How to be Happy, Part 2

"You keep him in perfect peace  whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord  forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock." Isaiah 26:3-4,  ESV.

This scripture makes it clear that focusing on Him, and maintaining  this focus, is a key to obtaining that internal happiness that the bible  calls Joy. Note that this passage says that he who remains focused on Him,  trusts in Him. That is the key to building trust in him. The amplified  version of the bible gives a little more insight into this concept.

"You  will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace  whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because  he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in  You. So trust in the Lord (commit yourself to Him, lean on Him, hope  confidently in Him) forever; for the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the  Rock of Ages]." Isaiah 26:3-4, AMP.

I have heard it said, "If the  ground under your feet is shaking, you are standing on the wrong thing!" If your life is shaking, you are building your life on, and trusting, the  wrong things!

If you are trusting money, then you will be shaken every  time you face a financial challenge or situation at work. If you trust  in relationships and people, then you will be shaken when those people  let you down. Jesus is the only unshakable foundation!!

This same concept  of focusing on Him, can be found in the famous Philippians passage quoted  below. Let's take a look at it.

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again  I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The  Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by  prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known  to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard  your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, whatever  is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever  is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there  is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." Philippians  4:4-8, ESV.

Note that, in this case, we are commanded to rejoice in Him.  So rejoicing is actually a choice. Additionally, notice the relationship  between being focused on Him, maintaining a lifestyle of continual communication  with Him in prayer and thanksgiving, and our thought life.

You can choose  to be Happy. As a matter of fact, you are commanded to be happy. If you  want to be happy, or filled with joy, you need to start focusing your thoughts  on Him, on His goodness, on His magnificence, on His love for you, on His  power, on His infinite nature.

Join us next time as we continue studying  Happiness and how to achieve it in our lives.

How to be Happy, Part 1

People use the word "Happy" in different ways nowadays. Do a quick dictionary search and you'll see how true that is.

Around Christian circles, the word happy has taken the meaning of being an external quality where everything is as you would like it to be. Whereas Joy is the internal counterpart.The English dictionary, however, indicates that these words are synonyms.

It is an unfortunate fact that life on this earth cannot be perfect. That opportunity was lost at the fall. However, the internal, or mental/emotional, aspect of happiness may still be partially achievable.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" Romans 15:13, NIV

In the verse above, the bible makes it clear that we can be filled with all joy and peace. In other words, being as happy as any human being could ever be, but how do you arrive at that internal happiness.

If you read the passage carefully, you'll notice that it is an incremental process. The passage states that as we trust in God, he will fill us with peace and joy. So, the more we trust Him, the more peace and joy we are filled with.

Happiness found in trusting Jesus

It can be concluded that happiness is a mental and emotional state that God produces in us as we discipline ourselves to trust Him more and grow closer to Him.

So, how do we grow in our trust for God? What disciplines help us trust Him more?

We'll talk about that next time!!

In the mean time, please share with us what is it that helps YOU trust in HIM more!!!

Let's Grow Together!!

Video: Louie Giglio on the Star Maker

We serve an amazing God!!!

Have you thought about how awesome our God is? Have you thought of how powerful He is?

It is encouraging to think about the greatness of God in the midst of our troubles. This amazing God, who holds the universe in the palm of His hand, loves us with an infinite Love that is way beyond anything that we could ever imagine.

Whatever you are going through right now, He is bigger, and He does have everything under his control.  I hope this video helps you put your life, problems, and heartaches in the right perspective... He truly is worthy of our worship and Praise!!

How to Forgive

"For if you forgive people their  trespasses [their reckless and willful sins, leaving them, letting them  go, and giving up resentment], your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive others their trespasses [their reckless  and willful sins, leaving them, letting them go, and giving up resentment],  neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses." Matthew 6:14-15,  AMP

I was treated rudely today by someone  that I come into contact on a regular basis. This person reacted to something  that I said in a rude and condescending way that caused me to feel belittled  and insulted.

I was upset for approximately one  and a half hours, which means that I was not enjoying my life and my day  during that amount of time. I am tempted to say that it was a waste of  time, but this would not be true. This was not a waste of time because  I grew a little today; I learned about the importance of forgiving others  quickly and how to do it. This will help me in future instances where forgiveness  is needed.

Being angry at that person was  not productive, it did not help me in any way. I was consumed thinking  about myself and how the comment was inappropriate and wrong. It was not  until the Lord led me to start praying bout the situation and change my  focus from myself to Him, that progress could be made. The Lord lead me  to think about forgiving him and letting the offense go. This, however,  did not happen instantly.

The forgiveness process I went  through today was as follows:

1. Got Hurt
2. Got Angry
3. Starter praying about it
4. Experienced the presence of  God, his love, comfort, and healing.
5. Was able to forgive and let  go.

Hurts and offenses can help us  draw closer to God. As His healing presence ministers to us, we become  closer and more like Him. It is only after the wound has been healed by  Him that we can truly forgive and let go of the offense. If I had turned  to Him sooner, I would not have spent almost one hour and a half of my  day in emotional turmoil.

This is only an example of what  happened to me today. I have gone through this process before, with much  greater hurts and pains that I have experienced. In those instances, the  process took much longer than just a few minutes.

Regardless of the magnitude of  the pain or offense, ultimately there is only one way to truly forgive  someone. That way is to let God's love and his understanding flow through  us. As we draw closer to him, forgiving will become easier and easier.

What would happen if we lived,  walked, and had our being in his presence? How would it affect the way  we react to hurtful, offensive, or threatening situations?

enCOURAGE - Launch Announcement

It has become more and more evident  to me that encouragement is sorely needed. I have noticed this in my personal  life as well as other's.

I noticed that when I am encouraging  myself by reading scripture, listening to encouraging, inspiring, and motivational  material, well... I feel encouraged. Overall, my relationship with Christ  and walk is better, I lead a better life, get along with others better,  and I am of better service to the body of Christ and the lost.

When I do not take care of encouraging  myself, I quickly become depressed, negative, angry, tired, selfish, etc.

"If you have hope in the future,  you will have power in the present." John C. Maxwell

I have observed that some of the  most popular teacher and speakers out there focus mainly on encouraging  people. So, why are they so popular?

They are popular because they are  filling a great need of the people. People need encouragement, and they  are providing it.

However, a lot of this encouragement  is either biblically skewed or aimed at business people in the secular  world.

That is why I wanted to start the  enCOURAGE project, here at Every Day In Christ. The goal of the project  is to provide Encouraging, Faith-inducing, Hope-producing, Biblical, Christ-centered  material. This will not be a theology class or bible study, and is not  meant to replace your personal time of bible study and prayer!!! However,  it is meant to be focused on how great God is, and how great his  love for us is, and his mercy, and justice, and everyone of his infinite  characteristics.

It could be in the form of Bible  verses, videos, mp3's, quotes, articles, personal testimonials, pictures,  historical references, links, pdf's, or whatever other format may  inspire, encourage and uplift you, me and others. Hopefully, overtime,  we will amass a huge collection of Christian inspiration to suite everyone's  needs, and will become a one-stop-shop for healthy Christian encouragement!!

The idea is that you visit this  site often and go through the material on a regular basis, encouraging  yourself to grow closer to Christ and continue persevering in this race.  On the same note, I want you to go and find encouragement from any other  resources you can, and share it with us so we can enCOURAGE (give courage  to) one another.

Visit the enCOURAGE page and start  giving and receiving courage TODAY!!!

How to deal with Failure in a Productive and Encouraging Way, Part 3

I deal with failure regularly.

For example, I tend to respond  in an aggressive or mean way to certain situations, and I've been working  at changing this reaction for a more peaceful, and Christ-like, one.

This is a goal that has been given  to me by God, and is very biblical. It actually happened yesterday,  so it is fresh in my mind. However, by focusing on "improving"  rather than "mastering," I have been able to progressively improve  the way I respond to such events.

I did not handle the situation  perfectly yesterday. However, I also did not handle it like I would have  a year ago. Similarly, my failure rate at handling difficult situation  peacefully has been decreasing, which is a sign of improvement. There is  definitely room for progress, but progress has been made.

Little by little, I'll get to the  point where God and I are both satisfied with the way in which I respond  to these events, through perseverance.

Lord, help us understand that you  died at the cross for us, because we are sinful and imperfect. Help us  understand that we can trust in your sacrifice instead of trying to obtain  perfection. Help us see each failure as an opportunity to reach closer  to you, to receive more of your grace, to grow and learn.

Help us in our way to becoming  the men and women of God that you want us to be, to bless the world by  shining brightly for you. Help us to get back up, knowing that you are  leading us, helping us, and strengthening us. Help us enjoy the journey,  one day at a time, including the opportunities to get back up and try again.

How to deal with Failure in a Productive and Encouraging Way, Part 2

I use this process to analyze my failures:

1. Is this goal something that  God wants me to pursue?
This should always be the first  question. Goals and change should always be pursued following the leadership  of Christ. Otherwise, we could end up pursuing the wrong thing, and find  ourselves further away from God, and in deep trouble.
Your failure may very well be God  telling you that a change of goals is needed. What does the bible say about  your goal? Have you prayed about it?

2. Did I invest 100% of my efforts  and resources into it?
If the answer is "Yes,"  then there is a lack of knowledge and/or skill, so the next step would  be to ask someone for feedback and instruction. Maybe I am missing  a detail and need someone to show me what it is. Maybe I need more practice  at the specific thing and need to continue persevering and improving little  by little.

If the answer is "No"  then you have found the reason for the failure and now you have the chance  to try again, giving your 100%.

3. Is this a reasonable goal?
Goals need to be challenging and  force us to grow, but they also need to be humanly possible. A lot of people,  myself included, have unreasonable expectations of themselves. This is  very unhealthy. If you find yourself wanting to perform perfectly, or to  master a skill in an unreasonable amount of time, then the goal needs to  be modified.

If you wanted to become a concert  pianist, a lot of time and practice would be needed. This cannot be achieved  overnight. The same is true with any other skill. Instead of setting the  goal to "master" the skill or trait, set a goal to "improve" your performance by a specific amount.

4. Review the progress that  was made.
Look at how far you have come,  how much you have grown, what you have learned. Even though you might have  come short from the expected result, you still DID something, you LEARNED  something and, as you continue trying, it will become easier and easier,  until you finally achieve your goal.

If anything, at least you would  have discovered one way that does not work, so you'll know to avoid that  in the future.

5. Finally, it is important  to understand that regardless of the goals we set or the progress we make  either morally or physically, it will not help us achieve salvation. Salvation  only comes through Faith in Christ, nothing else. Earning salvation is  impossible. So, if you are saved, relax, take a deep breath, your eternity  is secure.

How to deal with Failure in a Productive and Encouraging Way, Part 1

"To those who by patient persistence  in well-doing [springing from piety] seek [unseen but sure] glory and honor  and [the eternal blessedness of] immortality, He will give eternal life" Romans 2:7, AMP

It is very important to have a  good method to understanding and dealing with failure. Otherwise, our sinful  nature will cause us to become discouraged, frustrated, and depressed when  we fail at any given task that we set ourselves out to achieve.

Whether it is to overcome sin,  master a character trait, learn a new skill, or accomplish a task, failure  can either empower you to continue learning and growing, or motivate you  to quit and depress you.

The first step in dealing with  failure in an uplifting and empowering way is understanding that failure  is an opportunity to grow and learn. If we do not learn from our mistakes,  only then have we truly failed.

The movie "Meet the Robinsons"  brings this point home in a great way. At one point during the movie the  main Character, a child genius who would grow to become a great leader  and inventor, fails at fixing a little device at the dinner table, in front  of a handful of people. Immediately after his failure, the small crowd  breaks out in cheers to celebrate this "great failure" of his.  People involved in the celebration then explain that failure is part of  the road towards success. They end the encouragement with the phrase "keep  moving forwards," and a food fight. The moral of the story is:

Every failure is an opportunity  to learn.
You get more than one chance  to succeed!
You can always try again!
So,
KEEP MOVING FORWARD!!

Once you understand that failures  become opportunities. The next step is to analyze your failure in order  to improve on your results. Stay tuned, because I will share the process  I use to analyze my failures in tomorrow's post!!

The Way to a Great Life

Would you like to have a GREAT life?

I do too!

So I continually look to those that have lead great lives to learn from them. Several years ago I came across Zig Ziglar and have been learning from him ever since.

Zig is  a Christian motivational speaker who focuses on teaching people personal  success in all areas of life. I have read and listened to some of his books and, if you  noticed my blogroll, I also subscribe to his blog and podcasts.

A main theme that he emphasizes  through his teaching is the importance of helping others. If you listen  to him or read his books, you will inevitably come across this quote:

"You can have everything in  life you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they  want." Zig Ziglar

Being focused on self will lead  you to being focused on what you want, what you have and, inevitably, what  you do NOT have. These things that you do not have will then become a priority,  because you are your own priority. Naturally, it will follow that you will  want to obtain these things.

Now, these things could be material,  such as money or cars and such, emotional, such as happiness or peace or  the benefits associated with relationships, or of a more intangible nature,  such as power or influence.

There is nothing wrong with any  of these. The problem is that, once you obtain these things, they will  soon become the norm, boring, and mundane. This will then lead you to a  different set of other "things" to obtain and, once you obtain  those, then another set, and another set. This will create a negative cycle  that will leave you unfulfilled, frustrated, and potentially addicted.

Today, I want to and suggest to  you that the way to a great life is being others-focused. I want  to encourage you to trust in Christ for your needs and focus on letting  him express his love and compassion to others through you!!

Video: Sweetly Broken - Jeremy Riddle

Have you surrendered your  life to Christ?

Surrendering your life to Christ is not a one time event. We surrender our lives to him every time we decide to follow him instead of going our own way. And we have a faithful God that forgives us and receives us back with his arms wide open every time that we fail to surrender ourselves to Him and repent.

How Great is our God!!!



Lord, help us surrender our lives to you. Help us live lives that bring glory to you, let our every breath be an expression of worship and praise that pleases your heart and draws us, as well as others, closer to you!!!

Thank you for how amazing you are, and how great your love for us is!!!

Loving The Un-Lovable

Did you ever run into someone that truly disgusted you? Someone that you truly hated and could never possibly like, much less love? What about someone that you found highly uncomfortable to be around? Do you work with anyone like that? Are you married to someone like that?

If so, where is this difference? Where does it lie? We are all sinners, not because of what we do, because of WHO WE ARE! It is in our nature. Some of us, however, have learned to sin in a way that is more socially acceptable and have successfully deluded ourselves into thinking that we are somehow better than those people that sin in a way generally perceived as offensive or "evil."

I bathe every day, I shave two times a week, and I do not use foul language or indulge in drunkenness or drugs. I even go to church almost every week! Does this make me a better person than the dirty, drunken, homeless, smelly, thieving, lying, guy that asked you for money on the streets pretending that it was for food but potentially intending to buy more alcohol, tobacco, or drugs with it?

Just because I do not sin in the same way he does, or look better kept than him, or have addictions that are considered socially acceptable, it does not mean that I am better than he is.

As a matter of fact, the opposite is potentially true. The book "The Prodigal God" goes into great detail about this very subject. This book does an outstanding job at explaining this point by studying the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32).

In this parable, even though the older, righteous, brother does everything right and properly, he does not make it into the "party." On the other hand, the materialistic, selfish, eating-with-pigs, younger brother repents and turns back. He is received with great joy and celebration while the righteous brother is left outside!!!

So what is the difference between these two brother?

The older brother was self-righteous; the younger was just selfish. The younger brother knew that what he was doing was wrong, and was able to repent when he finally came to his sense. The older brother didn't have the opportunity to repent because he believed that what he was doing was right, but it was not.

So, in a sense, we can say that God preferred to fellowship with the filthy, sinful, younger brother than with the self-righteous one.

Today I want to challenge you to inspect your prejudices. Do you think you are better than others, even if they are "addicted", "sinful", "disgusting", or even "evil" people? How does God think about them?

If you had a choice, which one of the two brothers would you rather be? Which one do you actually resemble the most? Keep in mind that neither of them was particularly "less sinful" than the other.

I encourage you to start thinking about others in the same way that God thinks about them. If you do not know how he sees them, ask Him. He will answer!!

Lord, thank you for your goodness and love. Help us extend mercy, compassion, and love to everyone we come into contact with. Help us see our prejudices and judgments, and help up look at others through your eyes, specially those people that we find particularly "sinful", disturbing, or disgusting. Help us be like you towards everyone.

Joy in the Presence of God

"You make known to me the path of life; in your  presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." Psalm 16:11, ESV

I have spoken before about walking in the  presence of God. The first time I was introduced to this concept, it was  through a book called "The Practice of the Presence of God."  The Wikipedia article on this book uses two quotes from the book to summarize, in a very effective way, the  general ideal of the concept.

"That he had always been governed by  love, without selfish views; and that having resolved to make the love  of GOD the end of all his actions, he had found reasons to be well satisfied  with his method. That he was pleased when he could take up a straw from  the ground for the love of GOD, seeking Him only, and nothing else, not  even His gifts."

"That in order to form a habit of conversing  with GOD continually, and referring all we do to Him; we must at first  apply to Him with some diligence: but that after a little care we should  find His love inwardly excite us to it without any difficulty."

According to the Psalm quoted above, there  are two great benefits to developing this continual sense of the presence  of God. The first is the a sense of joy to accompany us through our days  here on earth. The second refers to the everlasting pleasures that we will  experience in Heaven. I think these benefits are enough motivation to pursue  this quality. However, I must admit that I have not applied the initial  diligence that Brother Lawrence mentioned in his book.

This psalm is definitely not the only place  in scripture that this concept appears. Similar concepts can be found at  other places that seem to imply the same sense of continual communication  and focus on Christ. Here are a few more:

"You keep him in perfect peace whose  mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you." Isaiah  26:3, ESV (emphasis added)

"Rejoice always, pray without  ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is  the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18,  ESV (emphasis added)

"do not be anxious about anything,  but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let  your requests be made known to God." Philippians 4:6, ESV (emphasis  added)

Is there any other quality that the Christian  could pursue that is more important than maintaining open and continual  communication with his master?