Category: Faith & life

S.H.A.P.E. Up Spiritually in 2026

January 1, 2026

At the start of each year a lot of people set goals to get in shape physically. They want to lose some weight and tone up their bodies.

In 2026 why not set the goal to shape up spiritually? 1 Timothy 4:8 NLT tells us that, “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.”

Today I want to use the letters of S.H.A.P.E. to give us some Bible verses to remind us to stay in spiritual shape in 2026.

S – Seek the Lord with all of your heart

Isaiah 55:6 – Seek the LORD while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near.

Seeking the Lord with all of our hearts is the key to being in shape spiritually. Time and time again the Bible tells us that if we seek God with all of our hearts we will find Him. How do we do this? Through prayer, through Bible reading, through Mass and the Sacraments, through quiet time alone in His presence.

H – Hold on to the promises of God

Hebrews 10:23 – Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.

One of the great things we have as Christians is hope. A hope of an eternal future with God where there is no more sickness, no more tears, no more pain and no more death. The letters of H.O.P.E. is an acronym for hold onto promises eternal. God can be trusted. His promises are yes and amen.

A – Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you

Galatians 5:16 – So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.

For us as Christians we have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one who helps us live the Christian life by giving us gifts that empower us to do God’s work. The Bible tells us that it is the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead (Romans 8:11). A simple prayer for guidance is “Holy Spirit, what do You want me to do now?”

P – Present yourself as a living sacrifice

Romans 12:1 – And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice-the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.

Sacrifice is a common theme throughout the Bible. In Old Testament times they sacrificed animals for the temporary covering on sin. In the New Testament we see Jesus sacrificed Himself as a once and for all sacrifice for us. Now God wants us to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice. God wants us to live wholeheartedly for His Kingdom.

E – Explain your faith to others

1 Peter 3:15 – Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.

Our last thing we have to do be in spiritual shape is explain our faith to others. This verse starts with worshipping Jesus as our Lord as the foundation. From that flows our hope we have in Him. A simple story of how you came to faith or why you believe in Jesus might be all it takes. Be open to letting God use you.

Remember staying in physical shape is important. But spiritual training has benefits in this life and the life to come. Let us purpose in our hearts to stay in spiritual shape in 2026.

The Apostle Paul’s timeline

December 31, 2025

For many years I have been fascinated with the Apostle Paul and his life. I love the way he was converted on the road to Damascus and then went from a persecutor of the church to a church leader.

While doing some research on Paul I came across this timeline of his life on GotQuestions.org. I found it really helpful in understanding Paul and his works.

Here is a chronological list of major events in Paul’s life (the dates are approximate):

  • Conversion on the road to Damascus, AD 34
  • Three years in Arabia, AD 34—37
  • First missionary trip, AD 46—48
  • Jerusalem Council, AD 49 or 50
  • Second missionary trip, AD 49—52
  • The epistle to the Galatians, AD 50
  • The epistles of 1 and 2 Thessalonians, AD 51 and 52
  • Third missionary trip, AD 53—57
  • The epistles of 1 and 2 Corinthians, AD 55 and 56
  • The epistle to the Romans, AD 57
  • Arrest in Jerusalem, AD 57
  • Imprisoned in Caesarea, AD 57—60
  • Appeal to Caesar and trip to Rome, AD 60—61
  • The epistle to the Ephesians, AD 61 or 62
  • The epistle to the Colossians, AD 61 or 62
  • The epistle to Philemon, AD 61 or 62
  • The epistle to the Philippians, AD 62 or 63
  • Release from the first Roman imprisonment, AD 63
  • Trip to Spain (?), AD 63 or 64 (see Romans 15:24, 28)
  • The epistle of 1 Timothy, AD 64
  • The epistle to Titus, AD 64
  • The epistle to the Hebrews (?), AD 65 or 66
  • Second Roman imprisonment, AD 66—67
  • The epistle of 2 Timothy, AD 67
  • Martyrdom, AD 67

I find his missionary trips and writings very interesting. I also find that from his conversion to his death was 33 years. The same amount of time Jesus lived on earth.

If you are interested there is an article that explains the timeline in a deeper way on GotQuestions.org.

Comforted to comfort others

December 30, 2025

“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.” ‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭1:3-4‬ ‭NLT‬‬

God comforts us in our times of suffering and distress. The Bible tells us over and over again that He is the source of all comfort. We see that God comforts us to restore us, but He also comforts us so we can comfort others too. I have found that when we are healed of some pain or trauma, in time we can help others going through the same thing. We pass on the help God has given us. We allow God to recycle our pain for the good of others.

Prayer

Dear God, thank You for all of Your help and comfort over the years. I pray that I can comfort others too. Use me to bring Your peace and comfort to others when they are in need. Amen.

My favourite car?

December 26, 2025

What is your all time favorite automobile?

My favourite all time car that I owned is my 1973 Holden HQ Monaro. I had that when I first got my licence. It had a huge V8 engine and quite a few other performance mods as my friends and I would race at the drags.

My favourite all time is the Corvette Stingray pictured above. A person who was driving through our town stopped for a break. I got talking to him and he asked if I wanted a photo in it. I jumped at the chance. It had a 454 Chev motor and it sounded amazing with the pipes on the side.

If I had to choose between one of them above it would be very hard. My sentimental side would say my Monaro, but my rev head side would say the Corvette.