A Flake an Acre ....

[-Pv-]

Tigger, your wisdom is extraordinary and needed in this time.  You look around yourself and see irrational behavior and do not join it.  Others look at this same behavior and think to themselves if they did not join the crowd they will have nothing which is a lie.  Satan wanders around among us as a roaring lion.  The Lion of Judea is gentle, humble, considers others before himself, a servant.  Who is the servant among us?  The hoarder?  The fear mongeror? The one who stops investing in the sick, the weak and the infirm?  No.  The Lion and His followers knock on the doors of the elderly, the widows, the sick and cripples and bring them food, help them clean and drive to health care.  The day will come a year or two from now people will look back on this time with a sneer or a joke about the needless "Corona Panic."  Until then, people will die not of covid-19 but of loneliness, neglect, falls and depression.  The whips driven by those who desire people suffer the same anxiety as themselves are not serving.  Fear destroys.  Courage Builds.

Consider what the courageous person looks like in God's eyes:

2nd Corinthians 12:20: "For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder. "
James 1:26: "Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless."
Ephesians 4:29: "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear."
Ephesians 4:31: Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
Matthew 12:36: I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak
1 Peter 4:15,16 Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a  troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.
2 Timothy 2:15-17: Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.   But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness,  and their talk will spread like gangrene.

I Peter 2:15: For  such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.  (emphasis mine)

 

Consider those who clothe themselves with veiled threatening:

Exodus 23:1: You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a malicious witness.

Proverbs 6:16-19 There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

Proverbs 16:28: A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends.

Proverbs 18:8: The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body.

Proverbs 19:5: A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will not escape.

 

-Pv- 

 

[warrior12]

6 hours ago, Tigger56 said:

I'm not sure I understand the great need for a large stockpile of toilet paper but it happens

Just a thought here.   Who are old enough or lived in rural towns where toilet paper was not a necessity .  You had to walk with that pan of water.    I come from a Caribbean country and though we had a toilet, we also had an outhouse that we my parents used .  Our house was  newly built and was the few that had toilets in those days.  Ah, how we have emancipated to the toilet paper and cannot live without it, and thus fight over it. 

[ReneeIW]

4 hours ago, Tigger56 said:

Being prepared is always a good thing but to be motivated by fear and panic isn't. Wisdom considers fear and emotion but does not allow fear and emotion to overcome logic and truth.

Well, just got an email from the school that after today all classes are canceled and the return date is April 6. That is three weeks out of school. So this seems much more serious than some people are taking it. 
 

Not sure if you would call canceling school panic or wisdom? I don’t remember this ever happening before in my lifetime. Wow!

 

Edited March 13, 2020 by ReneeIW

[Sower]

5 hours ago, Neighbor said:

My own thought is God is giving many of us a lesson  on idols, what with all sports being closed down. He will not tolerate God's other than himself.

I gave up on sports decades ago, when the $ god and players took over.
My point was as believers, aware of end times, we should put our thrust in the Lord,
not create/given to panic, and be the models of calm, knowing our real home we're going to.
I'm actually at peace, till  I get caught up reading 'sensational/panic' news, here and media.
So what. We are all dying, and I'll fight to the end, But why not 'still' be a testimony to our trust in Christ.

[Neighbor]

 I enjoy Major League Baseball, it is a subject of interest common to my wife and myself. She knows the color of the eyes of players,  she yells out encouragement from the stands. She knows their attitude of the day, even whether they smile or not, what their battering percentages, are etc. It is a major interest of hers.  I just watch and enjoy.  

She gets really involved with  our Hockey team too. All of a sudden there was no hockey, oh oh.  It struck me how much of a focus is on sports. It is fun, but I am surprised at how much time gets spent on it.

We had been studying  as part of our home group's review of Exodus what are idols or might be idols in  my own life. So I got to wondering, is this an idol or not?

I had declined to get tickets to opening day this year and was negotiating with her how about we wait until later? Then the schedule was cancelled altogether. Our preseason game for the day was also cancelled last minute. So we did some Bible sharing, and I got to wondering just what does  become an idol? - does it really include hobbies and spectator activities, or not?

[Neighbor]

15 hours ago, ReneeIW said:

Not sure if you would call canceling school panic or wisdom?

In either case it is reality to deal with.   The USA federal government is looking at how to get the free food that is provided to needy students at public school to them while there is no school in session due to the closing down of schools.

That one is going to be an interesting task. That very subject was an interest of mine when I worked for a private Christian school in that  it had so many quite poor kids that were subsidized. They would perform quite differently  if they got some preschool food or not as well as getting some lunch of not. The logistics of that  becomes  time money and personnel consuming with need for legal kitchens and food managers and so on. Or having  catering daily. For the kids it is quite the excellent benefit . Wow  so many just do not get  the food their body needs for them to stay energized and focused for learning.

[Neighbor]

 

-To be motivated by panic and fear isn't (Okay).-

It has been the case for several years now that social media networking gets parents into a frenzy of panic at most every and any thing. Schools monitor the networking  and gets out ahead of it by posting on their own social media sites what the scope is and how it is being handled. 

Mersa sars bedbugs lice, this rash and that one,  all become issues of near panic. And it has to be handled by schools else the parents do get a bit overwrought. It is just the way  it is nowadays.

[Neighbor]

22 hours ago, maryjayne said:

Wilful stupidity, arrogance and wilful blindness  will kill and cause illness in many in the coming days.

Yep. It killed many millions at China as they starved to death,  especially along the North Korean border, for their no longer  knowing how to fend for themselves after being led by government decrees that had supplanted their own ability to function without direct commands from their government  leadership. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Chinese_Famine

[frienduff thaylorde]

On 3/13/2020 at 8:58 AM, Sower said:

God is still on the Throne!

 

     YES HE IS .  TO THE LORD BE ALL GLORY , TO THE LORD BE ALL PRAISE . 

[-Pv-]

On 3/13/2020 at 11:19 AM, Abby-Joy said:

"A godly man should look after his family... a godly woman should look well to the ways of her household.  No one needs to just stockpile for the sake of fear... but being prepared for hard times is wise, and we don't know how we may bless and help those around us in doing so.  "

In these times and where I live, this is the motto of the hoarders.  Unlike the ant who built up food and shelter when times were good, the grasshopper eats everything in sight wherever the hoard flies.  What does a widow on fixed income think when standing in front of empty shelves while 400 ft lines of people who have jobs push two carts of eggs and microwave popcorn over-flowing onto the floor?

The grasshopper says to itself: "I will fill my belly for tomorrow there will be no grass."  The ant says to itself: "I will work hard all season long for the good of my brothers and sisters so if the grass withers, we will all have plenty."

The hoarders say to themselves: "Tomorrow there will be nothing so I have to take what I can get so I can continue to live the life to which I'm accustomed and deserve." 

The faithful say to themselves: "And He [Jesus] said to His disciples, “For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on.   For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.   Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds!   And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span?   If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters?   Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.   But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You men of little faith!   And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying.   For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things.   But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you.   Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.
  Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys.   For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." - Luke 12:22

 

I walked down isle after isle of abandoned carts loaded with food.  Frozen and refrigerated meats thawing in the baskets which people abandoned to waste.  The shelves appeared empty because the store employees could not restock the shelves from the abandoned food quick enough.  This abandoned waste could only happen in a people who have more than they need.

-Pv-

Edited March 14, 2020 by -Pv-