Wake Up to the Abundant Life!

In the book of Joel in the Bible, God tells His people to wake up.  This is in the midst of a serious time of trouble and devastation for them.  God says, “Wake Up!”   He tells them to “Repent”.  Repent means to turn around or turn away from.  So often when things aren’t working out the way we want, we get down and start talking about all our troubles to anyone who will listen.  Instead if we would turn from looking at our troubles and focus on God and all of the good things He has promised us, we would find that our situation would begin to change. 

Our Creator God has given us an owner’s manual, the Bible, that tells us how to live ...

In Matthew 13 Jesus told a parable about a farmer sowing some seeds.  Some of the seeds grew and prospered and others did not.  In this parable some of the seeds landed on thorny ground and sprouted but were unable to grow good roots and so they died.  In this story Jesus tells us that the thorns are the cares of this world.  When we are full of worry and cares it can choke out the fruitfulness of your life and cause us to stagnate and become unproductive.

Every day if we are following God and being obedient, God throws seeds of blessing into our lives.  How are we receiving these seeds of blessing, joy, hope, life, and provision?  Are we allowing the cares of this world to choke out our spiritual life?

In ...

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
(Ephesians 5:1–2, ESV)

Be an Imitator of God

I like to sing and take voice lessons from a very talented voice teacher.  One of the techniques that really works for me to learn new techniques is imitating her when she demonstrates what she wants me to do.  Little children do this all the time—they watch those around them and copy what they are doing.  I was recently send a UTube video on a toddler who appears to be no more than 18 months old doing CPR on a manikin.  She obviously had watched someone do the compression and give the breaths and ...