Do you know how to keep joy? How to be always joyful? Happiness seems to come and go. In order to be happy we want more of things that used to make us happy. More stuff, more experiences, more fun. Always more. But that thrill-seeking leads us astray. Happiness-hunting gets us into trouble. More is never enough. It is a cycle to unhappiness. Why is everyone hungry for more? “More, more,” they say. “More, more.” I have God’s more-than-enough, More…
It seems like this same old problem has been around since forever: people want to be like everyone else. The root cause for disobedience is the desire to be accepted and admired by others. Just like the Israelites were hoping to be like the other nations. “‘What you’re secretly thinking is never going to happen. You’re thinking, “We’re going to be like everybody else, just like the other nations. We’re going to worship gods we can make and control.” (Ezekiel…
Do you try to gain the esteem of the world? Are you concerned what others think of you? Would you like to please crowds? I think we all would like to be well liked. But how far are you willing to go to gain acceptance? These questions rose as I combined two very different writing prompts I received today: ‘remember’ and ‘crowd’. Not a very likely pair. But they got me thinking. What do we need to remember? Crowd pleasing…
Isn’t it amazing how God blesses us for merely following his guidance? You see, I felt God nudging me to do this random “Message in a Bottle” giveaway so I put it in the motion awhile back. Little did I know that this little giveaway would bless me so much. And I hope you will be blessed too. Crystal won the giveaway and she requested that I would send the message in the bottle to his cousin’s wife, Lisa Greshko,…
Do you avoid choosing? Do you push decision-making as far as possible? Or do you like everything settled, clear and precise? I guess that depends on your personality (Whether you are P or J in the Myers-Briggs type indicator). I’ve learned of myself that I would like to keep my options open until I am 100% sure that my decision is the right one. But rarely do we have that kind of certainty in life, do we? We have to…
Finding your voice and your place in this world makes our life meaningful. It takes time, lots of prayer and honest soul-searching. Here are some pointers to help you along the way. First of all, we need humility to realize God is God and we are not. This is the bottom line. Until we accept this, we can’t find balance. Until we surrender to God, we won’t have peace. But when we do, our life gets grounded and we are…
Last week we started our journey towards healthy spiritual immune system. I presented a formula for spiritual health. God (the Spiritual Immune System) : Father (Rest) + Son (Nutrition)+ Holy Spirit(Exercise). We need to have a healthy diet and a good balance of exercise and rest. All that together equals as the spiritual immune system. [This second part of the series will be about the Father/Rest in the equation. The third part will be about the Son/Nutrition and the fourth…
Is it hard to believe that God is more interested in you than what you do? That God is more interested in who you are becoming than what you are getting done? So often we are so concerned about our (or other people’s) behavior that we forget what really matters. Psalm 1 declares that people who delight in the Lord are blessed. They are like like a tree firmly planted and tended by the streams of water. At the same…
Do you feel inadequate to be God’s disciple? Are you struggling with insecurities? Today’s post is for you. Here’s what Paul wrote to Timothy from jail. Suddenly Timothy had to take up a primary leadership role and he felt inadequate and maybe a bit terrified of the size of the task waiting for him. Then he receives this letter from Paul reminding him of a very encouraging fact in all of our lives: For God did not give us a…
Do you blame yourself for past mistakes? Do you insist on labeling yourself as a loser? Are you stuck in a rut? It’s time to wake up to see yourself with God’s eyes. It’s time to embrace the freedom of Christ. It’s time to believe the good news of forgiveness and renewal. It’s time to let the bygones be bygones. It’s time to move on into new life with God. Kurt Bubna profoundly writes in his book Epic Grace, Chronicles…
