Spread the Joy Around

Malachi 4:2

Have you ever actually watched a cavorting calf? You’d probably think you were witnessing the worst possible case of bovine ADD. Human children act similarly. Position yourself outside an elementary school just before the day’s final bell. Whether a child has to traverse ten feet to queue up for a bus or ten blocks to burst into her door, you can’t fail to miss a common behavior: They run.

When was the last time you leaped? Don’t count the day you were in range of an automatic sprinkler system just chugging into action. When did you dance like Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof or like King David upon the return of the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem (see2Sa 6:14–15)?

In Psalm 28:7 David asserts: “My heart leaps for joy and with my song I praise [God].” That inner jubilation works well for some of us, but we can’t all see ourselves physically leaping. Our hearts, though, alive in Christ and inspired by joy, can bound and jump.

Why Is Life So Hard?

by Rick Warren

“All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own.” (Isaiah 53:6 NLT)

Everything seems to be a battle. Nothing is easy. The fact is, life is difficult.

So, why is life so hard in this world?

The Bible says rebellion against God broke everything.

It all started back with the first couple, Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden. When God created the world, everything was perfect. It was paradise. And Adam and Eve had no problems, suffering, sadness, temptations, or troubles.

But one day Adam and Eve decided that they wanted to do what they wanted to do. God told them, “You can do anything you want to in this paradise except one thing.” And what did Adam and Eve do? The one thing God told them not to do.

Why Are We Here?

Romans 14:8

If God had willed it, each of us might have entered heaven at the moment of conversion. It was not absolutely necessary for our preparation for immortality that we should linger here. It is possible for a man to be taken to heaven and to be found fit to partake in the inheritance of the saints in light, even though he has only just believed in Jesus. 

It is true that our sanctification is a long and continued process, and we shall not be perfected until we lay aside our bodies and enter within the veil; but nevertheless, if the Lord had wanted to, He could have changed us from imperfection to perfection and have taken us to heaven at once.

Why then are we here? Would God keep His children out of paradise a single moment longer than was necessary? Why is the army of the living God still on the battlefield when one charge might give them the victory? Why are His children still wandering here and there through a maze when a single word from His lips would bring them into the center of their hopes in heaven?

Hallelujah!

“He brought out His people with rejoicing,
His chosen ones with shouts of joy;
He gave them the lands of the nations,
and they fell heir to what others had toiled for –
that they might keep His precepts
and observe His laws.
Praise the LORD [Hallelu Yah].” — Psalm 105:43–45

Hallelujah is an amazing word. It spans continents, cultures, and languages. Hallelujah beautifully expresses our praise of the Lord. Yet, the only place that it actually appears in the Hebrew Bible is in the book of Psalms. Even then, it isn’t introduced until the last third of the book. It first appears in the last line of Psalm 104, or according to some, the first line of Psalm 105. And it is in Psalm 105, which concludes with “Hallelu Yah” that we can understand its full meaning.

What does hallelujah really mean?

The Importance Of Remembering God's Provisions

The American painter John Sargent once painted a panel of roses that was highly praised by critics. It was a small picture, but it approached perfection. And although he was offered a high price for it on many occasions, Sargent refused to sell it.

When asked why he would never sell this 

The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Kar. Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.” — 1 Samuel 7:11-12

painting, Sargent said he considered it his best work and was very proud of it. So whenever he was deeply discouraged and doubtful of his abilities as an artist, he would look at it and remind himself, “I painted that.” Then his confidence and ability would come back to him.

In the spiritual life, it’s important to set up milestones so you can remember where God has come through for you in the past. 

You Are a Work in Progress

by Rick Warren

“This will continue until we are ... mature, just as Christ is, and we will be completely like him.” (Ephesians 4:13 CEV)

Becoming like Christ is a long, slow process of growth. Spiritual maturity is neither instant nor automatic; it is a gradual, progressive development that will take the rest of your life.

Referring to this process, Paul said, “This will continue until we are ... mature, just as Christ is, and we will be completely like him” (Ephesians 4:13 CEV).

You are a work in progress. Your spiritual transformation in developing the character of Jesus will take the rest of your life, and even then it won’t be completed here on Earth. It will only be finished when you get to Heaven or when Jesus returns.

You Shall Be Holy

Rick Joyner     

True holiness is not legalism but love. The reason the bride wants to be without spot or wrinkle is not out of the fear that if she is not perfect her Bridegroom will smite her, but because she is so in love with Him that she wants to be perfect for Him. This is the difference between being driven by legalism, which is fear based, and being motivated by the love that fulfills the Law.

This is why the primary goal of our lives should be to love more. The Lord affirmed that the most important commandments were to love God above all things and to love one another. If we do this, we will automatically fulfill the Law. If we love God, we will not worship idols. If we love others, we will not steal, murder, or even envy them. The Lord replaced all of the “do nots” of the Law with positives—love God and love one another because then we will fulfill all of the “do nots.”

The key to loving God is simply to learn about Him and His ways. I don’t think we can see a single aspect of God or learn one thing about His nature that will not compel us to love Him more. This includes seeing His judgments because they are perfect, and even these are motivated by a love far above human love.

Are You Somebody's Thorn?

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. —Proverbs 27:17

It is sobering to realize that you may be a thorn in the flesh to someone else. 

Has it dawned on you that you are another person's problem because of your particular personality? The problem is, of course, yours, but you unfortunately make it somebody else's as well. It may be the person who has to live with you, work with you, or deal with you from time to time. You force that person to have to walk on eggshells around you. He or she loses sleep because of you. How does that make you feel? Well, it sobers me to my fingertips, knowing that I may very well be another person's thorn in the flesh.

Perhaps you are aware of your problem, but you say, "I can't help it. This is who I am." You have prayed about it often. But have you really tried to get help? You are never too old to learn as long as you want your problems solved.

The Church is for Sinners, not Saints

Written by Darren Hewer

Do you struggle with guilt and want to talk to someone about it? Contact an online mentor today.

While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:10-13)

When I first became a Christian at age 22, I thought church was only for perfect people. Or at least people who could act perfectly on Sunday mornings. I didn’t understand that the purpose of the church is to give a hand to the sick, not pat the healthy on the back.

Jesus often ate at the same table with “sinners”, and when he did, the Pharisees questioned why He did so. Jesus responded by saying “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” (Matthew 9:12) Author Brennan Manning puts it this way: “The church is not a museum for saints but a hospital for sinners”. That’s encouraging, because I often don’t feel much like a saint. Do saints lose patience with their brothers and sisters in Christ? Lose their temper? Sometimes even lose that passionate fire for the gospel?