Welcome Readers!

People from Russia, Finland, Guam, Morocco, Denmark, Nigeria, China, Hungary, Sri Lanka, Morocco, and Pakistan have visited just since yesterday! Praise God!

Precious Readers, keep visiting, keep sharing this blog with those you love, and keep thanking God that His word is living and active! May this blog richly bless you as you seek Him!

You are deeply loved and valued by God. Never doubt that. No matter what! He will never leave you or forsake you. You are the apple of his eye. His treasured possession. He wants more than anything for you to know you are His. He created you, and He loves you so much that He sent His one and only Son to redeem you to Himself.

Oh, how I want you to grasp this! I pray that His love for you will grow more and more real every day!

Love Darilyn

A Funny Thing Happened On My Way To Blog

Precious Readers,

A funny thing happened on my way to blog. I noticed for the first time that blogger.com provides a stats tab. By clicking on it I discovered that I have readers in 20 different countries worldwide including:

United States, Canada, United Kingdom, India, Italy, France, Brazil, Turkey, Indonesia, Philippines, Germany, Netherlands, Panama, Sweden, Mexico, Thailand, Argentina, Ireland, Algeria, and Chile.

I am overwhelmed with gratitude -- for everyone who is reading and sharing this blog. Thank you so very much. I realize for some of you it is an act of huge courage to share this blog, and I want you to know that if you are doing that, the Lord sees and knows. He promises that His Word will not return void, and I trust as you are sending it forth by sharing this blog, that people are being encouraged.

I am humbled. Only God knows what an imperfect, undeserving person I am to be entrusted to speak into your lives, and what an awesome God He is! Awesome and terrifying -- I so want to honor Him with everything that I write. I so want to edify you, dear readers! I want to be so careful to always bring you the full strength of His Truth without diluting it with my own weaknesses.

And readers, what really amazes me is you! Some of you are reading this in countries where Christianity is not allowed. I commend you for your courage! I love and admire you so very much. Here is my prayer for you:

Heavenly Father, you know intimately every person who is reading this blog. You know the challenges they are facing. Please show yourself present in their lives in ways that are real and meaningful to them. Cover them with your protection, and surround them with your love. Help them connect with other believers and help them strengthen one another in your Word. And Father, continue to give them the courage to follow Jesus. Help them know beyond the shadow of a doubt that the Prize of knowing Jesus is worth any cost.

For those of you who are reading this blog in English when your first language is something else, I salute you! And I thank you for persevering with me in order to get closer to Christ. May God richly bless you!!

"First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you,

because your faith is being reported all over the world."

Romans 1:8

Readers, I would like to ask you to do two things for me:

First, keep reading. Please keep coming back. And please share this blog with someone you care about. Together, we can spread the love of Christ around the world.

Second, please click on the comment button and let me know your first name, and the city or town where you are, if it is safe to do so. I would like to know. I would like to put a pin in my map and pray for you.

Thank you so much!!

Darilyn

The Secret of Contentment Part VIII

Our “mind’s eye” is our spiritual sight. There are many incidents in scripture where seeing physically as a metaphor, or closely tied to our ability to see spiritually.

Read Mark 8: 22-25:

They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, "Do you see anything?" He looked up and said, "I see people; they look like trees walking around." Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.

The first thing I notice in this passage is how my tender Jesus immediately responds to the requests of the people “to touch him.” Jesus does not merely touch him, “He took the blind man by the hand”.

Oh precious reader, if you are having trouble with your sight, the best thing you can do is let Jesus take you by the hand. Do you trust Him enough to do that? Ask him now. Go ahead, this paragraph will still be here when you are done. :)

Next, scripture continues, “...and led him...” Jesus will not just take you by the hand, he will lead you somewhere. He will take you with him. It will take courage to follow, after all, you cannot see where he is leading you. Do you trust Him? You can choose to. Just tell him right now, “Lord, I choose to trust you.”

Where did Jesus lead the man? “Outside the village.”

Why? I believe that the village held all he held dear, all he ever knew; his friends, his family, and his home. It represents the sum total of his former life, his habits, his beliefs, his fears, his reputation, and his limitations.

Perhaps the village represents the cares of this world. Perhaps it represents the distractions in our lives. Are you willing to be alone with Him? Clearly, he wants to get us alone. If you are reading this blog at a time when you coming out of a marriage, a long-term relationship, a home or a job, is it possible that Jesus is leading you out of your "village"? Are you willing to go? I urge you to, and I promise you will never be the same.

Jesus spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him and the man’s sight was partially restored. Readers, have you begun to see? Then, don't settle for partial sightedness. Give Jesus your honest answer, and continue to ask him for healing. He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.

“Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes.

Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.”

Mark 8:25

This last sentence seems somewhat redundant at first glance. I believe that it is not. I believe that, “his eyes were opened” means that he received his spiritual sight, whereas, “his sight was restored” means that his physical sight was restored. I believe that “he saw everything clearly” means that he understood everything clearly. He understood who Jesus was, and that his life would never be the same because of his encounter with Him.

Readers, I pray that as you read this blog you are truly encountering Jesus for yourself. I pray that the verses I share with you stir a desire in you to read scripture for yourself. And I pray that you are growing more and more in love with Jesus.

I so enjoy writing for you! Please share this link with your loved ones, and visit again!!

Secret of Contentment Part VII

If you catch yourself looking at clothes, furniture, property, or anything you know you can’t afford, shouldn't afford, or just can’t have right now (example: engagement rings, wedding dresses), stop looking at it!

We have been talking about how keeping your physical eyes pure is an important part in discovering the secret to contentment.

Finding it difficult? How I can relate! You don't have to suffer alone. God does not expect you to be a pillar of strength! In fact, He expects you to ask Him for help in this and every area of your life.

You can pray as the Psalmist did,

“Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.”

Psalm 119:37.

He will answer, He is faithful. You can count on Him for this too.

Matthew 9: 27-30 relays the following account:

“As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!" When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" "Yes, Lord," they replied. Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it be done to you"; and their sight was restored.”

Have you been having difficulty with your physical eyes? Jesus can restore your sight. He can help you purify your eyes. Ask Him in faith. He will answer.

One of the things I have done to help myself overcome my tendency toward materialism (a euphemism for idolatry) is to stop looking at every flyer and catalogue that finds its way into my mailbox. Advertising is designed to make you think you need something that you didn’t know you needed. I throw flyers and advertisements into the recycling bin as soon as I take them out of my mailbox. I invite you to join me in this, and tell me if it makes a difference in your level of contentment.

Malls are full of displays and posters designed to make you think you need all the various items that are being shamelessly merchandised. I do not go to the mall to kill time or to socialize with my friends. I usually shop with a list, and I shop from the list.

Even then, as you know from the beginning of this series, I sometimes see something I like very much. First my physical eyes see it. Even after I have left the store, I still “see” it in my mind’s eye.

Getting control of our mind's eye is what we will be talking about next.

I hope you are enjoying this series, readers. Most of all I pray that it is making a difference in your life.

Blessings! Stay tuned!

Secret of Contentment Part VI

The most damaging thing we can put before our eyes is pornography. Pornography has the potential to destroy the purity of the unmarried and the faithfulness of the married. It is a breeding ground for discontentment. The lines between pornography, entertainment, and media grow more blurry every day.

Some men can't accept a real woman just the way she is because their concept of what beauty is has been badly distorted by media and pornography. Some men have a twisted concept of sexuality, they are discontent with their wife because she isn't like what they see on TV, in the movies, in advertisements, and in magazines. I am not blaming men, unless they are the one in charge of the advertising campaign, or are the editor of the magazine, or are producing or distributing porn. I am simply pointing out the reality that men are under attack in our society.

Women are also under attack. Women can't accept themselves!! We spend billions on beauty products every year. We diet, we binge and purge, we visit plastic surgeons. Some of us dress provocatively. And most of us dye our hair. All in an attempt to live up to the idea of beauty that society places on our gender. We are discontent with ourselves. The entertainment industry, as I discussed at length in my series on movie heroes, has also caused women to be discontent with mortal men. We want our man to be sculpted, sexy, sensitive, smart, and sophisticated. But that is not enough. We also want a man who is rich and generous!

No wonder we are all so discontent!!

There are so many TV shows and movies that “push the envelope” further and further. Our culture is like the proverbial frog in the pot of water that is being heated gradually, and now we are being burned. If we don’t get out, and quickly, we are going to be destroyed.

Do not fool yourself into thinking, “If it is on prime time television it is OK.” It is not OK. Not only are many of the characters morally bankrupt, but also what is shown visually ought to be illegal. I can’t think of a single show where an unmarried woman is choosing to remain pure. In fact, the only example I can even think of is “Donna” from the original 90210.

Even in movies that are supposed to be for the whole family, sexual innuendos abound. We try to comfort ourselves with the belief that these comments go right over the heads of our children, but are these movies really appropriate entertainment? Anything that gives the message that sex outside of marriage is OK, or the message that a woman without a man is “incomplete” is inappropriate.

Any media message that makes you feel in any way that a life of purity and devotion to Christ is not enough, in other words, if it incites discontentment, it is not worth your time.

We must guard our contentment by not allowing our eyes to dwell on something we do not or should not have. Anything that you want more than you want Jesus is a High Place and must be demolished. If you catch yourself looking at a person (real or fictional), a lifestyle, or any material thing you know is not for you. Stop looking at it. It is clearly an act of your will to do so.

Keeping your physical eyes pure is an important first step in finding the secret to contentment.

Secret of Contentment Part V

Let’s first talk about our physical eyes. Think about your daily choices. What are you reading other than this blog? What magazines, what books, what emails? What message is that magazine sending? The pictures, are they of scantily-clad women who are way too thin to be healthy? Are the articles about how to “please your man in bed”? Or just as bad, are the articles all Hollywood gossip-based rhetoric?

Ask yourself, “Is this helping my walk with Jesus?” Obviously not. Look at the advertisements, even though they are for perfume or clothes, isn’t the underlying message usually about sex? Be honest with yourself, if your daughter was reading that magazine would you be proud, or horrified?

What about that novel you can’t seem to put down? A great story line (or maybe not so great) spiced up with some pretty descriptive sex scenes? Perhaps you do not realize that is how this world packages pornography for consumption by women.

Satan knows that for women, our brain is our most erogenous zone. So he is out to stimulate you through what you read in hopes of spoiling the purity that Jesus wants for you. Make no mistake – you are in a battle for your mind. Whose side are you on?

What are you selecting for “entertainment” purposes? This is especially challenging for the men in our society since men are more visually stimulated than women. But we are by no means immune to this kind of attack.

And what about those emails? There is some pretty dirty stuff zooming around cyberspace. Perhaps some of that smut has found its way into your inbox? The moment you recognize it for what it is, stop reading it and delete it. Then go to your deleted items file and delete it again.

Your computer will prompt you “Are you sure you want to permanently delete this file?” Yes, you do want to permanently delete these files!

For many of us, there may be images burned into your retinas from an earlier time when we were not so discerning as we are becoming now, for from a moment when an image was placed before our eyes, unbidden.

Anytime and every time these images flash into your mind, like an uninvited pop-up, you can press the spiritual and emotional "delete" button. Satan will say, "You don't want to permanently delete this file do you?"

Yes you do. And you can ask Jesus for help with this. He can empty the trash can in your mind. And just like a garbage can in real life, it will need to be taken to the curb often.

You don't need high fashion, expensive perfume, or to look like you have the body of a victim of famine. You don't need the trashy advice the world is trying to sell you. You don't need to be "entertained" by violence, gossip, or pornography.

You need Jesus. He is yours for the asking. Have you received Him? Once He is yours, you can just make a practice of wanting what you have. What a relief. What simplicity. What joy and contentment.

I am praying, readers, that you will make Jesus your own. :)

The Secret of Contentment Part IV

"Contentment is wanting what you have,

not necessarily having what you want."

Why? Because as soon as we get what we want, we want something else, something more, something better. Contentment is choosing to be satisfied with what we have.

Contentment is a choice just as faith is a choice. And what is faith?

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for

and certain of what we do not see.”

Hebrews 11:1

The first step to achieving the secret of contentment is to become certain of what we do not see.

What do we see?

We see our circumstances.

What do we not see?

We do not see how our situation makes any sense.

How do we correct this? Hebrews 12:2 has the answer: we deliberately choose to “fix our eyes on Jesus”.

Where we focus our eyes is so incredibly important. I am talking about our physical eyes and well as our spiritual eyes. The two are connected. They do not call eyes the windows to the soul for nothing!

Jesus explained,

"The eye is the lamp of the body.

If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.

But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.”

Matthew 6:22-23

It seems that if we can get control of our eyes, our whole body will be full of light -- could this mean contentment? I think so.

Stay tuned, and I will share with you one way that we can help our eye "be good."

Thanks for reading, thanks for sharing this link with your loved ones and friends. Readers, I really do thank God for you.

Secret of Contentment Part III

I had a dream recently that Jesus appeared to me. In the dream I was outside at my school supervising over the lunch hour. It was a rather nice day outside, I could feel the warmth of the sun on my back. There were a group of boys playing basketball on the court beside the school building. I was standing at the corner of the building, with my back to the parking lot, watching them play.

Suddenly, Jesus appeared on the opposite side of the asphalt court and walked through the game towards me. His presence on the court did nothing to disturb the boys' game, no one could see Him but me, I immediately and instinctively knew this. He came to stand in front of me, yet he neither blocked my view nor appeared translucent.

He stood in front of me and said, “You have 50 seconds to put your affairs in order.” There was no question in my mind what He meant. I knew that I had 50 seconds left of my life on this earth. I was not afraid at all. I was supernaturally calm and unbothered by this news. There was no debate within me as to what I would do with the last moments of my life. I would pray. But what to pray? I simply bowed my head and with a peace that passes all understanding, I prayed, “Thank you Father for the blood of Jesus.”

At that moment, in my dream, I was shot from behind at close range. I could feel the impact, and feel blood covering me. I knew I was going to be with Jesus. I smiled.

And then I woke up.

At the moment that we are facing eternity, there is only one thing we need – redemption. And we know Jesus’ finished work on the cross is the only source for that. This is something that Paul obviously knew, for he had said “to die is gain.” From these God-breathed words, we understand clearly that to be in heaven with Jesus surpasses by far anything and everything this world has to offer.

However, as long as we are alive on this earth, it is the now-benefits of having Christ central to our lives that we need. So, what does Paul mean, “to live is Christ”? And, what is his secret of contentment?

I believe that living in contentment is a choice. It is a choice that we can learn to make. It is an exercise of our will not to allow emotions, specifically discontentment, to reign over our lives. Contentment is a choice just as faith is a choice.

There is a little church in my neighbourhood that I pass all the time. They have one of those letter-boards out front. One day the message read, "Contentment is wanting what you have."

You can choose to want what you have. Hmm. This somehow fits with what I've previously posted about an attitude of gratitude. Go figure.

Blessings readers! I love you! Keep coming back, and keep sharing this blog with those you love.

Secret of Contentment Part II

If we already have something we consider a need, and we lose it, then we might be tempted to resent God for not letting us keep the thing we believe we need. Imagine losing your job, your home, ½ million dollars in the stock market, or your husband leaving you.

These things are trials I hope nobody reading this blog has ever had to, or will ever have to, face. But I am not naïve. I know that many of us have faced these very things. Readers, please hear me when I say I do not want to belittle the pain of your loss in any way with what I am going to say next.

No matter what you’ve lost, whether it was a possession, position, or a person, it was not something you need more than you need Jesus.

My friend, I know loss, and I know pain. And I have also come to know the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ and being found in Him. Like Paul, I have come to see that:

“whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.

What is more, I consider everything a loss

compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,

for whose sake I have lost all things.”

Philippians 3:7-8.

Let us consider what Paul had lost: career, family, prestige, power, freedom, and ultimately his very life. And for what?

“that I may gain Christ and be found in him, . . .

having a righteousness that comes from God.”

Philippians 3:8-9

Was this a fair exchange in Paul’s opinion? Absolutely! Check out what else he writes:

“For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Romans 14:8

Oh beloved reader, I pray you will grab hold of Jesus with that kind of no-second-thoughts passion! It is then we truly realize that Jesus is all we will ever need. Once we really, truly acknowledge that in our heart of hearts, then and only then are we free to receive His richest blessings.

Let us now acknowledge that when the chips are down and we are facing eternity it is not our money or possessions or reputation or prestige, or even family members we will need most. It is Jesus only!

Until next time, readers, know that I am thanking God for you! :)

The Secret of Contentment

Dearest Readers, (I know you are out there because the sitemeter keeps telling me you are there!)

There is not a day that goes by without me giving heartfelt thanks to the Father for the truly wonderful blessings I enjoy; my husband, my children, my teaching job at a wonderful Christian school, my health, and my home.

Why is it then that I insist, from time to time, on traveling down the path of discontentment? It begins so subtly, I see something nice I’d like to bring home. Then the discontentment begins to grow: I imagine re-arranging my furniture to accommodate it. Soon I realize that by bringing in a new color, it will accentuate how out of date my end tables are. So I calculate the cost of new end tables.

My discontentment starts to spin out of control because next I think it would be a shame to spend all that money on new end tables when, really, I’ve had the couch for much longer! Before I know it, I’ve got myself all worked up over the atrocious state of my living room, forgetting that just yesterday it was the peaceful place of retreat and prayer I was so thankful for!

What happened? I took the first step down the path of discontentment the moment I began to believe I needed something more.

You mean something more than what you already have?

No, I mean something more than Jesus.

When we believe we need something more than Jesus we are putting ourselves in a very precarious situation. On one hand, if we don’t have it and believe we need it then we are calling God a liar:

He says he will meet all our needs – we say we need that new rocker-recliner. Clearly, we don’t have it. Does that make God a liar?

Absolutely not, God isn’t a liar. And He isn’t Santa Claus either – contrary to what some may think, you can’t just sit on his knee and “name it and claim it”.

Readers, don't let discontentment get a hold on you! Just keep cultivating that attitude of gratitude we talked about last week!

Keep coming back, keep reading, and keep sharing this blog!

Blessings!

Appreciation Part IV

Do you want to be appreciated? Then you must learn to be appreciative. This can be difficult when it seems like nothing is going your way. We get frustrated when things do not run along smoothly.

When we run out of toilet paper at the exact moment we need it most, what comes out of our mouth? $%&*#@*&

What if, every time there was toilet paper within arms reach, we said a quick prayer of gratitude? "Thank you, Lord!" How might that small, new habit impact your life? You would start to feel better about yourself and the world around you.

"But I put that toilet paper there myself." you might say. Good for you! How did you earn the money that bought that toilet paper? You have a job? Who do you think provided the job for you? Scripture says:

"But remember the Lord your God,

for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth,"

Deuteronomy 8:18

And who reminded you to pick up toilet paper? I rely on the Lord all the time to help me remember things. Do you make a list? Who gave you the idea to make a list?

"Every good and perfect gift is from above,

coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights,"

James 1:17

If we cultivate the new habit of thanking God for every, little blessing that we usually take for granted, we will find that we have so much more to be thankful for than we previously thought.

I actually started with the toilet paper thing. Seriously. And you know what happened? Things just more and more started going my way. At least that is how it seemed -- once I got in the habit, I found so many things to be grateful for!

Soon I became known for exclaiming. "Jesus is real!" whenever the smallest blessing came my way. :) I now have a reputation for having an attitude of gratitude. I challenge you to cultivate an attitude of gratitude too.

I thought this passage (http://www.netscientia.com/perspective.html) might help you do just that:

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness...you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation ... you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

If you can attend an idealogical meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death...you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep...you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace ... you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.

If your parents are still alive and still married ... you are very rare, even in the United States and Canada. If you can read this article of perspective, you are more fortunate than over two billion people in the world that cannot read at all.

Appreciation Part III

When we are up to our eyeballs in work, or crying children, or whatever it is that has us feeling like we are in over our heads, it is easy to lose sight of what it is all for. Sometimes it just seems pointless, doesn't it?

But that is not the truth. The Truth is that everything we do is a service unto the Lord, if we just choose to see it that way. Check this out:

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for men,

since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.

It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

Col 3:23-24

You mean when I’m doing dishes?

Whatever you do.

You mean when I making dinner?

Yes, it is the Lord Christ you are serving.

How about when I am doing laundry?

Yes, even when you are doing laundry. Jesus would have had dirty clothes too, you know. And, remember, Jesus Himself was not above washing his disciples' stinky, dusty feet with his own bare hands. So, yes, while you are doing laundry, you can do that unto the Lord too.

I know how tempting it is to cut corners when you feel like your candle has been burnt down to a nub on both ends. But we must keep on doing that which we are called to do. In fact, His word tells us that if we know we ought to be doing something, and we don’t, that is sin.

But you don’t understand!! I am so tired!

Yes, I believe I just might understand. But I also know His strength is made perfect in your weakness. In fact, it is your weaknesses that are so precious to God, for it is there where we finally admit how much we need Him.

You see, the vast ocean of your needs, the very thing that may make some "friends" want to turn away from you, is the very thing that makes Jesus turn towards you. He wants to meet your every need, as only He can: perfectly.

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock.

If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in . . .”

Rev 3:20

My beloved sister, as soon as we begin to go to Him to meet our need for praise we will finally begin to be satisfied. How much better it is to be praised by the King of kings than by mere mortals, anyway?