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Listen while you read: "Lord Of All Being Throned Afar"1 (Lyrics) |
Ephesians 4:31 – Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. (NLT)
"Want to know my worst day driving a bus?" a driver asked me one summer day. "There was a woman on the very back seat with groceries in a couple paper bags. In one of them was a big watermelon. She was busy talking, not payin' much attention. We went up a steep hill. On our way down, that melon suddenly burst outa her bag and barrelled down the aisle like this bus was a bowling alley!" He shook his head, still angry.
"The watermelon slammed into me and the cash box at the same time, busting sloppy, sticky, slippery red goop all over me and my uniform, a couple passengers up front, the whole windshield, and the floor! If only that dame had been paying attention …"
That driver's resentment stuck with me as I reached my stop. Once again, on the bus of life, God was using an everyday experience to remind me that something needed to be set right. I, too, have a tendency to nurture resentments about unfairness and injustice. "How could someone do that to me? Why me?" What stayed with me after his story was the fact that resentment grows bigger the longer I put off dealing with it. Resentments don't stand still; they take over!
Ignoring the lessons that God always has for us, we let resentment grow until it explodes like that watermelon, making a mess not only of our own life, but those of others. If we keep our resentments to ourselves, those whom we resent have no knowledge of how we feel and are not harmed at all, while we let the acid of bitterness poison and eat out our own hearts.
Only a daily practice of soul-searching and repentance, continuously turning our lives over to God, will keep our seeds of resentment from becoming watermelons.
Hebrews 12:15 – Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many. (NLT)
Prayer: Dear Lord of our lives, thank You for recurring opportunities to have a clean heart renewed within each of us, to lay our sins and failings at Your feet, and to ask for the forgiveness and strength to change and grow through Your Holy Spirit. Thank You for allowing us to accept Your forgiveness as we start each new day, confident that we are in Your care and keeping. How grateful we are that Your dear Son walked this road before us without sin, showing us the way. In His name, we pray. Amen.
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Saturday, October 5, 2024 – In Ghana — Getting in and out of Tumu is no small feat, needing a lot of prayer. The road is like an obstacle course as you dodge all sort of vehicles, animals, people, potholes etc. It's exhausting, yet it is totally worth it because this is where my home is, where the people I love live, and where God has planted my heart. Praise God for the many miles He has kept me safe on the roads. Pray for my people to give their hearts to Jesus.
Employment-Gson: "October 3, 2024: Please pray for employment for my grandson and a chance to attend college in the..." 
Good one! Thank you.
Thank you. This is so true.
Good analogy Rose. Thank you.
Thanks for the good word, Rose.
Such a good illustration! A great reminder! Thanks.
Well done but how would you have handled the situation?
Wish I had been there, with a video camera! I’m still smiling!
Very true Rose. Thanks for sharing.
Blessings.
GREAT story.
Some people when life gives them lemons, make lemonade.
Who’d have thought what could become of a watermelon!
What a powerful message, thank you! A great reminder too that mustard/watermelon seeds grow and we need to pay attention to the crop they produce, weeding out the bad from the good on a daily basis.
Hi Rose,
Every-time I have watermelon now, I know I will remember your devotional and do a bitterness in my heart check. Thank you, I enjoyed this devotional very much.
Dear Rose,
I can’t remember having had such a good laugh, while reading a devotional, as I had today!
A very good lesson re – Hebrews 12:15.
Keep writing.
Hello Rose. Thank you so much for sharing this story and for your message. It is very timely as I often struggle with resentment and really needed this reminder today.
God bless,
(BC)
Dear Rose,
Thank you for such a wonderful devotion. If we all took this advice, there would be much less cancer and other destructive disease. God’s Word, if obeyed, would keep us healthy.
Please keep writing.
Thank you for this devotional Rose. It is key as most of us remember past hurts easily, much too easily as a matter of fact. Harboring resentment even aggravates the hurt and provides no healing.
Although the shopper with the watermelon never intended for her purchase to cause such problems, the bus driver took the incident personally and did not let it go. If we saw this happen in a movie, we would undoubtedly have a good laugh and shake our heads. Living through such an event is something else again. We need to know that forgiveness is so important and fundamental and that we sometimes unwittingly cause hurts because of other people’s perceptions.
You have so much to share!
Thank you Rose for sharing this devotional with us. Blessings.