A Sure Sign That You Complain Too Much

It’s funny the things you remember about your childhood.

The last few days I’ve been thinking about my mom and worms. My mom did not like worms as far as I can recall. However, she did talk about eating them on occasion.

One day when my sister and I were complaining about how the other one received something better than we had, mom told us a joke. In this story, a mother leaves the father alone to take care of their little boy. She leaves very strict instructions. “Give him whatever he asks for – no exceptions.”

Getting Gut Honest with God

Getting Gut Honest with God is a good way to start your week.

How to Tell Yourself the Truth

As a Christian, how can I develop a healthy self-image?

Image: Dundee Photographics / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

THE PROBLEM:

Very few people have an accurate and healthy view of themselves.

THE SYMPTOMS:

When you receive a compliment what do you do?  Have you ever caught yourself thinking or saying something to cancel it out?

• “You wouldn’t say that if you really knew me.”
• “You just said that because you feel sorry for me.”

Don’t Do These 9 Things When You Can’t Feel God’s Presence

What should I do when I can’t feel God’s presence?

Please avoid these nine reactions to not feeling God’s presence.

Don’t Panic

Your relationship with God cannot disappear over night.  While there have been those who shipwrecked their faith it doesn’t happen accidentally.  Unless you’ve deliberately have walked away from Jesus there is another reason you can’t feel his presence.

Reasons for Thanksgiving

In a few days our nation will set aside a day for expressing gratitude.  Many families will gather together to share laughter, tears and good food.  There will be pies, cakes and football on TV.  Shoppers will make plans for “Black Friday.”  There may be a prayer offered to give thanks.  Some families will insist each person express thanks for something before they eat.  Others will dive right in. There will also be people who wonder what reason, if any, there is for giving thanks.  

What about you?  How are you doing at finding reasons to thank God?

I’ve been thinking about the last 12 months or so.  I began by listing the really big events of the year.  The big ones for me are (1) lots of changes in my wife’s work; (2) the birth of my first blog; (3) my writing mentor Cheryl Moeller connected me to the fine writers at The Barn Door; and (4) learning a great deal about writing and social media.  As I reflect on these events, I find several reasons to thank God.

What is forgiveness?

Forgiven!

Forgiveness is turning the anger and bitterness caused by a hurt over to God.

Stress Relief for Christians

Are there spiritual ways to relieve stress?

On one hand, many of us who strive to follow Jesus are as distressed as the average secular person.  On the other hand, Jesus was called the Prince of Peace.  He promised a peace that the world could not give.  The apostle Paul declared we can experience a peace that defies comprehension.  What are we missing?

Stress Relief for Christians

1. Rest in God’s grace.  You cannot make God love you more or less by the things you do and say.  All you do as a follower of Jesus should flow out of love for God not fear of him.
2. Pray with thanksgiving and confident trust.  Tell God about your needs.  Thank him for his blessings and believe in his desire to keep on caring for you.
3. Meditate (think deeply) about Bible passages.  Write out a verse of Scripture and read it at least five times a day until it saturates your mind and you can think about it at will.
4. Care for your loved ones.  Giving and receiving love is a wonderful stress reliever.
5. Show compassion on those in need.  As you allow God to love others through your acts of compassion, some of his love splashes on you.
6. Sings songs of praise.  Worship helps put things in perspective.  Many things we stress about are not worth the effort.  Praising God helps bring us back to reality.
7. Spend time contemplating God’s creation.  Go for a walk in the woods or on the beach.  Lay back and watch the stars fill the night sky.  Watch a small child at play.

You can experience the peace only Jesus can give.  Make an appointment to do one of these things with him today.

QUESTION OF THE DAY:

How do you handle stress as a follower of Jesus??

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• Don’t Worry?
• Anxiety and worry consume my days.
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Handling Doubt About Salvation

Is it normal for a person to doubt his or her salvation, and how should that doubt be handled?

From time to time most Christians have questions about their relationship with God.  In that sense it is normal for you to feel this way.

3 Sources of Doubt

• You — You can focus on people and media sources that belittle your faith and lead you into doubt.
• Satan — The forces of evil that seek to cut every human being off from God will bombard you with reasons not to believe.
• God’s Holy Spirit — Sometimes we confuse the Spirit’s work in our lives with something more negative. So, the doubt is not really from the Holy Spirit. It’s from our misinterpretation of his work. I’ll explain this more in a moment.

3 Causes of Doubt

• Ignorance — If you don’t grasp the power of God’s grace to forgive and to bring you into his family, you may think you need to do something more to gain his loving approval. Most days you will not measure up and you will wonder if God has disowned you.
• Guilt and Condemnation — Everyone of us fails to live up to the ideal set for us by Jesus. Occasionally, you may fall back into an act or attitude from your past. More often than that, you may fail to do something good for another person. Satan (the accuser) will gladly point out all your mistakes, failures and sins in order to convince you that you’re hopeless.  He simply wants you to give up and to quit following Jesus.
• Conviction — This is the work of the Spirit which can confuse you if you aren’t careful.  The Holy Spirit knows all about your mistakes, failures and sins.  However, he will come alongside of you saying, “Let’s work on this together.”  If you are unaware of his intention to help you become more like Jesus, you might think you need to earn God’s approval.

Only One Way to Handle Doubt

• Trust — This is the key to all healthy relationships, both human and spiritual. Trust God’s promise to forgive and to cleanse you when you confess your mistakes, failures and sins. Trust Jesus when he said he is the way to know your Heavenly Father.

QUESTION OF THE DAY:

What have you done to handle doubt in your relationship with Jesus?

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Related posts:

• Disarming “What if” questions
• Doubts & Faith
• What is faith?

Image: Danilo Rizzuti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Repost: Why does God let bad things happen to children?

This post has been found most often by people doing searches so I thought it would be good to repost it with some revisions.

How could God allow a mad man to kill Christina Green, a lovely 9-year-old girl in Tuscon, AZ?  What possible good could this tragedy serve?  Why did God allow it?  In a broader sense, why do bad things happen to children?  Why does our loving God allow a child to die of starvation or related causes every few seconds?  Why does he allow these little ones to be abused, molested, maimed or killed?

Allow me to begin by pointing out that the why question is essentially unanswerable.

If something horrible happened to my granddaughter, you could not comfort me with a list of reasons implying it had to happen.  Think about it with me.  If Jesus himself appeared to you now and said your child will fall ill tomorrow and he gave you a list of reasons, how would you respond?

Nap time on Grandpa's chest

I know what I would do.  I would start arguing with him.  I’d suggest alternatives.  I’d plead for the illness to fall on me and not my child.  There are no reasons good enough to answer this question.  Bearing that in mind, I’d like to make a few observations about God, children and the why question.

God is not afraid of this question.

In fact, his people have asked why for thousands of years.   Some of them are recorded in the Bible’s song book — the book of Psalms.

O LORD, why do you stand so far away?  Why do you hide when I am in trouble? (Psalm 10:1)

My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?  Why are you so far away when I groan for help?  (Psalm 22:1)

“O God my rock,” I cry, “Why have you forgotten me?  Why must I wander around in grief, oppressed by my enemies?” (Psalm 42:9)

  For you are God, my only safe haven.  Why have you tossed me aside?  Why must I wander around in grief, oppressed by my enemies?  (Psalm 43:2)

  Wake up, O Lord! Why do you sleep?  Get up! Do not reject us forever.  Why do you look the other way?  Why do you ignore our suffering and oppression? (Psalm 44:23-24)

Children are especially dear to God too.  Our love and empathy for their pain is a faint reflection of how the Lord feels about them.  God is working all the time through those who are advocates for the hurting children.  His love flows into their lives through their caregivers.

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” (Matthew 19:14)

Jesus put a little child among them.  Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not only me but also my Father who sent me.”  (Mark 9:36-37)

Jesus said, “And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me.  But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.”  (Matthew 18:5-6)

God is closer to us when we are asking why then perhaps any other time.

He has not abandoned us.  One of the mysteries of the crucifixion is that at the same time God the Son was dying for our sins, he felt forsaken by God.

At three o’clock Jesus called out with a loud voice, … “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”  (Mark 15:34)

That means that when you do not understand why bad things are happening God knows how you feel.  He knows what it’s like to ask the unanswerable question and hear silence in response.  You are not approaching a distant, disconnected Deity.  Our God understands our weaknesses and pain. (Hebrews 4:15)  So, feel free to turn to the Lord and cry out your why questions.  He will welcome you.  He will enfold you in his arms and share your tears.  You will not receive a list of reasons but he will give you help and comfort in your time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)

Credit: Free photos from acobox.com

If this post has been helpful to you perhaps you will enjoy one of these.

• Is God unfair?
• Is God silent?
• Is God Hidden or Hiding?
• Why didn’t Jesus do something?

What do you think about this?  Tell me in the comments section.  By the way, if this post has helped you use one of the buttons below to share it with your friends.  Thank you.

Letting Go of Your Past: Saying good-bye to failure, guilt & shame

Pastor, my past is full of pain. I was abused in just about every way you can imagine. I’ve hurt others and let others down. How can I let go of my past and move into the future God planned for me?

I have a  few suggestions for saying good-bye to your past failure, guilt & shame. These will be most helpful to you if you use them in conjunction with professional counseling.

Put your past behind you.

• You are a new creation since you became a committed follower of Jesus. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
• Forget the old things.  This is far easier said than done, but force yourself to expect a better future. (Isaiah 43:18)

Allow God to love you in spite of the guilt and shame you may feel. Remember:

• God’s love never fails.  His love is as tenacious as a pit bull. He will not let go. (Psalm 48:9)
• God’s love surpasses parental love. Your parents may have failed you or abused you but God will not. His love for you is greater than every human parent’s love.(Isaiah 49:15-16)
• God’s love is unending. He always has and always will attempt to draw you to himself in love. (Jeremiah 31:3)
• Personalize John 3:16 and think about it  several times each day.

God loved me so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that as I believe in him I will not perish but have an unending relationship with him that starts here and now.

• God’s love is unconditional and sacrificial. You can receive and experience it. (Romans 5:5-8)

Set your eyes on the prize God has in store for you.

• Focus on the finish line instead of what is behind you. (Philippians 3:10-14)
• Concentrate on Heaven where your experience of God’s love will only be deeper than it is now. (Colossians 3:1-4)
• Set your hope on God’s grace and his unbelievably deep desire to know you both now and forever. (1 Peter 1:13-16)

Take steps to move on.

• Meditate on specific Bible passages that remind you of God’s love and grace. (Joshua 1:6-9)
• Develop an obedient lifestyle. Do what you know what God wants you to do. (1 John 1:5-2:6)
• Pray. Pray. Pray and keep on praying. (Philippians 4:4-9)

If this post has helped you, perhaps you will enjoy these as well.

• Freedom from Guilt
• How can I “give thanks in all things”?
• Repost at Relevant Brokenness: White Shirt of Life
• That’s Just “Weird” at Not About Me

How have you let go of your past?  Tell me in the comments section.  By the way, if this post has helped you use one of the buttons below to share it with your friends.  Thank you.

Credit: Free photos from acobox.com