Soul Sister Time

              How can suffering be blessed?  There is one and only one way.  It is when you suffer while you love God.  In fact, Peter tell us that we are called to obtain the blessing because we do not revile when we are reviled.  Peter seems to assume that each one of us will have opportunities to follow Christ in the way of suffering unjustly.  Here are a few of Peter’s thoughts on the subject of blessed suffering: Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.   Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing…..   Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?   But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed (I Peter 3:8-9; 13-14).         ...

                Life on earth requires grace to be in the reality of sin.   I never feel this more intensely than when I return from a mission trip to a country where poverty and human suffering are experienced in far more extreme ways than I see here in America.                 The living conditions I experience up close and personal turn my stomach with sorrow and pity.   It’s only after I meet the individuals, the children, the workers, that I discover the power of grace.   Amidst the smells, the squalor and the absence of common decencies, there is an aura of grace that sheds light that makes the impoverished conditions have a golden glow.                 Often the richest person is impoverished compared to the poor.   I see this in...

                  Crosses are crosses.   They can be pretty when they are made of diamonds or even cut glass.   We like to wear them on our bodies, decorate our walls with them and consider the great price Jesus paid for our salvation with the cross.                   Jesus told us crosses are to be taken up, not just admired or made into beautiful pieces of art.   In Luke 9:23 He specifies what we are to do with crosses:   Then he said to them all: Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me .   Crosses are for taking up.                 You don’t get to choose the cross that Jesus asks you to take up.   There are no malls for shopping for a favorite or best-...

            Referencing her challenges to lead a world-wide ministry, Mother Teresa once commented :   I wish God didn’t trust me so much. .   Paul, on the other hand, almost seemed to brag about his challenges.   I encourage people to read 2 Corinthians 11:16-33 when they feel they are having a bad string of challenging events in their lives.   Most of us haven’t survived shipwrecks, been left for dead, or secretly escaped over a wall in a basket.               Though I do not like to face challenges myself, I can see the benefit from the challenges of life.   I am stretched further than I ever imagined.   These days my faith is growing to see that God can strengthen me to do far beyond what I thought I was capable of.   Through my challenges I stop focusing on what I can do and open my heart and soul to what God can do through me. ...

            Jesus’ heart was troubled because Judas was to betray Him (John 13:21).   Evidently hopeless eternities are worth a troubled heart.   Later on that same night He tells the disciples not to allow their hearts to be troubled and gave them a reason why not.   Read His words from John 14:1-4: Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going . I read these words with a troubled heart, and I realized Jesus was speaking these words to people who would all face an untimely and painful death, undoubtedly troubling experiences.   In the huge scope of spiritual reality these words are a...

              When something tragic or unexpected happens, our first question seems to be, Why me?   It’s only human to feel this way and wonder why life has got to be so hard.   God has helped me look at my unwanted circumstances with a different question.   Rather than keep the focus on my pain and ask, Why me?   I focus on Him and wonder, How can You be glorified when everything is going wrong?             Adding one more word to that question makes a huge difference spiritually and opens my soul to find so much more than just my pain.   Another way to look at life’s tragedies is, Why not me ?   Sure, we each have our own amount of personal sorrows. These are the kind of sorrows that have no answers.      We can't explain away death, cancer, rape, bankruptcy and other heartaches.   It is easier to explain...

            The disciples are not the only ones who ask questions of God.   It’s not the questions we ask of God that get us in trouble.   It’s when we think we already know the answer so we don’t ask the question, or when we answer the question from our human reasoning, that we hinder our own souls.             This is what happened in John 9 regarding a man who was born blind.   It seemed obvious to wonder whose sin caused the son to be born blind—the man or the parents. To a first century Jewish mind, the fact that a baby was born blind was a sign of God’s punishment for sin.   Jesus offers a divine explanation for the man’s blindness.   He answered: I t was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.   We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one...

            It’s Christmas Eve.   The last week of Advent this year will last only two days.   All four candles of the Advent Wreath burn brightly as the days before Christmas draw near.   The Feast of the Nativity is celebrated on December 25 when the Christ candle (white center candle) is lit for just one day.             Peace is definitely what this earth needs most this Christmas.   Americans have been crushed by the horrific tragedy that occurred in an elementary school this 2012 Advent season.   On everyone’s hearts and minds we wonder, How will the loved ones of innocent children and teachers cope this Christmas?   At the Newton, Connecticut, memorial , President Obama spoke these words of truth: We know that much of our time will be spent groping through the darkness so often unable to discern God’s heavenly plans.   There is...