Being Stuck Can Go Both Ways
If you're an active believer, you have probably faced a situation or two that have been just plain hard.
It looks like this – someone shares something they are going through with you, and you listen and care. Maybe you give some advice, maybe you aren’t sure what to do, but you offer a caring heart. They feel seen. You feel like you were there for them.
Then it happens again. It feels a little like déjà vu.
Somehow you see them again, and they share again, and you listen again, but it’s the same stuff. Again, they feel better. They feel seen, and you feel like you were there for them.
When it happens three+ times, you start to wonder -Â am I really helping them, or are they just feeling better in the moment, with no actual change happening?
Maybe you start to avoid them.
Maybe you can’t understand what they really want from you.Â
Maybe you don’t know why they aren’t listening to advice.
Those are the typical responses to conversations that aren’t going anywhere: avoidance, conf...
Change Happens Two Ways - And Three Ways We Address It
Subject: Change Happens Two Ways - And Three Ways We Address It
Change happens by Decision and Imposition. That's how I see it. Put another way, transition happens by choice or by chance through a situation God can use.
Let's look at each.
#1 Change can happen when we make choices.Â
Our decisions lead to transitions. It can be as simple as choosing a different breakfast or as complex as changing careers and moving to a new location. Â
When we stop making choices to change, we stop growing.
Discipleship is a transformational process that requires shifts. Shifts in thinking and in doing, and shifts in how we manage our thoughts and emotions. It is how we process the stuff of life, which brings us to our next thought.
#2 Change can be imposed on us when stuff happens.
The "stuff" can be something we hoped for, like a promotion or a new relationship, but it can also be something we feared, like a difficulty. Maybe an event at work prompts an unwelcome transition. Inflation causes...
4 Ways Weeds Sneak In And Steal Growth
Jesus talked a fair amount about weeds. There are other biblical references as well.Â
It starts early, in fact. Genesis 3:18 introduces weeds as a consequence of sin, saying, "the ground will produce thorns and weeds..."
In the parable of the soils in Matthew 13, Jesus talks about how weeds are like worries and temptations. They distract us from the primary objective. Later in that same chapter is another story about weeds. This one is interesting in that Jesus says to go ahead and let the weeds grow alongside the wheat, only this time He is referring to weeds as people who don't follow Him. (The writer of Hebrews also refers to these people as weeds.)Â
Weeds are sneaky. Here are 4 ways they sneak in and steal growth.
1) They start small and can grow to overshadow the valuable plants they are near. They steal the needed connection to the sun.Â
2) They use resources the plant needs. The nutrients and moisture in the soil are diverted from the plant and spent on the weeds.
3) They ...