Times of mourning or suffering are some of the hardest moments for anyone, and this is no different when you’re a Christian. Knowing that God loves you and has promised you eternal joy and happiness doesn’t lessen the pain in those moments of loss or hardship. When you find yourself struggling in those moments, what …
Continue reading “Blessed are those who mourn – now it’s personal”
Hi everyone. Let’s look at the second of the eight “blessed” statements Jesus made in Matthew 5. We’ve already seen, while looking at the previous verse, that “blessed” carried a meaning something along the lines of “This is good news for…” Who was Jesus referring to in this verse? Who were “those who mourn” in …
Continue reading “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted”
We’ve considered what Jesus was referring to when he said the “poor in spirit” were “blessed” and the “kingdom of heaven” was theirs. Now I want to think more specifically about what this means for you and me living in the 21st century. Are we poor in spirit? What would that even look like? Commonly …
Continue reading “Blessed are the poor in spirit – now it’s personal”
Hi everyone. Let’s begin our look at one of Jesus’ most famous teachings in Matthew 5:3. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” This is the first of eight ‘blessed’ statements that Jesus made while speaking to his followers. Each of these statements presents a certain characteristic or quality …
Hi everyone, it’s the beginning of a new year. 2023 was a difficult time for many of us both in terms of our own personal lives as well as the state of the world around us. The cost of living was still a serious issue for many across the Western world. Fear and uncertainty over …
In our last couple of posts we’ve been looking at Paul’s advice to the church at Corinth, and to the church in general, about how Christians ought to serve each other. In the context of picturing the church as a construction project, Paul wrote: And each one must be careful how he builds. For no …
Continue reading “Building up the church – what are you building with?”
In our last post we saw that both Jesus and Paul describe the church in ways which make it clear that Christian faith is not about an exclusive relationship between you and God. Christian faith is about the church as a collective – more than that, as a family – having fellowship with God through …
Continue reading “Your relationship with God – what is your contribution?”
In the West today, many of us tend to take a rather individualistic approach to life. What does this mean? It means simply that if you live in the West you are more likely to see yourself as an individual – with your own private life and thoughts and feelings and freedoms and experiences – …
Continue reading “Your relationship with God – what it isn’t and what it is”
Our second example of a Bible character who may have suffered from some form of depression again takes us to the Old Testament. Saul, son of Kish, was the first king of Israel. He was chosen for this position by God when the Israelites demanded to have a strong military leader like the other people …
Continue reading “Bible characters with symptoms of depression: King Saul”
Are there any characters in the Biblical narrative who suffered from some form of depression? While we cannot know for sure, it’s possible to identify some of the symptoms in at least a couple of men from the Old Testament. One is Elijah the prophet. He was one of God’s spokesmen while King Ahab and …
Continue reading “Bible characters with symptoms of depression: Elijah”
Nihilist to Christian