It all comes down to now.

If we want joy in the new year we must find joy in this moment. Try as we may, we can only live one moment at a time. This step is the only one I can take. Do not sleep your life away by sleeping away the present moment. Attend to the present. Be where you are. Keep your eyes fixed on where you should be now and you will be where you are supposed to be later. What opportunity, what power lies before us this very moment.

“Be where you are!” Ecc.9 Conversations Within” ts 12/24/2017

”You are never to old to set a new goal or dream a new dream.” C.S.Lewis

One key to living is to never stop living. Do something productive every day. Don’t ever stop playing. Spend time every day outside. Look up at the night sky and keep stirring your sense of wonder. Talk with children and seniors. Make plans and set new goals for yourself. Live the life entrusted to you. Nurture your inner life in the light of its Creator.

“You have made known to me the path of life.” Ps.16.11 Conversations Within” ts 12/22/2017

“The art of life lies in a constant readjustment to our surroundings.” Kakuzo Okakura

I confess that I love an undisturbed schedule and often get frustrated when I am required to adjust my plans. This is especially true when the disruption is because of someone else’s disorganization. But love often requires us to adapt in order to serve. I usually come around and do what is required of me, but a bad attitude has already stolen my joy. Attitude is everything! Adjust it!

“...and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.” Jesus Conversations Within” ts 12/22/2017

“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” Confucius

Often great change begins with a small decision. A big decision is often disguised as a small one. Who would think that an addiction would begin simply by trying something new. The good news is that this dynamic works both ways. A small adjustment in some daily behavior can lead us to a better life. One step up the ladder affects as much change as one step down it.

“Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches." Jesus Conversations Within” ts 12/21/2017

“Growth and comfort do not coexist.” Ginni Rometty

We have a saying that if you are not hurting somewhere, you are not playing hard enough. “No pain, no gain” really is true. This being the case, it seems prudent to not only endure the pains of personal growth, but embrace them as a necessary part of the process. A positive attitude will serve us well as we deal with the bumps and bruises of becoming a better person. One brother put it this way, “Wiping out is an underappreciated skill.” Laird Hamilton

"By your endurance you will gain your lives.” Jesus Conversations Within” ts 12/20/2017

“Try to draw a circle so huge that there is no way we can finish it while we are alive. Dr. Shigeaki Hinohara

I recently read the advice of a longevity doctor who lived to be a 105 who believed that we should never quit working. He said that we should attempt to draw a circle so huge with our life that there would be no way we could finish it in our lifetime. I like it! I like it for a number of reason. It challenges us to live for something bigger than ourselves. It also reminds me that we never arrive, we will never have it together in this place. Just get up each morning and keep drawing your circle.

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” Phil.3.12 Conversations Within” ts 12/19/2017

”We wish you a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!”

I love Christmas! I love the decorations, our family traditions, all the get togethers with family and friends. I love Christmas morning--the memories and the magic of waking to glittering lights, opening presents, reading the Christmas story. I love all that Christmas tells us about God--His unimaginable love for us, a love so powerful that He would send His Son into harm's way to bless us with blessings that are just as unimaginable. I love Christmas!

“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” 2Cor.9.15 Conversations Within” ts 12/18/2017

Three phrases that sum up Christmas are: Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men, and Batteries not Included.” Author Unknown

How can there be peace on earth when there is always something missing. Many will celebrate Christmas without a loved one, or with some illness or just having gone through a divorce. The very word “peace” means whole, complete, lacking nothing.  Batteries are often not included in this place. But peace comes to us when we accept that though everything is not as is should be, God is even now working so that it will be. We make peace with the process and wait in peace for the final product.

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” Luke 2.14 Conversations Within” ts 12/16/2017

“I must stand on my head, I must stand on my head!” Ebenezer Scrooge (A Christmas Carol)

One year looking for Christmas bargains, my wife poked me and said, “You don't want to be a Scrooge do you?” I smiled and replied, “Yes I do.” I then reminded her that in the end Scrooge was a kind and giving person who overwhelmed people with his generosity. Christmas reminds us that no matter how bad we start out, it is how we end up with God’s help that really matters. Here's to Ebenezer for helping us to see the beauty of transformation! May God stand us all on our head.

“Come now, let us settle the matter," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” Is.1.18 Conversations Within” ts 12/15/2017

“Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we're here for something else besides ourselves.” Eric Sevar

It is nothing short of amazing that the sacrificial actions of a single man born in an obscure little village in the middle east could change the lives of so many.  The seed that Christ sowed with His life is still being multiplied the world over. He invites each of us to live for the greater good by dying to selfishness and live in the service of love. Everytime we say no to ourselves so that we can serve others, we sow a seed of similar power.

“Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” Jesus Conversations Within” ts 12/13/2017

Most of us go home for Christmas. Jesus left home for Christmas.

When you love someone you do whatever it takes to secure what is best for them. Christmas calls us to consider all that God the Father has and is doing for our benefit. Many men and women will not be home for Christmas to express this kind of love. It is the very Spirit of Christmas--sacrificing for those you love. Whatever it takes indeed!

“He who did not spare His own son, but delivered Him up for us all,
how shall not with Him freely give us all things.” Rom.8.32 Conversations Within” ts 12/13/2017

“Christmas is not so much about opening our presents as opening our hearts.” Janice Maeditere

It staggers me to think that Christ lives in my very soul. It is hard for me to wrap my head around the simple word that He has taken up residence in me. Of course I invited Him in. He would never force Himself on any of us. This experience is hard to put into words. He has never made me feel smothered, or possessed; it is more like marriage I suppose--a joining, a connectedness, a partnership like no other.

“...so that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith,” Eph.3.17 Conversations Within” ts 12/11/2017

“What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.” The Grinch

Every year people speak of keeping the true meaning of Christmas. I suppose like many things, it is easy for our attention to get lost in the clutter of life’s many distractions. Married couples often forget to practice the true meaning of marriage, and parents of parenting, and friends of friendship. In each of these, the meaning is found in the words themselves. It is a wonder how we can forget Christ when we say the word Christ-mas, but we do. To keep to true meaning of all of these blessings is to practice them with an active remembrance.

“Do this in remembrance of me.” Jesus Conversations Within” ts 12/10/2017

“Where you are headed is more important than how fast you are going.” Steven Covey

A good many changes in our life come in degrees, somewhat like a cake baking in the oven. Such change cannot be rushed. What is important is the direction the arrow is pointing in my thoughts and actions. Am I changing for the better? Is my character growing? The Christian answers this by asking if we are becoming more and more like Christ. This kind of change takes time. Surely patience, as well as perseverance is required of us. Stick with it, transformation is worth it.

"And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” 2Cor.3.18 Conversations Within” ts 12/8/2017

“Change your thoughts and you change your world.” Unknown

It excites me to realize that the power of change is simply a matter of changing how I think about things. Hardship can become a hard workout for character training. Obstacles can become opportunities for growth. Dead religion can be transformed into a dynamic relationship with my Creator. Every vice I have can become a quest for personal victory in some area of self-control. Jesus was not kidding when He told us that the Kingdom of God is within us.  

“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Rom.12 Conversations Within” ts 12/7/2017

Our values are not valuable if we do not live by them.

Like knowledge, our values do not serve us if we know them but don’t use them. What value is there if say I value time but then waste it, or I value honesty but lie when it is convenient. The value of our values in discovered only in keeping them.

“If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it, it is sin for them.” James 4.17 Conversations Within” ts 12/6/2017

“Worry will never change the outcome.” Unknown

Actually worry can change a great deal, and change it for the worse. Worry can wear us out, ruin our health, stifle our faith and have us overly concerned about some future something rather than living in the present moment. It is true that worry never solves anything, just sours it. Attend to the present. Change what you can if it needs changing, then give the rest to God. Tell yourself, “It is what it is, but it is also as God has allowed and His grace is sufficient for it.

“Cast all your care on Him because He cares for you.” 1Pet.5.7  Conversations Within” ts 12/5/2017

Live with positive force.

There is a great deal of joy to be had when we play on the positive side of life. Do not spend all your time resisting the old, rise up and live the new. Nurture new thinking patterns, new attitudes, new approaches to dealing with daily matters. Do not think that putting away the old is enough. Put on the new. Stop being critical by being actively constructive. Purge every negative by pursuing a positive.

“Put off your old self...be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” Eph.4 Conversations Within” ts 12/5/2017

“The secret of all change is to focus all of your energy not in fighting the old, but on building the new.” Socrates

I would think that the best approach to positive change is to pour our energies, not just into stopping some bad behavior, but starting something new behavior. For instance, the best way to avoid eating unhealthy is to eat healthy. The best way to stop being critical may simply be to start being complimentary. One way to purify our thoughts may be to pour in good ones and keep pouring them in until we flush out bad ones. But surely the place to begin is in our thoughts.

“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Rom.12 Conversations Within” ts 12/4/2017

There is hoping in the sense of wanting something to happen; then there is hoping in the sense of expecting something to happen.

One question we might ask ourselves if we are serious about our hope of Heaven, is how can we cooperate with the process of preparing us to live there. According to the Good Book, the pure in heart will see God. How pure is my heart? One disciple of Christ has commented, "It is safe to tell the pure in heart that they shall see God, for only the pure in heart want to." The level of my comfort at the prospect of meeting God, is probably a good way to determine if I am cooperating or not.

“All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.” 1John 3.3 Conversations Within” ts 11/30/2017

The hope of Heaven is not about a place we are going so much as it is about someone we are becoming.

Even God cannot create a Heaven for a person whose heart is trapped in the selfishness of  Hell. If the heart is not happy, nothing outside can create it. This is why any hope of glory must be about inner transformation not just a change of location. The Kingdom of Heaven is found first in the heart reconciled to God, and then in the actions which follow.

“The Kingdom of Heaven is within you.” Jesus Conversations Within” ts 11/29/2017

“There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.” C. S. Lewis

Just about every culture has some kind of belief in the afterlife. Is it silly optimism to want to live forever? A number of people have made peace with the notion that when you die you die. This prompts me to ask, just how real is my own hope of Heaven? Well, it is in the very least, as real as my belief in God, or I suppose I should say, my daily interactions with Him. Everything I know from interacting with God in the here and now leads me to expect my interactions to continue after I leave this place.

“God has chosen to make known...the glorious riches of this mystery,
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Col.1.27 Conversations Within” ts 11/27/2017

“Ready or not here I come.”

Who doesn’t have memories associated with these words? Excitement, anticipation, the search to find, and the hope of winning at the end all come back to me. I can’t help wonder if Christ will announce His return with these same words. We are told that some will try and hide when He appears while others will embrace the event with delight. Ready or not indeed?

“...we wait for the blessed hope--the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ…” Titus 2.13 Conversations Within” ts 11/27/2017

Hope is what we expect to come to us in the future; faith is a confident trust that God will bring it about.

When I say that my future is in God’s hands, it dawns on me just how true this is. Any life I have coming to me in the next hour, or in the next life as we say, is in His tender keeping. What is left to us is to hope in His goodness, grace and promises, and trust His power to see it to completion. What do I hope for? Not just to live forever, but to live now. What is quantity of life without quality of life.

“You hold my lot!” Ps.16 Conversations Within” ts 11/26/2017

“I look to the future because that’s where I’m going to spend the rest of my life.” George Burns

Hope is all about looking for some future something. Of course, when we look for something to happen, we usually get ready for it. In this sense our hope is alive. One hope I have is to live forever. Because of this I seek to prepare myself and my affairs for it. Christian hope is more akin to the expectation of someone looking forward to spring than it is like a child hoping it doesn't rain over the holidays.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” 1Pet.1.3 Conversations Within” ts 11/25/2017

Let us frequently and confidently enter the secret chambers of prayer to take from God’s store promised blessings for those we love.

“You are in my prayers.” How precious are these words. When we go to God in prayer, we can ask not just for ourselves, but for others. There are plenty of promises in the pantry of prayer to serve up a meal of goodness for everybody we know. Do not neglect to ask blessings for those in your life. Set aside time every day to simply pray for others. We may very well be the only person who remembers them in prayer.

“I thank my God always, and I remember you in my prayers.” Philemon 4 Conversations Within” ts 11/24/2017