Corona Devo 2077

The other day at work, I answered an incoming call and on the other line was a kind-voiced gentleman calling in to purchase a one-year renewal of our product for his neighbor.  I could hear her elderly frail voice in the background, and my heart softened at the kind gesture of this man helping his elderly neighbor.  He never faltered in his patience or kind demeanor with her.

When I pulled up her account, I saw that this gentle man and gentleman had called every year for ten years to assist his neighbor in purchasing, just to be nice.  Just to be kind.  Just to do the right thing.  

• Do to others as you would have them do to you.  ~Luke 6:31  

• I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, (2) with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, (3) endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  ~Ephesians 4:1-3

~~~ 

The last time that we rented a car, we waited quite a while in line for the counter, but I noticed that it was because the teller was engaging (pleasantly) with each customer in line ahead of us.  When we finally made it up to the check-in counter, the same man was kind and attentive to us as well, and it was lovely.  Kind and thorough, he served us in exemplary fashion.  

(When was the last time we had a business interaction characterized by these things?)

I enjoyed the encounter so much that I wrote a positive review for their car rental company, in the hopes that it might bless their business in the same way that we had been blessed by the excellent experience.

Ironically, after I posted my review, I saw that the previous (online) posted review was a scathing soliloquy roasting the business for a slow-as-a-turtle teller that took forever in dealing with customers, and who "had no regard" for the people waiting in line.  This review blasted the poor man that I had praised.  

Same guy...different takes on the experience.

Keep doing positive things. 

• Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.  ~Galatians 6:9 

• Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, (24) since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.  ~Colossians 3:23-24

~~~

Sometimes it seems that doing-the-right thing or following-God's-ways puts a target on our back.  Whether we literally feel the vengeance of others for our belief in our God, or whether the resistance is unseen but definitely felt: the struggle is real.  Life can be hard, and (physical/mental/spiritual/emotional) resistance/persecution/etc. ...is real.  

But don't be deterred in faith or fortitude today.  Keep loving and serving well, just as Jesus did.  Our battle is not against them, but against other things.  Keep standing today.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. (11) Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. (12) For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (13) Therefore 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.   ~Ephesians 6:10-13

~~~

Even if people are eating-us-alive for things that are out of our control, or if we are doing good things and God things and catching flack for them anyway...keep loving and serving well, just as Jesus did.

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. (19) If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

 (20) Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. (21) They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. 

(22) If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. (23) Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. (24) If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. (25) But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’  ~John 15:18-25

~~~

Keep up the Kingdom work today!  Whether it is ordering a product for the 10th year in a row for an elderly neighbor, or if we are receiving unfair treatment from ignorant or God-less people...keep up the Kingdom work today.

• “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’  ~Matthew 25:23 

• ...keep your eyes on those who live as we do. (18) For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. (19) Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.  (20) But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, (21) who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.  ~Philippians 3:17-21

Blessings, 

Sarah 

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com