A time to not pray?
Is there ever a time you shouldn't pray? It depends. I think the correct answer is that there is never a time we should not pray. But… Do you want to pray? Should you pray when you don't feel like it? Do you want God to do something big? Are you afraid of what God will and can do if you pray? Do you have faith in God? Should you pray when you have hate in your heart? Should you pray when you have unforgiveness in your heart? Should you pray for something when you don't actually want something? Are you willing to do anything else, besides pray, for what you want? And speaking of praying for things… Should you pray to God if all you are going to do is ask for one more thing? Should you pray to God when you are angry?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Change
Change is normal. Change can be quick and slow. Change can be good or bad. Only truly good change can happen when God is behind the change. Change can't be stopped. Change is necessary. Going forward through change takes strength.
Do you have anymore ideas on change? Share them in the comments...
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The Productive Hour Hi, it's me N.C.R. again here with another blog post about being productive. Today I will be talking about the productive hour. You can do much more in an hour than you can in a minute. But there are only 24 hours in a day. ---------------- Well that is I wrote, but I talk about the productive hour for about 10 minutes!
The Productive Minute
Hi, it's me N.C.R. again here with another blog post about being productive. Today I will be talking about the productive minute. You can do much more in a minute than you can in a second. What are some things you can do in a minute? You can pray. You can read the Bible. I know those two things may not sound like the most productive things on the earth. But they are. In the Bible, we are commanded to pray without ceasing. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much(James 5:16). So yes prayer is something you can do in a minute. But it is also something that should last longer than a minute. And Bible reading is also something that is important and reading your Bible should be considered a productive use of your time. Definitely, it is something you can and should do for a few minutes each day. But if you can it would even be better if you could spend about an hour a day or more reading the Bible. I know I don't. You can think about being productive. I know this blog post may not have been as good as the first blog post on productivity. But that is ok. I have some good stuff coming about productivity. I have been thinking about it a lot in the last few weeks and will continue to think about it for the next few weeks. I think that thinking about productivity can be a first step to becoming more productive. And sure spending some time thinking about productivity is good, but don't spend all your time thinking. Thinking should lead to actions. "Wasting a lot of time starts by wasting a small amount of time." Does the Church need more godly resources? I think the simple answer to that is no. No, the church does not need more godly resources. So many godly resources have already been created by so many amazing people. And as the founder of The SunShining I love discovering more godly resources. And because I love discovering more godly resources, I am discovering more all the time. Also as the founder of The SunShining I love creating more godly resources. I know that I said the church does not need more godly resources. But more godly resources don't hurt. What the church does need though is more godly men, godly woman, godly teens, and godly children. But how do we get more godly people? I think by creating and sharing godly resources. What do I think of: "Do what you like, Like what you do." I think that it is not necessarily Christian advice. But I do believe that God created each of us unique and that he has a purpose and a plan for our lives. And I believe that God's plan and purpose for us is something we will like and enjoy doing. But I also think it takes maturity to know what we really like and to know what God's plan for our lives is. Are you a Christian writer? I would love to help you publish or share your writings. Check out this page: For Writers. Stay tuned for more great resources and blog posts coming this summer by N.C.R. with The SunShining!
Rainy Day Reality Check Hi, my name is N.C.R. (and I am here at the Hillview cemetery with another cemetery reflection). When is the last time you have had a reality check? Life is short, but it is long enough to experience things like rain. It can't always be nice out. And life is short, but it is long enough to do a reality check. Where are you? Who are you? Who are you becoming? Where are you headed? Three tips for going through hardships Experiencing hardships and pain is hard. Finding the strength to go through them is even harder. Here are three tips for going to hardships: 1. Know that God loves you. 2. Know that God has a plan for you. Pain and hardships may have not been a part of God's original plan for you. But God knows how to take pain and hardships and turn them into something good. 3. Know that God will go through it with you. Another comforting thing to know as you go through hardships and pain is that God is with you. He is not just by your side when life is easy. He walks by your side even when life is hard. And in fact, he might even carry you in his arms when life is hard. I probably say this better in the video, though in the video I say to read this blog post! Reality Check Definition:"Reality Check: an occasion on which one is reminded of the state of things in the real world." - https://www.lexico.com/definition/reality_check
"Reality Check: A word or phrase used to bring a person back into the life of those around them, sometimes used to smash hopes and dreams." - https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=reality%20check The Productive Second Hi my name is N.C.R. and I am here with a special series from the SunShining. The productive series. Today I will be talking about the productive second. When I first got the idea for this series I thought I would start it with talking about the hour. But I decided to start this series with talking about the second So what does a productive second look like? What can you even do with one second? We start things in one second that continue to other seconds. And it is seconds that make up minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, seasons, years, and lives. What does being productive look like? What does being productive look mean? I don't want to repeat myself in future blog posts. But this being the first one on productivity I should probably tell you what I think it is. Being productive looks like getting more accomplished than just the day to day activities. It looks like accomplishing what you were put on this Earth to do. Sometimes when I am talking about a certain topic I like to look and see how the dictionary defines it. According to the dictionary the word productive is an adjective. One of my favorite definitions from the dictionary is "achieving or producing a significant amount or result". To be productive requires you to accomplish more than just the day to day activities. (Will talk more about this when I talk about the productive day.) Also another thing I want to add here is that there would be no productivity. No purpose. No value. No meaning. And no reason. If there was no God. And because there would be no productivity without God, I think it is safe to assume that much of what it means to be productive comes from God. God has a plan for you. He put you on this earth for a reason. And like I said before and I will say again, being productive looks like accomplishing what you were put on this earth to do. Well that is probably enough today, I am just going to close with some... Questions to help you think: What would it look like if all our seconds were productive? Do you know what you were put on this earth to do? Do you know the one who gives meaning to productivity? And here is the lastest cemetery reflection: (Watch it to find out how it relates to this blog post) A Cure for Contentment and Complaining Hi, my name is N.C.R., earlier this week I took a short prayer walk. It was a beautiful day, though it was a little cool and I didn't have a hoodie on. I could have chose to be uncontent and to complain. But… I started thinking about all the details in my surroundings. And in my thinking I realized that God made it all for me. He knew long before I did that I would take a walk at that exact time and in that exact place. Since my short prayer walk there have been other times in my week when I have thought the same thing. "God made this just for me." One time this week I was looking at a spectacular sunset. And well even though everyone else in the world could have looked at the same sunset. I got to see a view that no one else in the world got to see. Even if you were standing a few feet away from where I was standing the view would have been different, and if you were standing in the same place I was standing a few minutes later the view would have been different. One time this week I was walking through a light rain with a full milk pail in my hands. It was cool out, but I was still thanking God for making it just for me. If you know me, then you probably know that I do not like the cold or the rain. But just something about this time made all the difference. Maybe it was that fact that I was thinking about God thinking about me. And I was thinking about the fact that God made it for me. And I was thanking God for making everything for me. A bit about seeing God Also another thing I was thinking about this week was seeing God. I started out this week asking myself: "Where have you seen God today?" "Have you seen God today?" And ended the week asking myself: "Where can you see God now?" "What about now?" "And now?" "Where can you see God now?" God is after all everywhere, and if we believe that to be true we should be able to see him everywhere. And we should be able to see him all the time including right now. If you have not got your copy of my children's books about seeing God yet I encourage you to head over to www.sites.google.com/view/everywhere-i-look/home. Also within the next few weeks I am going to release a short film about seeing God. Well how did your week go? My week has been busy. But the busyness is not over yet. I still have to go to the cemetery yet today to record a new cemetery reflection. But by the time you are reading this I may have already gone to the cemetery, who knows I may be dead!!! |
You can also find notes for "The SunShining Podcast", "Daily SunShine", and "Cemetery Reflections" podcasts or any other podcast I might host.
And last but not least, since I will take part in blog tours every once in a while you can also find book spotlights or conference info.
So if that sounds like something you are interested in, I encourage you to come back regularly. (I know I have gone through dry spells in the past.)
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