Month: January 2023

Where Faith Is Deepened

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We all like it when things are going well and life is comfortable.  Who wouldn’t?  Things are going well, no major issues to worry about, you just live each day.  That sounds good to me!  However much I enjoy it when things are going well, when I look in the rearview mirror of my life, I’ve noticed that most of my growth has occurred when things aren’t going well.

My family is currently dealing the with passing of a close relative, which has been the opposite of “things going well” and “comfortable”.  What I’m finding during this season, is that this is where I really get to put into practice the things I say I believe.  This is where I get to apply my faith I subscribe to when things are going well.  This is where faith gets stretched and tested.

For me, these events over the course of my life have deepened my faith.  That doesn’t mean these events have been easy or trouble free.  Quite the contrary!  Yet each time I’m guided by my faith, and each time I’m more confident that my faith will see me through the next time.   

Forgiveness

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This week’s post is simple:  If you need to ask someone for forgiveness, do it immediately.  I had a choice to do that this week.

This week, a great friend of mine pointed out a behavior to me that falls well below my personal standards.  It wasn’t terribly easy to hear, but I could recognize the truth in what he said.  As I pondered his words later that day, I got the Holy Spirit prompting that I needed to ask this friend for forgiveness.

We have a choice when we know we need to ask for forgiveness.  We can either do it (obey the prompting of the Holy Spirit for Jesus followers) or make excuses why we don’t need to seek forgiveness.  In these situations, our excuses not to seek forgiveness are usually just lame excused to protect our pride.

I am blessed that my friend gave me forgiveness.  When I think about it, had I instead chosen to protect my pride (which is easy for me to do!), it could have cost me a dear friend.  In my book, that was far too high a price to pay.

I tell you that to encourage you to seek forgiveness when you know it’s what you need to do, so that you don’t wind up making a relationally costly mistake. 

Still Have Work To Do

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“The only way we can be of use to God is to let Him take us through the crooks and crannies of our own characters.  It is astounding how ignorant we are about ourselves!”

~Oswald Chambers; My Utmost for His Highest

I’m going to talk about God, so if that’s not for you, I’ll see you next week!  😊

As I read this on January 12, 2023 this year, I was reminded that I need to continually let God point out the elements of my character that needs work.  For me, this will be a life-long pursuit.

It’s foolish to think that my character is as good as it can be, and therefore, needs no more of my attention.  That kind of mindset would cause me to miss opportunities for God to show me where I could grow my character, because I want to be more like the person He wants me to be.

Are there crooks and crannies of your character that you need to let God into?  If so, invite Him in, and be receptive to the changes He wants to make in you.

Changing For A Change

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Journaling is something that I really enjoy doing.  I like its reflective aspects, as well as how it causes me to look forward with an eager anticipation of the good things to come.  I just feel like I do life better when I’m journaling versus when I’m not.

The problem I have, is that I’m incredibly inconsistent in my journal writing.

I’ve decided that I need to greatly increase the frequency of my journal writing this year.  As such, I’ve changed a couple of things that I expect will cause my journal writing frequency to increase, not just this year, but for many years to come.

For starters, I’ve been waking up 15 minutes earlier.  (I know, “What a novel idea!”)  I’ve also, integrated journaling as part of my morning routine, right between reading the Bible and eating my morning oatmeal.  My morning routine is solidly established, so by getting up a little earlier, and adding journaling between 2 regular activities, I stand a very high chance of making journaling an established part of the routine as well.

I’ve also made a couple other changes that are more conducive to journaling, like where I sit when I read the Bible, and keeping my journal in that location.  That way, it’s already there when I show up to read.

This year, I determined that I needed to make a change (or two) in order to make journaling a regular habit.  The problem I’ve had in the past is that I’ve always wanted to journal more, but I didn’t change anything significant to cause that to happen.  So far, I’m off to a good start!

Are there any changes you need to make for a change?