Who wouldn’t want an opportunity like Bilbo the Hobbit? The thrills of having a magic ring. Oh, the mischievous things that could be done! In addition, there would be the tantalizing comfort that comes with the ability to turn invisible, hiding from the prying… Continue Reading “Choosing to Drop the Mask”
Category: Daily ChoicesTags: Afraid, Appearances, Bad Habits, Breaking bad habits, camo, Camouflage, Cover up, Coverup, Dishonest, Don't judge me, Don't look at me, Exposed, Faith, Fake, fear, Fear of Man, Gyges, Hide, Hiding, Honest, Honesty, Hope, Invisibility Cloak, Invisible, judging, love, Mask, Masks, Pretend, Pretending, Pride, Ring of Invisibility, Seen, Self Righteous, Self Righteousness, Transparancy, Transparent, Vulnerability, Vulnerable
Wife: “You forgot to put the garbage can out this morning.” Husband: “I put it out last night.” Wife: “I’m pretty sure I just saw the garbage truck go by, and it did not stop at our house.” Husband: “I put it out! You… Continue Reading “Choosing to Be Right”
Category: Daily ChoicesTags: Ashamed, Being right, Believe, Faith, Fix me, Full of Shame, Gift of Righteousness, I am OK, I am right, I am wrong, I need Jesus, I want to be right, I want to be righteous, I'm Not OK, Make Me OK, Make Me Right, Right, Righteousness, Rightness, robe of righteousness, Self Righteous, Self Righteousness, shame, Shameful, There's something wrong with me, Unrighteousness, Validate me, Validated, Validation, You are right
Posted on September 11, 2023
by Jeff Herringshaw
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I was five years old when I had my tonsils removed. Medical concerns and procedures were different back then. They had me spend the night before surgery in the hospital. I remember my initial impression was that of getting to do a sleep over… Continue Reading “Choosing to TRUST in the Dark”
Category: Daily ChoicesTags: Blind, Confusion, Dark place, Disoriented, God is Good, God is Light, God's Light, Holding God's Hand, Hope, Hope in dark times, I can't see, Light, Light at the end of the tunnel, Light in the Darkness, Light of Christ, Making my own light, My own light, No fear, Rely on God, Self Reliance, Self Righteousness, Trust, Trust God, Trust Jesus, Trusting when it's dark, Voice of God, Voice of Jesus, Walking in darkness, When I am afraid, When there's no light
“I will kill as many of them as I can.” A man in his early 20’s from Prizren, Kosovo said this to me quietly through clenched teeth. Not knowing how to respond, I silently reflected on the story he had just told me. It… Continue Reading “Choosing to NOT “Fix It” Myself”
Category: Daily ChoicesTags: Atonement for sin, Black Holes, Blood of Christ, Christ's Atonement, Cleansing from Sin, Covering Sin, Dealing with Sin, Do it yourself, Fixing Myself, Forgive one another, forgiveness, God's Fix, Jesus Savior, Jesus the Messiah, Kosovo War, Letting Go, Redemption, Releasing others, Self Fix, Self justification, Self Righteousness, Serbia Paramilitary, Surrender, Surrender to God, The Cross
My father was a boy during World War 2. He often heard of atrocities that America’s enemies, the Japanese and the Germans, were committing. According to the stories, those foreigners were the villainous aggressors, and they were seeking to come to our country to… Continue Reading “Choosing to Love My Enemies”
Category: Daily ChoicesTags: Bitterness, Condemnation, Condemning others, forgive, forgiveness, Grace, Hate, Hatred, hostility, injustice, love, Love your enemy, Merciful, Mercy, Persecution, Prejudice, Righteous Anger, Self Righteousness, Sending others to hell, sin
Posted on November 20, 2022
by Jeff Herringshaw
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“I’m so disappointed,” the young man said to me. “I came here wanting to experience God’s love. But I have felt nothing new. This has been a waste of my time.” I was interviewing one of our discipleship students as the program was winding… Continue Reading “Choosing to Acknowledge My Need”
Category: Daily ChoicesTags: Blind Spots, forgive, forgiveness, God's love, Humility, I am needy, love, Love for God, My need, My sin, Need, Neediness, Release, Self Righteousness, sin, Sinner, Spiritual Blindness
“I will kill as many of them as I can.” A young man from Prizren, Kosovo said this to me quietly through clenched teeth. Not knowing how to respond, I replayed the story he had just told me. It was July of 1999, and… Continue Reading “Choosing to Avoid the Spiritual Black Hole”
Category: Daily ChoicesTags: Atonement, Bitterness, Black Holes, Blood, Condemnation, Cycles of Sin, Eternity, forgiveness, freedom, Gravity, Innocent Blood, Kosovo, Pride, Redemption, Resentment, Revenge, Self Righteousness, Self-Sacrifice, Serbia, sin, Stubbornness
Posted on February 28, 2022
by Jeff Herringshaw
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I was deliberately maligned. A ministry co-worker, years ago, told my supervisor that I had screamed at her when she had confronted me. When this was brought to my attention, I knew right away that she was covering for her own bad behavior in… Continue Reading “Choosing the Path of the Unoffended”
Category: Daily ChoicesTags: Anger, Angry, Betrayed, Bitter, Falsely Accused, forgive, forgiveness, Free, freedom, Grudge, Grudge Free, Hurt, Hurtful, Letting Go, Living Free, Maligned, Offended, Offense, Offense Free, Release, Releasing, Resentful, Resentment, Self Righteousness, Unfair, Unforgiveness, Unoffendable, Unoffended