Your Life: Abundant

Photo by Molnár Bálint on Unsplash

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

Are you tired and weary, too?

We are a tired and weary people. I see weariness all around me. For we pandemic and vax skeptics, the fear didn’t phase us, but the weariness got us. So, in a sense, those in power won at least a momentary victory.

A few days ago, I was speaking to a friend who is a career sherpa; that is, she helps people navigate through their career. She has observed a real sense of weariness all around. People are tired of change, as the radical life changes decreed by those in power, using the pandemic as a tool to gain greater control, to force us to give up our liberties of freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, freedom...

Photo by Chang Duong on Unsplash 

Reading time:  2.9 minutes

In this blogpost, we’ll be looking at Colossians 3:1-17. It has a lot to tell us about who we are in Christ and Christian living. 

Set your minds on things above 

"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your[a] life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3:1-4) 

Here Paul tells us that if we’ve been raised with Christ, we are to seek things and set our minds upon things that are above. That’s because we have also died with Christ. In Christ, we’ve died to our former worldly lives and have been raised to a new life in Christ. 

As believers, we’re to cede control of everything to Christ. This is not...

Read time: 5.2 minutes

Once again we are approaching a New Year, a time to reflect upon the past year and to resolve to do better, be better. We want to set things right. So in three blogposts: A look at Jeremiah 29:11; Aspects of God’s sovereignty and Understanding what God sovereignty means to us, I will help lay a foundation for you so you can set things right, right from the start. 

Today we take a look at God’s sovereignty over our lives in 2022.

He who was and is to come has always been.

Happy New Year! Today is the first day in the Year of Our Lord 2022.

 A New Year is typically the time to take stock of the past and to resolve to do better now and into the future. Good things, to be sure, but if you don’t build a firm foundation for those new beginnings, you won’t be successful. 

Self-reliance, reliance on experts, or reliance on leaders will never fulfill our search for finding peace nor be a sure bet. If 2021 taught us anything,...

Read time: 5.7 minutes

 Once again we are approaching a New Year, a time to reflect upon the past year and to resolve to do better, be better. We want to set things right. So in three blogposts: a look at Jeremiah 29:11; some aspects of God’s sovereignty and our response to God’s sovereignty, I will help lay a foundation for you so you can set things right, right from the start. 

Today we take a look at some of the aspects of God’s sovereignty as explored through various Scriptures. 

God uses earthly powers and suffering for our good

 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)

As discussed at length in my first post, the context of the Jeremiah passage is one of exile, of suffering. No more will be said about this passage here.

In the short book of Habakkuk, we see God dramatically using political powers and suffering.  In the beginning of...

This post is the first in a series of three blog posts focusing on Isaiah, Chapter 9. The three are, in order: God’s grace through His peace, God’s justice through His peace, and God’s completion of His ultimate peace.

 

Today we examine God grace through His peace, focusing on Isaiah 9:6.

For to us a child is born,

    to us a son is given;

and the government shall be upon[d] his shoulder,

    and his name shall be called[e]

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

During Advent, the four weeks leading up to Christmas, we are anticipating Christ’s first coming as that babe born in a manger, preparing for His arrival with Scripture readings, quiet reflection, and plaintive songs. Christ’s arrival at Christmas marks a time of joy and peace, both within and without the body of Christ, as we human beings have been seeking inner peace since our...

Since February 2020, the Coronavirus (COVID-19), and now its many variants, have been infecting more than our bodies with disease; they have been infecting our psyches with fear. And this fear has spread much faster and its reach far greater than the biological virus itself, infecting young and old, trade and transportation, all of daily life.

In his article in the Epoch Times entitled "Fear: A Disease of Our Time", Dr. Peter Weiss recounts seeing a patient who came to him wearing a hat, two face masks, and over-sized plastic gloves. When he asked her why she was equipped in such a way, she said that she has a 7-year-old to protect.

Weiss lamented that, unfortunately, he had seen far too many patients like her. He goes on to say: 

Fear has become a disease of our time. Fear is commonly defined as the belief that someone or something is dangerous and likely to cause pain or act as a threat, such as a shark swimming next to you.

. . . Fear is a healthy emotion to own when...