I traveled quite a bit when my children were young. I led outreach teams to foreign countries and could be gone for several weeks at a time. We didn’t have a lot of money, and so when it came to bringing gifts home to… Continue Reading “Choosing Treasure Not Easily Seen”
Category: Daily ChoicesTags: Appetities, Blind, Can't See, Christ, Dividends, Eternal, Eternal Dividends, Eternally Wealthy, Eternity, Faith, Future, God, Happiness, Happy, Heavenly Father, Hidden Treasure, Hidden Value, Hidden Values, Holy Spirit, Hope, I can't see, Immediate Gratification, Invest, Investments, Jesus, love, Open Eyes, Physical Appetites, Redeem, Redemption, Salvation, See, Seeing Eyes, Self Indulgment, short-term, Short-Term Happiness, Short-term mindset, Temporal Pleasure, Treasure, True Wealth, Values, Wealth
I have been a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien’s work for quite a while. Not only do I enjoy reading and rereading his stories of Middle Earth Hobbits, Elves, and Dwarves, but I find snatches of insight about his personal life, faith, and philosophy intriguing… Continue Reading “Choosing to Reject Half Truths”
Category: Daily ChoicesTags: Deceit, Deceitful, Deceived, Deceiver, Disinformation, Evil One, Facts, Father of Lies, Half Truth, Hate Lies, Liar, Lies, Love the truth, Partially True, Satan, The Devil, True, Truth, Truth Teller
In the movies it always looked so easy and inconsequential. As a kid, I watched shows where chairs were busted over heads in barroom fights, the recipient merely staggering a few paces before flinging his opponent through a wooden railing. In addition, there were… Continue Reading “Choosing to Respond to the Knock”
Category: Daily ChoicesTags: choices, Choose well, Free Will, freedom, God waits, God's sovereignty, Hard Heart, Human choice, Human choices, Invitation, Invite Jesus in, Jesus invites, Jesus Knocks, Jesus Saves, Let Jesus in, Love relationship with Jesus, Mark 10:17-27, Matthew 19:16-22, Open Heart, Open the door, Open your heart, Receive Jesus, Resisting God, Resisting Jesus, Resisting the Holy Spirit, Respond to God, Respond to Jesus, Revelation 3:20, Salvation, Welcome Jesus, Woo
No matter how hard I try, why are some things so difficult to resist? Overeating? Harsh responses to those who correct me? Anxiety about the future? I know how I should respond, what I’m supposed to do, and what I ought to feel. But… Continue Reading “Choosing a Resilient Identity”
Category: Daily ChoicesTags: Child of God, daughter of God, Evil Temptations, I am a child of God, Identity, Identity Confusion, Identity in Christ, Identity Tag, Jesus, Knowing who I am, Life Purpose, My Life Purpose, My Purpose, Resilience, Resilient, Resisting Anxiety, Resisting Bitterness, Resisting Lust, Resisting Temptation, Satan, Self beliefs, son of God, Temptation, Tempted, The Tempter, Thomas á Kempis, Who am I?
A college philosophy class many years ago pushed me to think about what the word “good” means. I used the word all the time. In fact, everyone around me used it continuously to describe things they liked or approved of. But what did we… Continue Reading “Choosing to Love What is Good”
Category: Daily ChoicesTags: Appearances, Fruit of the Spirit, God, Godliness, Good, Good behavior, Good Gifts, Good God, Good Heart, Good Motives, Goodly, Goodness, Goodness of God, Heart Intentions, Heart Motivation, Heart Purity, Heart Transformation, Holiness, Holy Spirit, Intentions of the Heart, Is God Good?, Kindness, Looks, Looks Good, moral, Motivations, Nice, Pure Heart, Righteousness, The Good, The Right Stuff, Ultimate Good, virtue, virtuous
It’s a condition that I have had for many years now. I am prone to develop infections in my colon that can be extremely painful. It has put me in the hospital in the past, and I have come to recognize the feeling in… Continue Reading “Choosing Real Comfort”
Category: Daily ChoicesTags: Comfort, Confusion, Desensitized, Discomfort, Emotional Pain, Feel better, Feelings, God's Comfort, guilt, Identity, Internal Wholeness, Internet porn, Medicate, Medication, Misunderstood, Negativity, Numb, Numbing the pain, Pain, Porn, Pornography, Psychic Pain, Real Comfort, Sadness, Self Reliance, Self-medicate, Self-Medication, Sickness, sin, Soul Medication, Symptoms, Unforgiveness, Wholeness
Who wouldn’t want to be Bilbo the Hobbit upon finding a magic ring? Oh, the mischievous things that could be done! In addition, there would be the unique comfort that comes with the ability to turn invisible, hiding from the prying eyes of goblins,… Continue Reading “Choosing More than Appearances”
Category: Daily ChoicesTags: Addicted, Addictions, Anonymity, Anonymous, Appearance, Appearances, Approval, Bilbo Baggins, Camouflage, Cloak of Righteousness, Cloaked, Conceal, Concealed, Cover, Cover up, Covered, Crucifixion, Cruel, Cruel intentions, Cruelty, Deceit, Deceitful, Deceitful Heart, Don't look, Fear of Man, Good works, Goodness, guilt, Guilty, Gyges, Harry Potter, Hidden, Hide myself, Hiding, Identity, Identity in Christ, Invisibility, Invisibility Cloak, Invisibility ring, Invisible, Magic Ring, Mask, Masks, Motivations, Myth of Gyges, naked, Nakedness, Narcessist, Narcissism, Narcissistic, Others Approval, Pretend, Right Appearance, Righteous, Righteousness, Righteousness of Christ, Ring of Invisibility, See, Seeing, shame, Shameful, sin, Temptation, The Cross, The Right Look, Vulnerability, Vulnerable
Not too long ago I had a conversation with a person who struggles with addiction. He told me how he has a goal of developing more self discipline in his life. But he finds that he always fails in his efforts. He feels that… Continue Reading “Choosing How I See God”
Category: Daily ChoicesTags: Attitude, Attitude Change, Blind, Blind to God, Change, Change My Mind, Closed Eyes, Despair, Desperate, Desperate for change, Desperation, Discomfort, Do it myself, Eternal Hope, Eyes Wide Open, Frustration, Hope, Humility, Misery, More Information, New Perspective, Open Eyes, Passion of Christ, Rewards of suffering, Seeing God, Stubborn, Stubborness, Suffering, Sufferings of Jesus, Wrestling with Addiction, Wrong view of God
Some stories in the Bible have struck me as unfair, and at times I have found myself sympathizing with the “bad guy.” Take for example the parable of the three servants who received money from their master to invest while he was gone (Matthew… Continue Reading “Choosing a Transparent Heart”
Category: Daily ChoicesTags: Bad Attitude, Cain and Abel, Fake Worship, First Murder, For No Reason, God's Justice, God's Ways, Hard Heart, Heart, Humility, No Apparent Reason, No Pretending, Obedience, Pride, Pure Heart, Real Worship, Righteousness, Soft Heart, Stoney Heart, Tender Heart, Transparent Heart, True Worship, Unfair, Worship
A few years back, some friends asked if I would keep their car while they spent a few months working in Asia. I could use it as a second vehicle as long as I took care of it. It ended up being a great… Continue Reading “Choosing to Care About Someone Else’s Stuff”
Category: Daily ChoicesTags: Belongs to Me, Care, Care for Another, Entrust, Faithful, Faithfulness, fear, Future Reward, Gift, Gifts, God's Kingdom, I Surrender All, Inheritance, It's Mine, Kingdom of God, Lay it down, Let Go, Loss, Mindset, Mine, Ownership, Possessions, Property Management, Release, Reward, Rich Inheritance, Servant, Serve, Serve Another, Steward, Stewardship, Surrender, Talent, Talents, Thankful, Thanks, Thanksgiving, Trust, Trustworthiness, Well Done, Wisdom
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