Walking in the Light
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!
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!