God Blesses The Humble

From The Imitation of Christ – Chapter 7. The one who trusts in people or things instead of God is wasting their life. And don’t rely on yourself but rely on God. Don’t trust in your education or the abilities of people. Instead, trust in God who opposes the proud; God blesses the humble. Don’t boost your image with your wealth or important friends. Instead, give thanks to God, who is the source of all good things. He is the great giver and even gave himself for us. Don’t think you are wonderful because of your strength or beauty; it only takes one illness or accident to lose them. Don’t be arrogant about your abilities; God is not happy when we take credit for our blessings. He blesses the humble. Don’t think of yourself as better than others or God will think worse of you. Don’t be proud about your Continue Reading →

You Are A Sibling Of Jesus – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

“For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:35, ESV). Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, and someone told Jesus about it. Despite the powerful bonds that families had in ancient times Jesus reduces the significance of family bonds in comparison to one’s bond with God through Jesus. Anyone can be a sibling of Jesus! One reason this is encouraging to many is that even if your family was dysfunctional or destructive, the family of God is far more important and valuable. This leads us to the biggest reason that this verse is encouraging: we have the privilege of being “relatives” of Jesus! If we do God’s will we are his brother and sister and mother. Consider Romans 8:29: For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he Continue Reading →

The Trap Of Harmful Desires

Imitation of Christ – Chapter Six. Harmful Desires. When someone has exorbitant love for something other than God or people it makes them restless. Harmful desires and attachments make someone weak when temptation comes. This carnal person has not died to self and their harmful desires and attachments. Their spirit is weak and they keep looking for worldly pleasure. When they deprive themself of the objects of their harmful desires they become sad and irritable. And when they give in to these unhealthy affections they feel guilty. They also realize they aren’t truly satisfied and didn’t find peace. These harmful desires and attachments keep one from becoming like Christ. Many believers don’t grow because they have so much love for things or themselves. Some of these are fine in moderation, but their hearts are so attached that they prevent them from fully loving God. They wonder why they don’t feel Continue Reading →

We Live In God’s Kingdom Forever – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

Over and over again in the Old Testament the prophets predicted that God would bring his kingdom of peace, love and holiness to earth. God would eliminate everything that was ungodly or destructive. This kingdom would be led by a Messiah and God’s people could live in God’s kingdom forever. The Jews waited hundreds of years after the prophets for God’s kingdom to come; the coming of God’s kingdom would be the arrival of utopia, so naturally, devout Jews constantly yearned for the kingdom. Finally, Jesus announced that the time of waiting was over. He said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand” (Mark 1:15, NIV). The kingdom of God had now arrived. But it didn’t come in its fullness because God wanted to allow for an overlapping time when the kingdom was hidden, but those who would believe would live in God’s kingdom forever. Continue Reading →

The Problem With Knowledge

Imitation of Christ – Chapter Two – The Problem With Knowledge It is natural to want knowledge, but what good is knowledge if we aren’t surrendered to God? Someone who humbly serves God but lacks any education is higher in God’s eyes than a world-renowned scientist who doesn’t know that their own heart needs God. This is the problem with knowledge. When we know our own heart we know how lowly we are. We don’t let compliments puff us up. If we have all the knowledge in the world but don’t truly love others then is God impressed by our knowledge? He will judge our lives by our deeds not by our knowledge. Restrain your hunger for excessive knowledge because that only distracts and misleads us. Learned people are tempted to keep up an appearance of wisdom and hope they are recognized for it. Yet great knowledge is actually not Continue Reading →