, when you can get the answer way faster doing it on your own.  ·        **And what about when you are the driver and the directions are flying at you from the passenger seat and if you show any weakness the back seat will pipe in too.   ** Disclaimer:   When I'm in the passenger seat or back seat I have an excellent view of everything and my directions should be listened to.   When directions are given, something can rises up in the one receiving the directions and resist.