How should we deal with uncertainty? One of the greatest examples in the Bible of someone who was secure in the face of uncertainty is Abraham. He was a successful businessman in one of the most prosperous cities of his day. God would ask him to leave the comfort and security of his home and travel to another land, not knowing much about the place or even the exact location. Abraham had plenty to be uncertain about.

There is no shortage of opinions on how to prepare yourself for the upcoming year. Information on how to prepare yourself health-wise. Information on how to prepare yourself financially. But how do we prepare ourselves spiritually? The cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches can distract us from preparing the most crucial component for a successful year and that is our heart.

The truth is, being busy is often rewarded in our world, because it somehow translates to being productive, successful, and better. And while this may be true at times, it’s not always the case. Busyness can lead to making mistakes, being unsafe, or missing good opportunities. In Pastor Dave and Pastor Cheryl’s message this past weekend titled, “How God Wraps a Present”, they mentioned how we can be wrapped up in our busyness, to the extent that we become “insensitive to what God is doing”. If busyness has been your daily reality and you’re wanting to break this pattern in your life, it’s time to reprioritize, slow down, and develop new patterns.

Those who are of God love what God loves. God loves His children and Apostle John in his letter directs Christians to do the same, to love one another. God is delighted when His children obey and live according to His will as revealed in His commandments. Believers do not see God’s commandments as heavy and vexatious. We are a new creation in Christ and therefore we love to follow our master’s decrees. However, we also recognize that loving others or loving what God loves is not an easy task and it requires our daily surrender and dependence upon God. We need the power of God’s Spirit working within us and our daily intentional meditation and application of His Word.

It is the Christian privilege that they are called the children of God. There is something in a name. The custom of the old testament was to name children with a great name, a name that had a great story which belonged to an earlier hero. The name gave him or her a standard to live up to, an inspiration for living. No-one would usually use a weak or insipid name for their child – that in itself could be so discouraging. So the Christian has the privilege of being called the children of God.

We weren’t meant to walk through this life alone and through God’s mercy, our thoughts and the intents of our hearts are revealed, exposing any dirt of sin and allowing it to be removed so we can walk in His light!

The Bible tells us not to be unaware of the designs of the enemy. In the original Greek language of which the New Testament was written, design literally means a scheme; a psychological, well-reasoned strategy against us.

We should be motivated to demonstrate loving kindness and grace to other people, including those that we may disagree with. After all, we are defined by how we treat others, but it all starts with how we treat ourselves. How can we be kind to ourselves?

Even if we lose something that’s not considered high value, we still deal with the emotions of frustration or sadness. When we lose something and can’t find it, it sits in the back of our mind as something unresolved. We feel responsible and sometimes horrible about losing it. There’s also a sense of frustration about the time we’ve taken up trying to find the item or the expense of having to replace it. It’s painful to think about.

Giving thanks is not only being conscious of and acknowledging the good things that we have received, but also being genuinely appreciative of them. How can we be continually appreciative of the blessings in our lives? I propose we first get to know the Giver of blessings, that we practice gratitude daily, and that we express gratitude through our actions.

Have you ever wondered why we call our weekend gatherings at church a service? If you are new to church or Christianity, this may seem like an odd description of the time where we stand and sing, and then sit and listen to a sermon. Many churches are moving away from using the term service and replacing it for more palatable terms like the “church experience,” or “gathering.”

We all have experienced that feeling after saying something that did not sit well either in our heart or in someone else’s heart. We end up thinking “Did I just say that?”

We might say some of God’s servants in the Bible spent their time alone. Yes. but it was not meant to be that way. Well, not for long; because their life had no real meaning until they were amongst people.

One day Jesus was teaching and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

You would think that everyone would be working hard to have more family dinners, yet according to a number of studies the frequency of family dinners is shrinking in Canada. Today 1/4 to 1/3 never or seldom eat together as a family and 14% never eat a family meal!

Walking by faith is rewarded by God, but so is standing, and this takes confidence. In Hebrews 10 we read, do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised… “My righteous[one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.”

From the time we were little, many of us dreamt of being firefighters, astronauts, doctors, soldiers… All occupations that take courage. And though we may not always maintain the same passion for that particular occupation as we grow older, something in all of us still longs to do something courageous with our lives. Yet so often, when the moment comes to make a decision or to step out in courage, we can find that we don’t have the capacity or ability to do so. The desire may be there, but often when the moment comes, we feel like we are not ready, and we can easily shy away from the moment.