Month: August 2026

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

– Romans 15:13

Many long for the happy go lucky, not a care in the world, everything is copasetic view of the world. Is this a reality or just a pipedream? The advertising machine that drives our materialistic fetish with things seeks to convince it is. And the marketing business is well oiled and effective. We are often told that we deserve this or that and if we take the time to read between the lines, the implication is that their product will bring happiness into our lives. And don’t we all deserve to be happy after all?

It is dangerous to think we can be happy all the time. It can be deadly (spiritually as well as emotionally or physically) to prioritize happiness in our life. When we focus on seeking what makes us happy, the disappointment and letdown becomes immense. What becomes glaringly problematic is the everchanging and subjective nature of happiness. What may make one person happy is not the same thing that makes others happy. The result of this ever changing idea of happiness is capitalized by consumer marketing and social media influencers. The ugly reality is that they are attempting to sell you on their unattainable product of happiness.

Joy on the other hand is vastly different from happiness. While happiness is an emotional response, joy is founded in an identity in Christ. Joy in the Lord is rooted in the comfort of knowing Jesus and living within His care and authority. To experience joy is much different than seeking emotional gratification through life’s circumstances.

Joy enables us to celebrate Christ, to endure pain, agony, trials and tribulations, to extend compassion, to acknowledge the greatness of God and to pick up and carry our cross daily – simultaneously. The reason is, joy is not found in our abilities or what the world has to offer. Contrary to happiness, joy is a component of the Fruit of the Spirit. Because joy is found in the Lord, it is not limited to what the world has to offer.

In Romans, Paul shows that joy and peace come from believing in Christ who encompasses hope. It should not be hard for us to see the connection between joy, peace and hope, even in the darkest of valleys as well as the highest of mountaintops. Paul goes on to state that this reciprocates through the Holy Spirit, so that we may abound in even more hope. It is a perpetual synergistic cycle.

Through the experience and expression of our faith, the Lord’s joy and peace come into our life. Hope emanates from here and a snowball effect begins to occur in the born again believer. Our joy grows, our peace abounds and our hope overflows, continually as we trust and follow the Lord. 

Nothing on this earth can come close to what God can do in our life. Therefore seeking happiness and making an idol will always fail. Happiness has a component in our life like our other emotions like sorrow, anxiety, sadness or surprise. However, just like all our emotions, they are never to drive us, but rather direct us to the loving arms of Jesus.

If you are struggling with the wants and cares of this world, running on the hamster wheel of emotions, never getting anywhere and in fact losing ground, it’s time to simply stop. Move away for your own effort and seek the standards of His Word. Look to the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit to redefine and refine your relationship with Christ.

To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

– 1 Timothy 1:17

We live in a disposable society. That’s an unfortunate but accurate statement. It seems people have slowly become accustomed to moving on from just about everything they encounter in life.

In today’s ever changing materialistic economy are we encouraged to buy new, to upgrade, to simply dispose of appliances, automobiles and really anything mechanically based. Gone are the days when the local repair shops were busy, teeming with everything from broken toasters to transistor radios. This has been replaced with landfills full of washers and refrigerators barely five years old.

Technological devices turnover at an even more rapid pace. Not only have we been convinced we need the latest and the greatest, the tech companies urge our compliance by outdated software and eliminating upgrades. For the younger generations this has simply become the normal practice.

Unfortunately a disposable mindset has even invaded our social norms. Marriage, family and friendships are easier to walk away from than ever before. Instead of seeking reconciliation, in many cases the option for estrangement and alienation allows pride and unforgiveness to take root.

For the Christian specifically, the idea of a disposable church continues to grow. A consumer driven attitude has encouraged immature Christians to jump from church to church avoiding authentic community, needed conviction and offensive Biblical truth.

The most disgorging aspect of living in a disposable society is when it overflows into how we view life. Abortion is the blackest abyss that any culture can ever fall into. It is reprehensible that human life at any point from conception to the sick and elderly could ever be viewed as something we can simply throw away because those are deemed as unnecessary or irrelevant.

One of the fundamental aspects of God is His eternal nature. Without a beginning nor an ending, God is literally everlasting. It is a wonderful attribute that He passes on to us through His Son. The Bible is full of accounts where broken people are called and used by God to do great things. In the Gospels we see Jesus concerning Himself with those that had been deemed unfit and disposable. The broken and blind, the sinful and the sick found repair so to speak in the words and touch of Christ. Because the Lord seeks restoration over refuse attests to His overall attitude on life itself. 

If we are to aspire to be like Christ, that means we must also adopt His views on life, reconciliation and relationships. This can only be done through a born again relationship and the subsequent empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Jesus profoundly expresses the dichotomy between disposal and repair in John 10:10. 

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 

As Christians, we are obligated to model Christ’s example of life to those around us and to a world shrouded in darkness.

But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

– Acts 20:24

What do you picture when you hear the word retire? Most likely the first thing that comes to mind is someone who has reached a certain age and is leaving the job market. They have put in their years and have come to a place where all the toil of employment is now behind them and they can spend their golden years doing whatever their heart desires. At least that is the image that has been portrayed in the last century.

Now think about the word recess. What comes to mind? For most, it will harken back to the past years of elementary school. Those wonderful times the children took a break from the challenge of sitting still as the teacher attempted to shape their young minds. Recess was invigorating because it allowed a time for a break, a time to reset, a time to allow the mind to unfocus so it could then refocus. The really good teachers understand the importance of recess and strategically use this break time as a way to cultivate and focus the learning process.

Two different words that encourage very different initial thoughts. One is deemed appropriate for the older crowd and we tend to think they deserve it because they have earned it. The other, the younger crowd who needs it in order to keep them under control for the more important things.

But have you ever thought about retirement and recess from a Biblical and faith perspective? A Biblical view of retirement is much different then what is embraced today. The modern idea of a leisure-based retirement is a first-world cultural invention. On the other hand, the Bible views retirement as a reassignment, not a retreat. It is a transition of activity and the important use of experience. The transition into the more mature years of life should be a time for the sharing of wisdom and looked at as a shift in vocation rather than an excuse for withdrawal for personal enjoyment.

The idea of a recess is much different. The pattern of work and rest was established in creation. A recess should be thought of as a deliberate time of rest or in Biblical language a sabbath or sabbatical. It serves as a time of withdrawing from the day to day activities of ministry.

Numerous times, Jesus withdrew from the crowds to pray and spend time with His Father. There are three main principles we can learn from Jesus in terms of a recess. First, a recess protects us from burnout. No matter how much we love people and talking about Jesus, we need a break in order to keep our focus on the bigger picture. Second, a time of recess is needed to find and reestablish clarity and focus on the Holy Spirit. In silence, we position ourselves to be able to hear God’s voice. Third, when we place a priority on recess we demonstrate our dependence on Christ as our Lord and sustainer. Modeling the practice of dedicated rest is an example to others that the love of God includes His care for us.

To gain a complete understanding, we now must consider the word reassignment. Reassignment by definition is moving to a new role in order to complete a different task. Our purpose in Christ never changes, which is to glorify God. However our assignment does. Just like the changing of the seasons, the opportunities to build the Kingdom also changes. This is a lifelong process that doesn’t end until we step into glory.

Instead of taking a cultural approach to retirement, recess and reassignment, the faithful believer should always turn to the Scriptures when it comes to our next steps on the faith journey.

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

– 2 Timothy 2:22

Food is essential. We have to have nourishment if we want to operate correctly from a biochemical and physiological standpoint. But food is much more than simply an obligatory necessity. We also take pleasure in food. With all the different flavors, we develop preferences and cravings that bring a factor of satisfaction. In addition to that, meal time has a social and community aspect that all cultures partake in. We eat to celebrate, we eat when we are stressed and we eat when we need comfort. 

For restaurant chains, advertising their food is essential for their business. They take every part of the eating experience and use it for their marketing purposes. It seems like you can’t go through a commercial break without at least one of the advertisements being for food and most likely it’s cheaper and less quality fare.

As with most corporate advertising, the food you see on the commercials is never an accurate representation of what you actually get. Sure it may look good, however your past experiences always speak louder. Technology has yet created an accurate way to present a good product. You cannot smell, let alone taste the food through your screen. However, it is meant to entice your tastebuds and need for community to the point that your hunger overrides those past experiences.

But then something odd happens. There is a shift in how you process the food commercials. Instead of longing for their food and how good you think it will taste, you start thinking about how disappointing it actually is and how badly it would make you feel.

Temptation for the mature Christian works in a similar way. Temptation to sin is advertised and displayed all around us. It’s enticing because our human sin nature seeks, even craves the depravity of the perverted world. On top of that, like the commercials pitching substandard food, the temptation of sin never stacks up the actual engagement. The truth is, sin will always let you down and leave you empty, regretting those decisions.

When we seek righteousness and a Christ honoring life, we come to the realization that how good we think the sin would make us feel, we have a deeper Holy Spirit inspired understanding of how negative the results would be. 

In Paul’s second letter to Timothy, he conveys this principle of Christian maturity. So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace. Don’t fall for the false promises of this world. Be careful with what the culture is pitching you, because the outcome   will never live up to the hype. Quite the contrary. The world can only offer a weak counterfeit of those things that only God can bring into our lives. 

Like the steaming pieces of pizza we see smiling people enjoying on a commercial, we come to the reality that the food not only disappoints us, it also gives little satisfaction. Add to the detrimental effect of low quality food and hopefully a lesson has been learned. How we look at and treat sin and temptation in our life should be no different. We must never forget our last experience with sin. The reality of the emptiness, disgust and remorse should be powerful reminders that draw us back to the righteousness of the Lord.