by David Gibson<\/p>\n
“You can thank your lucky stars you didn’t get hurt!”<\/p>\n
“With luck like mine, there won’t be a parking place, and I’m late already!”<\/p>\n
Imagine this from Paul: “If my luck changes, I’ll be out of jail by next spring.” Instead, he said, “… for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance<\/em>…” (Philippians 1:19).<\/p>\n Or this from James: “I’m sorry to hear you’re down on your luck.” Instead: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness<\/em>” (James 1:2).<\/p>\n Christians believe that God, not luck, is the source of blessings (James 1:17).<\/p>\n Does our language betray us? Christians aren’t lucky; they’re blessed!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by David Gibson “You can thank your lucky stars you didn’t get hurt!” “With luck like mine, there won’t be a parking place, and I’m late already!” Imagine this from Paul: “If my luck changes, I’ll be out of jail by next spring.” Instead, he said, “… for I know that through your prayers and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1153],"class_list":["post-87538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-luck"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9694,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-does-the-bible-say-that-some-believed-but-would-not-follow\/","url_meta":{"origin":87538,"position":0},"title":"Where does the Bible say that some believed, but would not follow?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 9, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have been trying to find, without luck, the verse that talks about people believing but still not following God. I think it was the Pharisees in Acts. I just remember reading a passage and I was wondering if you knew of it. I am using word searches but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38782,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wisdom\/","url_meta":{"origin":87538,"position":1},"title":"Wisdom","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 5, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What would you consider valuable? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Money, home, job, a good life? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Yet there is something more valuable; more important \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Today we will talk about wisdom II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What is wisdom? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Can you name something that is wise? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Many say an owl is. But it is just a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40771,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-wish-someone-good-luck\/","url_meta":{"origin":87538,"position":2},"title":"Is it wrong to wish someone good luck?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 29, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it wrong to wish someone good luck? Answer: Events in our lives do happen at times by chance. \"I returned and saw under the sun that -- the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24677,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-i-go-back-to-being-the-happy-go-lucky-person-i-used-to-be\/","url_meta":{"origin":87538,"position":3},"title":"How can I go back to being the happy-go-lucky person I used to be?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 2, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have gone from the a motivated, enthusiastic, happy go lucky person to a depressed, fearful wretch and cannot seem to recover.\u00a0 I know you will tell me to seek professional help, which I am.\u00a0 I see a doctor and am on medication.\u00a0 I search the Internet and read\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39864,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-find-myself-wanting-to-go-back-to-a-man-who-hasnt-been-good-to-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":87538,"position":4},"title":"I find myself wanting to go back to a man who hasn’t been good to me","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 11, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I just came across this site. It seems very helpful, but I need some answers myself. I am really struggling. I have been through a recent breakup because the guy was always breaking up with me and then coming back wanting everything to be fine. In trying times\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55257,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/five-smooth-stones-of-parenting\/","url_meta":{"origin":87538,"position":5},"title":"Five Smooth Stones of Parenting","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Sewell Hall In Goliath, David faced what seemed an indomitable foe. David's goal was not so much to kill the giant as to protect the children and honor God. He took five smooth stones from the brook to achieve his purpose. In the pervasive humanism of our society, parents\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/five-smooth-stones-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87538\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}