Psalm 41:1-3 King James Version (KJV) 1 Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. 2 The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. 3 The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.
Psalm 41:1-3 describes the physical and spiritual sickness that King David suffered from at some point during his life.
Those who are kind, generous, and thoughtful towards the poor lead a righteous life. The word, poor has a greater significant meaning in this instance since it expands beyond poverty and includes those who are spiritually downtrodden or helpless.
During times of need, turn to the Lord and ask for strength. Good works can only get you so far in your physical life on earth, but it has its limits since certain things like disease or disasters are often beyond our control.
Every relationship must be nurtured including that between you and the Lord.
What can be learned from this costly and disheartening situation?
A few days ago, my car window was smashed into a million pieces by some callous thief and broken into, leaving me frustrated and scared.
As I was getting out of work, I turn around the corner to see my driver’s window completely gone. My heart sank. Then I started to panic a little. What do I do now?
My first thought was, why me? There were more expensive cars parked next to mine like BMWs and Mercedes but why target my 2009 Cadillac SUV?
Even more confusing was the motive behind breaking into my car. I had no valuables in my car and the only thing worth taking is my aux cord or the penny and nickel laying about, but none of those were taken.
In fact, whoever did this took nothing but decided it was worth their time and risk getting caught to smash into an almost empty car. I barely have anything in my car for this reason so I don’t give criminals a reason to break-in.
Even though they still smashed my window, it’s still wise to take precaution and reduce your chances of becoming a statistic.
Here’s some advice: never leave your phone or other valuables (especially guns) in your car even if it’s in your glovebox, criminals can still force it open. And don’t give the impression that you might be hiding something underneath things like piles of clothes, keep your car clutter-free or hide it in the trunk. Also, park in well-lit areas with lots of people.
But how does this relate to economics?
The important lesson we can learn from my personal experience is a prime example of the broken window fallacy, a parable by French economist, Frédéric Bastiat.
Bastiat gives an example of a shopkeeper whose son breaks his window and now has to shell out a pretty penny for repairs. A bunch of spectators witness the shattered glass and defend the damage by claiming it keeps the window repairman in business.
Likewise, my car window was broken but the auto shop now has my business. At first glance, this seems beneficial like a silver lining and it does give the auto shop more money. But we must ask the question, at what cost and who’s paying for it?
Are broken windows a net gain to society?
Does destruction help or hinder society’s progress?
The answer seems like an obvious “No” but people still argue in favor of destruction since it creates jobs and helps the auto shop stay in business.
However, it was at my expense and the $200 that went towards the new window could’ve been used for my wants and needs. I needed that money for gas, food, and a new pair of shoes to replace my worn out ones. I also wanted a skincare set for my acne-ridden face, and I could’ve had all those things and an intact window but instead I’m left with just a window and nothing else.
Multiple businesses and local gas stations and I could’ve benefitted more compared to just the auto shop.
In the words of Bastiat, “destruction is not profit.”
The fact that a democratic country can arrest a father for wanting a better education for his kids is a cause for great concern.
A few days ago, a Brazilian man who goes by the name, Cypriano, is about to be arrested for breaking Brazil’s education laws.
Cypriano is like any good parent wants the best for his children, but he is now robbed of his right to choose an individualized education.
In this article by FEE, “the supreme court of Brazil recently ruled that the practice of homeschooling is unconstitutional.” Brazil has one of the highest high school dropout rates in the world and public schools are overcrowded and rank low in education quality.
Cypriano’s right to homeschooling should not be criminalized. He has many concerns about Brazil’s public education, causing him to take his kids out of that system and provide a better alternative at home.
The courts clearly haven’t considered the reasons for homeschooling and the consequences of their ruling.
What happens if a child is a victim of bullying? Why should the parents be forced to keep their child in a dangerous environment?
Some parents want to teach their kids and give them a one-on-one education tailored to their specific learning styles. Is it not cruel to criminalize this type of parent and child bonding?
Where do special needs students go if public and private schools aren’t an option?
These are just a few concerns that Cypriano and other would-be homeschooling parents now face.
Brazil needs to give parents the freedom to choose different education plans and honor the fact that every child has different needs.
Matthew 28:6 King James Version (KJV) 6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
It’s Resurrection Sunday and one of the most joyful Christian holidays. God raised Jesus from the dead after three days and it proved to believers that life continued after your earthly body has died and proof of God’s love for humanity when He sent his only son to die.
Jesus was so passionate about liberating and protecting the poor and disenfranchised that He took on all our hatred and sins, but loved us with all His heart and refused to return that hate.
Imagine if you had a best friend who loved you unconditionally and constantly forgave your shortcomings, and would even sacrifice himself to fight your enemies. But also imagine you could care less about his gift of sacrifice and instead choose to care about earthly desires. Your best friend continually gives you gifts and support but you casually brush them off and only come to him when you need something. This sounds like a one-sided relationship doesn’t it?
Many of us treat Jesus in a similar manner. Resurrection Sunday also reminds us to pray and cultivate our relationship with Jesus and to be grateful for washing our sins away. It’s also a reminder to be faithful to Jesus’ teachings and practice nonviolent principles every day.
But no matter how far you stray from Jesus He will always be there for you and welcome you back into His loving arms.
You don’t have to believe in God to recognize Jesus’ ideas of non-violence are noteworthy.
One of Jesus’ core principles is forgiveness. Violence begets violence and can lead to a cycle of vengeance and destruction, which is why we must learn to forgive and turn the other cheek. Forgiveness is part of the healing process but that doesn’t mean to forget, or conveniently ignore past crimes, rather accept that you can’t change the past and focus on rebuilding burned bridges.
Jesus also never forced anyone to follow Him and neither did He punish nor rebuke those who leave Him. Christ gave sinners a choice, like preaching to prostitutes about freedom from sin, instead of using unjust earthly laws to stone them to death.
Christ gave us spiritual freedom, which is far greater than the political freedom being preached to Christians today. Christians who advocate using the government to enforce laws and morality are not followers of Christ but have contradicted Him.
Jesus is not the political savior you’re looking for, which is why He wept as He entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. The people of Jerusalem had their priorities out of order when they should’ve been more concerned about “The things that make for peace,” meaning peace comes from personal responsibility rather than using government for every problem you encounter.
What steps are you taking to lead a more non-violent life?
Good Friday is one of the most important Christian holidays when we remember Jesus’ crucifixion and death.
The events leading up to Good Friday begin with the arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was then brought to several trials, three before the Sanhedrin (Jewish leaders) and three before Pontius Pilatus the Roman Governor, and King Herod (John 18:12-14, Mark 14:53-65, Mark 15:1-5, Luke 23:6-12, Mark 15:6-15).
Jesus was charged with blasphemy, claiming to be the Son of God, the Messiah and sentenced in an unfair trial.
But why is Good Friday “good”?
At first glance, it may seem odd that Christians commemorate Jesus’ crucifixion.
It’s important to note that wedo not celebrate His death, but rather remember His suffering and why He died for our sins.
Romans 5:8 explains that Christ took on all our sins (past, present, and future) from the days of Adam’s transgressions, and washed it away with His blood and forgave us. This means if we have faith in Him, our spirit is saved from death.
I had an amazing company interview me four times a few weeks ago. They’re Classical Conversations, a Christian homeschool resource center and a great option for Christian parents who’re looking for a structured curriculum.
During the interviews, I was told I’ll be working within the IT department and they were looking for someone who is familiar with HubSpot and HTML/CSS.
I’m somewhat familiar with HubSpot but by no means an expert. However, I created a tutorial on how to move data from one customer relationship management system (CRM) to another.
Likewise, I made another tutorial about embedding images in HTML. I just started learning HTML to give myself a leg up in the job search arena.
It helps to learn out loud, which means record and document what you’re learning so that employers notice you.
For last week’s project, I created two tutorials, one for HubSpot and the other for embedding an image in HTML.
If you’ve been following my blog for awhile now, you probably have a few questions about the purpose of value propositions, VPs for short.
What are value propositions and why are they important for future employment opportunities?
VPs are work projects targeting a certain hurdle or need of a business, and it signals how can create value for your prospective employer.
These VPs can be anything ranging from a 90 day marketing plan, to coding projects. In the past, I’ve created thirty Instagram graphics, blog posts turned into infographics, training manuals, and many more. If you would like a better idea of a VP, head over to the “Projects” tab on my website.
Why create a VP?
For the record, it increases your chances of getting hired, and you stand out among the other job seekers. Also, VPs are solid proof to back up your claims of certain skills and qualities you possess.
So how many should I create? As many as you can, I made 17 so far. Doing so will build your portfolio of skills to show to an employer. The purpose of a VP is to replace a boring, static resume with something exciting and fresh for an employer.
Wait, you’re telling me you made that many and still haven’t gotten a job? You put in all that work and time and it went to waste.
It’s true I haven’t gotten hired yet but I did land three interviews and I’m currently waiting to hear back from Classical Conversations, a Christian homeschool resource center. Going through the interviews was just as valuable since it helped my hone my interviewing skills.
So none of my efforts went to waste because I learned new skills with each project, every single week. I gained new tools to add in my toolbox such as HTML coding, graphic design, social media marketing, and operations training manuals.
If you’re tired of applying to job after job and getting ignored by every business, I highly recommend Praxis’ guide on VPs here, it goes further in depth about how to create one.
