All tagged blessing
God didn’t just decide the color of my eyes or my hair or how tall I would be. He decided if I would be an introvert or an extrovert, if I would see the world through my thoughts or my feelings, if I would be funny or unusually perceptive. He chose my natural gifts and the gifts that would be developed with practice.
I can honestly say that I am very blessed right now, even in the midst of all the grief. Why am I blessed, despite my mourning? It’s because I am being comforted in my mourning by fellow believers. Would I call myself “fortunate,” at least in the ways the world outside uses the term? Probably not. But I am most certainly blessed, in that good biblical sense of “the state in which everyone has exactly what they need right now, thanks to God’s good work in their lives”
How do I explain these seemingly unconnected events? Was I lucky? Was it a coincidence of various events? No. I believe it was God’s providence in action.
When we experience blessing, we need to be thoughtful and prayerful about what God can, or intends, to do with that blessing.
When we intentionally choose to name the blessings in our lives, we engage in a transformational experience. It gives us a lens through which we will begin to see life and God differently.
Perhaps we need to commit to be more faithful in sharing not only the good news of Jesus, but the good news about what God has done in our lives.
It’s so easy to think of others as our enemies. We can give in to the impulse to demonize, to withdraw, or to insult. What if we followed Polycarp’s example by finding ways to show hospitality?
Tabitha obviously served with love, and that love was sensed by those who were beneficiaries. She lived out her faith in a tangible way that blessed others.
As Epiphany wafts past today, let’s not miss the magnitude of the message through the Magi: the gospel is for all.
What would you be willing to lay aside for the good of someone else? Would you be willing to give up your seat? Your lunch? Your comfort? Your time? Your money?
We must understand that happiness is something we experience as we choose to pursue holiness.
Here are a few things I’ve learned while driving for Lyft, as God showed up in my backseat.
What would it mean if parents, youth leaders, children’s ministers, and whoever else wants to, took seriously the idea of blessing?
Children are not only a blessing; they play an essential role in the divine plan and the identity of God’s people.
At the end of January, Larry Henderson was a plane captain for a special secret skydiving jump.
I wrote the following prayer a couple of years ago when asked to give a blessing over students entering the final program years of their degree at ACU.
Lord, it’s Sunday morning, and I’m at home;
the community is meeting, but I’m alone with you.
