Upper Room Media Blogs

Living in the moment

Adapted from a sermon by Fr Anthony Messeh

Everyone has aspirations and goals in life. You may want your marriage to be stronger. You may want your careers to reach higher. You may want your friendships to be deeper. No matter what your aspirations may be, you will not achieve these goals by accident.

You can get into a car and drive to the beach, drive around America or drive to a park. However, you do not get there by accident. You must physically follow navigations to get to your destination. This is a metaphor for life. Goals are not achieved by accident. Goals require blood, sweat and tears.

A new bank opens up in town and every Monday morning they give away $10 000. You can use this money in whatever way you like but there is one rule. You must spend all the money by the following Monday otherwise you will lose it. How would you feel living next to this bank? This bank could change your life forever. Only a fool would let an opportunity like this pass by. Well, every week God gives you 10 000 minutes. This is the currency which can change your life forever. You can buy a new career, a new relationship or a new marriage. You can use those minutes in whatever way you desire. However, at the end of the week, those minutes are gone and you cannot get them back. You choose how you want to spend those minutes. You can invest in your relationships, in your spiritual life or in whatever you choose. We need to make the best of those minutes otherwise we will look back on 2017 and wonder where it all went.

There are three turning points that help us make the best of 2017. There are three ways to approach the year. Three ways to take our minutes and use them in the way God intends them to be.

1. Turn “when” into “now.” The words you say and the thoughts you think will always change your life. When (this) happens, I will (do this). “When” never happens. Stop saying “when” and start saying “now.” Are you waiting for everything to fall into place before you act, well, life will never fall into place. You need to change “when” into “now.” Do things now because your minutes will disappear at the end of each week.

2. Turn intentions into actions. Everyone has something in life that they aspire towards. You may want to exercise more. You may want to apologize more. To him who knows well but does not do it, to him it is a sin. Turn intentions to actions today. There is something called the law of diminishing intention. The law states that if I really want to do something, and I leave it to the next day, the intention diminishes. Anyone can set goals but the difficult thing is setting it to actions.

3. Turn my whole heart to Jesus in 2017. Most people want to fast forward this point, but it is actually the most important. Imagine a guy who meets the woman of his dreams. They have the happiest honeymoon ever but after all this ends, they are caught up with the busyness of life and they go a day without meeting or speaking to each other. What kind of marriage relationship is this? Well, do you love Jesus? What kind of relationship do you have if you are not going to speak to Jesus on a daily basis?

As we live in 2017, the above three turning points will help us make the best of the minutes of the year. Where there is no vision, marriages, friendships and purpose of life perish. We have control over our goals and how we use our minutes.

Social Media

by: Monica Gerges

Social media has quickly become a major part of the way we as a society and a community, communicate and spread goodness, positivity, love and oddly enough grow in unity. It has a great capacity for good, but in saying that, it has an even greater capacity for destruction if we are not careful about the sort of things we are exposing ourselves to, as we scroll through our Facebook or Instagram feeds.

Every social media platform includes large amounts of content that can lead down the path of destruction. Things that can influence us negatively, cause us to think lustfully, incite feelings of anger, jealously or provoke us to any other sin of the body or mind are easily accessible. They are more prevalent than one might think, but in actuality such content can also be easily avoided by simply disassociating yourself from the direct source.

What is harder to avoid however, is content coming from within our community about seemingly controversial topics. The topics themselves have the potential to cause major confusion and divisions among the Church if not handled appropriately, and it is content like this that some might argue is the most destructive.

So how do we go about avoiding such content? 1 Corinthians is a good place to start. In Chapter 10 St Paul says,

“All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me but not all things edify.” (1 Corinthians 10:23)

Simply put, an article or post is only worth reading if it will edify, enlighten and improve your relationship with God. However, knowing whether something will edify you requires some self-assessment and an understanding of your own limits and faith.

Having the zeal and interest to know what is happening within our Church is in no way a bad thing. If you are eager to know such things, perhaps the safest option is to seek such information from a reliable, trustworthy and honest source (like a Church Father) rather than a random opinion piece on Facebook.

Above all however, we have to keep in mind that at the end of the day all that matters is how we chose to love God and others. To focus on our salvation, the salvation of those around us, to spread the gospel and the love of God through our actions is our ultimate purpose.

Feelings of Doubt

Adapted from a sermon by Fr Lazareth el Antony

I continued being an atheist until my mother died. I suffered from my own doubts and fears. I suffered externally and internally. God was not a presence in my life. I suffered 4 years and I never found consolation. I read a lot about Buddhism and Hinduism but it was a taste only. I didn’t arrive at any deep personal commitment with any of these religions.

When my mother died, I felt a hole in my heart. It hit me that I had no mother and no source. I didn’t understand that God was the origin and the reason for my being. After a year of grieving my mother’s death, I went back to the hospital where she had died of cancer. I wanted to remember the days of her suffering. I wanted to go to her room and recapture that last moment with her. For me, death was a darkness that I could not escape. The nurses told me that the hospital room was being used and that I can come sometime afterwards. They sent me to a library to wait for them there.

While in the library, I found a book about the life of a monk called Thomas Merton and I began to read it. The nurses forgot about me and I forgot about them. The book was so engrossing. It was an exact copy of my whole life. Thomas Merton was a philosopher, studied politics and his mother had died.  He was a fan of films and books that I had liked. The only difference is he grew up in America, while I grew up in Australia. After his mother died, Thomas worked his way to a Roman Catholic monastery. Well I thought to do the same. I ignored the pages that talked about Thomas’ growing faith in God. He had a friend who converted him to God but I ignored reading that part. I just took the simple idea that Thomas had exchanged his university life to a monastery life. I wanted to do the same because in the monastery, Thomas had found peace.

The next day, I telephoned a Roman Catholic monastery and asked to become a monk. The head monk answered the phone and asked which church I went to and who my confession father was. I told the monk that I did not go to church and I knew no priest. On hearing that, the monk closed the phone. He thought I was crazy and that I had a weird idea about monasticism and he wasn’t going to buy into that. I looked into a phone book and I found another monastery. It was a Serbian Orthodox monastery. I rang and asked for a visit. The bishop of the monastery answered the phone and without questioning me, he said “come and see.” Later I understood why he said this sentence. Rather than ask me questions like the Catholic monk, he didn’t want to prejudge the issue so he said “come and see.” I was pleased with that, and I went.

I arrived to the monastery on a Saturday, which is the day they commemorate the dead.  As we entered the cemetery, the bishop asked me to walk with a certain lady and gentleman. I later realized that they were a couple who had lost their daughter in a car crash. The couple was bitter over the death of their daughter and so was I, over the death of my mother.

After the cemetery, the Serbian monks went to the church for prayer. They started to pray in front of the icon of St Mary. I had seen icons as part of Art and History but I knew very little of them. I had heard of St Mary but I knew nothing personal about her. I had no understanding of her role in the church or as a Theotokos. This was the start of my journey to Christianity.

Despite the doubt, every experience I had was a stepping stone to the true faith.

Apostles Fast

by Shery Abdelmalek

Why do we fast the Apostles’ Fast? Isn’t that only for Priests? I know you’ve heard that one before. But where did it come from and why do we so readily use that excuse when chances are we don’t even know its true purpose?

For many, this excuse is accepted because of the inconvenience of yet another fast of the Coptic Orthodox Church. The Apostles fast begins immediately after the Holy Fifty days and ends on July 12 – the Feast day of the apostles, St Peter and St Paul. This means it could either be as long as the Nativity fast (40+ days) or it could be a couple of weeks. The lack of preparation associated with a fast that varies in length from year to year makes it especially difficult, as focuses shift to, “how long this year?” as opposed to, “what can I learn this year?”

So back to our original question, why do we fast the Apostles Fast? The church fasts, my family and friends fast, therefore, I fast too. If that is your reasoning, then why fast at all? There is much greater meaning behind the Apostles fast and as it draws to a close, do not allow its value to go unnoticed for another year.

The Apostles Fast is one of the oldest fasts of the Coptic Orthodox Church and dates back to the fourth century, during the time of St Athanasius. It was officially named, the Fast of the Apostles during the Council of Nicea in 325 AD. The Canon of the Apostles written by St Clement of Rome states that,

“They continued to speak in the new tongues of the nations, in which they preached, and He told them what must be done by the congregations with regards to prayer, worship, and the laws, and they thanked God for this knowledge they received. They fasted for forty days, thanking God through it, and then Peter washed the feet of the disciples… then they departed to all the nations to call people to the faith.”

From this, we see that the disciples began fasting immediately after receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. In essence, the Apostles Fast is a fast of service. Although means of service differ greatly in modern times in comparison to the time of the Apostles, what remains constant is the need for a Saviour – the need for creation to become united with their Creator. Fasting was the means by which the early church became in tune with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. For every encounter, the Holy Spirit is within us and instructs us of what we should say and what we should speak. God gave us His Spirit so that we are never alone along the path of salvation and sanctification from this world. Moreover, through the Holy Spirit, we are to spread His light so that we take as many people as possible along the way with us. The early church responded to receiving the Holy Spirit by fasting. To us, who also freely received the gift of the Holy Spirit, should we not also be thankful and be united to those that preceded us through fasting? During the fast of the Apostles, we remember the Apostles and those that followed in their footsteps – those that were willing to lay down their lives for the sake of the Gospel. A truly worthy example of how we ought to dedicate our lives. Through fasting, we stand united as members of the body of Christ, each to their own unique role, striving for the edification of the church. When you fast, you not only achieve your own spiritual goals, but you aid your brothers and sisters through your communal spiritual struggles in Christ.

What can YOU achieve through the Apostles fast? This is an easy one. Our God never changes and so, all we need to do is look back to the Apostles and recognise that the same Holy Spirit that worked in them is present, willing and able to work wonders through you, too.

–  St Peter was a coward that denied his Saviour yet through the Holy Spirit, he became a man that spoke boldly with no fear of death (Acts 1:14)
– St Stephen gained the courage to imitate Christ’s love fully as he preached the faith even unto death, thus becoming the first martyr (Acts 6:8 – 7:60)
– St Paul went from a persecutor to a great preacher of the faith
– St Mark who turned back from St Paul and St Barnabas went on to become the heralding father of the faith in our very own country, Egypt, through the Holy Spirit.
– And the Holy Spirit that guided the entire early church to deny all possessions for the sake of their brethren in need (Acts 4:34).

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,

Nor have entered into the heart of man

The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.

But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.”

1 Cor. 2:9-10

Let us pray that God reveals Himself to us all through the blessings of the Apostles Fast.

Glory be to God forever, Amen.

Trusting in Him

Adapted from a sermon by Fr Jonathan Ishak

There are many temptations that plague youth, but the church provides a safe haven for their protection. Through life’s difficulties, why should we trust in God? The Lord specifically asked us to trust in Him. He is honest in this and promises that we will see miracles. The Lord told us: I am your shepherd, trust in me. I am your father, trust in me. I engraved you on the palms of my hands, trust in me. Be still and see the hand of the Lord. The Lord promised that His eyes are on us from the beginning of the year to its end.

If you go to a doctor or specialist and they refer you for an operation, you trust in the advice of your physician. How much more should we trust in the words of God. The Lord tells us that we are under His care all the days of our life. How much do we rely on this promise?

There are many stories in the Bible of people who trusted in the Lord and were never put down. Peter is a perfect hero when it comes to trusting in the Lord. Peter wanted to walk on water and when he set his eyes on God, he was able to walk over the water. As soon as he trusted himself, he fell, but the Lord grabbed his hand and said: “O you of little faith, why did you doubt.”

When the Lord asked Peter to bring him a donkey from the neighboring town, Peter trusted in God’s words, as the Lord said: If anyone asks you why you are taking it, tell them the master has need of it. It’s like going to a neighbor’s house and grabbing their car to use. Peter trusted in God although the situation was not easy.

Elijah trusted in God when the widow only had a small amount of flour and oil. This small amount of flour and oil lasted three and a half years. This is trust in the Lord.

We should trust in the Lord out of personal experience. We may have gone through an exam but trusting in the Lord gave us peace and success. We may have driven through a red light but the Lord protected us from upcoming traffic. Personal experience helps us trust in the Lord more.

Now how can I practice trusting in the Lord?

Remember a simple sentence: “The Lord is my shepherd.” To be a shepherd means to protect the sheep from other wild animals. To be a shepherd means to guide the sheep to plentiful food and water. David summarises how we should trust in the Lord through Psalm 23, for the Lord is my shepherd and he takes me through green pastures. It is the LORD who is my shepherd as He protects me from the traps of Satan. Without the Lord being my shepherd, I cannot do anything.

We conclude with a story. There was once a youth who finished university lectures very late at night. She had to walk through a deserted tunnel to get home. On her way home, she found a scary man standing in the tunnel. Immediately, she did the sign of the cross and she began to pray as she walked past the man. Thankfully, she arrived home safely. The next day, she was reading the morning herald and she found that there was a rape in the same tunnel, just a few minutes after she had walked through it. She immediately called the police station and described the man whom she had seen, just a few minutes before the rape incident. The police were able to track down the man. The young youth was able to question the scary man by saying: “I walked through the tunnel just a few minutes earlier, why did you not dare to touch me?” The man answered: “How can I have touched you. I saw two big men walking aside you through that tunnel.” Immediately, the young youth understood that trusting in God brings her protection. God never disappoints those who put their trust in Him.

Supporting and Serving the Needy

Engage with the following Bible passages:
2 Corinthians 8-9, 1 Timothy 6, Proverbs 11, Psalm 112, Luke 6.

Serving the needy is a common Christian virtue enacted by saints throughout the history of Christianity. But is it just an outward act and show of love to others, or does it go deeper than that?

Fr Tadros Malaty says, “Every giving, and every good virtue is a gift or grace from God. It is the grace of God that turns our life to become constructive and of benefit for the life of others.”

So the virtue of giving begins with our relationship with Christ, so that we can obtain His grace that transforms us, so that we can be a benefit to others. Christ Himself led the way, for “though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor 8:9). If we do likewise as Christ did – humble ourselves before God and empty ourself before Him, then when we serve God’s children, and give wholeheartedly, we will indeed make others rich and our service will truly benefit them.

Our giving does not always necessarily need to be monetary, as long as it is honest and we do it with joy in our heart. “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Cor 9:7) We don’t give with the sole objective to reap God’s reward, we give because God has filled our hearts with love, and His grace compels us to serve.

Serve with our money. Serve with our time. Put away our pride, and serve those who have no one to serve them. God’s heart is moved when He sees us giving out of our poverty.  His heart is moved if we are short of time, and we give our time to serve God’s children. If we are strapped for cash, yet we donate money to those in need of it. And in doing so “The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in draught, and strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail” (Isaiah 58:11)

The world familiarises us with phrases such as “I cannot afford it” – can we say to God that we cannot afford the time, the money or anything else? For anything that we have, we have because God has given it to us. It is important to remember the Proverb 11:24 “One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.” God promises us, that in giving, we increase what we reap in return for “He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.”

Be assured, God never leaves us wanting or needing anything, when we give with our hearts. God truly does love a cheerful giver. Liberality in giving provides an abundance of inner joy; By giving from what he has, man opens up his heart to receive generous gifts from heaven.

Lets earnestly pray to obtain God’s grace, so that He can open our hearts to give abundantly to others. For certainly by serving His children and putting ourselves, our comfort and our needs last, we will move the heart of the Lord and build treasures for ourselves in heaven.

St Paul Defending his Apostleship and Service

This blog engages with the following Bible passages, refer to them before or alongside reading to benefit the most.
2 Corinthians 10-13, John 15, Galatians 1, 3

In these chapters, St Paul responds to those that are critical of him, defending his apostleship and spiritual authority. St Paul was accused of being very gentle and humble in dealing with his people when present in their midst; whereas in his epistles he was very firm and bold. The common theme in St Paul’s response to his accusers refers back to his spiritual responsibility; that the war he is fighting is not of the world, and therefore his authority is also not of the world. For he says: “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.” (Cor 10:4)

Fr Tadros Malaty explains that the apostle Paul often uses the analogy to ‘war’ or ‘battle’ as far as the ministry of salvation is concerned. Therefore, consider the seriousness by which St Paul views his service. Preaching the Gospel of God is an immense responsibility, and so when he uses strong language to defend the Truth, he does not have personal animosity to any person or group of people, but he is doing it for the edification of the Kingdom of God, and drawing people to the Truth, that is Christ.

The apostle, as a leader of the salvation army, is always ready to confront, by the weapons of God, the opponents of the truth. St Paul never appeared to shy away, in fact it was the opposite, he exercised the authority he received from God to the point where people criticized him. However his authority was without boasting. St John Chrysostom makes an important distinction – the false prophets at the time, measured authority on human standards, causing envy, jealousy and pride, whereas St Paul did not classify himself according to comparison with men, but seeks to reach the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesus 4: 13).

There is an important lesson here for us. Sometimes we can confuse spiritual authority with pride. We all have a vital responsibility to stand up for the Truth. There is a lot going on in the world today that is against the Truth, and against fundamental Christian values. By standing up for the Truth, unwavering and vocal, we are fighting the same spiritual war St Paul speaks of facing himself. When we have the Holy Spirit working in us, our authority and confidence will come from God, and so when we stand up for what is right, we’re not doing it for personal gain, but we do it to bring people to the knowledge of Christ.

Let’s learn from St Paul, as was truly a humble man, yet not to the extent to disregard the proclamation of the truth concerning himself.

St Paul goes on to discuss that the spiritual war he is fighting, has also been accompanied by suffering. St John Chrysostom explains that, his immense zeal kept him from feeling the pains accompanying his life in virtue; and had no ulterior hidden motives behind seeking it. We may fail to endure sufferings for the sake of virtue, even if we are shown the reward beforehand; But Paul embraced the sufferings free and with love, and endured with joy all the difficulties and obstacles along the way to virtue. He never complained because of the weakness of the body, the pressures of responsibility, the heavy hand of popular customs, or anything else.

Therefore, let us also expect our own suffering, discomfort or humiliation when we stand up for the Truth. However, instead of this being a deterrent, let it motivate us to suffer willingly for the sake of Christ, for “he who endures to the end shall be saved.”

Finally let’s end this contemplation with the verse: “Since you seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, who is not weak toward you, but mighty in you.” Proof of St Paul’s authority is not through punishment or any kind of aggressiveness, in the contrary, his perseverance with those whom he’s serving is out of love and long suffering. Fr Tadros Malaty contemplates that if they “seek proof of his apostolic authority in Jesus Christ, it will be their own transformation to faith in Jesus Christ; a strong proof that Christ speaks through him, and that His power has worked in them — not a weak but a mighty power.”

Contemplation on the Kingdom

by Michael Henain

            Who is King over my life? Who is sovereign and lord over my heart? Day in and day out I call on you, O Lord, in prayer and say: “For Thine is the Kingdom…”. Am I doing it with submission and true acknowledgment of Your sovereignty, O Lord, or is Your crown over my heart a great sham and insult to Your majesty?

Holy Week is the perfect time for contemplating Christ’s Kingdom. There are so many allusions to the Kingdom in our prayers during that week. As we begin the week at the entrance of Jerusalem, crying out “Hosanna, the coming King of Israel” – we’re truly filled with this inexplicable joy at His majestic entry into Jerusalem. Few of us realize that the praises and glorifications we make are so detached from the reality of that fateful week when GOD, in all His inexplicable glory, majesty, honour, and dominion, died on a Cross. As we gaze upon the Suffering Christ, we cry out in unison “Thine is the power, the glory, the majesty…” – where is this majesty? Where is the power and glory that we are speaking of?

Despite the kingly welcome the Jewish people at the time of Christ gave Him on his entrance to their city, no living person in Christ’s day would have seen any kind of majesty or glory in the events that followed His entrance to Jerusalem. Where is the glory, the power and majesty in Him being arrested like a thief in the night, dragged between courts, spat on, beaten, humiliated? Where is the glory and majesty in standing next to Barabas the murderer and being rejected by the crowd and condemned to capital punishment? Where is the power in being condemned to death by Pontius Pilate and being lead as a lamb to the slaughter? Yet today we praise and glorify Him with the same words: “Thine is the Majesty”, as the guards strip Him of His clothes and mock Him with their scarlet robe and a crown of thorns. “Thine is the Glory” as He’s lashed to the point of peeling flesh and made to carry the instrument of his own execution to Golgotha, “Thine is the Power” as He’s nailed to a cross, unable to maintain the simple act of breathing as His inability to draw air into his fluid-filled lungs gets weaker with every breath. If there ever was a total and complete display of everything opposite to glory, majesty and power, it was in Christ’s passion and crucifixion. The people looking on Him saw only lowliness, humiliation and weakness.

Yet, it is not in vain in the least bit that we pray “Thine is the Power, the Glory, the Majesty”. We glorify Him because of His great love for us that He would accept all of those sufferings to save us from the slavery of sin and death. We praise His power and majesty because despite the weakness that their earthly eyes saw, they could not see the unutterable, inexplicable, incomprehensible magnitude of power of their Creator King who governed and sustained the world, and held their lives in perfect order. As they killed Him, He was giving them life. As they thrust Him into the abyss, He was on His way to open the doors of Paradise for them.

Why could they not see Him as King and recognize His eternal heavenly Kingdom? When Christ was coming into Jerusalem, their greatest desire was for an earthly king, their cries went from “Blessed is the coming King of Israel” to “Crucify Him!” because they did not want the type of King that Christ was. They wanted a king with earthly authority. The deepest desire of their hearts was liberation from their Roman occupiers and peace and happiness on earth. Their desire was not for a Prince of Peace, but for a prince of war, vengeance, blood – at the front of his armies, adorned with every earthly beauty be it gold, silver or precious stones. They could not see past the desires of their own heart and see in Christ’s Kingdom the offer of eternal joy, peace and victory over sin and death.

This draws such a stark resemblance to the people of Israel in Samuel’s days. Before King Saul, the Israelites were governed by God directly through His judges and prophets, and as Samuel grew old, they demanded an earthly king like the other nations around them. When Samuel brought their petition to God, the Lord answered Him saying: ““Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.” (1 Samuel 8:7) However, God in His infinite goodness told Samuel to warn them of what replacing God as King with an earthly king would look like. And Samuel told the Israelites that the earthly king they desired would not be like God. Their new earthly king would take their sons and put them as soldiers in his own army to be killed at his pleasure, when their Heavenly King was planning on dying for their sake. The earthly king would take and rob them of everything they possessed, while their Heavenly King was continually giving them from His abundant goodness and love without asking for anything in return. And lastly Samuel said to them: And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the Lord will not hear you in that day.” (1 Samuel 8:18) But they, in their shortsightedness and ingratitude to God their Saviour, they answered Samuel saying: “No, but we will have a king over us, ²⁰ that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”

Both times they wanted a king to fit their ambitions and desires, in the image that they created in their hearts. Both times they rejected the Heavenly King in want of an earthly one. And how can we point the finger at them and blame them when we follow in their footsteps. Despite our constant repetition of the words of the Lord’s Prayer in saying “Thine is the Kingdom”, we reject God’s sovereignty for the exact same reasons that the people of Christ’s time rejected it. We want a king that will do as we please right now. We want earthly and material things and a king that can deliver those things to us. The deepest desires of our hearts are all so occupied with the material world we live in, that just as the Isrealites wanted an earthly king so they may be like all the nations, we reject what God’s Kingdom offers us because we want what people of this worldly kingdom have – be it money, status, fame, pleasure or comfort. We say “Thy will be done” with no intention of surrendering our will to Him, and with every intention of snatching the crown of our hearts, wearing it on our heads, and ruling supreme in our own lives.

Yes, Lord – you are King over my life – but not when it comes to my career aspirations.

Yes, Lord, Yours is the glory and the power, but please stay away from my relationships because I still want authority to do as I please.

Of course, Lord, you rule my life – Sunday is Yours and I will be at Church in the earliest hour and do all my services and duties afterwards – but the rest of the week is mine, to do as I please, and to dedicate my time, my effort, my work to my kingdom of property, earthly wealth and career success and not to Your Kingdom.

C.S. Lewis brilliantly puts it like this: “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.”