December 2011
127 posts
6 tags
When being needy is a good thing
Would you consider yourself a needy person? I doubt very few people want to consider themselves that way. Most of us want to see ourselves as strong, independent people who survive by whit and talent. We don’t need help from anyone, parents, friends, teachers, because we are determined to succeed by our own merit. No one else is going to lay claim to our success. Okay, so that may be a bit...
7 tags
Most Christians Are Possessed And They Don't Even...
A couple of days before the new year and the reality of the Christmas season is setting in on some people who are receiving their first bills. Unfortunately too many of us didn’t follow our plan, if we had a plan in the first place. Unfortunately too many of us rely on credit, living far beyond our means. Unfortunately there are too many of us who are feeling like the psalmist as the bills...
If you asked Jesus to do it, let him do it.
Life is so much more than this day or this season....
8 tags
This new year keep smiling
As we face yet another new year we also face a lot of uncertainty. Young people often only consider their immediate environment failing to understand that the local is often a victim of the global. As we get older we take more notice of what is going on in the world and how fragile everything seems. The economy is not great and appears ready to tank at any hint of a crisis. The Arab states...
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Motivation Is The Determining Factor To...
People have begun their preparations for the new year, buying new agendas, making new resolutions, planning to make it a better year than the one before. We can’t help ourselves as we desire to be better, to do better. We have the right idea as we make efforts to become organized, set goals, determining new priorities, but Jesus’ words come to mind: “The spirit is willing but...
6 tags
Joy In The Midst Of Boxing Day Madness
I did something yesterday that I have never done in my entire life: I went shopping on Boxing Day. The rest of the world probably doesn’t have this tradition but in most of North America the stores offer deep discounts on their products the day after Christmas. In the province of Quebec the stores are not permitted to open until 1 pm but the line ups start forming hours before that....
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How To Avoid The Christmas Blues
So, Christmas is over. After all that rushing around and preparation, the gifts are open, the feast has been eaten, the anticipation has ended. Now what? That’s the feeling that sometimes gets to people in the days following Christmas. So much went into the preparation, now that it’s over they are left with a void. It’s only natural so in order to avoid this feeling we need to...
8 tags
The Gift Of Christmas Is An Inclusive Gift
Merry Christmas everyone; the day God surprised the world. The gift was not unexpected but the extent of it, the largeness of it, the generosity of the giver was certainly a surprise. Israel was expecting their Messiah but they had no idea of God’s full plan because they were a self-centered people. They always thought that their relationship with God was exclusive and for their own...
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Christmas: Trying to thwart the plans of God
It’s strange how different people react to Jesus differently. Some are mildly amused, others couldn’t care less, some are violently opposed and others totally devoted. We have people today who claim that education should be enough to stamp out silly old superstitions but when we look back in Scriptures we discover that the supposedly educated and powerful people often set themselves...
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Christmas: A Close Encounter Of The Jesus Kind
Have you ever been out in the countryside at night, away from the city lights? I used to live out in the country where, when you step outside at night, you disappear into the dark. The only light was from the stars and when you looked up at them it was like you could see a billion of them all at once. The longer you looked the more you could see. It was quiet, dark and lonely. That’s...
We celebrate God's sacrificial love for us at...
God told us that he loved us. Then he showed us...
I am convinced that the only love of substance...
10 tags
Christmas: Obedience No Matter The Cost
Christmas has always seemed to be a magical time for children and for some adults who are still able to see with the eyes of a child. They whole world seems to be transformed. Here in Canada we usually have the natural transformation of a blanket of snow, then add to that all the Christmas lights on the houses. The inside of the house goes through some transformations as well, as things get...
A kind word should be the easiest and most...
Christmas is the perfect time to prove the the...
"From the rising of the sun to the place where it...
9 tags
Christmas: Surprised By God
Christmas has snuck up on me this year. Oh, I could see it coming and I have been listening to all the Christmas music in the stores but without any snow on the ground it still feels like it is weeks away. It is time to look again at the scriptures surrounding the event in preparation for the celebration on Christmas day. So setting aside our current look at 1 Corinthians I want us to consider...
"Believe in yourself" is the message I read today....
"The wise men followed a star but I follow my...
… was the comment I overheard from a man a my daughters’ dance studio. I can’t think of a more fitting way to explain the problem in our society and Church. We are too busy chasing after our own desires to consider God’s desire.
I am glad to say that wise men still seek Jesus.
7 tags
It's Time For Us To Grow Up
There is nothing consistent or permanent in life. As a child we thought everything was eternal; our family was always going to be the same; we will always live in the same place, have the same friends, do the same things. That is the limited perspective of a child but as we grow older we begin to realize how temporary everything is. There is nothing consistent or permanent in life. Everything...
Oh how the blessings are flowing this morning. May...
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Faith isn't an easy thing but without it we can't...
Faith isn’t an easy thing. You don’t just wake up one day and have it. You can’t borrow it from a friend. You can’t read a book and walk away with it. Faith is a decision we have to make every time we need it. A decision to trust God in the dark. A decision to believe what he has promised in the face of overwhelming odds. A decision to hold on when the easiest thing is to...
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Jesus threw away my lists! ... cont'd
I wrote earlier today about my love affair with lists and how it is easier for me to follow a list like the Law of Moses than it is to allow love to govern me as Jesus taught. However, Jesus has removed any need for lists in our lives because he has revealed to us the greater way of love. In saying this I do want to share with you one list that I find to be amazing. It is something you have read...
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Jesus threw away my lists!
Are you a list person? I am a list person. I love my lists; my to-do list, shopping list, prayer list, project list. Anything I can write down in point form makes me supper happy. I love PowerPoint; organizing my thoughts in such a concise presentation, making everything clear and clean for understanding. Yeah! That`s why I have to be so careful when it comes to God and the Law. The Law of Moses...
We have to stop seeing ourselves as sin-centered...
It`s not a matter of `What would Jesus do`but...
The Cost Of Love
I don`t think we can even begin to fathom the cost of love.
Love costs us our right to be:
- angry
- hurt
- broken
- unforgiving
- vengful
- selfish
- uncaring
- stubborn
Love dictates that we must be:
- vulnerable
- giving
- selfless
- forgiving
- forgiving
- forgiving
- desiring nothing but the best for others
Love costs us everything that is us as we give everything that is...
As long as you insist on staying alive you will...
Jesus isn't interested in making improvements to...
The first step of loving people like Jesus loves...
As a Christ follower it is never a question of...
Anonymous asked: Hi Paul, I was just wondering if is it God's will for a woman to let a man know how she feels about him romantically? Is it "acceptable" now? How should a woman act as to her feelings and doing God's will? Thank you! :)
5 tags
"Love never fails." Are you kidding me?
There are three words in the Bible that overwhelm me and yet assure me every time I ponder them. Three words that are incredibly powerful and earth shaking. Three words that cause us to shake our head and mumble “It isn’t true”. Three words we have misunderstood and refused to come to grips with: “Love never fails.” (1 Corinthians 13:8) How do we deal with this? How...
Laugh with me because God delights in you ...
“His (God’s) pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man; the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.” Psalm 147:10-11
What to do about seasonal depression.
While so many sing joyously and deck their halls with cheery decor there are others who hide away in darkness. Too often we have little control over this darkness as it licks at the edges of our consciousness before descending on us with its mind numbing strength. Could those lost in this dark place find comfort in knowing they are not alone in the experience?
“The enemy pursues me, he...
5 tags
Do you want to know what real love is? It will...
Are you the type of person who likes watching YouTube videos of people getting hurt because it happens in a funny manner? You probably don’t even realize what you are doing. It’s like watching a slapstick comedy only these people are real so their pain is real. It looks funny as they fall down the stairs, or slip on the ice, or walk into a car but that is real suffering at which we...
People are so stupid when it comes to God. They...
You are beautiful and precious in the eyes of our...
The only way to love yourself in a healthy manner...
Don't live your life for others but don't live it...
Be true to myself? Are you kidding me? I wouldn't...
We often forget that with freedom comes...
You can't have the world and Jesus. A choice must...
Anonymous asked: is masturbation a sin if you can honestly do it without lusting over anyone or thinking about sex, but just focusing on the sensations. sorry to be explicit! I really can't figure this one out.
Here is a daring prayer: "God show me where you...