Much of everyday life is filled with opportunities to be distracted. Our possessions... entertainment... cares and anxieties... and even the passionate desire and pursuit of things, some good and not so good, can keep our minds and hearts caught up in a flurry of activity.
Education levels the playing field, allowing everyone to compete.
There are many things that happen every day that we could murmur about if we let ourselves go there. But they really aren't worth the effort it takes to get upset and gripe about it.
We don't think there's something wrong with one- year-old children because they can't walk perfectly. They fall down frequently, but we pick them up, love them, bandage them if necessary, and keep working with them. Surely our heavenly Father can do even more for us than we do for our children.
The devil is a peace stealer, and he works hard to set us up to get upset. But we can learn how to change our approach so we don't live upset all of the time. And Jesus gives us the best example to follow.
It's just human nature to try and figure things out. So, when we're in the midst of a situation, we usually try to reason our way through it.
Prayer is such a basic foundation of a Christian's relationship with God. It's how we communicate and fellowship with Him. But a surprising number of people, young and old, new and even long-time Christians, say they're not satisfied with their prayer life.
The thing about secrets is they keep you in a prison. Once you share, WHOOSH, there is a release.
I was tormented with guilt for years and years. In fact, it was so bad that if I didn't feel wrong, I didn't feel right!
God is speaking to us. But are we listening to Him? When our conscience begins to nudge us for whatever reason, we might have this low-level misery or uneasiness about whatever it is we've done or we're about to do. At times like this, it's wise to prayerfully consider whether we're offending God with our actions.
I'm amazed sometimes by the Christians who don't really believe that God wants to help them and bless them.
Giving is just one way of expressing that God has been good to you and will continue to do so through your being good to others.
If someone you know makes a bad decision or uses bad judgment, it doesn't mean you have to allow that to alter your attitude. Why should you allow anyone else's bad decisions to send you into a tailspin of misery?
I can tell you from experience that God's help and presence in our lives is vital. He is the Author of all true success and everything that is good-without Him, we can do nothing of true value.
Satan wants us to constantly focus on everything that is wrong with us and look at how far we still have to go. But God desires for us to rejoice in how far we have already come.
I was in a terrible mess in my childhood.
I was mentally, emotionally and verbally abused by my father as far back as I can remember until I left home at the age of eighteen
I'm sure most parents read to their children to explain what certain things mean. So books are a good way to convey a message to anybody. Everybody reads.
Because my dad abused me, I was determined to never let a man tell me what to do. God clearly showed me that I needed to be a submissive wife if I wanted to be effective in ministry. The truth is, if we don't learn to submit to authority, we won't ever learn to submit to God.
Any time we are misused or used for a purpose other than what God intended us for, it's damaging.
It's like a jar of salad dressing sitting on a shelf... most of the seasoning settles to the bottom of the bottle. But when you shake that bottle up, all the ingredients mix together and then the dressing can add flavor to a salad. In the same way, we can stir ourselves up and regain the reverence, respect and awe we once had for the Lord.
There's a part of you - the born-again part, your spirit - that's dead to sin. That's why it bothers you now when you sin. The 'wilderness' part of you - your soul - is your unrenewed mind, out-of-control emotions, and stubborn will.
I was in my late thirties when my eyes were opened to truth in God's Word that showed me I wasn't living the abundant life Jesus died for me to have. I had a very negative mindset and was miserable most of the time because of the abuse I had experienced throughout my childhood.
I used to let other people's struggles affect my happiness. If they weren't happy, there was no way I was going to be happy. The opposite was also true: If I wasn't happy, I didn't want anyone around me to be happy.
You don't have to give way to careless speech or complaining. You don't have to let your feelings get in the way of what God wants to do in your life.
