"Do You Love and Appreciate You? Here's Why It Matters"
God’s greatest gift to you … is YOU!
Without you, you do not exist.
God made you on purpose, with purpose.
You are not a random mixture of ingredients, but rather the culmination of desire, intent and planning – orchestrated by God. You are exactly what He thought of when He dreamt of you. He used your family lines, history, geography and circumstances to form you. You are His personal handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works that He has prepared in advance for you. (Ephesians 2:10)
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Our two primary responses to God’s personal gift are to love Him with all that we have and to love our neighbors as ourselves. (Mark 12:30-31) There are three love objects mentioned in this Great Command and Commission: God, others and ourselves.Â
In my faith circles, I have heard a great deal about loving God and loving others, but I haven’t heard much about rightly loving myself. Rather, such a thought has often been looked at with suspicion – as if it is a selfish and/or self-absorbed ...
What Do You Want?
Some people live to fulfill their wants. It’s as if they were born knowing very clearly what they like, dislike and want. Others find it more difficult to clarify and express their desires. Toward which end of this scale do you lean?
It is unhealthy to be driven by our desires, neglecting the promptings, direction or call of the Lord. It is equally unhealthy for us to be ignorant of the desires God has put within us. It is very important to be aware of our internal desires and learn to bring them to God for His sharpening and supply.
Prayer is the appointed Kingdom means for obtaining what we need. Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8).
Matthew Henry wrote in response to these verses, “Pray; pray often; make a business of prayer, and be serious and earnest in it.”.
We must learn to ope...
Navigating God's Purpose and Your Desires
Can you articulate some of the primary needs, desires and burdens that you are carrying these days?Â
God wants you to express, to Him, the things are important to you.  He is often more interested in our needs than we realize. You may not have what you want “Because you don’t ask God.” (James 4:2)
Our desires can become problematic, however. When we become obsessed with our “stuff,” when our concerns become too much of a priority, they can become toxic and destructive to our souls. Our wishes may seem harmless at first, but as they become a fixation in our lives, they begin to diminish our world. It is as if can only see the object of our obsession. God wants to raise our eyes.
1 Kings speaks of a widow who, along with her son, was starving . She was about to prepare her last meal for the two of them when she met the prophet Elijah. He said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do what you have [planned]. But first make a small cake of bread for me and then make something for y...
Are You Learning and Practicing Your Part(s)?
What comes to your mind when you hear the word “Church”?
If you are like most people, you think of buildings, clergy (professional ministers) rituals and programs. This is the working definition that is deeply embedded not only in our country, but in most places of the world. It has been the way people have thought of church for ages.
How inspiring are those words to you? Â Do they feel life-giving and transformational? Â Does this description sound or look like what Jesus said or did?
Chapter 4, of the Book of Ephesians, gives us a much richer understanding.  It mentions 5 “Ascension Gifts” or spiritual enablements that Jesus wired into the identity, calling and resources of the church when He ascended to heaven.
 “Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.”  Ephesians 4:11-12 NLT
 The Church is ...
What Do You Want and How Much Do You Want It?
How can you tell how badly someone wants something? There seem to be two primary indicators. First, how hard are they trying to get what they want? Second, how long are they willing to keep trying?  How much someone wants something is often a function of both factors – intensity and perseverance.
Once, when I arrived at Logan airport late for my flight, the passion with which I pleaded for mercy and help from the airline administrator indicated that I wanted very badly to be placed on that plane immediately. Passion, intensity and the exertion of energy often indicate deep desire. Sometimes, however, shear hard work is not enough to get what you want; it requires sustained effort over a long period of time.  Lincoln demonstrated, through his unwillingness to give up after repeated political losses and failures, that he really wanted to become president of the United States. From time to time a wall must be struck repeatedly, over a long period of time, before it finally gives way.
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