I found quite a few good reads this week:
Yes, God Really Does Desire Your Happiness, HT to Challies. "I have heard that exact line so many times ("God wants us holy, not happy"), and I agree that it contributes to untold, unnecessary suffering in the lives of Christians."
When Suffering Shakes Your Faith. "For the last decade, I've wanted to write to her: the woman overwhelmed by suffering, who feels herself crumbling under the weight of all that's on her shoulders. But recently, I've been paying more and more attention to the woman watching from the other side of the television and the other side of the table. Her faith is also formed as she witnesses someone else's suffering—her faith will either be forged by the reality of a sovereign and good God or be weakened one storm at a time."
Maybe We Make Meditation Too Difficult. "What is meditation? Meditation is pondering the words of the Bible with the goal of better understanding and sharper application. Ideally, meditation leads us to understand the words we have read and to know how God may call us to work them out in our lives. It is one of the ways that we output wisdom after inputting knowledge." Tim points out that we usually think of meditation as something done in solitude and silence, but that may not always be the case.
Cultivating Christlike Compassion on Social Media. "As followers of Jesus, we should be known for our Christlike compassion, but the anonymity of social media can make it easy for us to forget that there's a person created in the image of God on the other side of the screen. This sometimes leads us to forget our call to be different from the world and causes us to abandon the compassionate ways of our Lord."
Confessions of a Chronic Yeller. "I didn't set out to be a yeller. There were many aspects of my childhood I vowed not to repeat in my own family, but yelling somehow didn't make the list. I was Portuguese Italian, after all. Portuguese Italians had dark hair, ate pasta, and yelled. Then I became a Christian. And strange things began to happen."
A Mother to Me, Too, HT to Challies. "Mothering well does not depend on having Instagram-worthy kitchens or the laundry neatly folded and put away. Instead, it is about welcoming and nurturing the ones within our circle, caring for their hearts and their hurts through the tender love of Jesus. And then opening that circle to include those hungering outside the door."
'Never Look Your Age': Shiny Lies We Often Buy, HT to Challies. "In Christ, the physical signs of aging are not marks to despise, but signs of how God has worked through your circumstances to turn you into the person you are today. Seen this way, they can encourage you to trust him with your future, whatever your fears."
What Does It Mean to Die with Dignity? HT to Challies. Clue: it's not what those who advocate euthanasia say it is.
If you look at the world, you'll be distressed.
If you look within, you'll be depressed.
If you look at God you'll be at rest.
-- Corrie ten Boom
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