If you asked a hundred different people the question, “What does heaven look like?”, I’m sure you’d receive a hundred different answers. To some, heaven may be that “perfect day” where everything goes just right. To others, heaven may be a time and place with loved ones. Countless people will say is a place in the sky where you go to after you die. Many will also say that heaven is where God or their deity lives.
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The big picture. It’s important to know, but easy to forget about. It’s easy for our thoughts and minds to be completely consumed with what’s right in front of us. Maybe it’s unexpected bad news. Perhaps it was something someone said to you, or a huge event or presentation looming before you. No matter how hard you try, it’s all you can think about, captivating your attention at all times.
We often lose sight of the big picture when hard times hit or when we focus too much on the little details. As believers, it’s often our lives of faith that end up getting pushed to the sidelines when something in life hits us hard and consumes our thoughts. God and His plans are forgotten while we worry about the other issues right in front of us. What happens when we forget about the big picture? And before we even answer that, another question: what is God’s big picture?
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“A gentle tongue is a tree of life,
but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.”
Proverbs 15:4
A “tree of life” most likely makes you think of the Garden of Eden. But what does it mean that a gentle tongue is a “tree of life?”
Our words can hurt, or they can heal. They can build others up, or tear them down. I’m sure you’ve been hurt by what someone has said at some point in your life. And maybe you have even hurt others with your own words. On the other hand, I’m sure you’ve been encouraged by others’ words and you have encouraged others also.
Continue reading “Is Your Tongue a Tree of Life? – The Proverbs Series”
When many people, religious or not, think about Satan, they often think of something like this: a red demon with horns and a pitchfork, trying to obviously tempt others to sin, to live and take in all the worldly pleasures and wealth, disregarding the consequences.
Continue reading “The Great Deception: How and Where Satan Works”
How often do you eat fruit in a week? Do you have a favorite? As we all know, fruits are healthy and provide important nutrition for our bodies. When you go grocery shopping, I’m sure you take your time when selecting which fruits you’re going to purchase. You look for the ones that are ripe (or soon to be ripe), but stay away from ones that are beginning to spot or are a little too squishy. But sometimes grabbing a rotten fruit is unavoidable and you take it home.
Continue reading “Good and Bad Fruit in the Bible: Which One Are You Eating?”
Have you ever picked up the Bible and wondered, “Where do I even begin? Which parts of the Bible apply to me?” I was once told that the New Testament was all that us Christians need to read. They even went as far as saying that the Old Testament was just history. Just references and laws of the past that have nothing to do with our future. The instruction was to start reading from the Gospels to Jude, neglecting the Old Testament and Revelation. Have you ever heard anything similar? It seemed odd that I was only being told to read parts of the Bible, with the assumption that the Old Testament didn’t apply to me.
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Have you ever had or heard a conversation along these lines? “Since the Bible only records 6,000 years of history, it’s technically claiming that dinosaurs didn’t exist, right? You know that’s completely impossible…We have scientific evidence to back their existence up.” Usually, things like this derail what could have been an eye-opening discussion on the Bible and faith. Why does this happen so often? For me, before I understood the purpose of the Bible, I never knew how to respond to a comment like this. I’d nod with a, “You do have a point…”
Continue reading “Why You Shouldn’t Dig for Dinosaurs in the Bible”
Has this thought ever crossed your mind? Maybe it’s in the midst of losing your job. Maybe you’re going through unimaginable heartbreak or grieving the loss of a loved one. And we all know that when it rains, it pours. Painful thing after painful thing just keeps piling up until you hit a breaking point. You cry out to God, “Do you hate me?? Why are you letting all of these things happen to me? Don’t you love me, God? Where are you??”
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If you’ve read the “Lord of the Rings” books or have seen the movies, then you probably know about the “One Ring,” right?
“One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them.
One ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them!”
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
This ring was made by the dark lord, Sauron, to rule and dominate all life on Middle Earth. Through the use of the ring, his influence spread, and all kinds of races – elves, men, dwarves – began to fight with and distrust one another. A result of the evil that was now all over the world. The evil power of that ring allowed Sauron to control others with his will. Anyone who carried that ring began to look more and more like it’s owner – dark, evil, greedy and selfish. It caused wars between kingdoms and peoples. While the Lord of the Rings is just a story, if you look at the world today, don’t you feel the similarities? In our own world, are people more united or more divided? What is the cause of the division and fighting?
Continue reading “One Sin to Rule Them All”