The Christmas season is almost here! Many people are getting excited. How about you? Christmas tree, lights, candles, beautiful music, gifts, special foods, and Advent. In fact, Advent starts in just a few days.
Incidentally, have you wondered what Advent is about? What’s the purpose? What value does Advent bring to your modern, extremely busy life – especially during one of the busiest months of the year?
I’ve known a handful of people who know just what to say in any given moment. Their words are refreshing and fitting. Afterall, “The right word spoken at the right time is as beautiful as gold apples in a silver bowl.”(Prov. 25:11) But I’ve also known people who definitely do not have that skill. So, it’s reasonable to conclude – your words matter. Thanksgiving is an opportunity to express words of strong gratitude to family, friends, to God, and into your own soul. Today’s content explores how your words matter.
Every person I know has lived through some pretty tough challenges. So many stories, my own among them. And I bet you have stories, too. So, a question for you: when everything seems tumultuous, when you can’t see, or when you feel overwhelmed and tired, how do you get through tough times well? There’s help by exploring two ways to live.
Have you ever been surprised by a small thing that turned out to be a pretty big thing? I had that experience in my quiet time recently. Several “game-changer” ideas landed significantly as I read and pondered. Naturally, I’m eager to share these with you. Perhaps they will encourage you, too. Will you join me to explore this content about “a thin silence?”
Marvel Comics puts lots of money into movies about superheroes. And – based on success at the box office – lots of people connect with these superheroes at some level. Not everyone is “into” superheroes. But most people can pinpoint at least one superhero they admire. Who is that superhero for you? This list will give you a start –
Captain America
Iron Man
The Hulk
Spider-Man
Thor
Hawkeye
Black Panther
Doctor Strange
Black Widow
Ant-Man
Falcon
Superman
Batman (Well, Superman and Batman are really D.C. Comics)
Feeling down is a common, yet challenging condition to manage. Whether over-tired, mistreated, discouraged, or even struggling with depression – being on the “down side” is real.
What situation comes to your mind when you hear that old saying – “God has a sense of humor?” I have numerous scenarios that come to mind. Oddly, it seems God’s humor is at play more often than we realize. And it’s a brilliant sense of humor. As humans, we try to develop a sense of humor, especially in teen years. And since we are made in God’s image, the quality of humor is there to be developed. I want to look at God’s humor as we continue Part 2 of our Scripture dissection of 1 Kings 18. (See Part 1 in a recent article – God’s Timing.)
Surely you’ve wondered at least once – “what’s the deal with God’s timing?!” He seems to be on a completely different time schedule. Admit it with me: there are times you’ve wondered when God is going to answer your prayers. Whether it’s personal or global tragedies that happen without warning, waiting years for God’s intervention in a difficulty, healing a relationship, providing for a need, or personal matters of the heart – all certainly involve God’s timing.
As we go into today’s content . . . Learn Well – Live Well – Love Well . . . I first want to read off a list of one-liners we’ve heard over the years. They deal with the hum-drum of life:
Same old – same old
Been there – done that (bought the T-shirt)
Nothing new under the sun
Do it again – and again
Hummin’ right along
Another day – another dollar
Tomorrow never comes
Don’t hold your breath
Can’t trust anyone
Pie-crust promises
Where’s the beef? (that was a commercial)
Never thought I’d see the day
It ain’t gonna happen
In your wildest dreams
And on go the one-liners we’ve heard in a variety of ways. All seem to speak to an emptiness, dullness, boring repetition, and rather skeptical view of life.
But life is NOT hum-drum!Therefore, let’s explore a full, exciting, fresh-every-day, and rather hopeful view of life. Will you join me?
It was the final episode of a TV series, and I’d been waiting for weeks for find out what would happen. So, with a cuppa and my TV glasses, I sat in my favorite chair with eager expectation. About half-way through, I thought – “What?! Surely not! I know it’s going to end better than this!” Incidentally – it didn’t. And I was so disappointed. Over weeks of anticipation, I really did hope for more than that! In a similar way of hope, we can live for more – and have more – each day.