{"id":3789,"date":"2012-02-26T00:12:36","date_gmt":"2012-02-26T06:12:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wnac.org\/twg\/?p=3789"},"modified":"2012-01-30T19:32:22","modified_gmt":"2012-01-31T01:32:22","slug":"conviction-via-dictionary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wnac.org\/twg\/?p=3789","title":{"rendered":"Conviction via Dictionary"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Beware that you don’t despise a single one of these little ones. \u00a0For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father”\u00a0 (Romans 18:10 NLT).<\/em><\/p>\n

Were you aware you can be convicted by the Holy Spirit via a dictionary? This verse sent me scurrying to my online dictionary\/thesaurus.\u00a0 I wish I hadn’t. But I just wanted to know a little more about one simple word.\u00a0 Fully aware of its definition, I wanted to assure myself\u2014and see what other words might work in its place. That one simple word? Despise.<\/p>\n

First, I’d already determined that every human could be considered “one of these little ones.” Size matters not. Age matters not.\u00a0 The fact that He breathed life into every one of us makes us His. \u00a0We’re all His little ones. So, we could take this verse to mean, “Be careful that we don’t despise anyone.”<\/p>\n

Despise. \u00a0Despise? \u00a0I don’t think there is a single person I despise. \u00a0I truly cannot think of a soul I hate.<\/p>\n

That’s when I pulled up the dictionary. \u00a0And found what I found. \u00a0And felt what I felt. \u00a0And was convicted about the ways I deal with His little ones.<\/p>\n

Despise also means to disfavor. \u00a0To pass over. \u00a0To disregard. \u00a0To scorn. \u00a0To overlook. \u00a0To neglect. \u00a0To slight. \u00a0To shirk.<\/p>\n

Ouch!\u00a0 I’m guilty. \u00a0I despise people. \u00a0I despise His little ones.<\/p>\n

My morning greetings at church today will be altered to this morning’s verse. \u00a0Yes, who I speak to, who I make an effort to greet, who I walk clear across the church to welcome will be affected this morning by my time in the…dictionary.<\/p>\n

Malinda Edgell
\nIllinois<\/p>\n

PRAY TOGETHER:<\/strong> Pray for good services today at Home Missions churches in Rochester and Buffalo, New York.<\/p>\n

I wish I hadn’t.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Beware that you don’t despise a single one of these little ones. \u00a0For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father”\u00a0 (Romans 18:10 NLT). Were you aware you can be convicted … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-devotional"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wnac.org\/twg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wnac.org\/twg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wnac.org\/twg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wnac.org\/twg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wnac.org\/twg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3789"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wnac.org\/twg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3789\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3790,"href":"https:\/\/wnac.org\/twg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3789\/revisions\/3790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wnac.org\/twg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wnac.org\/twg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wnac.org\/twg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}