Selective Zeal

Zeal can’t be choosy. True zeal, the white-hot kind, covers it all.

by J. Randal Matheny

Selective hearing, especially on the part of children or husbands, is a common phenomenon. One hears what one wants to hear and ignores the rest. “Take out the trash,” is one of those phrases that gets tuned out. “Do your homework,” has to be repeated. But say, “There’s ice cream in the freezer,” and reception is crystal clear. Or proclaim that one’s best friend called and the hearer makes a beeline for the telephone.

Zeal also suffers from selectivity. Zeal is an intensity of feeling toward a person or principle. It may be a virtue or take a turn for the bad, as in envy.

Jehu exemplified selective zeal. After he was anointed king over Israel and heard the prophecy that he would destroy the family of Ahab, he systematically pursued and killed all the former king’s descendants. As he carried out his gruesome task, Jehonadab found him and joined him. Jehu told him, “Come with me and see how zealous I am for the Lord’s cause” ( 2 Kings 10:16 NET).

The new ruler exterminated the rest of Ahab’s family in Samaria and eradicated Baal worship from Israel by killing all the false god’s prophets. In his 28-year reign Jehu did well, but his zeal wasn’t as white hot as he professed. “Jehu did not repudiate the sins which Jeroboam son of Nebat had encouraged Israel to commit: the golden calves remained in Bethel and Dan” ( 2 Kings 10:29).

Thus, the inspired writer recorded that “Jehu did not carefully and wholeheartedly obey the law of the Lord God of Israel. He did not repudiate the sins which Jeroboam had encouraged Israel to commit” (v. 31).

The killing of Ahab’s family and the extermination of Baal worship helped Jehu to consolidate control over the kingdom of Israel. While God’s will agreed with Jehu’s desires, he was zealous. He was quick to act. He was thorough. He was decisive.

But when the law of God didn’t further his own purposes, Jehu relaxed. He didn’t think it a priority. Leave that for someone else to take care of. Jehu’s zeal cooled off.

Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy 6 to tell the religious expert the greatest commandment: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind ( Matthew 22:37). The first commandment urges us to a zealous, intense love that gives all, obeys fully, makes every effort to please the Lord.

Our zeal cannot be selective and still please God. No giving up all ungodly relationships except that one that gives us special pleasure. No repentance from sins except that one which has its tentacles wrapped tightly around the heart. No obedience except when it becomes inconvenient. No godliness until the pressure becomes intense.

Zeal means rooting out all idolatry in the heart, putting an end to all sinful relationships, doing what is right in face of all opposition, insisting on truth when all opinions go against you.

Be warned: zeal that doesn’t pick and choose is dangerous. When Jesus cleansed the temple, the disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will devour me” ( John 2:17).

Zeal will cause you to do unpopular things, to take shocking action. And it will lead to a cross (v. 18-22).

But like the non-selective zeal of Christ, ours will erupt in resurrection on the other side. In glory for the zealous. In exaltation to the right hand of the Father for the completely obedient.

So let us not spare the horses as we race our chariots not only to Jezreel and Samaria, but to Bethel and Dan as well.

By J. Randal Matheny (28 June 2007, 05:22 AM)
SOURCE: http://www.forthright.net/decisions/selective_zeal.html

–DRL

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How To Leave The Perfect Voicemail

by Brett McKay

I’m not a big fan of voicemail. I don’t mind leaving voicemail messages; I just hate having to listen to them. For some strange reason when people know their voice is being recorded, their brain short circuits. What normally would take 30 seconds to say, now takes 2 minutes.

 

I don’t mind it so much for people I know. I have to deal with them on a daily basis, so I can’t hold voicemail grudges against them. However, if someone cold calls me or it’s just an acquaintance that calls, a crappy voicemail annoys me and leaves a bad impression.

I know. It’s superficial, but I’m human. But a prospective employer or client is also human, so there’s a good chance that crappy, unclear, and long voicemails annoy them too.

So, for your consideration, here are 8 tips to help you leave the perfect voicemail and, consequently, a good impression.

• State your name first. You would think this would be so basic that it shouldn’t even be mentioned. However, I can’t count the number of times I’ve gotten voicemails where people go on and on and I don’t even know who’s talking to me until the very end. Pretty annoying.
• State the purpose of your call. In as few words as possible, state why you’re calling. Is it in regards to an interview appointment? Are you following up on a previous meeting?
• Find some common ground. If you’re cold calling someone, your voicemail is your 30 second chance to make a connection and leave a good impression. One of the best ways to make a connection in that short amount of time is mentioning a mutual acquaintance. You could also mention a shared affiliation with an organization.
• Be brief. Don’t make you listener resent you by leaving 5 minute long messages. People are busy. Listening to 5 minute phone messages is not on the top of their priorities.
• Leave a specific request. What do you want your listener to do? Sure, you want them to call you back, but why? To answer a question? To set up an appointment? People will appreciate it if you give them specific actions for their call back. That way they’ll know they won’t be wasting a lot of time on the call back trying to figure out what you want.
• Leave your contact info slowly and clearly. You’ve gotten this far, don’t screw it up by muddling the very information that will allow your listener to get back to you. Go slow and be clear.
• Consider leaving your e-mail in addition to your phone number. People like choices. Some people like to have conversations on the phone, while others prefer communicating through e-mail. You don’t know what kind of person your listener will be, so leave the option on the table. For many, e-mail correspondence is less threatening and might actually encourage them to reach out to you.
• Be Brief. Did I mention be brief? Yeah? Make sure to do it.

How To Leave The Perfect Voicemail | The Frugal Law Student

–DRL

RSS in Plain English Video

If you have wondered about RSS feeds and readers, there is a short video which explains all of this in less than four minutes.  With an RSS reader you can SUBSCRIBE to this LemmonsAid blog and easily keep up with whatever is posted here.

To view the video, CLICK HERE.

If you have a reader, here is the feed URL for this blog:
http://lemmonsaid.wordpress.com/feed/

–DRL

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InstaVerse

This is an amazing little tool!  I’ve just downloaded it to my computer and it is super nice!  I would encourage you to check it out.  Here is the description from the site… 

Do you visit Christian web sites or receive daily devotional emails?
Ever want to look up a scripture fast?
InstaVerse™ by WORDsearch
will let you instantly see the actual Bible text for scripture references
like John 3:16 — just point your mouse at it,
and the text pops up in your preferred translation!
The best part is that InstaVerse with the KJV Bible is
FREE!

Here is the link to download the FREE program:
http://www.instaverse.com/

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Menton’s Lemon Festival

Steve Waller sent me some photos from the Menton website which have a certain appeal to me, being a Lemmons myself. I had no idea that there is a LEMON FESTIVAL each year in France. These displays are made with lemons, oranges, and grapefruits.

Apparently MENTON is a charming town full of mystery located at the French-Italian border right on the coast. Surrounded by mountains, Menton is protected from winds and benefits from a wonderful weather.

Menton was founded on the Comtes of Vintimiglia domain. Menton belonged to Grimaldi family (Monaco) from 1346 till 1848, and on the 2nd February 1861 officialy became French.

We may see more photos in the future. Here is the site: http://menton.com/

–DRL

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Seeing and Knowing

Seeing and Knowing

By Michael E. Brooks

“And Nathaniel said to him, ‘can anything good come out of
Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’ Jesus saw Nathanael
coming toward Him, and said of him, ‘Behold, an Israelite indeed, in
whom is no deceit!’ Nathanael said to Him, ‘How do you know me?’ Jesus
answered and said to him, ‘Before Philip called you, when you were
under the fig tree, I saw you’” ( John 1:46-48).

It is a frequent occurrence to have an email, a letter, or a
telephone call from someone whose name may be faintly familiar, but
cannot really be placed. The immediate question is, “Do I know this
person?” Obviously I don’t know them very well, if at all. We may have
met at some point, or they may have written or called before, but no
real personal relationship yet exists. I may eventually discover that I
recognize them in the sense of placing them with an identity, or in a
particular location, but this hardly qualifies as “knowing” them.

What are the basic minimum requirements of knowing someone? Most of
us probably begin with recognition of name and face (appearance)
together. If our memories can connect the physical appearance of
someone with their basic identity, we feel a little more comfortable
claiming their acquaintance. But we also are fully aware that there is
much more to who someone is than just name and face. We still have
little or no knowledge of their thoughts, habits, character, desires,
or any of a multitude of other personality components. Such knowledge
is slowly acquired, mainly through repeated contact and interaction.

This makes Jesus’ encounter with Nathanael all the more remarkable.
Upon first meeting him, Jesus announced his identity and character. He
proclaimed Nathanael to be a genuine Israelite and, further, to be of
honest and straightforward character. As proof of the accuracy of
Jesus’ perception, Nathanael showed amazement and wonder that Jesus
could know him so well. Jesus’ explanation was simple, “I saw you.”

Three times in these verses the verb “see” is used. When Nathanael
expressed skepticism that Jesus would prove to be the Messiah, Philip
told him, ‘Come and see.’ As he approached, “Jesus saw Nathanael.” And
when Nathanael was shocked at Jesus’ knowledge of him, Jesus replied,
“I saw you.”

There is a relationship between sight and knowledge. In the legal
arena, eyewitness testimony has great weight. To the scientist,
empirical evidence (i.e., that which can be verified by the physical
senses) serves as proof of theory or hypothesis. Of these senses, none
is of greater value than sight. We all are familiar with the Missouri
slogan, “Show me,” and the common though cynical attitude, “I only
believe what I see for myself.” There is a basis of fact behind these.
We often must see something, or someone, to truly know them.

God sees us. Wherever we may be, and whoever we are, God sees and knows everything about us. David proclaimed,

“O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down
and my rising up; you understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my
path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways” ( Psalm 139:1-3).

He is omniscient, because he is all-seeing and ever present. Just as
Jesus saw Nathanael before Nathanael had come to him, so he sees and
knows all other humans. We cannot escape his presence or his knowledge
( Psalm 139:7).
But this is not a threat. It is rather a great comfort and promise.
There is one who knows all our needs and cares enough to help us fill
them.

May we continuously pray as David, “Search me, O God, and know my
heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked
way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” ( Psalm 139:23-24).

By Michael Brooks (23 June 2007, 12:01 AM)

http://www.forthright.net/field_notes/seeing_and_knowing.html

DRL Note: Great Article!

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