We all go through “Dark Times” where it feels like God is nowhere to be found and we often feel isolated from people in our souls even if we are in a crowd of people. Those times can be scary because we don’t know what the outcome will be and we often can become overwhelmed with the prospect of the “What If’s” that fuel our worries. If you haven’t read the first two articles in this series please do so before reading this one as they are all linked with each other.

I recently preached a sermon on how many believing Christians have what I believe is an “Orphan Spirit” that hinders them from trusting and truly enjoying an intimate relationship with their Heavenly Father. Jesus said that he came to give us “Abundant Life” and he did so because of the Father’s love. Yet,  it seems few believers experience such a life. Far too often professing Christians talk about what they believe without actually experiencing the reality of what they strongly agree biblically.

This article is part 2 in the series on maintaining a “Healthy Soul”. The subject of the soul is an important topic from both the  scriptural and theological point of view.  The practical side of maintaining your soul will not happen without greater insight more than pure observation. In my opinion, the soul needs to be taught about regularly yet in many churches the subject is rarely identified let alone discussed except for a glancing word that the average believer doesn’t understand nor apply in life.
This understanding can and should cultivate in the body of Christ but sadly it does not. If you haven’t read the first part on this subject, please do so before continuing.

My “Life Experience” has always been affected by my curiosity with how and why things work the way they do. In my life path I quickly discovered that life doesn’t get better just because I introduce “New Things” into my life but also and, more importantly, because I learn to treasure and maintain what I have already been blessed by.

In the first article on this subject I explained that often we focus too much on our problems and brokenness and thus fail to encourage our walk with focusing on the goodness of God. Let me explain up front that I do not believe you can ignore our many problems or deny them, but if the problem is taking up most of your perception in life you are bound to continue in them and develop greater damage to your soul. As a counselor and pastor I would try to help people see their main problem and then help them focus on God’s ability to resolve and overcome these problems. By helping people see God’s proven faithfulness in other’s lives, we gain hope and confidence for ourselves. If you have not read part one on this same subject please read before continuing with this article.

Those of us who are over 45 years old or more ( that was a long time ago for me ) rarely take seriously the tradition of making a New Year Resolution mostly due to that fact of not keeping those resolutions after January. Truth be told, what we call resolutions aren’t truly a solid decision to change but rather an admitting of a weakness in our life style we regret. Sometimes admitting we need to change is very difficult depending on how many areas we struggled with the year before and yet to admit a weakness of failure can be the first step in becoming healthier.

Christmas time should be the easiest time of year to share our faith about Jesus and his ability to forgive our sin and give us a brand new life. The question then becomes “Why” do I and others like me struggle with testifying to Christ’s great love during the month of December? There are two previous articles on this subject and if you haven’t already read them please do so before reading this one as they all build on each other.

You would think sharing the love of God with others and telling how God sent his only Son into the world as a baby would be an easy thing to do and yet many believers never share Christ, even during the Christmas Season. In this article we will be looking at just some of the reasons why so many struggle with expressing their love for God even when the season sets the stage for communicating their own salvation experience.  If you haven’t read the first article on “Christmas Time” please read that one first as there are some important things to consider before reading this second part.

I have found that there is no better time to talk about the love of God and the birth of Christ than during the month of December. The real truth is that the radio and TV are doing a lot of the work for us and the Holy Spirit is speaking to the human heart no matter how broken the person may be. We so often are reluctant to share the story of the gospel because we look at the outside of people and think they don’t need our help when, in fact, they are crying out on the inside.

As a person with a “Bent” for seeing through things, it’s easy for me to be captivated by what’s out-of-order, missing or just wrong. It really doesn’t matter the subject or place I find myself, I can enter a business and I can quickly spot things that could be handled or organized better. When driving I’m a rules guy so you can imagine how easy it is for me to get captivated by what people should or should not be doing when driving.  It’s a “challenge” to be thankful given all the distractions in life.