weekly words of encouragement

God Enjoys Giving Us The Kingdom – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy.” Luke 12:32-33, ESV. After Jesus taught that the Father will provide our basic needs if we seek his kingdom first, then he says that it brings the Father pleasure to give us the kingdom. God enjoys giving us his kingdom. The “kingdom” is the realm where God’s goodness reigns, which we possess in part now and will fully inherit in the next age. And the Father does not give it grudgingly; he does not make it unreasonably difficult. God enjoys giving; he wants to see us blessed. He wants to guide us to the New Earth where there is no pain or corruption anymore. Therefore, we do not need to fear. God enjoys giving us all good things. In fact, if you have wealth then sell your Continue Reading →

listening, contemplation

What Are The Benefits Of Listening Prayer?

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I’ve read that in conversations we should find ourselves listening as much as talking. Of course, this just makes sense – it would be selfish if we were in the habit of listening 30% of the time and talking 70% of the time. But does this apply to our conversations (i. e. prayer) with God? Sometimes. God wants to do good things for us. He wants to speak his words in his way. He wants to continuously transform us into the image of Christ. So wouldn’t God want us to spend time in listening prayer, or at least being in a receptive mode so we could receive anything he might want to say? That’s why the image for this post is someone listening to headphones: they are in receptive, listening mode. It is common to think of prayer time as a time when we talk the whole time. We thank Continue Reading →

candy spiritual sweet tooth

Do You Crave Spiritual Sweetness?

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We all love to feel the presence of God. We love times when we feel his love or joy welling up inside us. We feel free and light or just tremendous peace. But what about the rest of the time when we don’t feel God’s presence or power? Do we find ourselves making every effort to reclaim the spiritual sweetness we had? Seeking spiritual sweetness is okay to an extent. God wants us to feel good and he wants us to feel joy and peace. He wants to be with us as much as we want to be with Him. But there are some things that are more important than spiritual sweetness in the Christian life. Two come to mind. First, submission to God’s will. If we truly want to be in Christ then we should find ourselves seeking God’s will more than seeking spiritual sweetness. God may not want to Continue Reading →

weekly words of encouragement

Gathering With Jesus – Weekly Words of Encouragement

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“Whoever does not gather with me scatters” (Luke 11:23, NIV). Looking at the positive side of this statement by Jesus, it is encouraging that we can be gathering with Jesus. In this age, Jesus’ mission is our mission because we are his agents. This is our adventure. This is our new life in God, being his channels for sowing the blessings of the kingdom to others. We are his harvesters, inviting and gathering others for the New Creation to come. He is our head and we, his followers, are his body. We are his arms and legs, responding to the leadings of the divine Mind. He is coordinating his followers in his worldwide campaign to bring his kingdom to the whole earth, and we are gathering with Jesus. And one day we will all be together on the New Earth, our eternal gathering place, to live in a New Eden. Continue Reading →

maturity

What Is A Mature Christian?

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Over the centuries many Christian teachers have outlined what it looks like to become a mature Christian. These outlines, or guides, are helpful because they help us see what we are “aiming” for in our Christian life. In other words, they tell us what it means to become a mature Christian. The New Testament speaks many times about what it means to be “mature” or “complete” (sometimes the word “perfect” is used but it means complete in Greek.) This idea that Christians grow spiritually and that we can describe what this looks like along the way is referred to as “stages of growth”. We could also refer to these stages as phases or processes. These stages are supposed to encourage us because they describe the good that is ahead for us. In other words, they help us know what to look forward to. The clearest descriptions in Scripture of some Continue Reading →