Throughput

Our Daily Bread
When learning about computers, I learned about the concept of "throughput".  There are a few different examples, but the basic meaning is how much data can move through the interface or system in a specified period of time (seconds, minutes, hours, etc).  As different technologies evolve, there can be bottlenecks in throughput because some parts of the computer system provide better throughput than others.

I thought of this example after reading the devotional.  The tag line says that is it not just Christ in us, but Christ showing through us!  We are talking throughput here!  ha!  We can let Christ flow through us at different rates depending on our mood, our circumstances, etc.  We can be a bottle neck for Christ flowing through us if we are not in touch with him constantly.  Prayer, Bible study, a mind that seeks his voice during each moment and a willing heart help us maximize our throughput!

Lord, thank you for the privilege of having your flow through us when we are willing!

Simply Saturday
Consistency -- Frustration issue
So I have a silly joke with some friends about consistency -- "I am consistently inconsistent!"   Ha!

I had to admit something to myself the past few weeks after some friends at work made the observation that I appear to be bitter about a lot of things.  I was like "What are you talking about?"  In my silly bear mind, there is a difference between frustration and bitterness.  Maybe I am kidding myself, I don't know.  I began to search my heart and mind.  I felt the frustration was getting worse for a several reasons.

After some prayer and heartfelt listening, I realized that my frustrations were based on laziness and selfishness.  What?  Yeah, that was hard to say to myself.  Lazy and Selfish, party of one!  ha!  Why did I come to these conclusions?  The laziness aspect was from not developing the discipline that God asked me to work on years ago.  Yes, I made some improvements in that time, but I am not where I need to be.  God is merciful.  I am doing my best not to say or do things out of frustration to damage relationships.  Whew...

The selfishness comes from thinking of only myself in most of the frustrating situations.  I had to admit that I don't always think of the other person or persons when I run into one of these situations. Not good.  Not a Godly way to act.

So like everything in my life (or almost everything), I have a plan.  Planning is good, right!  ;-)  I shared my new mantra recently.  I plan to recite the mantra throughout the day to stay in a more Godly state of mind.  The mantra also helps me keep my focus off myself.  "Why didn't you get that done?" becomes "How can I help complete that task or project?"  "I can't believe this!" becomes "That is an unfortunate roadblock to completing our project.  What can we do to fix it?"  Notice the I's becoming We's and focusing on the other person or the group?

Let us pray for each other as we live our lives in a consistent, Godly manner!  Praise God!

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Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13