trials

How to Be Joyful

“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 3:13,14 The book of Philippians is called the epistle of joy. It carries a theme about how to be a joyful, happy person. Its author, Paul, was an amazing man and servant of God who wrote many New Testament books. Guess where Paul was when he composed this letter? In a dark, dingy prison cell; he was confined. We all agree that prison life is tough, but it was probably ten times worse 2,000 years ago. And yet, Paul was there, talking about his joy. Why was he so happy? The scripture illustrates that joy was set before

January 10, 2023 2 Comments

Wisdom’s Framework

“He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.” – Isaiah 33:6 Even though he was in the thick of trials and up to his ears with problems, King Solomon recognized that there would be more value in understanding how to deal with them than if they disappeared. This is an excellent frame of mind to maintain as we enter the new year. It’s fascinating to me that God not only honored the wise king’s request for wisdom, He assured him that he would have more of it than anyone else on earth. Beyond that, He promised that all the things he wanted but hadn’t asked for would be added to him — wealth, honor, and a long life. I believe this is because the Lord knew that if his

December 28, 2022 No Comments

God’s Promise of Joy

“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.” – John 17:13 In the next several Positive Minutes, we will explore how to weave the important threads of experiencing God’s joy, into the fabric of our lives. Did you know that joy is a part of God’s promise to us? It’s in the Bible. It’s a part of the promise of our new life in Christ, and it’s not just something we get when we go to Heaven. It’s actually something that you get when Heaven goes into you. This means that joy is there when the Holy Spirit dwells inside our hearts and bodies, even if we’re going through personal turmoil and trials. When we experience God’s joy but fall into adversity there is something inside us

October 17, 2022 No Comments

You Are Antifragile

“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” – Romans 5:3-5 Today we will continue with part two of examining three cultural keys. Each point is vital and will add significant value to your life! Yesterday we spoke about the importance of connecting with others. Today’s key is we are antifragile. Antifragile is a word coined by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, one of my favorite authors. He said the opposite of fragile is not robust, it’s antifragile. Antifragile means that small amounts of harm cause a person, place, or thing to become better. I consider books to be antifragile. The best way to get a book to sell is

October 14, 2022 No Comments

Do Your Best and Forget the Rest

“As Scripture says, ‘Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.’ ” – Romans 10:11 Today I want to talk about the importance of not allowing the feeling of shame into your spiritual life. Shame is not from the Lord, and it’s destructive to our psyche. No matter how many scriptures we read or how many hymns we sing about God taking away our shame, many of us still look in the mirror and blame ourselves incessantly when we’ve messed up. We beat ourselves up mentally by saying, “I’m not patient enough, I’m not strong enough, I’m not compassionate enough.” Yes, it’s important to become self-aware when we mess up, as in we own it, we repent, and we take responsibility for it, but wallowing in shame is not God’s plan and not God’s best for your life. He did not give up His only beloved Son

August 18, 2022 No Comments

Wish You Were Better

“And yet I will show you the most excellent way.” – 1 Corinthians 12:31b We’ve all heard of the expression, “When it rains, it pours,” and I’m also certain we’ve all lived it. Maybe you went from being a little bored to having a ton of responsibility. Or everything was running smoothly, and then challenges were popping up from left to right, leaving you to wonder if you could handle it all. I remember when this happened to me. Hannah and I were planting a church Tree of Life and invested all of our tithes and offerings into the community without taking a salary; I was in graduate school, and I had some odd and end jobs. We purchased our home, and then our daughter Haven was born. It was a lot to handle, and I had a bizarre emotional collapse. As I worked through the tears, I sought the

July 7, 2022 No Comments

Your Pilot Light

“You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.” – Psalm 18:28 A friend once asked me, “what does it mean to live in the Spirit or to have the Spirit inside of you?” I can understand him seeking guidance on this concept, because it perplexes people all the time. As we walk through life, we don’t always feel the Spirit of God on the inside. In response to this, the Lord gave me this revelation when I was contemplating how to answer my friend. When you’re baptized, God puts a “pilot light” inside of you. You know what a pilot light is, it’s in your fireplace or your stove. It’s a little blue, almost invisible light that provides the flame needed to light the gas coming out of the main burner. At times you almost need a flashlight to find it. It hardly gives off

July 4, 2022 No Comments

The Suffering Savior

“Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again, saying, ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ And they slapped him in the face.” – John 19:1-3 Having just celebrated Easter, the death and resurrection of our Savior Jesus is fresh on our minds. There’s no better time to remember the long and painful road our Savior endured to get to the cross. After three years of difficult public ministry that were no doubt physically, emotionally and spiritually draining, He was betrayed by one of His own disciples. He was turned over to Roman authorities, who, after pressure from the zealots among His people, agreed to have Him killed. As if the sentence of death by crucifixion wasn’t horrendous enough, He was beaten to

April 19, 2022 No Comments

God’s Presence in a Prison

“Some time later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt. Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same prison where Joseph was confined. The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them. After they had been in custody for some time, each of the two men—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were being held in prison—had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own.” – Genesis 40:1-5 Yesterday, we looked at how Joseph repeatedly endured hardship and unjust persecution, even while trying to do everything right! After Potiphar’s wife accused him of raping her, he was sent to prison, and in just

April 16, 2022 No Comments

Utterly Pure and Persecuted

“Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, ‘Come to bed with me!’ But he refused. ‘With me in charge,’ he told her, ‘my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care…One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. She caught him by his cloak and said, ‘Come to bed with me!’ But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.” – Genesis 39:7-9,11,12 Yesterday, we looked at the beginning of the story of Joseph. He was a young and naive dreamer who was sold into slavery by his brothers in their jealousy. After being sold, Joseph’s saga progressed, and he ended up in the household of a wealthy Egyptian named

April 15, 2022 1 Comment

How to Be Joyful

Wisdom’s Framework

God’s Promise of Joy

You Are Antifragile

Do Your Best and Forget the Rest

Wish You Were Better

Your Pilot Light

The Suffering Savior

God’s Presence in a Prison

Utterly Pure and Persecuted

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