Today, I woke feeling pretty good. I had a great ride to work, (without praying), and dropped Dalila off. When I arrived at work, there was a producer there waiting for me. That immediately made me irritated. He, however, had done nothing wrong. We open at 7:30 and it was 7:40 and I had told him the day before to be at the office first thing in the morning, so he did not do anything wrong. I just wasn’t ready for a producer. So for the remainder of his appointment, I had a chip on my shoulder. Everything he did or said would make me that much more angry. He was not going against any rules; I simply had the chip and was letting it get worse and worse. By the time he left, I was so frustrated that I ended up breaking into tears and tried to blame it all on him. The people I work with were all chipper and joyful and getting along with one another. I had let myself boil so much that at this point, I was letting everything my co-workers did get to me too. I ended up ruining my day over something that was brought on by myself. Now, I have lost control of my attitude and it is affecting everyone around me. The ladies I work with have not said much to me today and I can tell they are baffled by my actions. I really regret acting that way but have let it get to far and it is hard to reel it back in.

So, the question I was just posed with is in the following e-mail messaged I received:

--- On Fri, 7/15/11, lovelady.mike@att.net wrote:

From: lovelady.mike@att.net
Subject: A Word For Today
To: Undisclosed-Recipient@yahoo.com
Date: Friday, July 15, 2011, 5:09 AM
He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Luke 3:3

This verse refers to John the Baptist who boldly called people to repentance.

How important was your baptism?

We place far too much importance on baptism by water. Of greater importance is baptism of repentance. Water baptism cleanses only the exterior and is an outward expression of an inner change. The baptism of repentance is that inner change and cleanses the interior.

You may not be able to remember your baptism by water. What you can recall is whether you are living a life of repentance, worthy of the Lord.

Is your lifestyle free from sin? I know we all sin upon occasion, but are we living a lifestyle that honors God, or have we compromised our Christian values and morality?

Perhaps it is time for you and me to hear once again the voice of John the Baptist, “Repent! Repent of your sins! Stop sinning and do what is right! Turn your hearts to the Lord. Ask for His forgiveness.”

Let’s think about this before we pray.

Holy Spirit, help me see myself for who I really am. Show me what changes I need to make in my life. Amen.

“Is your lifestyle free from sin? I know we all sin upon occasion, but are we living a lifestyle that honors God, or have we compromised our Christian values and morality?”

To answer this question right now does my lifestyle honor God, no. Not today. I have done absolutely nothing today to honor God. How do I fix this? Prayer.

So I have shared these thoughts and now I am going to spend the rest of my day talking with God. Not just the rythmatic, “dear Lord, help me…” but an actual conversation. This will include listening too.

So I ask you to pray for me to get my attitude in check and I pray that if ever you have this happen to you, you will be able to find God in the situation.