live2bless

Here’s a question I came across the other day. I modified it some to suit my purpose. Ask yourself: Is there a path that I could walk down that would be so rich, so rewarding, and meaningful that I would find the challenge of dealing with the nasty and ugly things in life ennobling and worthwhile? (main idea from Jordon Peterson) Let’s give that path a name: the path to the Promised Land. So tell...

In Genesis 22 (NIV) we read of God’s call to Abraham’s to sacrifice his son Issac on Mt Moriah. He went through all the motions to do so in full obedience to the Lord, but then was stopped short just as he raised the knife over his son. After that we read that, 15 “The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you...

Allow me to supply the following definition of what I think it means to be spiritually mature in Christ. We are mature in our faith to the extent that we maintain our hold on a promise God has given us regardless of how much time it takes before he fulfills it. By “maintaining our hold” I mean we refuse to do anything we would otherwise do if we had no promise to look to. For example, consider wha...

We do well to encourage ourselves and others to always remain devoted to the Lord. But have you ever considered how the Lord is completely devoted to you? that he wholeheartedly and in every way possible constantly pursues the very highest and best for you? That is at the very heart of what it means that God loves you. Just as it is inconceivable that that you should love someone and not simultane...

In Psalms 16:11 David writes of the Lord that “You make known to me the path of life.”  In Psalm 23:3 David writes “He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.” I’ve been defining righteousness as having two aspects. First it is found in how we view others. It means seeing them through God's eyes which is to see them as so very precious that it cannot be measured. Then it means...

In Matthew 5:20 Jesus says, “…I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Those words, spoken in Jesus’ sermon on the mount, were no doubt among the most shocking words the common people heard from Jesus. The Pharisees were the epitome of what it meant to meticulously keep the law of Mos...

In John 1:9a (NET) we read of Jesus that he was “The true light, … [that] gives light to everyone.” I am beyond persuaded that the root of all human bondage to self-centeredness, sin, and error is deception, and specifically deception regarding God’s existence, his nature, and his motives. False thinking about God instantly alienates us from God because having been made by him and for him, such th...

2 Corinthians 5:21 —   “God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God.” Think about that. He doesn’t say that in him we would become righteous before God, but become the righteousness of God. If I’m understanding this right, he’s not pointing out something we will do, but something we are: God makes us his righteousness. This s...

Did you know that there are pages on the web devoted to helping you choose a name for your newborn? One search that I did on boys names delivered this: “Top 1,100 Boy Names for Your Baby Boy in 2023". The criteria used was that the names were “strong, classic, awesome, one-syllable, unique” and on a similar web page, for girl’s names, the criteria was “unique, beautiful, pretty, sweet, or cute”. I...

In my studies I came across an important way to highlight the distinction between two greek words. One word is properly translated “servant” and the other “slave.” In sensitivity to the ugly cultural overtones associated with the word “slave”, some English translations have stuck to almost exclusively translating them both with the word “servant.” But that’s unfortunate because here’s the distinct...

In Psalm 81:13a the Lord makes this plea: “If only my people would listen to me.” So how do we know when we’re listening to Jesus? Let me offer this simple checklist. When you pray for others, you’re listening. When you are patient with others, you’re listening. When you are kind towards others, you’re listening. When you are honest with others, you’re listening. When you forgive others, you’re li...

Here’s a life purpose I would consider worthy of everything we can possibly do achieve it: commit yourself to being an undefeatable blessing. What’s that? It means that you are so irrevocably committed to benefiting everyone in your life that you allow nothing anyone can say or do against you — or what matters to you — to in any way alter your commitment to their wellbeing. Just think about what t...

Colossians 3:1-4 (NET) “…if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Keep thinking about things above, not things on the earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ (who is your life) appears, then you too will be revealed in glory with him.” The word “preoccupy” is defined as “to e...

What is it to love others? As I presently see it, here’s an answer that may surprise you: to love others is to worship God. “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”   Romans 12:1 (ESV) To offer your body as a living sacrifice to God is to, in effect, give him everyth...

“Before I was afflicted I used to stray off, but now I keep your instructions.” Psalm 119:67 (NET) I can see no better use of affliction than to drive the point home to our hearts that we must obey God. To be honest, “obey” is not a word I particularly like, but as I’m finding out, it is the way back from misery. I am also discovering that, yes, it can be done. God would not ask us to do something...

Hebrews 11:8-10 (NET) 8 “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, and he went out without understanding where he was going. 9 By faith he lived as a foreigner in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the...

Recently one of the young men in our youth group asked the question, “How do I know when I have found my purpose?”  Here are some thoughts to reflect on in answer to that. Matthew 7:13-14 (NET) “Enter through the narrow gate, because the gate is wide and the way is spacious that leads to destruction , and there are many who enter through it. How narrow is the gate and difficult the way that l...

Colossians 3:1-6 (NET) 1 Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Keep thinking about things above, not things on the earth, 3 for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ (who is your life) appears, then you too will be revealed in glory with him. 5 So put to death whatever in...

In Proverbs 4:20-23 (NET) we read,  20 “My child, pay attention to my words; listen attentively to my sayings. 21 Do not let them depart from your sight , guard them within your heart ; 22 for they are life to those who find them and healing to one’s entire body. Guard your heart with all vigilance, for from it are the sources of life.” The word translated “heart” in this last verse most comm...

Here’s a thought that I think is worth a lot of reflection: everything going on in your life is actually just between Jesus and you . What comes to you is to be filtered through the light of his friendship with you. Then you’ll know how to respond to it. And what you consider thinking about, saying, or doing, is also to be filtered through the light of his friendship. Then you’ll know how to act.

Here’s just a simple reminder that the Lord of the universe wants to get in on everything that is going on in your life. You cannot disinterest him. He’s listening like no one could ever listen to you, and there’s a sense in which he is not a part of your life without you telling him about it. So make this statement yours from   Psalms 119:26 (NET 2nd Ed.) “ I told you about my ways and you a...

Proverbs 4:18 (NIV) — “The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.” Let’s consider the word “righteous.” It’s a big word in Scripture and is used to define the effect that trusting in God has on a person’s relationship to God. We could say that the more someone trusts in God, the more righteous they are. That is to say God responds immediate...

Following the testimony of what we might call heroes of faith in God, we read this in Hebrews 12:1-2 (NIV) “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set bef...

Matthew 5:37 — “Let your ‘yes’ mean ‘yes,’ and your ‘no’ mean ‘no.’ Anything more than this is from the evil one.” If I’m getting this right, heart purity is to be free of all ambivalence, all double-mindedness. It means ignoring any motive at variance with your main purpose for being where you are, saying, or doing what you’re doing at any given moment. To that end, simply ask yourself, why am I...

Consider what having an endless supply of something means. Let’s suppose that you had an endless, infinite supply of money to give away. If you gave someone a million dollars, would that cut into your supply? No. Your supply is infinite. That million takes nothing from you. You could give away millions upon millions and all you would be doing, in effect, is moving it around, allocating it. As for...