One of the elements of modern-day Christianity that we may consider guarding ourselves against is our love-affair with 'bigness' (mega-stature). We should be reminded of the need to "de-spectacularise" the church. Jesus declared that God's Kingdom comes quietly, invisibly - spreading its influence like yeast in dough. But the corporate model of church growth is bigger crowds, bigger buildings, and bigger TV networks, etc. This seems distinctly contrary to the Lord's view.I wonder if 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 does not hold the key to this dilemma… Each time Jesus said, "My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness." So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong (New Living Translation).

"A desire accomplished is sweet to the soul" Proverbs 13:19. Achieving your goals is pleasing and enjoyable. But notice, there must be desire present before this can come about. In Matthew 15:28, Jesus links desire to great faith, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be as you desire." The Greek word literally means, "to will" or "to wish." But it implies a deep human determination. Therefore, any form of personal accomplishment takes resolve - the willpower to succeed. And this is the universal Law of Desire at work.

God wants us to come of age. He wants sons and daughters who can take hold of their inheritance, and He has provided a sound process for achieving this. As the gifts that God has placed in the church equip the saints (that's you), and as you enlarge through active and energetic service, you grow up and increase in all matters of life. Resulting in you being transformed into the image of Christ and becoming a true joint-heir with Him - ruling and reigning here on earth! However, growing up into maturity is a definite process (a journey), and it requires thought and determination.

In this story, it would seem as if Jesus could not look upon grief, without that grief becoming His own. In the similar case of Lazarus, it was the bitter thought of a lost and departed friend which opened the fountain of the Lord's own tears. At Bethany (as with here at Nain), it was simply the spectacle of human suffering that made its irresistible appeal to the emotional side of the Jesus' nature. The anguish of human compassion moved the Rock of Ages, and streams of tenderness gushed forth. "When Jesus saw Mary weeping, and the Jews weeping which came with her …Jesus wept." Likewise, when the Lord saw this poor widow who had lost her only son, "He had compassion on her." Jesus had probably heard her bitter, heart-rending sobbing in the midst of the mourners, and this quickly drew His attention. So He uttered a soothing sympathetic word before He uttered the divine instruction that brought forth this astounding miracle – "I command you young man to get up!"

The word 'compassion' comes from two Latin words - 'suffer' and 'with'. Therefore, to show compassion means to suffer with someone, to enter into a person's negative situation and become involved in that person's distress. Compassion is not a theoretical attitude, put a practical involvement. It involves doing, not just thinking or saying! 'A compassionate response to suffering requires that (a) one be moved by the suffering of the other; (b) act to remove the immediate effects of the suffering; and (c) respond to correct the circumstances which may have given rise to the suffering itself.' (New Dictionary of Christian Ethics)

Canon Andrew bring out the true meaning of Psalm 23.

If your thoughts are all negative so too will your confession be; and consequently your whole life. Perhaps you're like that. You're avoiding hope to protect yourself against being hurt. This type of behaviour sets up a negative lifestyle. Everything becomes negative because your thoughts are negative. God's word does not promote negativism. The longer you serve God, and study his word, the more you will realise the tremendous power in being positive - in thought and word. Your actions are a direct result of your thoughts. A negative mind will result in a negative life, and a negative life is an unhappy life. But if you renew your mind according to God's Word, you will, as Romans 12:2 promises, prove (in your experiences) "the good and acceptable and perfect will of God." It is a vital necessity that we line up our thoughts with God's thoughts. But this is a process that will take time and effort.

Winston Churchill said, "The pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; the optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." God's word says, "For as a man thinks in his heart, so he is" (Proverbs 23:7). Therefore, the pessimist thinks and sees only difficulties, and the optimist thinks and sees only opportunities. Which one are you? Many people's philosophy in life is: "If I don't expect anything good to happen, then I won't be disappointed when it doesn't."

If your thoughts are all negative so too will your confession be; and consequently your whole life. Perhaps you're like that. You're avoiding hope to protect yourself against being hurt. This type of behaviour sets up a negative lifestyle. Everything becomes negative because your thoughts are negative. God's word does not promote negativism. The longer you serve God, and study his word, the more you will realise the tremendous power in being positive - in thought and word. Your actions are a direct result of your thoughts. A negative mind will result in a negative life, and a negative life is an unhappy life. But if you renew your mind according to God's Word, you will, as Romans 12:2 promises, prove (in your experiences) "the good and acceptable and perfect will of God." It is a vital necessity that we line up our thoughts with God's thoughts. But this is a process that will take time and effort.

Proverbs 10:26 says, "The prospect (hope) of the righteous is joy." In other words, when you connect to your future (in God) you connect to happiness! However, we often neglect this truth. Have your hopes and dreams ever kept you awake at night? Do you ever wonder how all the pieces are going to come together to unleash all you are wishing for? Trusting God with your future is as simple as understanding that your future is God's History. Psalm 139:16 says that every moment of every day was recorded in His book before a single day had passed.This means that when you place your hope in God you actually connect to your future. In Genesis 17, God appeared to Abram and made a covenant with him, guaranteeing he would become a mighty nation. He changed his name to Abraham, because he would be known as the father of many nations - even though Sarah was old and had not been able to have children. Can you imagine living with a promise like that? Everyday when Abraham looked to the heavens he was reminded that his descendants would be as innumerable as the stars. If any man had a right to be stressed and give up hope it was Abraham. The biological clock had certainly stopped ticking yet there was a promise of God hanging over His life. God's promises do not exist to frustrate our lives but rather to direct our hope and increase our faith.

We all need to laugh more – we need to have a "happy heart." Throughout the Bible we are encouraged to "rejoice," to "be joyful," and to "be glad;" and you will find over 50 direct references to happiness. Being happy has great benefits. Not only does it strengthen you, it can completely change your attitude and outlook on life. Someone once said, "What everyone wants from life is continuous and genuine happiness."