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Weekly Blog

What Could God Want With Me?

Many have been so burned by their past hurts and tragedies that they don’t believe God could possibly mean it. “What could an all-powerful God want with me?” In many ways, it seems far too good to be true.

That’s the way I used to feel…unworthy. Although everything looked good from the outside, I was always beating myself up, feeling anything but worthy. Then, having endured significant tragedy, I had a conversion experience which changed my life. It’s detailed in my book, Overwhelming Pursuit: Stop Chasing Your Life and Live.

The fact is that God invites all of us to turn to Him, to bring our hurts, fears, past experiences, our everything to him in truth. This is what we mean when we talk about “conversion.” It means coming to know God in a personal way.

Unique For Each of Us

There are many ways God uses to lead us to a place of conversion, including tragedy (as in my case), dramatic transitions, or intentional seeking. It could be someone God puts in your life, i.e. teacher, mentor, friend, or a religious event, a great talk, or a good book.  

Conversion is an intimate and unique process for each of us, so one size doesn’t fit all. For each of us, it begins at the moment when we become aware of God’s mercy, his forgiveness, and his unconditional love.

Recommended Steps

The good news is that wanting conversion is the first step and seeking it will make it happen. While the process is different for everyone, I have learned there are certain steps all of us can take:

  • Pray for your conversion on a regular basis. God wants to give it more than you want to receive it.
  • Remind yourself often of the unconditional love of God for you.
  • Pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit to lead you to conversion.
  • If you are Catholic, participate in the sacraments, especially Confession, Mass, and praying in front of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
  • Engage with a spiritual mentor, such as a priest, pastor, religious sister, or deacon.
  • Find a friend who is on the journey, who is willing to coach you and share with you.
  • Read Scripture and do other spiritual reading.
  • Participate in a vibrant Christian community.
  • Attend religious events and retreats.

 

We All Want to be Fulfilled

We all want to live fulfilled lives. What I learned is that we can’t be truly fulfilled without internalizing the unconditional love and forgiveness of God. When we do, it sets us free. You can be you, not worrying what anyone else thinks, because it is God alone who you truly need, who truly matters. You can stop feeling overwhelmed by the constant need to prove yourself, to make yourself worthy of love.

In my case, I finally had a clear sense of my identity. My “who” was no longer my “do”. I was no longer worried about impressing others, including family and friends. I could now love myself in a healthy way, not worrying about others’ acceptance of me. I could stop running after success, wealth, and all the other things that had never satisfied me.

You Are God’s Gift to this World

I pray that you understand the same reality. You are God’s gift to this world, designed uniquely for a specific purpose. There is no other person like you, and God doesn’t make mistakes. You are part of God’s grand plan, and anything that may have happened to you in the past was just to prepare you for what He has planned for you going forward. In understanding and internalizing God’s unconditional love and unconditional forgiveness, the unimaginable is achievable.

Please comment to me at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com.

May God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

Mark Joseph
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Weekly Blog

You Have No Control

It’s a simple fact: we cannot control life, no matter how much we try. None of us can.  

Many of you might be thinking it isn’t true that you have no control. With a good plan and solid people around you, it’s possible to control things. Sure, much of life allows for you to have a certain amount of control, as long as you allow for contingencies, but even then, things don’t always go perfectly. The fact is that most of life is beyond your absolute control.

  • Other people, their choices and behavior are beyond your control.
  • Tragic events, disease, accidents — these things are all way outside the scope of your control.

If you’ve been following my blogs or have read my book, you know that everything changed for me when I had my conversion, when I first experienced the unconditional love of God. Concurrently, I found that I had very little control over things in my life. I was so tightly wound, trying to control my company and everyone in it, my customers and my vendors, trying to keep track of my family and their needs, and in the end I just couldn’t maintain control.

God Knows Best for Us

What I’ve learned on my 13-year faith journey is that we have a God who loves us more than we can imagine, Who wants to see us happy, Who designed us for a specific purpose, uniquely and individually, Who knows best for us — the God who made us for greatness. I know this to be true for me and to be true for you.

So let’s consider these points objectively:

  • God loves us unconditionally
  • He wants the very best for us
  • We really have very little control
  • We’re overwhelmed by what the world offers us as solutions to life

What Surrender Means to Most

If you’re like most, surrender probably isn’t a word that you’ve considered much, and for good reason. It’s generally thought of as in giving up or acquiescing, not having control. It certainly doesn’t imply strength or independence, the things we are taught that are so important.

Growing up playing sports, followed by starting my career in sales, I never thought of giving up, of surrendering. It was always about winning, either the game or the deal. And winning was about more than just winning. It was about what it said about me…my talents and strengths. Losing pointed to just the opposite…my faults, failings, and frustrations.

The Real Impact of Surrender

It’s a simple fact: surrendering to God’s Will relieves the pressure you feel and plays a critical role in you living a life of peace, joy, and fulfillment.

Instead of conceiving of something on your own, relying on yourself to get it done, and then facing the consequences alone, you can surrender to God’s Will, discerning what He wants for your life and particular situations, and relying on Him for whatever happens. You can use your unique and God-given gifts to do your very best, leaving everything up to Him and understanding that everything in life is part of His grand plan. As long as you know His love, it just doesn’t matter what others think.

God our Father loves us absolutely and handing it all over to Him brings incredible relief. In my case, surrender removed the pressure. It wasn’t just me alone that was responsible. I no longer had to own the outcome. Instead surrender leads to peace, joy, and fulfillment. All we can do is give every action our best, using our God-given talents, remaining open to His will, and leaving the outcome to Him. Try it…you won’t be disappointed.

Please comment to me at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com.

God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

Mark Joseph
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Weekly Blog

You Can’t Steal My Joy

“There ain’t nothing gonna steal my joy”, is a line from Zack Williams’ song, Old Church Choir. In reflecting on it, what is your answer to the inferred question? Do you allow things around you to upset you, frustrate you, stealing your peace and joy? Or are you of the mind and in the place where you can say, “There ain’t nothing gonna steal my joy”? If you are, you are a rare individual in today’s world.

I wasn’t in a place where Zack’s line applied to me for the longest time, because I didn’t have the inner peace for it to be the case. In fact, I didn’t have any peace. Instead it was all about the pace. I was running, running, running, always trying to accomplish more and never able to keep up with what I thought the world wanted of me. I was invested in gaining prominence, accumulating possessions, and experiencing pleasure. I was trying to fill this God sized hole in the center of my chest with all of these things that couldn’t possibly make me happy, let alone give me joy.      

I think that’s it’s important to make a distinction between joy, happiness, and pleasure (referencing Dicitionary.com):

  • Pleasure comes from being gratified, delighted, or satisfied by something physical, emotional, or even intellectual. It is typically very short lived, only being experienced when what is creating the pleasure is taking place.
  • Happiness results from the possession or attainment of what one considers good. Happiness is tied to an experience or occurrence that is time bound. It is a response to circumstance, contentment, good luck, prosperity, or good fortune.
  • In contrast, Joy is not a function of situation or circumstance, nor prosperity or good luck, but true goodness that brings lasting peace.

Peter Kreeft, PH.D., professor of philosophy at Boston College, states it this way, “Pleasure is in the body. Happiness is in the mind (feelings). Joy is deep in the heart, the spirit, the center of the self”. I would agree….joy can exist in you, no matter what’s going on in your life.

So the question is, how do you attain joy? From my experience, there’s only one way. You have to first understand and internalize God’s unconditional love and forgiveness.  

Next question….how do I get that? Again, speaking from my experience, it only happens through conversion. The good news is that wanting it is the first step and seeking it will make it happen. If you’d like some help in this regard, shoot me a note and I’d be glad to assist.

Remember….God loves you more than you’ll ever know, no matter what you’ve ever done.

  • God is there for you, like no one else in your life (not your friends, not even your spouse)
  • And God wants you to have joy

It’s only in knowing God’s love, knowing who you are in Christ, put on this earth for a special purpose, uniquely gifted, and made for greatness, that you will have lasting joy in your life. And be able to say, “There ain’t nothing gonna steal my joy”.

Please share your thoughts with me at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com.

May God Bless you on your Path of Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

Mark Joseph

 

 

Categories
Weekly Blog

No Matter Where You Go, There You Are

We live in a world of instant gratification, where it’s often thought that the “grass is always greener” somewhere else. If only this would happen or that would happen, it would all be different and better….so many believe.  

Do you ever think this way? Do you believe that if you changed jobs that your work issues would all be resolved? Would a different Church change your faith life? Or would a different group of friends add more harmony to your life? Would these things create the peace, joy, and fulfillment you’re looking for?    

The fact is…no matter where we go, there we are.

Good Lesson To Be Learned

I remember a story I heard years ago, where a man stopped to fill his car with gas in the new town he moved into, asking the attendant…and the attendant responding:

  • Man – What are the people like here?
    • Attendant – What were the people like in your old town?
  • Man – What are the Churches like here?
    • Attendant – What were the Churches like in your old town?
  • Man – What are the restaurants like here?
    • Attendant – What were the restaurants like in your old town?

Get the point? We create our own reality.

What Doesn’t Work

The secular world tells us that we need things to make us happy. I refer to them as the 4 Ps, prominence, possessions, pleasure, and people….all external factors. The fact is that we can accumulate as many of these things (or change them as often) as we want…and they won’t bring us happiness. As I’ve learned in my life, you can never have too much of what you really don’t need. Think about it.  

True change doesn’t occur by only addressing the external, but through the changes we make internal to ourselves. Changing jobs won’t do it. Changing Churches or friends won’t do it. Only changing yourself is going to produce the life you really want.

How Do You Do That?

Like you, I can only speak from my experience. What I know is that the only way I started (and continue) to live a life of peace, joy, and fulfilment was to invite Jesus into my life. I first did so in realizing that life would be better with Him in it than not, then turning towards Him and away from myself. That’s when conversion begins to happen, followed by healing.    

Too long to detail in this blog, I’d be happy to provide you with more information. Shoot me a note and I can provide you with resources or we can even talk by phone. I’m happy to help you on your journey.

God Made You for Greatness

In the meantime, know and believe this…

  • God loves you more than you’ll ever know, no matter what you’ve ever done
  • God made you for greatness (as indicated throughout Scripture)
  • In His image and likeness
  • For a specific purpose
  • With special talents and gifts
  • All according to His grand plan.

Understand, internalize, and execute the above…and you will have peace, joy, and fulfillment. You will do great things.  

The truth is…no matter where you go, there you are. Be the change you want…start with you. Then, independent of substance or circumstance, nothing will bring you down. You’ll excel in a way that you never thought possible.  

Please comment to me at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com.

God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

Mark Joseph