Conversations With Cinthia

Do you know love when you see it?  Do you know how to love well, and do you practice it?  Love may seem basic and uncomplicated since we give it in one form as children.  But loving well as an adult takes more maturity than we realize.   John 3:16 connects God’s love with the gift of His Son to die for us, which tells us that His love for the world involves tremendous sacrifice; our love is a response to His and a reflection of His.  Join Cinthia to explore what it means to love and why it matters.

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If peace is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, why do so many of us struggle with it?  Even as followers of Jesus, many of us continue to feel, think, and live as though we are at war with ourselves and/or the people around us.  We assess situations and obsess over what could happen.  We hold onto grudges toward ourselves and others.  We view life and the world as things we have to manage constantly as though we have enough control over the world that our worry keeps disaster at bay.  We trust God with our salvation, but we act as though everything before Heaven is still ours to solve.  Yet throughout the Bible, God tells us, "Do not be afraid."  What is stealing your peace?  What are you carrying, and how long have you carried it?  Join Cinthia to take an honest look at the things blocking you from enjoying the peace that Jesus left with us.

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Have you ever struggled to figure out why something was happening to you -- whether you or God or someone else was to blame?  Suffering tends to get us looking for causes and making giant leaps to explain the mysteries of the universe, sometimes rushing in where angels, as the saying goes, fear to tread.  Furthermore, we know that God refines us in our suffering, a fact that often causes us to see Him as the cause of our pain rather than the One Who brings good through it.  When Job suffered deeply, he begged for a mediator, someone to help him engage God and enable him to plead his own case and understand his own suffering.  Cinthia tackles this topic today, encouraging us to look at what we do know and see God for Who we know Him to be -- the One Who suffered for us -- rather than the cause of all our suffering.

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"You follow me," Jesus told the other disciples when they wondered what Jesus had planned for John.  Such simple instructions, but following Jesus as ourselves rather than looking around at everyone else can be more difficult than we imagined.  Do you ever wish you could follow Him as someone else?  Do you wonder if He has a path for you, if He even likes you?  Cinthia asserts that it takes courage to be the person God created you to be but that He made you the only one who can do it.  You need His forgiveness, His strength,  His guidance, and the assurance that He made you on purpose and has not lost the vision He had for you, no matter what's happened or what you've done.  Join Cinthia for a look at what it means to be brave enough to accept the assignment of being yourself.

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The lizard lets go of his tail, releasing a part of himself to which he was firmly attached.  In doing so, he gains his own life and lives to grow a new tail in freedom.  What is it that you find impossible to let go?  What will it cost you?  What must you lose in order to win?

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The United States is in a time of great political change and upheaval; people on all sides are angry and afraid.  (For those in other countries, this may or may not be a time of similar political transition, but struggle and conflict are ongoing realities, sometimes much more so than in the US, and are exacerbated in places by the pandemic and the attempts of various leaders to deal with it.)  If our hope is in anything but Jesus, we are going to lose our footing.  Any vision that requires society to be the way we think it should be will ultimately fail us.  Today, Cinthia acknowledges the reality of pain and loss as we struggle with the realities of our time but encourages us to look beyond the assumptions and systems on which we depend.  God cares about what happens in our governments and communities, but He is never worried or surprised.  Are we going to ask Him for His vision and place ourselves humbly in a position to let Him birth that vision within us, or are we going to hang onto our own vision for our countries, societies, families, and lives?

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The tradition continues, this time with the added excitement of leaving behind 2020!  Every year, we look at what it means to find closure with the past year and embrace the new one.  Since so many people have struggled in 2020 and are hoping 2021 will be better, this year's discussion is  especially timely.  Join Cinthia to explore fresh application of time-tested principles at a time when we most need them!

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Have you ever struggled to trust God as you watched your life unfold differently than you thought it would?  For some, 2020 has been an exercise in loss and disappointment, and some have seen gifts come quietly with the change.  How do trust and acceptance apply when we struggle to deal with the reality of life as it is?  Mary was a young girl, probably about thirteen years old, probably still living with her parents when an angel appeared and told her she was going to give birth as a virgin to the Son of God.  This was an incredible blessing, and Mary seems to have been able to see this.  However, it also meant that her life was at risk since she could now be charged with adultery, and it carried tremendous losses, such as those to her reputation and her dreams of a wedding, marriage, and family life.  Mary responded by stating that she was the Lord’s handmaiden and stating, “Let it be to me just as He said.”  In the middle of our joys and pains, gifts and losses, wonderful surprises and crushing disappointments, may we join Mary and say, “Let it be to us, God, just as you say.”

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Have you ever been at the point of saying, "I got nothing!" -- nothing to give, nothing to offer, nothing to draw on, nothing?  We all face times of discouragement, disappointment, exhaustion, and even the temptation to despair.  Today Cinthia addresses those who are (or have been or will be) in that place.  When you've got nothing, it's not the time to give up.  It's the time to find out what is being offered to you by the One Who has it all, gave it up for us, and will one day be acknowledged as Lord of everything.  Join Cinthia to consider whether "nothing" may be all you need to take the next step.

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Feelings... Some think of them as touchy-feely nonsense, the kind of thing only the weak really notice.  Others feel dominated by them, tossed about by a swirling ocean of emotions that ebbs and flows but never seems to stop.  Lots of people pay attention to some feelings but don't even notice others.  So what are these things called feelings?  Why do we have them, and what are we supposed to do with them?  Today Cinthia explores what it means to be created with feelings by a God who also has feelings, as well as what we are supposed to do with these feelings and what role they may or may not play in our faith.  Whether you love them or hate them, embrace them or ignore them, feelings are part of our lives as human beings, so join Cinthia today to gain some perspective on how to use them the way they were meant to be used.

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