Funny Friday
strength
Point of No Return
Whatever you left because it broke you, don’t return to it when your tears have dried.
It may have been a person. It may have been a pain. It may have been a sin. It may have been a shame.
No matter what or who, never go back simply because the storm is over.
Too many abused return to their abuser.
Too many released will return to their captor.
Too many wounded will return to their accuser.
Why?
Often the comfort of the cage is easier than learning to live in the awkwardness of the new.
Often the known is more welcoming than the challenge of the unknown.
But be convicted to adjust.
Be determined to redirect.
Do not settle for the norm because it’s comfortable.
Do not settle for the available simply because it knows you.
Allow yourself to resettle.
Allow yourself to dream again.
Allow yourself to grow.
You’ll be amazed at the new you.
As a dog returns to his own vomit,
So a fool repeats his folly.Proverbs 26:11
Deliver those who are drawn toward death,
And hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.Proverbs 24:11
It’s Not Me. It’s You.
Oh, if we could grasp this reality, what strength we could gather.
When someone wounds you, it’s not because you have done something wrong. It is because they have something wrong inside.
This is not to say that you could have possibly prevented it. Maybe. sometimes, we don’t notice warning signs until it is too late. Sometimes, we turn a blind eye because of our own hangups and intimidations.
But when someone wrongs you, particularly when it is repetitive, we have to accept it for what it is: their fatal flaw.
We don’t always need to defend ourselves.
And we don’t really need to retaliate.
But we do always need to walk away.
Step back from their negative blows.
Move out of the course of their mayhem.
Set boundaries and close the doors to their reckless endangerment.
Realize it is not your responsibility nor your burden to bear.
Sometimes, broken people try to break others.
Sometimes, wounded people live to wound others.
Sometimes, twisted people endeavor to twist the lives of others.
But this never means you have to surrender to it.
Remove your heart from their hammer and reclaim your peace.
It’s worth the effort.
You are worth the time.
Do not enter the path of the wicked,
And do not walk in the way of evil.
Avoid it, do not travel on it;
Turn away from it and pass on.
For they do not sleep unless they have done evil; and their sleep is taken away unless they make someone fall. For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble.
Proverbs 4:14-19
The Lion’s Silence
In the brush, you can’t see her silhouette as she glides along.
Below the grass, she hovers and waits.
The stalks swaying in the breeze as she pauses to take in the horizon.
Her eyes never leaving her prey as she haunts him with her shadows.
Believing it is only a myth, he grows complacent in the quiet.
Letting down his guard, his head lowers for a rest, never realizing his mistake.
Suddenly, she pounces from the mist and charges his serenity.
He attempts an escape, but the moment has passed.
She has him in her paws, and the pride closes in to bring her added strength.
Fight though he may, the battle is over before it even began.
All because he grew comfortable in the midst of her silence.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
1 Peter 5:8
Funny Friday
What Do You See?
There is a beautiful quote by Marcus Arelius that says, “To offend a strong man, tell him a lie. To offend a weak man, tell him the truth.”
So many people in this world are okay with less than truth. They can be inundated with lies and never be distracted. They can receive half truths and simply run with it and retell the story. And when truth actually confronts them, it is like a slap in the face, and they become offended.
As this becomes more and more prevalent in our modern society, you can watch a whole culture become divided and polarized, as fallacy makes a home like locusts and devours the innocent, while truth reigns in the hearts of a few, and a great chasm opens between them.
May we all examine our hearts today and determine which side of the canyon we belong.
For weak men will rise to power when weaker men rebel against truth and seek their own desires, demanding falsehood as the accepted edicts.
How you respond when you hear the truth exposes your strength of character. How you retell a lie displays to the world the depth of who you are. Even how you respond to this quote can determine your success or failure.
Strong men will be relegated to the haunted ghosts of yesterday as the masses embrace falsehoods as their standard.
But wisdom cries out to be heard. Truth never changes simply because someone silences it.
Rest assured, Truth will reign in the afterlife, and all will weep who did not heed the call.
Does not wisdom cry out,
And understanding lift up her voice?
She takes her stand on the top of the high hill, beside the way, where the paths meet.
She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city, at the entrance of the doors:
“To you, O men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of men. O you simple ones, understand prudence, and you fools, be of an understanding heart.
Listen, for I will speak of excellent things,
And from the opening of my lips will come right things;
For my mouth will speak truth;
Wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
All the words of my mouth are with righteousness; nothing crooked or perverse is in them.
They are all plain to him who understands,
And right to those who find knowledge.Proverbs 8:1-9
Soul Applications
Truth is not enough to sustain your life lest you apply it.
Application of truth is the only way our lives become transformed from what they have been.
So, let’s ask ourselves some heartfelt questions today,
How much Truth am I receiving?
How much Truth am I accepting?
(And yes. There is a difference in receiving truth and accepting that truth as truth.)
If I am accepting Truth, am I applying it to my life?
If I’m apply this Truth to my life, is there fruit coming from my life?
Simple as that.
We can hear Truth all day long, but if we fail to receive it, accept it, apply it, and then, produce it, we fall into the age old trap of becoming a fool.
The lack of Truth being applied in someone’s life doesn’t change the Truth.
It only leaves a void of change in the hearer’s life.
And that, my dear friends, leads to a most tragic end.
Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
John 8:32
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
James 2:14-19
Unexpected Grief
Goodbyes to those who have caused pain can be all together freeing; yet, the grief will come in waves as the broken covenant becomes a reality.
It can be all together overwhelming.
Just because the decision to leave is right doesn’t mean it will be full of joy and laughter.
Just because the need to walk away is necessary doesn’t mean the path is smooth and easy.
It can be the hardest season of life.
And the loneliest.
Yet, never doubt the resolution to remove toxicity and never return to it simply because of the sharp agony of separation.
Cry the tears that must be shed.
Weep and wail.
Rant and rage.
Then, take a deep breath and exhale.
And know that through the grief, an inner strength will grow which will extend beyond the pain.
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
2 Timothy 3:1-5
The Obit
I heard of your passing today and wondered how you’d been.
It’s been so long since I heard your voice, my memory is wearing thin.
You’d left here with a destination, hoping to ease the pain.
But where you went the agony followed, and it never stopped the rain.
I wished you well and bid farewell, for my hands could never hold.
The life you led was a restless one, so many avenues, twisted and untold.
I read in your obit all the war stories and heroism I’d never known.
The star, the medal, the accolades, even the rescue made my heart within me groan.
For this man, I wished I had met while living and breathing and very much alive.
Rather, it was the one who set off to sea on holidays and birthdays who never arrived.
My broken heart is now mended; the scar you can barely see.
Yet, somewhere deep beyond the tears, a hope of what could’ve been still remains to be.
6/4/25 MG
Allow for Some Goodbyes
Change brings adjustments in relationships.
Adjustments bring uncomfortable conflicts.
Conflicts bring choices to remain or walk away.
When you are seeking to better yourself, sometimes, it will irritate those who want to remain the same.
When you are moving beyond the trauma, sometimes, those who enjoyed the drama will want to stay.
When you are healing and pursuing something better, sometimes, those who liked you broken cannot handle the new strength.
And that’s ok.
Keep walking ahead.
Keep healing from the past.
Keep moving forward toward wellness, peace, and joy.
Those who are meant to go with you will arrive.
Those who aren’t will remain where you were.
And that’s ok.
To thrive, sometimes you have to say goodbye to the old you and also to the old them.
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:12-14
the grizzle grist mill 