NEW YEAR’S FITNESS COMMITMENT

“You’ve been raised on the Message of the faith and have followed sound teaching. Now pass on this counsel to the followers of Jesus there, and you’ll be a good servant of Jesus. Stay clear of silly stories that get dressed up as religion. Exercise daily in God—no spiritual flabbiness, please! Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you...

REFRAME IT!

“Then it happened when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid on the Negev and on Ziklag, and had overthrown Ziklag and burned it with fire; and they took captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great, without killing anyone, and carried them off and went their way. When David and his men came to the city, behold, it...

REAL LOVE!

“Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.” (I John 3:18 NLT) This is your Monday Short meditation. For real this Monday! As you can ascertain from the verse above, when you love others, it is not something merely conveyed with words or sweet-sounding speech that is pleasing to the ears and serves to perk up another’s emotions....

YOUR JOURNEY

“These are the stages of the journeys of the Israelites, by which they came out of the land of Egypt by their armies, under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. Moses recorded their points of departure, as the Lord commanded, stage by stage; and these are their journeys according to their points of departure: They set out from Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month; on...

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED FOR YOU!

Books That Slay, published a summary of a book in 2023 that you may have read in your academic pursuits, as an assigned reading for leaders who face major challenges, or perhaps you were just looking for some good reading material to steer you away from the habit of watching television. The book is titled, “The Road Less Traveled,” and it was written in 1978 by M. Scott Peck. The summary...

THE MEMORY MIRROR

“That’s what the world is, after all: an endless battle of contrasting memories.’ Haruki Murakami We all look in the memory mirror of life and see reflections of our experiences. Sometimes, especially around special days, our minds focus too much on bad memories, versus the good memories. We focus on the burdens, instead of the blessings. We focus on that which we regret, versus the...

A CHRISTMAS MORNING FAMILY MEDITATION

“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.’ When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of...

GRANDMOTHER’S WISDOM

“And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7 NLT) Bill Withers wrote a song entitled, “Grandma’s Hands.”  Zac Brown wrote a song about...

ADVICE FOR WHEN YOU ASCEND HIGHER

“No matter how high I get, I will still be looking up to You!” (Lyrics by Luther Barnes) When I entered the field of Human Resources, I started as a HR Representative, moved up to a HR Specialist, advanced through the managerial ranks, and at one point reported to the company President. Oh, by the way, I also turned down an offer to move into a corporate position where I would oversee...

REASON TO CELEBRATE

“And David danced before the Lord with all his might and was wearing priests’ clothing. So Israel brought home the Ark of the Lord with much shouting and blowing of trumpets.”(2 Samuel 5:14-15 The Living Bible) This is your Monday Short meditation. In the verses above, David is celebrating the bringing of the ark home, back to Jerusalem. Among the sacred things inside the ark were the...