Suffering

So they took his advice, and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council,rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.


Joy-filled suffering changes the position of affliction from focusing on pain to rejoicing that you can be counted worthy.  This is a paradigm shift for me as I view my very comfortable world in which I make every effort to be pain-free while studiously avoiding conflict and condemnation -losing chances to proclaim the Good  News.  Help me to live courageously and love full-out Father. Then the joy of the Lord will be my strength - not my well-insulated environment.

Deep Regret from Owl City

What Adam Young, from Owl City prays for his future wife:  She is out there. My Cinderella. She is real. She exists. I pray for her constantly. May God satisfy the desires of her heart, draw her close, consume her. May He claim her passions, her identity, her refuge, her hopes, her strengths and weaknesses, every fiber of her being. May she treasure and cherish her Savior more than anything of this world and cling to His will with every ounce of her stamina. By all that she is, does, and strives to be, may He draw near to her and she to Him.