Map of Common Sense

“If you don’t change the direction you are going, then you are likely to end up where you are headed.” ~ ~John Maxwell ~

Whatever happened to good old common sense in this old world? Did it go out with the 60’s? Perhaps the 70’s stopped it from going any further or was it the 80’s that demolished it? As much as we like to blame the changing century’s and years for what is going on we only have one person to blame and that is ourselves.

Common sense tells us if we don’t change the direction we are going, then likely we are going to end up where we are headed. Problem is a lot of people don’t realize where they are headed. A lady I knew once told her daughter if you don’t deal with your daughter’s attitude now when she is five you are headed for big trouble. The daughter failed to see it coming but grandma could tell and what she predicted came true.


Perhaps our problem is also the fact that we lack real direction and vision. We can’t see where we are going because of the blurred vision we often use to guide us there. We stubbornly figure we can get where we are headed without the consequences others have faced when they got there. For example when our daughter was in High School they had over five deaths over a period of time of teenagers drinking and partying. It didn’t matter when the first one died after all, “that kid didn’t know what they were doing, it won’t happen to me” was their thinking.


Eventually kid number two died the same way and kid number three and so on. All of which could have been avoided if they would have stuck with the concept of “Oh, if we don’t change the direction we are going with partying like we do we will likely end up exactly where they did.” No, that didn’t pertain to them. They thought they could beat the odds in front of them.


Life isn’t a card game or a gambling board to play with trying to “beat the odds.” The fact that you reap what you sow pertains to all of us. If we go down the route of anger and bitterness we will wind up in further anger and bitterness situations. If we go head down the direction of smoking cigarettes we can wind up getting lung cancer. If we head down the direction of careless spending we will wind up broke.


It doesn’t take a lot of common sense to figure it out. What it takes is the willpower to take the time to look before you leap kind of thing. Years ago as I stood weeping over the harvest I had surrounded myself with the Lord told me, “it may not be what you like or wanted but it’s what you sowed.” Ouch!


We’ve all been given the map of common sense to follow but the problem is some use it and some don’t. We can stand there and hold a thousand maps in our hands but until we are willing to stop and use those maps to show us where we are headed they do us no good.


We are the ones who have the ultimate choice. The spiritual world is no different. We can live our lives is fashion that is pleasing to God or in a manner not so pleasing. Both will reap a harvest but the choice happens back in the sowing process. Indeed we pick what we harvest by our choice of what we sow or plant.


It’s never too late to start over once we see where we are headed. Praise the Lord!

© 2011 Karen J Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

The RIght Pattern

"As Christian women, we must repudiate the worlds agenda for women and seek to understand the Words agenda for women... we must determine to be obedient to the Word of God no matter what is says, with no compromises. This is what it means to be a woman of the Word. We must find out what the Bible teaches about marriage, about children, about men and women and their roles, and then we must be obedient with no apologies, no matter what the cost. Is this radical Christianity? No. This is basic Christianity." Nancy Wilson, “The Fruit of Her Hands.”

Wouldn’t it be grand if, instead of chapters and books, the Bible was written according to subject matter and lessons to be learnt? Yep, a user friendly Bible alphabetically arranged for our convenience. No digging required, no thinking needed. We could let our fingers do the walking with very little effort on the part of our heart and mind.

Part of the story of Job would be listed under patience. Another part under mixed up friends. Moses story would be cut up into many different sections. One part under faith, another section under determination, obedience, disobedience, strength, and the list goes on. Eve’s name would be found under the topic of women, subtopic stupid, stubborn, or misguided perhaps. Even all the lessons and thoughts Jesus taught and installed would be found in A thru Z. Instead of the “yellow pages” it would be the “Bible pages” chopped into little pieces.

However, God knew better. He set it up for us to read, adventure through, and dig up the treasures buried inside. The instruction manual needed to put our lives together as God intended.

So where do we begin when looking for scriptures for woman to model their lives after instead of using the world’s pattern that is copyrighted and published? How about starting with, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” It takes us right in to a very valuable lesson on what a woman shouldn’t do as we read about Eve. How often have we fell for the very same line she did from Satan, “Did God really say that?” as she took the bait from Satan and ran with it.

Where does it all end? It doesn’t. However the ending of the Bible is a good way to finish our adventure here on earth. ”He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen” When we have lived our lives IN Christ following HIS pattern we can hear those words welling up in OUR hearts, “Come Lord Jesus, come!” Oh, doesn’t that just get your spiritual blood running!! The Simplicity, McCall’s designer of our spiritual lives Jesus Christ, coming at last. Oh, I’m excited. Sorry, back on the subject!

That’s what its all about isn’t it? Filling our hearts to the brim with Jesus, the praise of our Heavenly Father, the love of our Maker instead of what the world says a woman should be like. Once dressed and ready to go with the garment of being clothed in Christ our heart’s will be overflowing to the point that we won’t be able to keep our mouths shut as we shout with great anticipation instead of fear, “Come, Lord Jesus, come.”

Sandwiched in between the beginning and the end we find the rest of our pattern needed to put together the life a Godly woman. Things such as kindhearted, discretion, wisdom, God fearing, loving, prayerful, submissive…..submissive? Yes submissive, its not the only piece of the pattern or the main one but it is a necessary part we can’t leave out. As you can’t leave out the interfacing of a dress, or the hem, or part of the seams we can’t pick and chose from God’s word what we want to use. There is no compromise, no alterations allowed.

CLOSING THOUGHT: The worldly woman sees the godly woman as someone who is overloaded on sweet–n-low causing some kind of sugar overload that makes them want to puke. We should never let that stop us from being the women we are required to be IN Christ. No matter how many times we have to tear out a seam to re-do a mistake we made, we need to strive to live our lives in a manner that when we wake up each morning Satan’s reply is, “Oh no she’s awake again.”

Perfectly sewn together? Not always, we can’t all be great seamstress but we can all be godly women. Our garments are not graded on how quickly they are done, or like golf games where the fewest trips to the alteration table wins the prize. What counts is how they match the main pattern, Jesus Christ seen in our obedience, displayed in how we model Christ in our daily living once the fitting is done. Teach yourself to sew. Or should I say, “sow” because what we do sow is what we will reap, the choice is ours and the end results will be ours as well. Choosing the right pattern, godly or worldly, to start with has everything to do with the final outcome. Which pattern will it be?

Our host this week is Chelsey at her site, Joyfully Living. Go on over there and read and share with others on today's quote.