I grew up in Shenandoah, a small farming town in Southwest Iowa,

35 miles from Nebraska and 13 miles from Missouri. Corn is the primary agricultural crop in the state.
continue readingI grew up in Shenandoah, a small farming town in Southwest Iowa,
35 miles from Nebraska and 13 miles from Missouri. Corn is the primary agricultural crop in the state.
continue readingBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Ephesians 1:3
We have a universally accepted funny saying here in the South. It goes like this: “You can say anything you want, good or bad, about anyone and it will be alright as long as you follow it up by saying, “Bless his/her heart.”
continue readingWhen we use, or you hear someone use the word “try” that means “self” is vying for control. Self is
assuming responsibility. Super responsibility. That’s not a good thing.
Continue readingBut he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9
If you watch much TV you discover there is a vitamin, a cream, a lotion, a diet, a pill, a vacation spot, or a breakfast cereal that will empower you and bring you happiness and good health and long life all for only $19.95.
Lately I’ve noticed that some of these products promise you they’ll empower you to face and conquer life’s challenges and become the successful person you’ve always wanted to be.
How gullible some of us are to believe that there’s power in a pill or breakfast cereal. Or that we will be empowered to leap tall buildings in a single bound if we brush with a certain brand of empowering toothpaste.
We are woefully misguided if any of us believes he or she has the ability to generate any power on our own. Many of us rely on our own resources to generate self power, which is not real power. If we rely on our flesh to produce power, we will surely fail and become frustrated.
The only Power that is beneficial or helpful to us is the power that comes from God. That power resides in the life of Jesus Christ. If we believe in Jesus as our Savior we reside in him. To access his awesome power we must become weak and surrender our flesh to him. The weaker we become the more power becomes available to us through Christ..
in a previous post we said our two greatest needs are love and acceptance and work and value you probably noticed I mentioned four needs, but we lumped love and acceptance together and worth and valiue together. But (in this writer’s opinion), acceptance is the greatest of all our needs by a country mile.
Acceptance is the nucleus of all our relationships, from the most intimate of marital relationships to our acquaintances on the fringes of our sphere of influence..
As a curious adolescent teenage boy I craved my dad’s acceptance. I don’t believe I ever got it. There were isolated incidence where he showed pride in some accomplishment of mine that I took as acceptance but those times were few and far between. Our relationship was adversarial until after I’d become a father myself.
My friend Daniel (Webster) describes acceptance as a “state of being desired or wanted, belonging, or having worth.” if we don’t feel acceptance in our lives, we may try to find it in a gang or a cult. We may seek acceptance in unsavory places or with unsavory people or social outcasts–anywhere or with anyone who engenders those feelings that make us feel desired or gives us a sense of belonging no matter how toxic or unhealthy the relationship,.
My friend Daniel (Webster) describes acceptance as a “state of being desired or wanted, belonging, or having worth.” if we don’t feel acceptance in our lives, we may try find it in a gang or a cult. We may seek acceptance in unsavory places or with unsavory people or social outcasts–anywhere or with anyone who engenders those feelings that make us feel desired or gives us a sense of belonging no matter how toxic,unhealthy, or harmful the relationship is.
Feelings of acceptance from friends and loved ones is central to our true identity in Christ. Feeling truly accepted by Christ and accepting others as Christ sees them are essential for knowing and living out of our true identity in Christ.
More on acceptance in future posts.
The Bible tells us over and over again not to worry. Jesus commands us not to worry,
One night this week I couldn’t get this late because I was worrying about a financial matter I thought I had forgot to deal with. I tossed and turned for hours, not praying about it, not asking God to handle it. I almost got up in the middle of the night bowring to try to resolve it on my own so I wouldn’t have to “worry” about it anymore and get some sleep.
After tossing and turningfor hours, I finally dozed off for a few hours of fitful sleep. The next morning I got up and went right to the paperwork I needed to resolve the issue with the company with which I had the issues.
After looking at the paperwork, I discovered it wasn’t even an issue. There was no there there. So I wasted viable hours I could have been sleeping worrying about an issue that wasn’t even an issue. God gently reminded me that he will take care of things like that if I just stop worrying and let him handle things like that.
Will I ever learn? Will we ever learn? The admonition, the command, “Don’t worry” is in the Bible so often for a very good reason. The things we assign worry to, the things we think we should take case of ourselves, God wants to handle. Will we ever trust God enough not to worry and allow God to care for us the way He wants to?
They can’t tell you where the storm will strike, when the storn will strike, or how bad the storm will be. Weather savvy meteoroligists at the TV station draw this wide cone on the screen hedging their bets with their best scientific guesses. It’s called the cone of uncertainty. It’s used to describe where weather experts believe the eye of the storm could possibly travel.
Despite all the sophisticated high-tech weather stuff, their “best” guesses are still uncertain. Continue reading
“Well, [pause] yes,” he said. [Pause again] “Sometimes you may have to.” Continue reading
"...Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper." 1 Kings 19: 11-12
Sharing God's love with the world, one heart at a time.
Where irrationality trumps reason
I Dare You to Figure Me Out
Sharing the Gospel message of hope, strength, love, and peace through Jesus Christ to those who are hurting in their soul or spirit. This is the mission of Healthy Mind Ministry
Hope For Needful Things
Del Parkerson's Blog
Beholding and reflecting the glory of the Lord through glass.
"He sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." (Matt. 5:45)
Applying Faith in our Life
Wheelchair Reflections of Sacred Wonder
Inspiration and Encouragement for Widows
Grace, hope and Truth for each day.
if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing!!!!
Let's Talk!
Prime my subconscious, one hint at a time
Create Your Own Happiness
"...Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper." 1 Kings 19: 11-12
Sharing God's love with the world, one heart at a time.
Where irrationality trumps reason
I Dare You to Figure Me Out
Sharing the Gospel message of hope, strength, love, and peace through Jesus Christ to those who are hurting in their soul or spirit. This is the mission of Healthy Mind Ministry
Hope For Needful Things
Del Parkerson's Blog
Beholding and reflecting the glory of the Lord through glass.
"He sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." (Matt. 5:45)
Applying Faith in our Life
Wheelchair Reflections of Sacred Wonder
Inspiration and Encouragement for Widows
Grace, hope and Truth for each day.
if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing!!!!
Let's Talk!
Prime my subconscious, one hint at a time
Create Your Own Happiness