"The concept of a beautiful life can be vague."

A thought by Daniel Fusco, from his book, Crazy Happy (p. 10). The Crown Publishing Group, Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)

So much beauty to see!

Daniel explains, "We don’t want beauty in an abstract sense, floating out there in the ether, something intangible that we appreciate but can’t quite grasp. We want to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it and become part of it. As we behold Jesus and the beauty of what God has done for us, we don’t just see it from a distance; we find ourselves yearning for true oneness with Jesus."

He continues, "Everyone is on a unique step of his or her journey. Some of us arrived here with serious issues, questions, and doubts about Jesus, while others of us have been following Jesus with great excitement. No matter what our personal view of Jesus is, he is still the most important and controversial person in the history of humanity. Everything he said and did matters.

"We are all on this journey together, so I don’t want you to be scared away if you’re unsure about Jesus. It is my hope to honor the step that you are on in your journey. And if you’re already following Jesus, I promise to honor your step as well."

"Our human love of beauty is an echoing cry in all our souls. We want to experience something beautiful not just in the world around us, not just in what we do, but in who we are. It’s part of our deep longing for significance, meaning, and purpose that transcends the details of our lives and connects us to something greater. And we’ve all felt it."

He then says, ". . . true beauty works itself out in our lives only as we are made one with Jesus, because only he can breathe beauty back into the deepest parts of who we are. And when this happens, we experience happiness."

And that is what we want and need, isn't it?

Yes, yes!

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“There’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.”

A thought by Bob Goff from his book, Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People ( p. 41). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Have you ever built a sand castle or maybe a Lego castle? Have you? Bob says, “We actually build castles all the time, out of our jobs and our families and the things we’ve purchased. Sometimes we even make them out of each other. Some of these castles are impressive too. Lots of people come to admire what we’ve built over the course of our lives and tell us what great castles we have. But Jesus told His friends we weren’t supposed to spend our lives building castles. He said He wanted us to build a kingdom, and there’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.” Bob goes on, “You see, castles have moats to keep creepy people out, but kingdoms have bridges to let everyone in. Castles have dungeons for people who ha...

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“Sometimes we think we’re stuck simply because things are hard.”

A thought by Matt Perman, from his book, How to Get Unstuck (p. 52). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the That is a possible trap for many, isn’t it? Matt says, “But if you’re continuing to make progress and aren’t experiencing huge snags, you’re not stuck. Rather, you’re in a dip. “A dip is a temporary hard slog that you will get through if you keep pushing and don’t give up. And pushing through the hard slog is actually the fastest route to the destination. In these cases, you will be especially tempted to bail. Be discerning and able to identify that you’re in a legitimate dip and you’re not a failure.” Matt says another trap to be careful of, “Some people are stuck and don’t know it.” He goes on, “Everything can be going your way, going smoothly, and going quickly. Everything feels and seems wonderful. Yet... you are still headed toward a dead end, a form of getting stuck, if you are leaving God out of t...

Just Continue That Thought...

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