Why do marriages fail?

Two people fall in love, get married and live happily ever after. Right? Wrong. And that misconception is exactly why some marriages fail.

Marriage is about love, I would agree with that, but 'what is love?' should be the real question. How we define love and more importantly how we act upon it may be what keeps two people together or splits them apart.

God is love. Period.

We can fall in love with how someone looks, but that someone is going to age and their looks are going to change. They may get in a serious accident in which you no longer can even recognize them. Then what?

We can fall in love with someone's personality. We may feel strongly about who they are as a person, their character, traits and how they live their life. We may get along really well and similarities may make it seem like it was "meant to be." But people change, people grow. Sometimes people change for the worse and sometimes people grow apart. Then what?

We can fall in love with the idea of love. We can build this fairy tale idea in our head that this really is our happily ever after. She's my princess and he's my prince charming. Nothing can take away this love we have. That love is a feeling. But what happens when feelings fade, when trials come and arguments happen, when temptation arises from another person brought into the middle. Then what?

Nearly everything can change, can break, can end. Everyone can get sick, go into debt, lose a job, even have a personality change. None of those things are guaranteed to last forever. So if we put our trust in those things, if we base our "love" in those things, we are setting ourselves up for failure.

God is love. God is the only One who does not change, who does not leave nor forsake us, who will always be there in the good times and the bad, the only One we can fully and always trust with our lives and with our hearts.

Love is not merely a feeling with butterflies and goosebumps and bubbly hearts all around us. Love is a choice. Love is an action. Love is a commitment, a vow, a promise, a forever.

A true marriage is a union of two souls coming together as one through God. Marriage takes three. Marriage takes commitment, dedication, humility, sacrifice, strength and so much effort. But if God is the center, that effort is going to bring such reward. That effort is going to ultimately shape us into who God wants us to be. That marriage will come closer to what God truly intends for marriage to be and a representation of Christ's love for the church, for us.

In knowing that, I know if I ever get married again, that marriage will be based off of and centered on God. I have heard before, "Have your heart so deeply in Jesus that a man needs to go to Jesus in order to find you." and I couldn't agree more. Furthermore, I always want to stay there. God first. God center. God always.

God bless.

Gifts, Goals and Gain

When you think of gifts, what do you think? Most likely receiving them.
When you think of goals, what do you think? Possibly your future.
And when you think of gain, what do you think? Perhaps your advancement, getting ahead.

What is the repeat topic here? You.

Let's look at those questions again and instead of answering them with yourself- your receiving, your advancement, your gain- let's replace them with someone else. Let's replace them with giving to others, the goal of helping another, and the gain of blessings shared. Now let's take it to a new level.

Instead of you or I in those answers, place God there.

When you think of gifts, what do you think? God. His blessings... to you and from you to another.
When you think of goals, what do you think? God. His purpose... for you and for others.
When you think of gain, what do you think? God. His kingdom... for all saved Christians to rest in for all eternity.

It is human nature to think of everything in regards to one's self. Even the kindest, most giving, humble humans still have a sinful human nature about them. We have to intentionally guide our thoughts, our words and our actions to reflect those of Christ. It's a hard walk to walk but it's worth it. We are not to store up our gifts, keep our goals and hold on to our gain all here on earth. We are to spread Christ's love, let Him shine through in what we do, help lead others to Him, and ultimately rejoice in knowing we will one day spend all of eternity with Him and other believers in His Kingdom in Heaven.

He provides gifts to all of us. Those gifts can help us better attain His purpose for us, goals. And through it all what we gain is a relationship with Him and fellowship with one another. Replace yourself with Him and watch yourself be transformed.

Here are some tools to help you find what your gifts are.

Spiritual Gifts Assessment
For example, my spiritual gifts are wisdom, discernment and exhortation (encouragement).  While I am physically weak, I can use these gifts to connect with others and encourage them in their walk with Christ especially through difficult times that I can relate to such as disability or divorce. Think outside the box. Start a blog, write a book, design shirts... heck, start your own home-based company. Do whatever God is calling you to do.

Spiritual Pathways
and then you can read to understand it better here
This will tell you how you connect with God. For me it is creation followed by contemplative/intellect and activist. This explains why I need to get out into nature every day in order to reflect and feel renewed. Also my need to be alone with God so very often. This also could explain my drive to blog to promote awareness of MG and POTS, something I feel strongly about. Don't overlook the "little ways" you can connect with God and with others. Knowing how you connect deeply with God will allow you to keep Him center in your life by making sure you make the time in that specific way.

I think in life many times we do things backwards. We find jobs then try to figure out how to apply our skills to them. We do things our way, then cry out for God's help. Put him first, replace the answer of you with the answer of Him. And allow Him to guide you and your life exactly where He wants it... to your true calling and deepening of your relationship with Him.


Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21

Article to read

I just feel led to share this with everyone. A good read.

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/life/relationships/promise-you-cant-keep-marriage

Only Him

I haven't posted on this blog in a long while. I'm torn on what to do here. Delete it completely and just speak of Christ through my other blog? Merge the two? Transition only into this one? Start a new site all together that links the two? I don't know. And these are the least of my many problems.

Every single day we encounter problems in life, struggles, obstacles, detours, hurt, pain, suffering, etc. So why are we so very shocked when it happens? And happens again? Have you known anyone to walk a perfect life without these things? Do you expect to? So let go of those expectations and instead of building a wall let the struggles in.

Let the struggles take you, reach you, form you and build you. Let it touch the depths of your soul and transform you. With every obstacle lies opportunity. Personal growth. Growth in your relationship with Christ. Cry out to Jesus. Then listen, just listen. And rest in His peace and His guidance and mainly His love.

Get down on your knees and cry out to Him. He wants to show you that you need Him. Only He has the power to take away all things and give all things. So let Him, praise Him and love Him.

This was raw and spoken freely. I hope it touches someone today. Be blessed. With love, always.

and said:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
    and naked I will depart.[a]
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
    may the name of the Lord be praised.”

Job 1:21

Heaven on earth

Thanks to a gift from a sweet friend I am reading the daily devotional "Jesus Calling." Yesterday one line in there stood out to me, "Do not seek your heaven on earth." Have you ever thought about this?

Every day this is exactly what we are trying to do even if we don't realize it at the time. We constantly want more, want better, and we do it in the worst way possible. We do it often times without God's lead.

Here on earth we are separated from God, and we will be until we one day join Him. But our desire for Him is SO extremely strong. And instead of reading His word, seeking His will and building a relationship with Him, we do just the opposite. We bring on destruction.

We look for this heaven within the earth. We will never find it here but we keep on looking. We look to other things. We look to other people. We look to desires, physical relationships, affairs, alcohol, gambling, revenge, money, etc. We in fact look to evil and sin in search of something so much greater. These things will never please because they don't last. They are brief moments of pleasure that give us a high for that instant. They are fleeting. And they are extremely damaging to ourselves and those around us.

Our time here on earth is brief compared to all eternity but we have a purpose. We must continue to remain close to Him, grow into who He wants us to be. We need to treat others with a loving heart. We need to not expect or search for heaven on earth... but maybe, perhaps through our actions, we should strive to create as close to it as we can for those around us.

Jesus Calling says "Do not seek your heaven on earth."
I say "Be a little piece of heaven for this earth."

Let God flow through your words, through your actions, through your life here on earth. When others see you, pray that they instead see a glimpse of Him.

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. John 15:12

Think on these things

I am a very honest person, sometimes too honest. Sometimes after I say something I think back and wonder if I really should have said that. I don't hide things. I don't lie. I am who I am and I let whoever cares to know, and even those who don't, know. You are supposed to guard your heart and yet sometimes I wear it on my sleeve. I'm not sure if those two contradict or support each other. And I don't know if doing this is a good thing or a bad thing.

But consider this...

Why is it that we hold back our feelings? Hold back our emotions? Hold back words?
Why when asked something sometimes we feel the need to fabricate the truth, tell a story or omit things?
Why do we basically portray to others a life different from the one we are living?

Why have some people done this so frequently that the truth becomes forgotten, and the entire life lived is just one big lie?

Imagine if everyone just said what is on their mind, no holding back and no lying. I'm not talking saying mean stuff to people... I'm talking if you have a feeling, an emotion, a need, something you want to say- you say it. Let it out there. Imagine if everyone did this. Wouldn't it stop all the wondering? The second guessing? The lack of closure or need for explanation? The worrying and stressing what the other person is thinking or doing? 

Now imagine if we guided our thoughts to those which were positive hence all we said was mainly positive, aside from occasional venting about things we cannot control. We would build each other up. We would both give and receive encouragement and support. We would be filled with the blessing of love. 

I'm trying to do this, the positive aspect of it. It certainly doesn't work alone but I do believe it spreads in the way that a pay it forward would. So pay it forward with kindness, with truth, with love.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8

Idols

Reality TV- American Idol...A show almost everyone used to watch, nearly no one does anymore. But there is still Dancing with the Stars, the Bachelor and many other reality shows. We HAVE to see it, can't miss it, must talk about it, enamored by it.

Sports- Oh don't get me started on football. I do like football, but it's become a religion of sorts to some. Sunday is football day. Nothing gets in the way of a game, no person, no thing, no illness, nothing. Football, basketball, baseball, soccer, golf, etc. Sports in general are loved by many.

People- boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives. Actors, actresses, musicians, pop stars, models. Even political figures. Everyone has someone they look up to in a way that can almost border on obsessive. We hang them on the wall in adolescence, scream at the top of our lungs when we see them in concert, nearly faint if we can touch the hand of someone or catch their used tshirt. We think so much of someone we may know nothing of.

Things- material things. Items. Clothing, shoes, purses, accessories, sunglasses, hats. More things- tv, stereo, car, decor, art, big houses, more more more. We always need more, but it's not a need it's a want that got mistaken as a need and it becomes an addiction.

Idols.

At first thought, none of those are idols. Maybe movie stars or something like that, but none of those other things are idols, right? They can all be idols. An idol is anything that comes in the way of putting God first. We idolize so many people and so many things and we typically don't even realize it.

Don't even stop there. We often idolize money, power and pleasure too.
Furthermore, we must remember, though there are images of Jesus and representation of Him, those images are not the real thing. We must not idolize an image but remain strong in a relationship with Him.

Idolatry is a sin.

I'm not saying take away football or stop enjoying your favorite actor. I'm not saying sell all your things and never again watch tv. But those things must not come before God. They must never replace God. And we must not look to them in such a way that places them at the same level or higher than God.

We are instructed to put God first, before anyone or anything else. And He will bless us with the desires of our heart. We can't do all these other things, nearly worshiping them or placing others on a pedestal, then cry out to God when we need help, only visit God on Sundays, when it's convenient. We must put God first, always, no matter what show is on tv, no matter what game we will miss by going to church, no matter who is doing what in Hollywood, no matter how much we love our significant other, no matter how much we desire something.

Do not love the world, love the One who created it.

“You shall have no other gods before me.

“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. 

Exodus 20:3-6

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 1 John 2:15

What do you desire?

There are days I decide I'm not going on my computer... for whatever reason... I need to rest, I have other things to do, I need to take a break from technology, etc. Those most often seem to be the days a topic is placed inside me to write on. Most of the time it passes before I get on the computer, sometimes I write it down to write later. But by the time "writing later" arrives, the energy of that topic has subsided. It all brings me to realize with God's time, the time is now. It doesn't matter what I have planned or don't have planned. If he placed something in my heart, it is my job to carry it through.

So today, I "planned" to rest- watch movies and read some books- all from the library which I stopped at yesterday. I did a lot yesterday and so today I need to rest. That was my plan at least. So I'm watching a movie, "Oblivion" of all things, as well as reading a book someone recommended to me "Chasing Francis" by Ian Morgan Cron. Crazy combination of the two but together they brought about a thought, a topic to write on. I almost let it pass, let it slip away, and then I thought no- there might be someone out there God wants to read this, I have to write it. So I closed my book, turned off the tv, turned on my computer and here I am.

We all have desires... for people, for things, for feelings, for accomplishments. What we desire is what we go after. But will a desire ever be enough? Will any thing or multiple things ever be enough? Will people ever be enough? Will you ever be enough or I ever be enough? Will we ever fill that void we feel with all these things and people? Can we, at any point, say we obtained it? We achieved it? We reached it? And if so what more do we have to go after? If we have nothing left to go after, why are we still living? Are we going after the right thing? Are we living for the right thing? For the right people? Is a desire nothing more than something to keep us going? And therefore is what we desire keeping us going in the right direction?

We want to feel needed, we want to feel wanted, we want to feel like we matter. We want to give and to receive. We want happiness, pleasure, fun, enjoyment, success, enrichment. We want it all, yes as humans we want it all.

Has any human ever had it all? Has any human successfully filled their desires, that void, with people, places, things? And if not, then why not?

I believe at the root of all these desires is the desire for love... to love and to be loved... and everything that falls into the middle. And I believe even if many people realize that the base of their desire is love, that they define it incorrectly and thus end up going after the wrong people and things.

You can define love in so many different ways. But if you look Biblically you find- God is love. So backing up, if the root of all our desires is the desire for love... then the root of all our desires is the desire for God.

We desire God. We need God. Only God can fill that emptiness, that void, that space we desire to be filled.

Deep inside us all is this hole that needs to be filled. We fill it with desires. But none of those worldly desires will ever be enough. No person will ever be enough. I will never be enough for anyone, and no one will ever be enough for me. The only One large enough to fit that space is God.

If we put God first, and always first, He will lead us. He will show us where to go and how to get there. He will lead us to others He wants us to have relationships or friendships with. He will strengthen us. He will equip us.

God works for the good of those who love Him and who have been called to live according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 HIS purpose. Not mine, not yours. HIS.

But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33

So I wrote... I had a slight delay of course as I didn't immediately listen to what was placed inside me, but I can only hope and pray what He wanted me to say came out and reaches the right person, whoever that is out there. After all, we all need to constantly be reminded of this as we struggle to live in His spirit with the desires and surroundings of the flesh. Stay encouraged. Stay focused. Keep your heart set on Him. In His love, God bless.

It's about HIM

I have many worldly moments... fearing about my health, stressing about things I can't control, dealing with emotions that come along with it. But I must remember, these are worldly moments. I must remember to remain connected to the only One who can and will get me through it all.

Life is so much better with God, with Jesus. With prayer, and handing over these stresses, these moments, these situations to God, I release them. I say to Him I cannot do this, but You can. It is with His strength I get through. And through doing so I experience this deep comfort, much more than a worldly feeling of comfort. It is an inner peace. I know I'll be ok because I know my final destination.

It is about relationship, not religion.

If someone were to ask me if I am religious, I say no. I'm not religious. I don't like that word.  It's about relationship not religion.

It's about talking to God.
It's about learning His word then living it.
It's about striving to be His disciple and leading others to Him.
It's about knowing we can't, but He can.
It's about accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior.

What a comfort that is. I have a personal Lord and Savior. Because I know Him, I know my destination and I do not need to fear any worldly things.

It doesn't mean it will be easy, but it does mean it will be possible. He will always provide a way out if we cannot handle the trial. But I don't believe in taking the easy way out. I believe in hard work. I believe in commitment. I believe in doing what is right. I believe in Jesus. The difference in my belief in Jesus as opposed to my belief in anything else, is I not only believe but I have a relationship with Him. After all, even the devil "believes in" Jesus.

Relationship not religion. And the most important and first relationship in your life should always be with Jesus.

It's not about rules.
It's not even about tradition.
It's not about staying away from just the "big" sins.
It's not about walking into a building one day a week.
It's not about dressing a certain way.
It's not about a specific type of music or no music.
It's definitely not about "earning" your spot in Heaven due to your own good deeds.

A saved Christian will strive to do good deeds. But we know we cannot "earn" our spot. You know why? Because that makes it about us when it should be about Him. We can NEVER be good enough for him. We are ALL sinners. Every single one of us no matter how big the sin or how many. We have already failed Him. But, He died on that cross to nail our sins- OUR sins- to that cross. We must accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior and walk that very narrow path to eventually reach our destination Heaven.

Relationship not religion. Him, not me, not you, not us. Him. It's about Jesus. For when I am at my weakest is when He can truly show how strong He is. And so when I am weak, when I am troubled, when I am stressed- I try to let go of those worldly things and hang on to Him. I cannot, but He can. Thank you Jesus!

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Defining success

Are you successful? 

How you answer that is based off of how you define success.

So how do you define success?

Do you define success as being a CEO of a top company, and yet you are just a mid-level employee having trouble moving up? Then I guess no, you cannot consider yourself successful.

Do you define success as having "things" and you have many of them yet you are deeply in debt because of it, but you don't care about that debt? Then I guess yes, you can consider yourself successful. 

Perhaps deep inside you don't feel such a thing is truly success, in your eyes it is different, but you become blinded by what others think and want for you. Your definition of success is skewed based off of how you were raised, your environment, society and even the media.

So what truly is success? Is there any common ground to base a definition or goal to attain off of? And, does it matter?

I think at the end of the day, success, achievement, strength, beauty, every thing- comes down to the bottom line of what you believe in, morals, what is absolutely more important than anything else to you.

For me, that is God. If I place my eyes on Him and let Him be my guide, I know I cannot go wrong. He is the one constant in life. The One and only who will never leave or forsake me. The one unchangeable. The everlasting, omnipresent God. So truly, if I want to be successful, I should base it off His will for me. That will give me something to go after, something to strive for, not based on materialist things or worldly ever changing society filled with confusion. It will be based off the One and only who knows what's best for me. And if I want to be successful, it seems there would be no other way to reach it than that. 

What is God calling you to do? We all have spiritual gifts, we just have to find them. Your spiritual gift(s) will lead you to what you should be doing in life. That may be a job that fits into how society defines success, or it may be helping others without getting paid at all. It may fit along with how you define success or what you desire to do in life, or it may not. But truly if you find your calling and follow it, I don't think you can go wrong, because God will be there every step of the way and it is His purpose for you. If we all lived for His purpose, what a beautiful peaceful world this would be.

In society's eyes, am I successful? Let's see. I do not have a job that pays a regular income, I do not own a house, I do not have my own family. Society could very well say I'm a failure. 

I am not a failure. What happened to me is not a result of my own doing. I was extremely successful in society's eyes in college. I was on my way to what I thought would be an amazing future. Then the world came crashing down. Guess what? That amazing future still exists. Because my success isn't based off of a job, another person, or money. My success is based off of God. God is with me. God is leading my way. God is the glory of anything good I do. God gives me the words to say and when to say them. God touches others through me as I am only a vessel. Whatever His will is for me, let it be done. He sees me as successful. And I bet if you turn your life over to Him, He would see you as successful too.

Some may see this as a cop out, a way to feel you are worth more than you are. But again, what is worth? What does it ALL come down to at the end of the day? For me, it's God. He is my judge. He is who I live for. So others can kick me down and tear me apart and tell me I'm not good enough, but God is right there telling me yes I am and He works for the good of those who love Him. I love Him. 

So how do you define success, and is it an ever lasting, never changing, brightest light that ever existed to rest your definition upon? If so, go get it! God is with you.

Commit to the Lord whatever you do,
    and he will establish your plans. Proverbs 16:3

Be a Doer

Often you will hear people say "get with the times" or "It's 2014!". All these comments are indicating you need to let loose, adapt to fit into society... their personal notion of society.

Do you?

No.

Let society adapt to fit in with you. That is, if you are a true Christian and striving to live the life of one.

The amount of years I've been on this world is nothing compared to the amount of years since the beginning of time. And yet, the amount of change I've seen over those short amount of years seems like a lot, and not in a good way.

As the years go on, people get further and further away from the truth. Yes, things change, but where we are grounded should remain the same. Why? Because God does not change as times go on. God does not say "oh it's 2014, better let go of that now." Absolutely not. And if we are grounded in faith, remain close to God, we should not change either. I'm talking in reference to morals.

The Bible tells all we need to know. The Bible should be our guide for life. Not other people, not society as a whole, not what year it is.

If we allow one thing to change this year, and another the next, where are we going to be in 20 years? I mean goodness, look where we are already. If you have kids, don't you want them to have a good grounding? Good morals? And wouldn't you want their kids the same? So why do allow such adaptation in the wrong direction? Why do we permit lying, cheating, stealing, so on and so forth? Why do we say it's ok to do something that 50 years ago would have been frowned strongly against? Just because it's 2014? That really doesn't make a lot of sense if you really think about it.

So many people lack commitment. So many people lack strong values. So many people lack morals. And as we are lacking, we are allowing the bad to get in, the evil, the temptation, straying away from the truth. Stop. Stop right now and reformulate who you are and who you are meant to be in Christ Jesus. And lead others to do the same. You want to make a difference? Do it. If you've got Christ in you, you've got the power to make a difference in you. Be the change you want to see, and make sure that change is in the right direction.

 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. James 1:22-25

John 14

Life is hard. Obstacles will always get in the way. Things as well as people will try to hold you back, to detour you, to go against you. Life really is hard.

Many people, probably most people if not all, including myself, often react to these obstacles in life. We react with emotions, with worry, with more struggles. We almost act as if these things shouldn't be happening. Why us? Why now? Why this? But that's life. If life were placed out on a game board, it wouldn't be a flat straight line from one side to the other. It would be a mix of twists and turns and tons of obstacles that you never saw coming. There would be set backs, go back 5 spaces. But there would also be the good spaces, the great moves. We get excited for the good parts and disappointed with the bad.

What if we didn't react? How do you not react to what is happening in life? Well, a reaction means you are focused on that obstacle, thing or person. Is that what you should be focused on?

What if instead you always kept your focus on Jesus, on His Word, on the way, the truth, the life? In doing so, you keep in mind those obstacles are going to happen. It's not a maybe, a possibility. It's a given. No one's life is a flat straight line to the finish. So you hang tight to Him and His promise. You surround yourself with His light as you make your way through. And you yourself radiate and reflect Him from your words and your actions.

Do not react but rather reflect. Take a moment, take a pause, reflect, and continue on your journey.

I'm going through some VERY difficult times in life and I have been for quite some time. I've heard such amazing compliments given to me and others asking how I do it. My answer- God. Jesus. Anything good is not from me, it is from God. As long as I keep my focus on Him, I know I will be ok regardless of any of the issues surrounding me. It is when I lose that focus and start straying from His word and the truth when I struggle. Then I start second guessing everything, worrying, fearing the worst. That leads to a worse and worse place.

Stop. Pause. Reflect. Read His Word. Learn His Word. Live His Word. Find comfort in the peace that surrounds you as His light shines upon you. It is the brightest light, the light that leads the way. The only light.

Jesus truly is the answer to everything. Seek and you will find. Ask and you shall receive. Stay close to Jesus. If God is with you it doesn't matter who is against you. God overcomes it all.

I feel the need to mention John 14 here... here is a link to read it if you want to. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+14&version=NIV

God bless!

Journey or Destination

They say it's not about the destination, it's about the journey. I've pondered this before. But at this very moment, I'm going to say that is false. It's absolutely about the destination. Bare with me here...

Why? Why is it about the destination? What about all those moments along the way?

I think we need to back up even further and ask, what is your destination? Do you know? If you don't know then how can you possibly decide- is it about the journey or the destination? If you do know your destination, perhaps the answer of what your destination is will help clarify this.

My destination is Heaven. Heaven is where I will spend all eternity. This life, even if I live to somehow be 100, is so short compared to eternity. It's about my destination. It's about Heaven. It's about Jesus.

When that is clarified, this makes more sense. Life makes more sense. And it comes about full circle where in fact since it's about the destination, which ultimately is Jesus, it's also about the journey, still Jesus.

Why? Because I am a Christian. I'm not a Christian because I say that is my "religion." I am not a Christian because I go to church. I am a Christian because I am saved and I have a relationship with Christ Jesus. My entire life is lived for Him, because He died for us. I strive to do what is good, what is right what is true. I strive to be the best version of myself, following God's will. That's not to say I don't fail, I do. But Jesus remains in my heart.

If you have the same destination, does how you are living clearly tell others that's your destination?

So does it really matter? Is it the journey or the destination or both? And if you don't know your destination can you truly answer this question? And if you can't answer this question, what in fact are you living for and how does that define you? Is it worth it? Is living your life for anything other than the One who died for you to be here really worth it?

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me. Philippians 1:21-26