Accept your weakness

By: Bo Sanchez

          On her way home, a woman was walking on the sidewalk.  She saw a parrot in a pet shop window.  Upon seeing her, the parrot said, “Lady, you are really ugly!”

         Shocked, the woman walked away in a huff.

         The next day, she walked again on the same road.  She saw again the parrot peering through the pet shop window.  And sure enough, when the parrot saw her, it said, “Lady, you are really ugly!”

         The woman couldn’t take it anymore…

         She barged in the pet shop and told the owner, “Your bird outside has been telling me that I’m ugly.  You better do something about that parrot.  When I walk here tomorrow, and that bird says the same thing about me, I’ll sue you!”  The owner was very apologetic and said, “It won’t happen again, Ma’am.”

         The next day, she walked home on that same road.  Once again, she sees the parrot, and the parrot sees her.  She stopped and with an icy stare asked, “Yes?”

         The bird, strutting back and forth, cocked, “You know.”

You Don’t Have To Be Perfect To Love Yourself 

       Friends, many of us have an inner parrot that tells us, “You’re ugly.”

       We have an inner parrot that we carry around within us, cruel and rude.  We actually don’t need the devil anymore to accuse us and damn us to Hell.  Because we do it ourselves.

       These feelings of shame drive us to our addictions.

       Friend, fire your inner parrot.  (Better yet, fry him with olive oil, a little garlic, and chilli.)

       Start telling yourself the truth: That you’re God’s child and beautiful beyond imagination.  And that God will use even your worst weaknesses.

       Remember: You don’t have to be perfect to be loved.

Your Weakness Is A Gift

       In the Bible, St. Paul boasted of his “Thorn in the Flesh”. 

       It was his weakness.

But whatever it was, about this weakness, he said these immortal, mind-boggling words.  “At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, “My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.”  (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

       How can your weakness be gift?

Your Weakness Blesses You In 3 Great Ways

          First, my weaknesses humble me.  It makes me depend in God even more.  And I see how He uses me mightily despite all my weaknesses!  That is why the Bible says, God chooses what the world considers weak in order to shame the powerful. (1 Corinthians 1:27)

Second, my weaknesses make me more merciful towards others.  I believe that someone who easily judges others hasn’t yet accepted his own weaknesses.  If he had, he wouldn’t be judgmental.  But because he hasn’t, he projects his self-anger towards other people.

Third, my weaknesses bond me with others in a way that nothing else can.  When I share the story of my past and my addiction to someone else, I disrobe my defences and become vulnerable to him.  In this way, I also give permission to that person to disrobe his defences as well.

Wise Words from Dr. Seuss

God's plan isn't a roadmap

by:  ALASTAIR BRYAN STERNE

His will for your life may not be as specific as you hope—but that’s OK.

One of my mentors once said to me, “God doesn’t give us clarity, son.”

It may have been said first by Mother Teresa—I can’t remember. But this insight has stuck with me and has been on my mind over the past few weeks.

My wife and I just moved from our home, our church community and our friends all the way across the continent. We felt called by God to plant a church in Vancouver and are working on doing so. As Julia and I have been walking faithfully in response to where Jesus is leading us, I can’t help but want to know a few things. I want God’s timeline and milestones and other measurables. I want to know who will be a part of what we’re doing, what unexpected turns to expect, when things are going to happen, where we’ll end up planting in the city and how the decisions I make now will impact the future. I want clarity, but those words remain right: “God doesn’t give us clarity, son.”

God certainly gives us glimmers of clarity and an assurance that we are where He wants us to be—but that doesn’t mean we suddenly become omniscient. Our knowing always remains in part, leaving us weak and dependent. In other words, embracing our finitude and limited understanding is exactly where God wants us to be so that our strength is in Him and not ourselves.

But this wanting to know how things will play out lingers in the recesses of my mind. Perhaps it’s because I am easily fixated on what I’m doing rather than on who I'm becoming. Without a doubt, when someone asks what God’s will is for their lives, they really mean, “What does God want me to do with my life?” They assume there is some direct Batline to the Holy Spirit to answer that question or that there's a trick to knowing God’s will.

Well, there isn’t.

I do not doubt that God has a course for our lives, as well as “good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10, ESV). But I tend to focus on Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians in regard to God’s will. He tells us, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thessalonians 4:3, ESV).

God’s will for our lives is to see us transformed into the likeness of Jesus—to become people who walk more and love more like Jesus Himself. Elsewhere, Paul says God predestined us to be adopted as sons through Christ and chose us to be holy and blameless (Ephesians 1). God’s will for us is transformation.

Maybe God cares about who we are becoming more than what we are specifically doing.

The transformation that Jesus brings about makes us more fully alive. It makes us more human. When we are more fully alive, becoming all that God envisions we can be, suddenly we start walking through life lock-step with God and His will. It is precisely when we focus on God’s desire to transform us that He teaches us how to walk through the uncertainty of where we are going. The result is the temporary uncertainty of this life becomes far less important in light of the eternal trajectory we are now focused on. We walk toward Christ through doubt, through struggles, through confusion, through unanswered prayers and through our relentless desire to simply know where every moment of our lives will end up. We don’t know everything—we don’t know the specific job, home, spouse, school, friends, challenges or callings our lives may entail—but we know the one thing necessary.

Paul also says, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, ESV). We are transformed by God as we rejoice in the Gospel—not in what we do but in what has been done for us: Jesus loves us and gave Himself for us. In response, we begin to pray out of this deep appreciation for God’s infinite love shown to us in our hearts. We begin to give thanks in any and every circumstance because no matter what we face and no matter what the future holds, we know God is for us and that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

You may not have clarity about temporal circumstances, but you can have clarity about the only thing that matters: God gave Himself for us and is more committed to our transformation and life than we are. In seeking clarity, you are really longing to know what you can’t know. But in seeking God, what you do know is knowing enough. By keeping your eyes fixed on Jesus and the beauty of His grace, the rest works itself out.

source: relevantmagazine.com

When it feels right

by: MILA JARONIEC

When it feels right, you’re going to do it because you can’t not. You’re going to stop playing pretend and you’re going to throw yourself into it face first, or ass first, I don’t know what. And you won’t know when that’s going to be until it happens.

When it feels right it’s going to make you feel level, supported. Everything will stand still and make sense for a minute; suddenly you’ll have the last word in the irritating crossword puzzle. You’ll fill it in, stand back and acknowledge, and everything’s going to be right where you put it. And then everything will be clear.

Originally, you’re going to be doing something else. You’re going to be living out some other plan for your life with the best of intentions. This plan used to be Plan B but actually turned out to be Plan A because let’s be serious, the real Plan A wasn’t a plan to begin with; it was this nebulously attractive question mark inkblot that you weren’t sure how to even approach so you left it alone, left it in the “dreams” category and moved on. You’re not going to dig out the original Plan A until you feel so not alive you can’t breathe and start to panic.

People and their crazy romantic notions: “I’d be an artist if I could,” or “I’d travel if I could,” or “I’d do all these things if I had the time/money/motivation.” Everyone would do everything if they had the fundamental resources necessary. Yeah, maybe — you do have to be realistic. Be totally realistic for ten minutes without a break and take note of how you feel. That’s the crushing weight of limitations. But, the thing about limitations is there’s usually a way around them. Not becoming a ballerina because you don’t have legs is one thing. Not becoming a ballerina because you don’t have a tutu is something else entirely.

For example: recently I had an inspiring lady tell me about another inspiring lady, a French filmmaker (I can’t write her name because I don’t know how to spell it or what it even sounds like; sorry, I was drunk when she told me) who wanted to make films but didn’t have any money to spare for equipment. Since you can’t really make a film without equipment and taking out a loan wasn’t a viable option for her, she decided to attack her dream differently: she started writing, with the vague hope that someone someday would take interest in her work and translate it to film. And let her direct it.

And that actually f-cking happened.

If you really want something, you have to work with what you have.

When something feels right, even if it’s crazy it’s going to make the most sense. Everything else will feel like a lie, a weak approximation; you’ll feel like you’re placating yourself or whoever you think you have to please by doing it but deep down you’ll know what’s really going on. When it feels right it’s going to pull insistently, tug at your sleeve like an annoying five-year old, wave its arms until you look at it. It’s going to make you lose sleep but you won’t feel tired.

When it feels right, it’ll be tangible. The hazy “dream” state of it will evaporate and it will become a map, a strategy. You’ll get off your tiptoes and stop being afraid. You’ll do it because it’s in your blood.

And you won’t know when that will happen, or if it ever will; but when it feels right, you’ll know. 

Your Bio Here

Today's Our Daily Bread says...


While searching for an interesting way to instruct my college writing class about the concept of writing a biographical sketch, I found this idea: Write a biography in six words. When asked to do this, Pulitzer Prize winner Ernest Hemingway wrote this poignant bio: “For sale: baby shoes, never used.” Imagine the sad story behind those six words.


As I thought about this concept, I wondered if we could find any six-word biographies of people in the Bible. What I discovered was astonishing. Many of our scriptural heroes have already been described that way. For example, David, of whom God said: “A man after My own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14; Acts 13:22). Or Paul’s self-description: “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ” (Eph. 1:1). Or Paul’s description of Timothy: “My true son in the faith” (1 Tim. 1:2 NIV). And consider these words about Mary: “The virgin shall be with child” (Matt. 1:23). And about Jesus: “Became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).


This exercise in precise descriptions of people of faith should cause us to wonder: What six-word description would best describe me? Would it be positive or negative? Would it be “Not an easy person to love” or “A shining light for the Lord”? What would your bio say?

***

Lord, help me to be what You want me to be

In character, actions, and will,

For You are the potter and I am the clay—

Your purposes I would fulfill. 

Once lost, now found. Eternally thankful!

A nugget of inspiration

DISCLAIMER: This is not an original post. This is from sikhphilosophy.net. 


Reading this story made me realized how grateful I am for having wonderful parents who brought me and my siblings up in the atmosphere of love.  That even at times when I am a brat... when I am difficult and stubborn... they still patiently stand by my side waiting for me to regain my dependence on their guidance. And, I couldn't thank God enough for having them!:)


Hope that you guys would also be inspired. (as much as I did)

***

An old man was sitting in the courtyard of his house along with his son who had received high education. Suddenly, a crow perched on a wall of the house.

The father asked the son: What is this? The son replied: It is a crow. 

After a little while, the father again asked the son: What is this? The son said: It is a crow.  After a few minutes the father asked his son the third time:What is this? The son said: Father, I have just now told you that this is a crow. After a little while the old father again asked his son the fourth time: what is this? At this time some expression of irritation was felt in the son’s tone when he said to his father with a rebuff. Father! It is a crow, a crow. A little after the father again asked his son: What is this? This time the son replied to his father with a vein of temper. Father, you are always repeating the same question, although I have told you so many times that it is a crow. Are you not able to understand this? 

A little later the father went to his room and came back with an old diary. Opening a page he asked his son to read that. When the son read it the following words were written in the diary:  ”Today my little son was sitting with me in the courtyard, when a crow came there. My son asked me twenty-five times what it was and I told him twenty-five times that it was a crow and I did not at all feel irritated. I rather felt affection for the innocent child.“

The father then told the son the difference saying: Between a father and a son’s attitude, while a little child he asked me this question twenty-five times and I felt no irritation in replying to the question twenty-five times and when today I asked him the same question only five times, he felt irritated and annoyed.

And the Lord has decreed that you be dutiful to your parents, If one of them or both of them attain old age with you, do not say uff to them, nor repulse them, but speak to them a gracious word. And lower to them the wing of submission and humbleness out of mercy to both of them and say: “My Lord! Have mercy on them both, as they cared for me and brought me up when I was a little child.”