This week, we read that God’s No. 1 goal for us is love. It’s the greatest commandment (Jesus said so!), and it trumps all of our other goals. With that in mind, let’s focus on placing high value on our relationships in the coming week:
(Wednesday) What worries you? God already knows; talk to him about it. Claim his promise of peace and trust him in faith (Philippians 4:6-7).
This week, we read that God’s No. 1 goal for us is love. It’s the greatest commandment (Jesus said so!), and it trumps all of our other goals. With that in mind, let’s focus on placing high value on our relationships in the coming week:
(Tuesday) What do you “love”? A favorite music artist? Chocolate? Your family? Your new car? Profess your love to God today. He loves you even more!
It should come as no surprise, if you know me well at all, that I am not a fan of heights. I used to be a theme park fanatic, but my enjoyment of roller coasters disappeared like a freshly fried funnel cake when I grew up. I will still ride them to save face with my kids, but I don’t enjoy them nearly as much as I used to.
More specifically, I do not like bridges. In part, I blame the “Natural Frequency” video that we watched in high school. My usual commute to work takes me across one large overpass. It doesn’t usually bother me unless the weather is bad. (For instance, I took a different route to work all last week when we had icy mornings.)
I should have thought about that this morning, because the fog was so dense, visibility was limited to three or four car lengths ahead of me. At one point, I tapped my brakes to give a dump truck behind me ample warning that we were slowing down quickly. It looked like it was approaching much too quickly, and sure enough, the driver had to veer off onto the shoulder to keep from rear-ending me. I had checked my side mirrors and was prepared to swerve into the other lane if necessary, but thankfully it was ok.
As I followed a slow line of vehicles up the foggy on-ramp of the overpass, it occurred to me that none of us could see the top of the bridge, much less the other side. For all we knew, the bridge could have snapped like that awful video, and we were being led to our doom like the Pied Piper’s rats.
I thought about walking through the fog, metaphorically speaking, each and every day. I can’t see what’s at the top of the bridge, much less what awaits me on the downhill side. I have two hands on the wheel and a tentative foot hovering over the brake, but when it comes down to it, I have to trust that my Bridge will support me.
This week, we read that God’s No. 1 goal for us is love. It’s the greatest commandment (Jesus said so!), and it trumps all of our other goals. With that in mind, let’s focus on placing high value on our relationships in the coming week:
(Monday) Think about your personal goals and ask God to help you prioritize them according to his will. Is something detracting your focus from God?
This week, we read that God’s No. 1 goal for us is love. It’s the greatest commandment (Jesus said so!), and it trumps all of our other goals. With that in mind, let’s focus on placing high value on our relationships in the coming week:
(Sunday) Spend some time today praying for the key people in your life. What does God want you to do to make the most of those relationships?
We are taught from grade school forward that we need to set goals in life: Make a plan. Set short-range and long-term goals. “Winners never quit; quitters never win!” We use to-do lists, business models and degree plans. With all of these planning tools at our disposal, you would think that we’d have a clue about what is going on in our lives.
So, what is your No. 1 goal in life?
Is your priority to stay (or become) fit/healthy/attractive? The Bible describes our bodies as God’s temple because the Holy Spirit dwells in us (check out 1 Corinthians 3), but it also warns that the pursuit of godliness is more important than physical training (1 Timothy 4:8). Is it wrong to want to be fit? Of course not … unless it becomes more important than your relationship with God.
Is your goal to become wealthy? Being financially stable can be a good thing! There are at least 123 verses in the Bible using the term “giving” and 158 with the word “gift.” However, Luke 18:25 reminds us that it is difficult for the wealthy to know God if they become too dependent on their riches.
Maybe you are a driven professional whose focus is career-centered, and your biggest goal is to climb to the highest rung of the corporate ladder. While 2 Thessalonians 3:10 warns about the pitfalls of laziness and unwillingness to work, James chapter 1 also has a lot to say to over-achievers about pride and humility.
If all of our goals can have an upside and a downside, then what are we to do? What should our No. 1 goal in life be? Our new series based on a book by Tom Holladay: “The Relationship Principles of Jesus” that will help answer that question.
The Bible promises that Christ is returning someday! Let’s continue with Hebrews 10:25 (NIV) as today’s prayer: Help us not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but keep encouraging one another—and all the more as we see the Day approaching.
I haven’t had much time to write for fun lately, but I do have a few projects on the backburner that I want to get back to eventually. Character development is an important part of any story, and one seemingly minor detail that is especially difficult for me is name selection.
When I think of the antagonist role in my tales, several names pop into my mind almost immediately. Is the “bad guy” a jock who acts like he is all that and a bag of chips? Perhaps I should call him Kenny and add a scene where he pops rubber bands across the classroom at the protagonist. Or, is it a pretentious female who makes everyone around her feel miserable and inferior? Ooh, Erica would be a good name, especially if she walks with a bounce and flips her ponytail! These are just two examples of real-life antagonists in my own experience that would be so tempting to incorporate into my works of fiction. (I would say that the names were changed to protect the innocent, but they aren’t exactly innocent, and I doubt there’s a snowball’s chance in Hades that either of them will ever stumble across my humble blog.)
Fiction, while often sparked by true stories, has to be different enough that the plot takes on a life of its own. The same holds true the other way around: the protagonist, the hunk, the hero(ine) … can’t be too closely related to any real person. Perhaps one of my tales will have a character similar to people I have encountered in my own life, but I shouldn’t be writing a memoir; it’s supposed to be a make-believe story.
I thought about this today when I wrote a haiku based on the first line prompt: “My message to X:” (I’ve mentioned before about one of my favorite bloggers who hosts Haiku Fridays; today’s prompt was a message to someone.) I chose to write about the inspirations behind the characters in my stories:
My message to X:
Pen to paper; dreams in ink –
Yes, you are my muse.
Today, let’s reword Hebrews 10:23-24 (NIV) into a personal prayer: Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for You who promised are faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
As part of our “Radical” New Year series at church, everyone was challenged to read the whole Bible in the coming year. We have a One Year Bible for Kids that we bought a couple of years ago (best laid plans of mice and men, right?), so we decided to get serious and accept the challenge.
I’m happy to report that the daily reading has become part of our bedtime routine, and on the off-chance that we forget, the boys will remind us. In fact, the older three like taking turns reading that day’s passage. Last Sunday, the pastor asked who was keeping up with their reading, and it made me smile when all of the boys raised their hands.
Tonight was the first night that No. 3 (the 1st grader) read the whole entry by himself (with a little help from the 11yo on some tough words, but for the most part by himself)! It took a lot longer than a more fluent reader, but it was worth it to hear him reading. He was so proud of himself, and so was I.
We’re up to Moses dividing the Red Sea (what an amazing passage!), and I love that the boys recognize some of the stories. Tonight, No. 5 whispered to me while No. 3 was reading, “Is tomorrow Joshua? Because Joshua comes after Moses.” I whispered back that we still had to get to the part where Moses gets the 10 Commandments, and then we’ll get to Joshua pretty soon. He nodded and replied, “Oh, yeah – right.” 🙂
I don’t mean to over-analyze things, but something interesting occurred to me tonight. I was thinking about God’s Word and how the Bible plays such an important role in our spiritual development. There are passages about hiding God’s words in our hearts, claiming his promises, quoting Scripture to rebuke the enemy, etc. It’s powerful! What really hit me was the thought that if the boys have God’s Word in their hearts, then there is less room for the enemy to infiltrate. It’s a seed that we’re planting & fertilizing, which I hope & pray will spread like clover and uproot anything that the enemy is trying to cultivate. There’s more to that statement than I can really delve into here, but the thought was a pleasant reminder to me that God is mightier than even our heredity. He can break the strongholds of generations past. Amen!
faith, sweat & tears 