When faced with pain and suffering it’s natural to ask what the purpose of it all is. Paul tells us that we can be absolutely sure that God is working in our lives through it: “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
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.
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