In recent years, Jesus has liberated me from thinking I'm responsible for outcomes. So today, I hold outcomes far more loosely. I think I was trying to play God in those early years (without meaning to). If I reach out to this person, I bet this may happen! If I help this family member, I bet this will be the result! If/Then...

Context is everything as is perception. Both can be game changers when it comes to giving thanks. The book of Thessalonians was written to people who were being persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul, its author, wanted his readers to know they could live (or die) with HOPE. Jesus rose from the grave and they could look...

“Humility is the perfect quietness of heart. It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and when I am blamed or despised. It is to have a blessed home in the Lord, where I can go in and...