By: Ethel Chadwick bagelsandblessings.com Shalom friends! Just a quick reminder to be polite! I think we sometimes forget our manners. Whether you are speaking to your spouse or to the barista at your favorite café, you should always remember those precious three words: please and thank you! It’s sad that we sometimes take each other for granted. When the family is together for a meal, don’t just shout across the table “send me over the salt!” Remember to say “please.” Pretty soon we’ll all be together for Thanksgiving. Let’s remember our manners. Of course as believers, we want to demonstrate the gifts of the spirit. Being polite is the right thing to do. Younger folks are watching us. We can lead by example! Please remember to be polite, not only with each other, but with strangers that you encounter every day. Thank you! Ethel
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By: Ethel Chadwick
bagelsandblessings.com No one said it’s easy being a follower of Yeshua. Every day there are temptations. When your spouse or significant other snaps at you for no reason, are you tempted, just a bit, to say something clever and terribly sarcastic? When someone cuts you off in traffic, don’t you want to shout at them and honk the horn? Just yesterday I was at the theater with my best friend. We were quietly (or so I thought) chatting about something, when suddenly a man from across the aisle yelled at me – he said “EXCUSE ME, WILL YOU SHUT UP???” I just stared at him with a blank look on my face. I was surprised, shocked and stunned. For a brief moment I imagined myself walking over to him and slapping him across the face and yelling at him to be nice to the elderly – or something like that. But he looked around my age or a little younger, and besides, that wouldn’t be very Messiah-like. I was pretty upset for a few seconds. You can be sure that for the rest of the movie I didn’t utter a peep. But a strange thing happened. The Holy Spirit gently nudged me to go over to him after the movie. (Inside I was thinking - hey --- why should I go him? Shouldn’t he apologize to me???) I walked over and said, “Sir, I’m so very sorry.” He thanked me for the apology. Whew! I sure felt better! So, just keep on trying to be kind, no matter what. Sometimes the other person doesn’t deserve it, but hey, we received grace and mercy when we didn’t deserve it too. Ethel By: Ethel Chadwick
bagelsandblessings.com If God’s word is true when it says your Abba loves you so much, then why would you ever let someone take advantage of you or repeatedly abuse you? Beloved sisters and brothers in Messiah, if you could only see yourself through His eyes. Because God loves you, forgives you and wants you to experience blessing and joy, He does not want you to allow others to hurt you. Someone once taught me that we teach others how to treat us. And I think it was Eleanor Roosevelt that said “no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” Sadly there are too many people, both men and women, who stay in abusive relationships because they think that’s what they deserve. Or maybe they were abused as children and they never think they can or should be treated better, and they are a bit too comfortable because it’s familiar. Dear friends, you are precious and greatly loved. You deserve to be respected and cherished. Please don’t let anyone abuse you – not ever. Because He loves you, you can love yourself. And when you love yourself you don’t let anyone put you down – NOT EVER! Tell someone – tell your Pastor, your Rabbi, your doctor, your best friend. Even tell the police if you feel your life is threatened. Don’t let anyone touch His anointed! And that is YOU! Ethel Chadwick By: Ethel Chadwick
bagelsandblessings.com Shalom friends! Taking a break from writing about romance, today I just want to encourage you in your friendships and the way you meet new people. How many times have you said “We’ll have to get together for lunch!” – but it never happens and you didn’t really mean it. Please be careful to say only what you really mean. When my husband and I moved to Rochester, NY from NYC in 1993, well-meaning congregants said things like that to us, but very few actually invited us. In fact, it took one family three years to finally invite us to their house! We all love to meet new people and make them feel welcomed. Just be very careful with your words. Don’t give someone the impression that they are your new best friend and you’re going to have coffee with them every Tuesday --- unless you actually want to do that! Please continue to be kind, loving, compassionate and friendly to people, and as you feel led, invite them to lunch or to your home. The important thing is to be open to what the Spirit is saying to you and to be honest with your intentions. Keep loving, keep smiling! Ethel Chadwick By Ethel Chadwick
bagelsandblessings.com Last time I wrote a few things about love and relationships. An important ingredient in any relationship is forgiveness. If you hold onto a grudge or disappointment, it will eat at you and steal your joy. That’s just what the devil wants, by the way. Of course it isn’t easy to forgive, but I promise you that if you ask Abba Father to give you supernatural forgiveness for someone, He will do that. I once heard that holding onto unforgiveness is like taking poison and then waiting for the other person to die. Maybe it’s not someone else that you need to forgive – maybe it’s yourself! That’s so very hard to do, but again, ask the Lord for His help. Let His peace flow through you. Now that you’ve forgiven others and also forgiven yourself, you are ready to be a blessing to someone. Don’t hold back, remember, every day of your life is an opportunity to be a blessing to someone! Yeshua forgave those who persecuted Him, so if He could do it, so can you! Ethel Chadwick By Ethyl Chadwick
bagelsandblessings.com For about a year I wrote a column for the Messianic Times Online. I could select any topic, so I decided to write about relationships. It’s not that I’m an expert, but having been married 29 years I have picked up a few things along the way. Perhaps one day I will publish all the articles. I will give a brief summary here. First of all, you can’t love another unless you love yourself. The Bible says “love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:31). So if you are unable to love yourself, you need to ask God to show you how He sees you. As you learn to accept and appreciate yourself, as you rebuke any self-bitterness or self-rejection spirits you may have entertained, then you will really learn to love yourself. And that’s when you will be ready for a romantic relationship. I also wrote about pride. Dear brothers and sisters, it’s more important to be loving and kind than to prove that you’re right. Unless it’s a matter of life and death, sometimes you just have to let it go. Also it’s so important to be a really good listener. Sometimes your spouse or significant other just needs to vent. Resist the temptation to offer advice or fix it, unless you are specifically asked for advice. Lastly I will mention that it’s so important to build each other up, not tear each other down. Resist the temptation to correct, criticize or try to change your partner. I will be happy to share more next time! God bless you! Ethel Chadwick By: Ethel Chadwick
bagelsandblessings.com I have a challenge for you. The next time someone asks you to repeat something, take a deep breath, slowly exhale, and calmly answer as if it were the first time. Having a mother who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease has made me painfully aware that there are times in everyone’s life when we forget something. Please don’t get me wrong, I am not living in a constant state of fear that I will get Alzheimer’s. It’s just that I am more sensitive to memory – or lack of it. I have friends of all ages that often forget things. I try NEVER to say “but I already told you that!” No one likes being reminded that they forgot something. This is where we need to ask the Lord for grace. Try real hard not to get annoyed, irritated or impatient when someone forgets something. One way to express Yeshua’s love is to show grace and compassion. I know it’s not easy, especially if you are dealing with a dementia patient. That requires a whole new set of skills and triple the amount of patience. Maybe the root of the problem is that we are not operating in the fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. May Abba Father help us to be kind and show grace to others! Ethel Chadwick By Ethel Chadwick
bagelsandblessings.com I wonder what's going on inside your head. Remember that game " Knock Knock, Who's There?" What if I were to tell you that with God's help you can be in control of your thoughts. You can decide to dwell on good stuff or crummy stuff. Years ago I finally understood what the scripture means when it says to be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2). If we fill our heads with God's Word and dwell on His goodness, we are less likely to be upset, fearful, anxious, or angry. When I was younger, the thought came to me that either we control our thoughts or they control us. It wasn't until I became a believer in Yeshua many years later that I understood that we can control what goes on inside that head of ours and be set free from our spiritual bondage. So if you want to be happier, sleep better at night and be less anxious, then remember to fill your head with the Word of God and be reminded that you are loved, accepted, approved, and most of all special in God's eyes. He rejoices over you with singing! That's all for now, be at peace and shalom! Ethel By: Ethel Chadwick
bagelsandblessings.com I know it’s easier said than done, but please try not to take things personally. Sometimes life happens. Your friend might be sad because her dog is sick, the lady at the store might be rude because she had to work a double shift and had trouble getting a sitter for her kids. We don’t know what people are going through. In a perfect world no one would ever be rude to you, they wouldn’t cut you off in traffic and they wouldn’t frown all the time. But we don’t know their story, do we? So take a moment and pray for the person who is rude to you. It’s very freeing when you decide to not take things personally. Take a deep breath and thank God for your blessings. Ethel Chadwick By: Ethel Chadwick
www.bagelsandblessings.com I'd like to talk about Grace. Grace means we are given mercy. We are pardoned even when we don't deserve it. Isn't that what Yeshua did for us? How is it then that we are so quick to judge others, so quick to hold a grudge, so quick to be angry and refuse to forgive. We have been given so much grace by our dear Lord, shouldn't we extend that same grace to others? I admit sometimes it's hard to like people. But if we just ask God to show us that person through His eyes, if we ask God to give us Supernatural love for that person, then we will also have grace for them. And isn't that amazing? |
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