Weekly words of encouragement

Who Carries Your Burdens? – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

Posted on by

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,who daily bears our burdens. Psalms 68:19 (NIV) It is easy to try to carry our own burdens since we tend to think we should be able to handle them on our own. But God is a Father to us which means that he cares about what is happening to us. He does not want us to bear all the responsibility for navigating our journey. Our cares do not fade away as we travel on; new burdens and responsibilities rise up as the years go on. So we always have the opportunity to: “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you” (1 Peter 5:7, NLT). What are your burdens now? How much are you carrying those burdens? Would it be better to unload them onto God’s shoulders? Should you be carrying anxiety about the challenges in your Continue Reading →

motives

Are You Free From Harmful Motives?

Posted on by

Motivation is a monumental issue in our spiritual lives. We will be constantly tempted to embrace motives that damage our spiritual growth. Many of them are disguised. The supreme motive for everything in our life should be our desire for the community of love with God and his followers. It may sound simple to consistently choose this motivation, but it is not. In fact, we will be learning to choose this for our whole lives. When we are young in Christformation we learn to recognize obvious impure motives such as sensual gratification, materialism, retaliation and preoccupation with our image. But after you overcome these there is a whole other set of hidden motives waiting to torpedo your spiritual life. If you are willing to pursue self-knowledge with God (so that you can “put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature” (Col. 3:5, NIV)) then you will discover deeply Continue Reading →

Weekly words of encouragement

God Will Bless The Disadvantaged – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

Posted on by

A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,is God in his holy dwelling.God sets the lonely in families,he leads out the prisoners with singing Psalms 68:5-6 (NIV) God gives special attention to the disadvantaged. He has a heart for orphans, widows, the lonely and those who are unfairly imprisoned. He does not fully restore them in this age, but he does comfort them and hear them. He watches over them and offers his presence to those who will trust him. In the next age he will restore the needy and the deprived, even to the point of giving them preference, for Jesus said, “But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first” (Matt. 19:30, NIV). Those who are the least in our society but follow Jesus will be first in the new age of God’s kingdom. Sometimes just following Jesus makes us Continue Reading →

Garden of Eden

Focusing On The Restoration Of Eden

Posted on by

The story of our destiny begins in the book of Genesis. There we learn that God originally placed humans in a garden in a land named Eden. In the Garden of Eden God told Adam and Eve “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals” (Gen. 1:28 NLT). He also “put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it” (Gen. 2:15, ESV). Then God gave Adam and Eve to each other so Adam (and obviously Eve) would not be alone (Gen. 2:18); Adam was to “hold fast” to Eve and they would be “one flesh” (2:24) and she was to be his “helper” (2:20). Thus, God gave Adam and Eve eight callings (we count reigning over the animals as one calling.) Adam and Eve were to fulfill these Continue Reading →

Weekly words of encouragement

God Listens To Our Prayers – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

Posted on by

If I had cherished sin in my heart,the Lord would not have listened;but God has surely listenedand has heard my prayer. Psalms 66:18-19 (NIV) God does listen to our prayers when we abide in him. This doesn’t just mean that he is aware of what we prayed but that he gives weight to what we pray. He is our Father who listens and responds, even if sometimes the response is “no” or “wait” because he has another plan for our lives. And we do not have to be especially mature or advanced in our understanding before God will listen to us. If we are following him then he will listen. He only asks that we do not cherish sin in our hearts. If we intentionally harbor destructive attitudes and ways then he may wait for our repentance before he listens. “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” Continue Reading →