Describe a random encounter with a stranger that stuck out positively to you.
Positive encounters with strangers can reinforce faith and hope, especially when we are obedient to God.
When we have faith and hope for miracles they can orchestrate moments where the universe aligns to remind us of something greater than ourselves. These encounters can reflect God’s presence and renew trust in His plan.
A stranger’s kindness can reward quiet obedience to a nudge of faith.
A simple pay it forward for someone’s cup of coffee can give someone a positive outlook on their day. Obeying a gut feeling can feel like God is working through you to affirm His guidance.
Encounters that seem too perfect for chance can bolster our faith whether it’s meeting a stranger that shares a story of overcoming similar pain.
Hebrews 13:2 says, “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some have entertained angels.”
We might encounter something that restores hope by showing God’s hand in human kindness when we least expect it. Whether faith or obedience it can unlock miracles or become testaments to the goodness of God.
Dying Easter eggs is an example of us when we are baptized.
The egg represents new life and resurrection as baptism signifies spiritual renewal and cleansing. The act of dying eggs can reflect transformation Mary, how baptism marks a chain in one spiritual identity.
Historically, eggs were often died red in some cultures to symbolize Jesus’s blood and sacrifice, tying to the themes of death and rebirth which are central to both Easter and baptism.
Describe a decision you made in the past that helped you learn or grow.
We learn and grow all through our lives. The trials and tribulations are supposed to help us learn and grow.
Every decision we make can play a crucial role in learning and growing. It is like everything else with have a choice on what we do with the information we have learned.
Sometime we have to repeat the same situations because lessons and we are stuck in the same cycle.
Whether it’s lack of self awareness, unresolved emotions or a need to explore different perspectives of the same situation.
Our minds may be unconsciously seek to learn a particular lesson or resolve a specific issue. Which leads to the repetition of similar situations until the lesson is grasped and the issue addressed.
In every circumstance we should be asking God to show us what we are supposed to learn from the challenges we face in life.
Have you ever been to a church where they sugarcoat the teaching in the Bible?
Sugar-coated sermons are watered-down or simplified versions of the Bible that avoid challenging truths or difficult concepts to make them more palatable to avoid offense or discomfort. They ignore uncomfortable aspects of the Bibkr such as difficult doctrines or moral requirements.
Sugar coasting the severity of sin, instead of emphasizing the consequences of sin, may focus on forgiveness and grace without acknowledging the need for repentance or change. Emphasizing positive aspects while minimizing negative ones, focus on the promises of salvation while downplaying the need for obedience or the consequences.
So-called “feel-good” churches are not the place to be. Most feel-good churches have parking lots that are full. I think because the teacher loves the financial benefits more than he loves the people going there.
2 Timothy 4:3-4 warns us
“For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around then a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. And they will turn away from listening to the truth and will wander off to fables.”
Sugar coating can be called a form of deception because it hides the truth or presents a distorted view of reality.
God’s Word is not sugar-coated. The Bible is presented as a powerful and uncompromising source of truth, not a gentle or easily digestible message.
The Bible encourages honesty and directness. Speaking the truth, even when it’s difficult, is a sign of love and concern for others.
Sugar-coating preaching is dangerous to your soul.
When we look at the life of Jesus we may think He was a pacifist. But we don’t understand war, the enemy or how to fight to make a difference.
We warn our children about strangers and teach them hoe to stay out of trouble, but the sad truth is, we don’t teach them how to fight the most important battles against the fiercest of enemies. Growing up I was taught to “turn the other cheek,” to avoid conflict at all costs because that was what a mature child would do. This worldly philosophy laid the groundwork for me being beaten and bullied by people who had no interest in a peaceful solution.
While Jesus never fought in the ways that most people think. He did engage in true warfare, an obedient soldier to the end, with victory being won on the cross.
There are conventional ways for fighting that we are all familiar with. We fight using our hands, our words, our finances, and sometimes with weapons. But these are earthly tactics that have no bearing on the real world of the Spirit. The Spiritual world is the real arena, with the physical being in poor reflection that we look into a darkened mirror, that doesn’t show the true reflection of reality for which we walk, but ghosts and shadows of limited existence. Earth is not where our true enemy is. The fight is in the Spiritual realm.
Every one of us had been trained, to a degree, to fight in the physical realm, but few understood how to put on the true armor and wield a sword. Maybe you are still groping in the dark and haven’t found the light, but if you’ve found Jesus, you can learn a battle plan, defense tactics, and weaponry that can defeat the real enemy.
Jesus didn’t use physical weapons, but He did use a pretty big sword, you tear down strongholds and cast aside arguments with anyone who would challenge Him. Jesus never backed down from a fight, but He didn’t engage in carnal battles but used warfare of a spiritual nature, which is the real arena. Jesus knew the enemy’s tactics and went directly at them with the sword of the Spirit – the Word of God. He understood that Satan, nor His minions can’t openly defy God because they are subject to His Laws and commands. They can corrupt, but they must be given permission. No demon, not even Satan, could go directly against God’s Will if they had not been given permission to do so first by God Himself.
Why does Satan/demons go after humanity?
There are multiple reasons and many books that go into those theories, but in my opinion I think, Satan and His minions (demons) cannot directly defy God, but they can indirectly defy Him by using humans as proxies. Humans can say no to God’s laws and commands, even if God were to allow bad things to happen to us. We have been given free will and nothing can take that away or make us change our hearts and minds if we choose a path to walk on, even if our decisions were to lead to destruction. Satan or his minions cannot directly defy whisper enticements and work our flesh so that we can defy God for them to the detriment of our souls.
This battleground is our fight, and it’s a fight we can lose by listening to Satan or his minions that doesn’t want us to read and learn the Bible or put on our armor.
Too often we are taught to ask God for help in every battle that comes our way. We run to the Father every time they playground bully hits us in the nose with tears wonderful “Why did he do that?” streaming down our faces. We allow satan or his minions to take the things God has given us, like our health, our relationships, and other assets God had entrusted to us to manage and care for. We wonder why bad things happen to us and never take into consideration that we allow satan and his minions to take over. He is going to keep kicking us while we’re down.
God has given us the tools and authority not only to fight but to win and take back everything the enemy has taken from us.
Jesus never collaborated with satan or the same peaceful co-existence. He fought until His dying breath on the cross. And God gave Him authority over heaven and earth, giving us authority to tramper satan and his minions every time they poke their heads into our lives. So, never surrender. Never be okay with letting satan or his minions take what is rightfully yours.
“When you lay down your weapon and have removed your armor, you have surrendered to the enemy, and they take no prisoners” – Robert Wimer
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places” -Ephesians 6:12
True strength comes from seeking God’s guidance and power rather than relying on our own abilities.
The kind of faith that overcomes the world, and all the sin in it is a faith founded on a loving God and keeping His commands, and if those commandments demand us that we love others as Jesus loves them.
Sometimes we restful with how we should spread God‘s word of hope in a groaning world, but don’t forget that God‘s plan is for you to be a particular kind of person (He gave everyone spiritual gifts). Our focus should be loving and serving God, so that we can love and serve others as God would have us do.
“Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who who begot also loves Him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world -our faith. Who is He who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God” -1 John 5:1-3
When John writes how “this is the victory that had overcome the world” even our faith. I think he means for us to understand faith in light of what he said, it’s loving God and carrying out His commands.
Everyone who chooses to follow God overcomes the world and this is the victory that has overcome the world. The power of faith in Jesus means overcoming the world and its challenges.
This means that through faith, we can withstand the temptations, pressures, and negative influences of the world.
“For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future” -Jeremiah 29:11
This letter from Jeremiah was for the Israelites who were exiled to Babylon after the fall of Jerusalem. They were in a tough spot, far from home and uncertain of their future and feeling as though God had abandoned them. But their situation was not hopeless.
Jeremiah was a prophet and reassured them after 70 years that God would restore them, with a promise of “plans for a hope and a future.”
I read it somewhere that “plans” here is “machashabah,” in Hebrew which can mean thoughts, purposes, or intentions. Which means to me that God isn’t just reacting to events, but has an intentional design in mind.
I think the power of purpose in Jeremiah 29:12 lies in the ability to transform how we see our circumstances. It reminds us that our suffering isn’t the end of our story. Maybe it’s that its purpose isn’t something we have created for ourselves, it’s something we can discover in what God has already set in motion.
When I think back on my life, I can see a pattern that has almost woven itself together. It’s something that I discover in what God has already set in motion. Maybe it wasn’t God’s plan for me to live the life I’ve lived but, a plan He has woven it together for good. Besides satan trying to take me out of the picture. Which is incredibly empowering because it has shifted my focus from chaos and despair to trust and anticipation.
A “hope and a future” gives me the energy to keep me going even though there are struggles in life. The purpose isn’t always about the absence of hardship but about what’s being built through it. It’s a call to trust that there’s meaning even when the plan isn’t fully known yet.
Describe a positive thing a family member has done for you.
My nagymama (grandmother) was always a positive role model for me. She always had a warm hug for me, and shared stories from her childhood growing up in Budapest Hungary.
She sometimes had my favorite cookies called dios keksz. They were walnut cookies made. And she would let me drink coffee when we had them.
I think back on those precious memories and it brings me to tears. She was a special lady and her simple acts of kindness made a hug difference in my life.
Describe a positive thing a family member has done for you.
One positive thing a family member has done for me. When I was a teenager and my father found out what my mother was doing to me. Everything changed. He began by telling my mother that he wanted me to eat what he was eating and me sitting with him while he ate.
Mind you at this point all my siblings were grown up and we’re out of the house. My father would take me to school every morning, and when I didn’t have school he would take me to work with him. He painted vehicles and had his own shop in the back of a car dealership.
From that point on he supported me through thick and thin. I was still drinking like a fish, and began doing drugs to deal with all the pain of what my mother had done.
I think after he became aware of the abuse I had gone through. My father stopped drinking so much alcohol. And came to do what he should do and support his daughter. He never left my mother, he just began spending time with him. And I would not be who I today without his persistence in supporting me and living me.
After I got married my father began having some issues and my mother died at age 59. I began taking care of him. And we became closer in our father-daughter relationship. It was very powerful knowing my in a truly loving way. After most of the childhood I was no taken care of like I should have. I learned so many things from him, this was a huge blessing to get to know my father in a deep relationship with him.
My favorite restaurants are Milagros and Texas Roadhouse. They both have good food. Except with Texas Roadhouse it’s best to make a reservation, because they are always full.
“I am the vine you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit, apart from Me you can do nothing.”
When each of my children was learning to tie their shoes, they could not master the task. Each time I offered my help, they yelled, “I can do it all by myself.”
Yet, they couldn’t. They didn’t quite have the skills or knowledge necessary for trying shoes. I offered them to sit on my lap and I would teach them, but they would get frustrated and run away. Eventually, I would have to scoop them up as they yelled.
They wanted to tie their shoes by themselves. In their mind they were capable, but they couldn’t do it alone.
I understood this frustration because as an adult I didn’t want to admit I needed help. We are sometimes taught from a young age to be independent or believe that asking for help is a weakness. We struggle with pride and want to prove our ability in the world. Or even feel alone, that we can’t trust others with our issues.
While this may be our mindset, it is not the mindset of Jesus.
Jesus told His disciples in John 10:10 that apart from Him, they could do nothing. Even though they committed their lives to following and serving Him. Jesus wanted them to understand they needed an intimate and interdependent relationship with Him.
Jesus was not commanding, but rather inviting His disciples to abide in Him. He promised blessings and that they would bear much fruit.
Just like a fruit can only be produced if it stays connected to the branch for nourishment and life. I think Jesus through this verse that we must stay connected to Him. Without a vital life-giving union with Jesus, we can bear no fruit in our lives.
Often we do things in our own strength and wisdom, rather than realizing it relenting to our need for God’s help. But when nothing happens, we get frustrated and stressed out, just like a child incapable of trying their shoes.
Our tendency to rely on ourselves can actually become a stumbling block. We can find ourselves defeated and discouraged.
When we choose to follow God, we are invited to abide in Him. This verse encourages me to stay connected to a relationship with Jesus and is important to my faith. As I’ve learned to dwell or abide in Him, I found myself better equipped to handle stress, and better prepared to avoid meltdowns altogether.
From Pity to Praise 