Your love, God, fills the earth! Train me to live by your counsel. (Psalm 119:64 MSG) We will always live by some set of 'rules' or 'standards'. Some might be quite 'good', while others may be a little on the 'errant' side. For example, we follow the speed limit - good; we spend all we make and never save anything for unexpected expenses - errant. We can follow the 'rules' set by others or those we set ourselves. For example, we pay our taxes each year - others set these rules for us; we go to bed each night in sufficient time to afford us seven hours of sleep - a rule set by us because of how it makes us feel. What we choose to 'live by' makes all the difference - who we choose to follow also makes a huge difference, doesn't it? God's love fills the earth - it has nothing but the best in mind for us. Why do we resist following his 'rules' or 'standards' so much, then? We find ourselves trying to bend those rule...
"Anger is the wind that blows out the lamp of the mind." (Robert Green Ingersoll) Don’t hang out with angry people; don’t keep company with hotheads. Bad temper is contagious—don’t get infected. (Proverbs 22:24-25 MSG) If your mom was anything like mine, she cautioned you to find the right group of friends, being wary of hanging out with the 'wrong crowd'. We all knew who the 'wrong crowd' were, didn't we? Depending upon our generation, they could have been the rebellious teens of the 50's who thought it was cool to smoke and dress in slightly more 'provocative' clothing. If we grew up in the 60's, it was likely the hippies who wore multi-colored clothing, sported peace signs, and drove VW buses. There were the anti-war protestors, draft dodgers, potheads, and later the ones who were labeled as 'lose' or 'gang like'. Regardless of the ones our parents labeled as the 'wrong crowd', it was always their intent to ke...