Daly Focus Blog
We tend to worry about the wrong things, and nowhere is this more prominent and prevalent than when it comes to identifying and focusing on the most critical problem facing humanity.
Contrary to the elite opinions served up across the nation’s major editorial pages and on television news programs, not to mention subtly and cleverly inserted into everything from children’s television, advertisements to major Hollywood releases, it’s not the climate – and not by a lot.
To experience wholeness, five desires of our hearts must be met:
Security. Who can I trust?
Identity. Who am I?
Belonging. Who wants me?
Purpose. Why am I alive?
Competence. What do I do well?
Each of those are listed in their correct order, by the way. If you feel secure, you’re more likely to discover the deepest passions and strengths of your identity. Out of those, you’ll discover your purpose and develop competence.
Matthew 6:33 says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
The cost of freedom is high.
As today is Memorial Day, our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Remembering the Fallen and Their Families” is an expression of gratitude to the brave servicemen and women who have died defending freedom. We honor the fallen and offer a humble and heartfelt “thank you” to every family who has lost a husband or a wife, a mom or a dad, a son or a daughter, or even a friend or a neighbor.
On our Focus on the Family Broadcast with our guest author Wendy Speake, “Understanding the Goodness of God’s Word,” we’re discussing the topic of “feasting.” Not on food but on Scripture.
She’s written a great book called The 40-Day Feast: Taste and See the Goodness of God’s Word about how to ingest and savor the Bible and understand God more deeply.
The idea of feasting originated in the Garden of Eden. Before God made humans, he created the food to sustain them.
When my boys were 6 and 8, Jean and I took them to Disneyland. That day, they were tired, wanted their own way, and had meltdowns. My solution was to say, “Control yourself, or you will never come here again.”
It was a silly parenting strategy on my part because Jean and I enjoyed going to Disneyland as much as the boys did. Which means I would have never followed through on the consequences I threatened.
To witness for Christ, each of us must cross what Pastor Rico Tice calls our “pain line.”
That’s the barrier that keeps us from sharing about Jesus because:
We don’t know what to say.
We don’t feel we’re “good enough” to adequately represent Christianity.
We fear rejection.
We’re avoiding pain.
My wife, Jean, is the only Christian among her four siblings. When her mom passed away, Jean called for a family conference. Everybody sat down in the living room, and Jean went through a detailed explanation of the Gospel and shared what her faith meant to her.
Even if you consider yourself an atheist, protecting religious freedom is still in your best interest because religious freedom is foundational to every other freedom you enjoy.
Among the freedoms our forefathers protected in the Constitution, religious freedom is first on the list. The freedom to worship – or not to worship – is ours simply because we exist. It is given to us by our Creator – that is, God himself.
That’s an important detail because if a freedom is given to us by the government then the government can also take it away.
Technology offers children the world.
On the positive side, screens help with homework, teach new skills, and connect your child with friends and family.
But there are serious dangers, too. Pornography, predators, and destructive influences are always crouching at the door.
How can parents best love and protect their children when they’re younger and help them develop into young men and women of character?
Author Julie Lowe is with us on our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Protecting Your Kids from Worldly Dangers” to offer practical insight and advice.
Has reality crushed your dreams yet?
It will, you know.
Not all of them, of course. But enough. Maybe you never had children, the career you hoped for, the marriage you dreamed of, or you never attained certain goals. We all have our lists.
Author Chrystal Evans Hurst understands that struggle. Like you and me, she’s also walked the road of discontentment. In college, she didn’t handle her new-found adult freedom very well and became a teenage mom.
For my latest podcast out this week, I sat down with bestselling author and thought leader, Arthur Brooks. Arthur is president emeritus of the American Enterprise Institute.
For over an hour, we discussed a variety of topics centered around a popular topic of worldly conversation:
Happiness.
When I think of the subject matter, I think about an unforgettable trip I took to Jakarta, Indonesia, many years ago for a speaking engagement. If you’ve never been there, it has some of the worst smog of any city in the world.
Jim Daly is a husband, father and President of Focus on the Family and host of its National Radio Hall of Fame broadcast. His blog, Daly Focus, is full of timely commentary and wisdom designed to help you navigate and understand today’s culture. His latest book is Marriage Done Right.
