{"id":7992,"date":"2016-03-15T07:00:33","date_gmt":"2016-03-15T11:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=7992"},"modified":"2016-03-12T08:02:49","modified_gmt":"2016-03-12T13:02:49","slug":"do-you-read-the-handwriting-on-the-wall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2016\/03\/do-you-read-the-handwriting-on-the-wall.html","title":{"rendered":"Do You Read the Handwriting on the Wall?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Urban legend has it that during one of the worst hurricanes in U.S. history, a band of people were\u00a0partying on the third floor of the Richelieu Manor Apartments in Pass Christian, Mississippi, ground zero for the storm. As the storm approached, feeling invincible and determined to ride out the storm, the apartment dwellers through a party.\u00a0When a\u00a0\u00a0police officer\u00a0asked them to\u00a0evacuate, they\u00a0refused and continued to party. The storm hit, destroyed the building\u00a0and they died.<\/p>\n<p>This urban legend is reminiscent of King Belshazzar partying in Daniel 5. Feeling invincible due to his power and accomplishments,\u00a0in an act of blasphemy, the King\u00a0used stolen items from the temple in Jerusalem to drink and eat during his orgy. But while the crowd was\u00a0feasting, fingers of a man&#8217;s hand appeared on the wall and wrote something the king could not understand.<\/p>\n<p>When Daniel interpreted the message, it wasn&#8217;t good news for the prideful king who mocked Daniel&#8217;s God and worshipped idols. Basically, God told the king that his days were numbered, he wasn&#8217;t all that powerful and that his kingdom would be divided. The King was killed that night and his kingdom divided. God dealt with the King who willfully mocked and ignored Him.<\/p>\n<p>How often do we ignore God? Like Belshazzar, do we\u00a0feel invincible, know what is right, but continue to live our own way? &#8220;Yes, I know cohabiting is not right, but&#8230;&#8221; or &#8220;I know I shouldn&#8217;t gossip, but it is so easy to do.&#8221; Or maybe, &#8220;I had to lie to protect my reputation.&#8221; &#8220;A little cheating won&#8217;t matter because the government cheats me.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The handwriting is on the wall. God will\u00a0expose a heart that is divided-one that serves him only when it is convenient. When God writes His truth on our heart, we need to listen. Our days are numbered. We aren&#8217;t as powerful as we think. One day, we answer to God.\u00a0\u00a0If we put our trust in anything other than God, it will fail. \u00a0In today&#8217;s time, we\u00a0want to stand firm in the midst of the cultural storm, not giving in to prideful self-reliance, thinking we can live our lives apart from God and be OK.<\/p>\n<p>God is looking for those who can read the handwriting on the wall and put Him first.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Urban legend has it that during one of the worst hurricanes in U.S. history, a band of people were\u00a0partying on the third floor of the Richelieu Manor Apartments in Pass Christian, Mississippi, ground zero for the storm. As the storm approached, feeling invincible and determined to ride out the storm, the apartment dwellers through a&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[916],"tags":[3483,3484,3360,3482],"class_list":["post-7992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-god-relationship","tag-defiance","tag-invincible","tag-pride","tag-self-reliance"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Do You Read the Handwriting on the Wall?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2016\/03\/do-you-read-the-handwriting-on-the-wall.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Do You Read the Handwriting on the Wall?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Urban legend has it that during one of the worst hurricanes in U.S. history, a band of people were\u00a0partying on the third floor of the Richelieu Manor Apartments in Pass Christian, Mississippi, ground zero for the storm. As the storm approached, feeling invincible and determined to ride out the storm, the apartment dwellers through a&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2016\/03\/do-you-read-the-handwriting-on-the-wall.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-15T11:00:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-03-12T13:02:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Do You Read the Handwriting on the Wall?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2016\/03\/do-you-read-the-handwriting-on-the-wall.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Do You Read the Handwriting on the Wall?","og_description":"Urban legend has it that during one of the worst hurricanes in U.S. history, a band of people were\u00a0partying on the third floor of the Richelieu Manor Apartments in Pass Christian, Mississippi, ground zero for the storm. 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Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. 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