Nothing For Everything

 

 

Today The Daily Post has asked this probing question:

Which do you find more dangerous: wanting nothing, or wanting everything?

You can discover how others have answered by going to:

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/all-or-nothing/

If there is one thing I have learned in all my years of pastoring it is that most extremes of anything are unhealthy and sometimes dangerous.

Wanting nothing  is a mindset I am all too familiar with. In my own case it has expressed itself in the thought process, “If I want nothing then I will not be disappointed when I receive it.”

On the surface it can look like a deep-seated contentment and peaceful acceptance of the world but underneath it is fueled by my own spirit of self-protectionism, which crowds out healthy relationships, and a lack of faith which cuts me off from God.

On the other hand is the mindset of wanting everything. Now if  the proviso “I want everything…that God wants me to have” is included then what you have is a lifestyle of positive forward-pressing faith. But wanting it all generally precludes any thought of whether or not God wants us to have it.  God generally doesn’t want us to have everything because He knows we cannot handle it; So wanting everything often leads us into places of dangerous disobedience to the Divine.

So let’s sum up here: Wanting nothing breeds unbelief. Wanting everything breeds disobedience to God. Both sound pretty dangerous to me. I think I am with Solomon on this one.

give me neither poverty nor riches,
    but give me only my daily bread.
Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
    and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’
Or I may become poor and steal,
    and so dishonor the name of my God. Prov. 30:8,9

One Thing’s Perfect

“Christmases are never the same. They change from year to year, and they are never really perfect, no matter how hard we try to force them to be so. What is perfect is the miracle in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago and the love of God that continues to burst through the chaos of human imperfection; Christmas is finding the Christ Child radiant beneath the daily grime of life.”
Julie K. Hogan

Share Your World 2014 Week 48

share-your-world2

It’s that wonderful time of the week again where I get to share a little bit of my world with you all thanks to Cee!

To share in a bigger community go to

Share Your World – 2014 Week 48

Now, here are this week’s Share Your World questions!

What is your favorite toppings on pizza?

I want to learn more about …

What are three places you’ve enjoyed visiting?

Do you prefer eating the frosting of the cake or the cupcake first?

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

A Share Your World Mini Story

by JE Lillie

It was late. My, mind was a little foggy as I read her questions and I was certain I would never make it through them without falling asleep. I took another swig of coffee and grabbed a slice of pizza from the box, my favorite Canadian bacon and pineapple.  It was a desperate attempt to wake myself up so that I could spend the time I needed to learn more about the blogging world and how to become a success in the forum I felt God had told me to work in.. When the coffee and pizza didn’t work to snap me out of my somnolence I turned to the cupcakes and licked all the sugary frosting off the tops. I can always leave the cake but buttercream frosting is almost as much fun as coffee, and everyone who knows me knows how much I like my coffee!

After I filled out the questions from Share Your World I turned my attention to blogs about travel. I have loved my journeys through Ireland, the Netherlands and the Midwest. Perhaps I will be writing more about these in the future.. For now though I am thankful for being able to rest these last couple of weeks and I am looking forward to a week of concerts coming up in the Christmas season. I imagine you will all be hearing more about these in the days to come!

A Minor Key

We cannot conceive how the Divine Spirit dwelled within the created and human spirit of Jesus…. What we can understand…is that our own…existence is…but a faint image of the Divine Incarnation itself – the same theme in a very minor key.
~ C.S. Lewis, Miracles, p147

 

Weekly Travel Theme Slow

This week Ailsa has asked us to travel with her to the land of : SLOW.

You can mosey on over to her place and see how others have interpreted the theme by going to:

http://wheresmybackpack.com/2014/12/05/travel-theme-slow/

Here are my takes on the subject…

winter 2

Snow is one of the few things that actually slows me down. When it’s impossible to drive you have to say no to activity. I love those mornings when the only sound you can hear in the neighborhood is the sound of snow falling and the slicing of shovels.

Irish Fishing

These fishermen in Killarney were taking it slow.

“Love has something to do with recognition, We can be fascinated by the unknown, we can be attracted by it, but love is something that grows, slowly, in an atmosphere of trust.” Peter HoegIreland 517

 

I wonder how slowly this heart was formed and for whom?

God Has Commanded Us To Function

These quotes come to you from our missionary speaker at Cornerstone, Jason Fuentes. His sermon was entitled “God Has Commended Us To Function” and was taken from Luke 10.

“When religion says, “Do!” Christ says, “It was done on the cross.” Jason Fuentes

“Jesus didn’t come to make bad people good or good people better. He came to make dead people live!” Jason Fuentes

“Christian, you do not go to church. You are the church!” Jason Fuentes

“Our weaknesses become assets when put in God’s hands, but our excuses will always be liabilities.” Jason Fuentes

The Atlantic Sky from the shores of Doolin

The Atlantic Sky from the shores of Doolin

 

You Are More

Not just for teens.

lillianl17's avatarGrowing Up, God, and Being Busy

Recently I have been thinking about what I want to tell the world. Specifically, what I want to tell the teens of the world that I will impact in my ministry. Then, I started wondering what I would say to today’s youth if I could only tell them one thing, one message. And so I came up with this”

You are more.

Your life is more than your grades. Your life is more than your stuggles. Your life is more than winning state championships or your final exam. Your life is more than high school.

You have a purpose. You have a destiny. You are where are you are for a reason. That reason is God. Your destiny is in God. You are meant for great things, even now as young as you are, and those things can be found in God.

You have a deep relationship with God waiting for…

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