What does it mean to be satisfied&;#63;

Free yourself from the bondage of living life in your own strength.

Do you have a hard time slowing down too&;#63; Do you long for rest‚ peace‚ and stillness‚ but many times at the end of your race‚ you feel the urge to just keep running&;#63;

You know the scenario. The alarm goes off. You trudge down the stairs in the early morning‚ resolved to start your day in Scripture. You go to pour a cup of coffee and think‚ Did I add coffee beans to the grocery list&;#63; So you locate your phone and pull up the list . . . And the rest is history. Many of us have good intentions when it comes to reading our Bibles. But before we know it‚ the screens have sabotaged our focus‚ the needs of family or work take over‚ and we’ve hit the ground sprinting. How can busy people with full lives make these good intentions our reality&;#63; Remember the ‘Why’ We start by remembering our why. Why do we open our Bibles in the first place&;#63; To check a box&;#63; To learn more information&;#63; Does it really matter&;#63; Hear God’s gracious invitation in Isaiah 55: Come‚ everyone who thirsts‚ come to the waters; and he who has no money‚ come‚ buy and eat&;#33; . . . Listen diligently to me‚ and eat what is good‚ and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear‚ and come to me; hear‚ that your soul may live. (vv. 1–3) Nourishing our hungry souls with Scripture is a life and death matter (Deut. 32:47; John 6:63). The living words of the living God are the food our souls need to live. That Bible on your coffee table or bookshelf—the one you’ve hardly touched that’s gathering dust or the one with ragged pages because you’ve turned them for decades—is no ordinary book. It’s alive because its Author is risen (Heb. 4:12). The living words of the living God are the food our souls need to live. What happens when we respond to God’s invitation&;#63; As we “listen diligently” to him‚ “incline” our ears‚ and “come to [him]‚” we end up eating “what is good.” When you eat something delicious‚ you delight in it. So there’s a gracious cycle here: diligence leads to delight‚ and delight deepens diligence. Plan for the ‘How’ We come to God’s Word to encounter a person‚ to delight in Jesus Christ‚ to know him and live forever with him‚ starting right now (Luke 24:27). But how&;#63; 5 Minutes: A Snack Sometimes we simply take whatever we can get. Isn’t that what we do with food when our stomachs are growling&;#63; We reach for what’s most accessible when we’re hungry‚ so we’re wise to make nourishing food items easy to grab‚ and it’s the same with engaging with God’s Word. If we keep a Bible in an obvious place‚ we can easily turn to it (and not social media junk food) when we’re short on time. If you have only five minutes—before work or before the kids get up‚ during your lunch break‚ or with your family at dinnertime—choose a verse or paragraph of Scripture to snack on. Meditate for a few moments on an aspect of God’s character or a promise that’s revealed in the text. Then use the final minute to pray in response. You might even write down a verse or truth you’d like to remember and carry it with you so you can keep meditating on it throughout the day (Ps. 119:11). 10–15 Minutes: A Meal Snacks will sustain us for a time‚ but eventually our bodies need a full‚ well-rounded meal. The same goes for Scripture: our souls will not be nourished if all we’re doing is snacking on the Word. We need to intentionally provide our souls with a meal that nourishes us with truth. We often call this meal “quiet time”—and feel like we’ve failed if it doesn’t look a certain way. But God isn’t prescriptive about this in his Word (Deut. 6:5–6; Phil. 2:16; John 15:4). He wants us to prioritize meeting with him through Scripture‚ however it looks. He wants us to hunger for him‚ the Bread of Life‚ not a formula. He wants us to pursue our perfect Savior Jesus‚ not a perfect quiet time‚ as if there were such a thing (John 5:39–40). That said‚ what might a 10–15 minute “meal” look like&;#63; You might use the first five minutes to read a Bible chapter. Spend the next five minutes asking questions about the text: What does this tell me about God&;#63; Myself&;#63; The world&;#63; The church&;#63; The spiritual realm&;#63; After meditating‚ use the final five minutes to respond in prayer. 30 Minutes or More: A Feast If a good meal nourishes our bodies‚ then a feast is an extended version of this delight‚ usually involving multiple courses and a long‚ lingering dining experience. Suppose you have 30 minutes or more to spend with Jesus in his Word. You might read most (or all) of the chapters in your Bible reading plan for that day‚ reference a helpful book or commentary to stir your thinking‚ meditate on the passage by journaling your questions and thoughts‚ and then respond in prayer. You could even work on memorizing a longer passage of Scripture during this time. There’s a gracious cycle here: diligence leads to delight‚ and delight deepens diligence. Don’t forget that your primary spiritual meal is served during worship services at church‚ when your pastor preaches from God’s Word (Col. 3:16). He has carefully prepared this meal to nourish your hungry soul. We often forget that Scripture was intended for the gathered people of God‚ not solely for individuals. Receive the preached Word as a gracious gift from the Lord‚ a built-in opportunity to meditate on Christ—and to be changed by his Word. Just Come  However you come to the Word of Christ‚ come. Don’t let a lack of time or energy become excuses that prevent you from doing what’s most important: knowing and delighting in your God. This is what you were made for. Apart from him‚ your soul will wither and die; but with him‚ you’ll flourish (see Pss. 1; 19; 92; 119). As you come to him now through his Word—whether you’re snacking‚ eating a meal‚ or feasting—you’re glimpsing the glorious feast to come (Rev. 19:6–10)‚ and this is worth any and every investment of your time.

Four Radical Reforms to Shrink the Federal Budget

While discussing the ongoing NYPD clearing of the virulent anti-semitic protest at Columbia University‚ MSNBC host Alex Wagner and her guest‚ New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg‚ noticed the historic parallels between this moment and 1968- and where it ultimately led. Watch the aforementioned exchange‚ which closed the show’s live coverage of the protest clearing‚ as aired on MSNBC’s Alex Wagner Tonight on Tuesday‚ April 30th‚ 2024: ALEX WAGNER: Michelle‚ the- Hamilton Hall is- for people who are not familiar with the Columbia campus: in April of 1968‚ 56 years ago‚ hundreds of students seized the building during protests over the Vietnam War.  I do not think that was lost to the people who stormed Hamilton Hall. After a week- this is‚ again‚ in 1968‚ police entered through underground tunnels and cleared them out. Over 700 people were arrested. MICHELLE GOLDBERG: Right‚ and that’s remembered as a really dark chapter in Columbia's history‚ which is why it’s so breathtaking to see them repeated. WAGNER: But it does‚ you know- putting this in the broader context of what’s happening in American politics‚ I mean‚ when this began I think‚ for a lot of people all these campus protests had the echo of the 1960s. It feels like an inflection point for the country. We are barreling toward a presidential election. The country feels catastrophically divided on every- on every issue from basic facts to an actual policy vision-- GOLDBERG: A Democratic presidential convention in Chicago&;#63; WAGNER: Yes. Exactly‚ echoes of 1968 and I just wonder‚ you know‚ it’s hard to imagine that this is- that this imagery of the NYPD storming Columbia in this- in this moment is not going to reverberate in ways that we cannot yet see across the political divide. GOLDBERG: And I think we should remember what the kind of images of protest disorder did in the late 60s. Because even as the Vietnam War became increasingly unpopular‚ so did the antiwar protests. And it was in part the backlash to that as well as to urban crime that gave us not just Richard Nixon… WAGNER: Yeah. GOLDBERG: …but kind of un- except for a four-year oasis of Jimmy Carter‚ unbroken Republican rule until Bill Clinton. And so I would expect that we are already seeing the backlash to this‚ but I would expect it to be ferocious. WAGNER: Yeah. The late '70s were a period of retrenchment. And then 1980 saw Ronald Ragan and a conservative agenda that was fiercer‚ more focused and more effective than maybe any other conservative agenda in ways that we are still grappling with to this day. I mean‚ it’s the establishment. The Heritage Foundation‚ the Federalist Society. Any number of right-wing organizations. A master plan to retake the judiciary. I mean‚ what we saw in the aftereffect of the Vietnam War was really a brand of conservatism‚ a new Right that the country had never seen before.  Upon watching the segment‚ one’s first instinct is to warn Wagner not to threaten us with a good time. She and Goldberg correctly note that the unrest of the late ‘60s reverberated through our politics for many years. In many ways‚ it is still doing so. Those students entered into our higher learning institutions and corrupted them into the Marxist indoctrination centers we see today. There is indeed a very bright through line between those protests and today’s protests. And it is interesting to watch Wagner and Goldberg squirm through their thought exercise. But they’re not entirely wrong. These protests will in fact reverberate in ways that are not yet clear to us. And they may well lead‚ much to Wagner’s dismay‚ to “a new Right that the country had never seen before.” The fact that this conversation is even happening on MSNBC air says much about the current moment.  

Democratic New York state Sen. Tim Kennedy has defeated West Seneca Supervisor Gary Dickson‚ a Republican‚ in a special election in the state's 26th Congressional District.Kennedy's espouses pro-choice and pro-gun control policy positions‚ expressing support for an assault weapons ban and for the codification of Roe v. Wade into federal law.&;quot;We did it. We did it as a COMMUNITY. Because that’s what this was all about since Day One. And that’s what it will always be about. I'm honored. I'm humbled. I'm ready to get to Washington and get to work. Thank you‚ endlessly. Let's meet this moment together‚&;quot; Kennedy said in a post on X. — (@) Democratic Rep. Brian Higgins‚ who previously occupied the House seat‚ departed from office earlier this year before his term concluded. He had been serving in Congress since 2005. Higgins announced his plan to step down last year. &;quot;I've always been a little impatient‚ and that trait has helped us deliver remarkable progress for this community. But the pace in Washington‚ D.C. can be slow and frustrating‚ especially this year‚&;quot; he said in a statement in November. &;quot;Therefore‚ after thoughtful consideration‚ I have made the difficult decision to leave Congress and explore other ways I can build up and serve Buffalo and Western New York.&;quot; The former lawmaker is now the president and CEO of Shea's Performing Arts Center. — (@) Like Blaze News&;#63; Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here&;#33;

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The advance could enable the development of compact 3D photonic integrated devices capable of processing large amounts of data and more. Researchers have developed a...