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Weekly Blog

We Only Have One Savior

Do you ever feel like it all relies on you? You feel all this pressure, believing that if you don’t perform that it’s not going to get done? That without your efforts alone, failure is right around the corner. All is doomed. It’s you or nothing. 

I know that in my past, prior to me experiencing conversion and being on this spiritual journey, I felt like that most of the time. It was especially true for my business life, but to be honest it’s the feeling I had in other aspects of my life too. Unknowingly, I was playing the “savior”. 

Having matured in my faith and having a greater reliance on God, I thought that I had escaped the above. Then recently, through some “spiritual coaching”, I discovered the opposite…I’m still playing the savior. Maybe not in the same way as before, but my behavior would indicate that I still believe it’s all up to me. 

Some things from my notes from that coaching:

  • I need to work at a pace that is healthy and trusting in God, so I can stay in His peace.
  • I need to surrender it all to Him and stop playing savior; it’s more than I can carry.
  • Intercessory prayer is more important than human effort; it’s only God who can change hearts. 
  • The primary agent is God; need to turn all over to Him.
  • Need to say/pray, “Lord, I’m trusting in You”. 
  • There’s a difference between doing something “with” the Lord and “for” the Lord. He wants to work with us. 
  • If it’s going to be saved, it will be by God and not me. 

In a recent blog I wrote, “pray as though everything depends on God; act (work) as though everything depends on you”…often attributed to St. Ignatius and St. Augustine. I like this quote because I think it speaks to the reality of our lives as Christians. Having made us very uniquely and perfectly, God calls on us to use our God given gifts to the best of our ability…but then leave the rest to Him. 

Photo by Alicia Quan on Unsplash

Doing the above is surrender, which we’re reminded of in one of the first prayers we learn, the Our Father, “Thy will be done”. I think that’s my hang-up here. There’s a big difference between surrender and SURRENDER…in all we do. I’ve been talking about all of this for several years now. Truly living it is another thing. Simple, it’s certainly not easy. 

I’ve said before that surrender first requires absolute trust, knowing that God loves me unconditionally, that Jesus would have still died that same torturous death if it were only me on this earth. God made me with unique gifts and talents and put me on this earth for a specific purpose, all according to His grand plan, individually and as part of all of humanity. He wants me to be happy and fulfilled. Even with life’s challenges, God’s given me the ability to live in peace and joy. Lastly, the Holy Spirit lives within me. 

These things are true for all of us. And it’s only in understanding and internalizing them as truth that we can come to this place of surrender. I think I have when it comes to those things that require small “s” surrender. But those BIG “S” SURRENDER things. They’re something different. 

Photo by Luis Quintero on Unsplash

Humility is a part of it, understanding that it’s not really us doing the work, but Him working through us. Connecting it to gratitude, we’re then free to not feel the pressure of the outcome, but leave that instead to God…knowing that all happens for a reason, according to His grand plan.  

We only have one Savior, that’s Jesus Christ. It’s not me and it’s not you. Jesus is our Lord and Savior. I pray that I continue to grow in faith, becoming holier, and living a life of surrender, gratitude, humility, and love. It’s a journey for all of us. I pray you do the same. 

As always, please email me at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com with questions, concerns, comments, or prayer requests. 

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

Remember…God made you for Greatness!!!

Mark Joseph

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Weekly Blog

How to Achieve Peace

Do you experience peace on a regular basis? Or instead are you overwhelmed by what’s going on in your life? Does the busyness nullify your opportunity for any downtime, let alone peace of mind? Does the pace crowd out the peace? If you’re answer is “yes” to any or all of the above, be assured that you’re not alone.

For the longest time, I had no peace in my life. I was totally overwhelmed by life, trying to build a business, raise a family, coach our kids in their sports, stay in shape, do chores around the house, have a social life, etc. I prided myself in how much I got done, or thought I got done. What I wasn’t achieving was peace in my life. Likewise, I wasn’t experiencing joy, nor was I fulfilled in what I was doing.

Overtime, I’ve come to believe that there’s a distinct path to peace, which includes surrender, gratitude, humility, and love.

Photo by Ricardo Esquivel from Pexels

Surrender
Acknowledging that I don’t truly have control over anything in my life, coupled with God loving me unconditionally, making me uniquely with special gifts, and wanting me to be fulfilled, I now surrender all to Him.

Doing so means trying to abide by God’s will (He knows best for me) and doing my best, while leaving the results to Him. Knowing His love for me negates my need for validation from others. He and I are in this together and He has my back.

Gratitude
Be thankful. More than that, believe that everything happens for a reason, that there are no coincidences in life. It’s true. Everything is part of God’s grand plan. So live in a place of gratitude; be grateful for everything that happens, even the crises in your life.

Gratitude isn’t just good for the soul, it’s good for the body too. Experts are constantly talking about the benefits to living a life of gratitude, including being happier, healthier, more optimistic, more spiritual, a better friend, a better boss, and many other good outcomes. A true attitude of gratitude is one that allows us to see the hand of God in all things and trust that everything will turn out for the best.

Humility
To me, humility is the opposite of ego, which is our false self, the identity that we create that is often very far from the truth of who we are. The truly humble person lives from the truth of who he is, strengths and weaknesses.

A humble person is genuinely happy for others in their successes. He is accepting of others’ ideas and thoughts (accepting doesn’t mean always agreeing), always very willing to engage in dialogue. The humble person doesn’t always have to be right, be in control, or even win. Humility allows us to accept others for who they are, rather than judging them or trying to change them.

Being humble is understanding that it is only in God working through us that we can perform or achieve anything worthwhile. It is His doing, not ours.

Photo by Orlando Allo

Love
Above all else, we are called to love. Jesus tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves, second only to loving God with our whole heart, mind, strength, and soul. We need to love. When we fail to love, we leave those around us empty, and we are empty too.

Without relationships, life is meaningless. True relationship is impossible without love. To love, we need to be vulnerable; we need to trust; we need to care. Like Jesus, we need to love all.

Please share your comments, challenges, or concerns with me at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com.

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

Mark Joseph

Categories
Weekly Blog

Serenity Now

My favorite sitcom of all time is Seinfeld. My wife and I continue to watch the occasional rerun. I think it’s the greatest writing in the history of television. The cast was second to none. I once heard that part of the brilliance of the show was Jerry Seinfeld’s insistence that all of his costars share in getting the funny lines and the meaningful scenes….they weren’t just reserved for him.

One such example was George’s father, Frank Costanza, as part of one of his many crazed scenes over the sitcom’s history. He screamed, “serenity now, serenity now”.

Although I posted on “serenity” March 27th, 2019 (in a much shorter blog), it came to mind this past week. I don’t know about you, but given what’s going on in our country, as exemplified by the election, I feel like screaming, “serenity now!!!”


Photo by Tim Gouw from Pexels

Dictionary.com defines serenity as the state or quality of being serene, calm, or tranquil. Serenity, synonymous with “peace” is important. I’d suggest praying the Serenity Prayer regularly in your life. I do. As identified previously in my posts, it is one of five rote prayers I say every morning. I say each very slowly, hanging on and praying through every word. I’d invite you to do the same.

The Serenity Prayer
God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
As it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
If I surrender to His Will;
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life
And supremely joyful with Him
Forever and ever in the next.

Amen.

The breakdown of the above is as follows:

  • The first four lines ask for God’s help in maintaining the serenity within us, distinguishing between what we can control and not, then giving us the courage to take action.
  • The second part of the prayer is a recipe for how we ought to live our lives, such that we can experience happiness here on earth and joy thereafter.

You may feel compelled to act, given what’s transpiring in our country. Or it might be something else in your life that you need to discern. Pray the Serenity Prayer. It helps me…it can help you too.

 As always, feel free to reach out to me at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com, with questions, comments, concerns, challenges, or prayer requests. I’m here to help…seriously!!!

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

Mark Joseph

Categories
Weekly Blog

Agitated, Depressed, or Dissatisfied?… Try This!

Related to how you might define living a great life, what are the three characteristics that would be most important to you? Assuming that you’re a reader of my book, Overwhelming Pursuit: Stop Chasing Your Life and Live, my blog, or website you won’t be surprised when I say that for me they include:

  • Peace
  • Joy
  • Fulfillment

Those would be my big three. Why so? Let’s look at each based on Thesaurus.com.

Peace

Antonyms

  • Disagreement
  • Hate
  • Discord
  • Agitation
  • Disharmony
  • Distress
  • Fighting
  • Frustration
  • Worry

Synonyms

  • Accord
  • Friendship
  • Love
  • Reconciliation
  • Unity

 

Joy

Antonyms

  • Depression
  • Misery
  • Sadness
  • Sorrow
  • Unhappiness
  • Discouragement

Synonyms

  • Amusement
  • Bliss
  • Charm
  • Cheer
  • Comfort
  • Delight
  • Elation
  • Humor
  • Satisfaction
  • Wonder

Fulfillment

Antonyms

  • Dissatisfaction
  • Failure
  • Forfeit
  • Disappointment
  • Frustration
  • Unfulfillment

Synonyms

  • Achievement
  • Attainment
  • Contentment
  • Gratification
  • Perfection
  • Realization

I think it’s that simple. Do you want Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment as defined by the above synonyms or the opposite as indicated by the antonyms?

I know what I want and I know how to get it…which I share in my book, my blog, and on my website. If you want more information on how to get there, please contact me at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com. Please also feel free to send me your comments, questions, concerns, challenges, or prayer requests.

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

Mark Joseph