From the Blog
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Hope Remains
Fear has the same power over the mind and body, but equal and opposite to hope. What are you afraid of? What fears have caused you to be stuck in the mud, what fears have caused you to lose hope? One of the most common fears is simply the fear of the unknown and in these unpredictable times that fear becomes very real for so many of us. It can be difficult to know even what to hope for much less how to sustain hope. So many of grew up with big hopes and dreams until we had to deal with the fears and pains of “real life.”
In the letter to the Romans, Paul wrote that present sufferings did not compare to the hope of glory in Christ Jesus. We too can put our hope in the glory to be revealed in Jesus. -
Faith Remains
Do you ever feel so uncertain that you feel stuck? Do you feel like the changes to your environment especially over the last year have crippled your decision making or even stopped you from dreaming of a better future? All of us are facing this in some way. Every one of us have had changes at work, changes with education, changes in parenting, even changes in just how we go to the grocery store. Even the stablest personalities might be sick of all the change.
It should comfort you to know that although the world and everything in it is in constant disarray, the Word of God stands firm and God’s promises to us are immovable.
Faith remains! God has given us faith that stands strong under trial and encourages us through hardship. In Philippians chapter 3, the apostle Paul told the believers at Philippi that everything in life depended on faith in Christ Jesus. We can have the same perspective as Paul and live by faith in Jesus. -
New Mission
What’s your mission in life? Is it to make more money and own more things? Wouldn’t you love to stop living for things? And to start really living the way God intended?
In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus gave His followers a new mission to stop living things and to start living for God. We can follow Christ’s new mission to stop living for things and to start living for God. -
New Management
Do you run out of money before you run out of month? Do you get anxious about your debts, how you will pay them? As Ben Franklin said, “He that goes a borrowing goes a sorrowing.” Are you experiencing the sorrow of out of control spending and indebtedness?
Wouldn’t you like to know how to manage your finances, so that you are able to get out of debt, meet your families needs and be more generous with God and others? In the book of Luke, Jesus taught his disciples a parable to illustrate how to wisely manage money and possessions with an eternal perspective. We can wisely manage our money and possessions with an eternal perspective. -
A New Mindset
You already have a “mindset” about money. Everyone does. Some are spenders and some are savers. Some are givers and some are takers. What’s your mindset on money?
So how do you change your mindset? How do you get a new and good mindset on money? In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus taught his disciples a parable about being faithful with what He had entrusted to them until his return. We can be faithful with what the Lord has entrusted to us until his return. -
A Revealing Light
In the second chapter of Luke’s gospel, he described the prophecy of Simeon that Jesus was the revealing light exposing the hearts of all mankind. We can believe that Jesus is the light which reveals all hearts. His truth divides the hearts of mankind.
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A Genuine Light
Like Charlie Brown, when we make Christmas about something other than the coming of Christ, we’ll always be disappointed. If we make it about spending money and giving and receiving gifts, sure we might be happy for a day. But the bill for the gifts we put on our credit cards in December, come due in January. After the gifts, the food and the fun, there’s the cleanup and the packing away of Christmas decorations and lights. Our holiday festivities that we looked so forward to, always quickly come to end. Where’s the meaning? Where’s the joy that lasts for more than a day?
The answer is only found in understanding the true meaning of Christmas, by seeing the Genuine Light of Christmas found in the coming of Jesus Christ. -
A Glorious Light
Do you ever feel alone? Christmas is just around the corner, and for many people that means family, fun, and a few days spent in the company of the people we love. Except that, for some of us, Christmas time represents none of these things. For some, it will be a time of loneliness, trauma and great anguish. Many of us will spend this Christmas grieving for the people we’ve said goodbye to since last year. The parents we’ve lost. The friends. The children. Others may be reminded of insurmountable fractures in their familial relationships – the people we no longer speak to, the parties we can no longer in good conscience attend.
How can we experience the true light of Christmas this year? A light that overcomes our broken hearts and broken relationships? The apostle John tells us that Jesus came to light up our lives, so that we might know and be made right with God the Father. Jesus offers to be the Light of your life! -
A Great Light
Understanding the true meaning of Christmas begins by understanding and admitting the darkness of our world. Not the darkness of winter’s short days, but the darkness of ignorance and evil, suffering and pain, fear and anxiety, dark despair and gloomy grief. These and more describe what the Bible means by “darkness.”
It’s not enough to recognize the darkness in our world, nor is it enough to think you can brighten it through your own good intentions and efforts. In fact, this is the very reality that the Light of Christmas reveals: That we not only live in a dark world, but we have a darkness in our souls that cannot be enlightened without a Light from outside ourselves, a Great Light that could overcome our soul’s darkness. In Isaiah 9, he encouraged the people of Israel with a Messianic prophecy of a Son who was to be born as a great light that would overcome the world’s darkness. We can believe that the great Light that overcomes the world’s darkness has come in the person of Jesus. -
Yes I Will
Making fun of 2020 has been just about the only way to survive this for many of us. It has felt like we are playing a weird game of apocalypse bingo. There has been so much to complain about, worry about, be angry about, and this is just on a national level. Some of our personal battles have been just as difficult if not worse. For so many of us there has been little that we are thankful for. We may have celebrated thanksgiving, but have we found our attitude and heart of gratitude?
In Psalm 9, David wrote of how he chose to worship God in every circumstance. We can choose to worship God in every circumstance.