NCarolinian

Ecclesiastes 11:9 "You who are young, be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment."           When anything is judged, the result is either approval, needs improvement or failed. King Solomon, perhaps by experience, but certainly by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, encouraged young people to be happy, to follow their heart and their eyes but know this - it had better line up with what God wants for your life.            Ever heard the expression - Sow Your Wild Oats Early? This simply means an individual got their experimentation with touching the hot stoves of life out of the way. Though many of us go through this stage, there is no need for it. We can be happy while we are young and not receive the failed judgment rendering. A good start ...

             Humanity was meant to rule the world. Said another way, we were meant to steward or govern the world and everything in it. Want proof? Great! Read Genesis 1:26-31 . In that passage you will find God giving the first humans dominion over His created nature of this planet - the animals and plant-life. And the control was not over just a small stretch of land or continent, but over the whole Earth.               If you keep reading in Genesis you find we did alright with Adam being tasked to name the animals and God deeming everything "good". However, there came a point when even God's created human helpmate for Adam was not enough to keep them from being convinced they  could rule, govern and/or steward this Earth alone; without the counsel of God.           Humanity believed the lie that we could run our lives ourselves, we could rule this world ourselves and we...

                    The Holy Spirit instructs Christians through Paul -  "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers ." (Galatians 6:9-10)           The use of the word "especially" is no accident. Applying especially in any sentence brings a special focus to whatever person, place or thing that comes afterward. In this case, "those who belong to the family of believers" or Christians are challenged to be particularly good to each other. Believers in Christ are to favor, support, encourage, pray for and help one another.           However, before Christians make good, dependable servants for each other, they need to pay attention to their development as a member of their own b...

                    The bottom line is we all have a spiritual self that needs to be attended properly and regularly.            Athletes train their bodies and minds for their sport, usually for a competition of a season of games. They make a deliberate decision to go through all the necessary preliminaries in order to play in the actual game and be a part of the winning team.            Many people have the drive to to keep themselves physically healthy and/or have this chance of victory and team comradery. Other people train in some part of education or the arts to fulfill that development need and desire to reach personal goals.            The businessman or woman will take classes to be aware of how the business world works. The musician or painter will take classes to perfect their craft as well as to understand t...

Christians are God's kids that develop on this sandbox or playground we call Earth. We are created and known in God's mind long before we are born. However, when we are born and eventually come to know Christ as our Savior, we still have to deal with the Bully on the Playground, the devil.  I have got wonderful news, God Almighty, sent His only Son to redeem, restore and reconcile The Playground and our relationship with God, but He also dealt with The Bully. All these goals were accomplished because Satan was defeated through the death, burial and resurrection of Christ Jesus. 1 John 3:8 states, "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work." I believe Christ's words of "It is finished." sums it up nicely, but the empty tomb and The Risen Christ Jesus puts a nice exclamation point on it! For if Christ simply lived a perfect life then died for humanity - we would only have a martyr with no hope of resurrection and no ...