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November, 2010
Happiness
Happiness is a highly sought after, uniquely human emotion. The Parable of the Talents is a 2000 year old story with a remarkable contemporary application, the recipe for happiness. In fact, this important parable (Matthew 25:14-30), is one of only five references in the entire bible and the only one in the New Testament (NIV) specifically addressing “happiness.”
In this story told by Jesus, Talents refer to something of great value. In the metaphoric story, God is the master and we are the servants. The story uses a monetary value (a Talent was worth about $1,000 by today’s standard). Remarkably, 2000 years later, the greatest value that each of us still carry around with us, is conveyed by that same word. Our Talents are specialized abilities of much greater worth than money, which are provided to us by God. The Master in the parable, entrusted each of three servants with a different number of Talents, and then he left on a long journey. When he returned he checked back with his servants to hear what they had done with their Talents. Two of the three had used their entrusted Talents to better serve their master’s interests, making him very “happy”, and they in turn were blessed to share in the rewards of His happiness. The third servant, thought only of hiding his entrusted Talent, to preserve it’s value and not risk his master’s anger should it be lost or wasted. This made the master unhappy, for the Talent had yielded no value, served no good purpose and in no way furthered the interests of either the master, servant or anyone else. There was no happiness to be shared with the third servant.
God entrusts each of us with one or more Talents. All Talents are of great value, but only when used to advance the interests of the giver. To enjoy happiness, we must selflessly employ our natural endowments, those unique abilities of superior quality that God entrusted unto each of us. God already handed us the ingredients and the recipe for happiness, all we need to do is combine and use them, and He in turn he will share His happiness with us (Ecclesiastes 2:26). The only ways to waste Talents are to ignore, hide or use them selfishly.
JC CALKINS with COMMON SENSE 4 UNCOMMON PEOPLE
Follow The Leader
When our children act like us, we know who’s children they are. When we act like God, He knows we are His children – the ones given to Jesus.
Now or Later?
“Later, I don’t have time right now. I get it, really, but I’m good for now. You’re right but I have a real problem with religion and churches. I do pray, but I don’t want or need to talk about it, it’s personal, it’s between me and my keeper.” Matthew 13:15 “For this peoples heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, and hear with… read more
Thanksgiving Offering
On this uniquely American holiday, we gather, family and friends, around the table offering thanks, not to each other but to God in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. We are thankful for His gift to us of life, without which nothing else would be possible. We are thankful for His heartbreaking yet endearing sacrifice, which allows us to look forward from this life with hope. We are thankful for His presence in our lives as we… read more
All HIS Little Children
The Lord didn’t leave the ultimate destiny of His little children in the hands of their families or society. This isn’t suggesting that some parents might not be equipped or even wise enough to watch out for the eternal wellbeing of their beloved offspring, it’s simply the Lord, knowing all too well our spiritual shortfalls, leaving nothing to chance for the innocents.
An Eternally Full Glass?
There’s always a shadow of darkness lurking around in the corners of our lives or pounding on the doorways of our minds. Why is that? Is it like that for everyone? To believe that we earned something, when in fact God created us, gave us life and everything else that we’ve used or touched and then sacrificed His earthly life for our ultimate well being, is over-the-top egotistical.
The Ultimate Search Engine
As a society we seem more easily influenced by the “miracles” of modern technology than by God’s timeless creation and His unequivocal power. Our quest for knowledge leads more often to the Internet than prayer. The Internet is a man made library, which when activated by search engines, provides answers to some human questions. Prayer on the other hand, is a free search engine, miraculously powered by and connected to the greatest knowledge resource in the universe. Jesus, the man,… read more
Di-Vine
Vines and their branches draw some of their life sap from other living sources. While a towering oak has both the strength and stature to support many vines, the seasons of it’s guests are as limited as it’s own … The “DiVine” Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches …” For these branches of humanity, there’s much to be learned and even more to be gained from this Di-VINE-ly sweet offer of live-in assistance.
For The Time-Being
Even on those days when I offer thoughts for consideration, I have more questions than answers. Life is short, busy and far too distracted to fully address the multitude of unknowns facing us. Because of this, I prefer to consider one or two issues a day in some relative depth and let the others linger in my unconsciousness for … “the time being”.
A 2.5 Minute Heart Diagnosis
The condition of the human heart is viewed differently by; cardiologists, psychologists, parents and pastors but we each struggle with what constitutes; “being a good person”. For most of my life, I assumed that loving family, being a friend, working hard, not hurting others and occasionally extending a helping hand was all that was really necessary. From that perspective I’d concluded that I was generally a “good” person. With that assumption safely packed away, I was good to go on-about… read more
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