Heath with a Purpose

Liebster Award Thank you  Alicia Day for nominating my post,  "Influences That Create Who We Are"  for a Liebster Award. I am honoured to be nominated for this award. I just recently heard about this award and what it represents and I think this is a great way to celebrate fellow bloggers. It is not easy putting your thoughts and words out there fearing what may come of them or how readers will respond to them. When we are given support in anything we do it can give us a spark that helps us to continue our work. The same goes for an opposite affect, negative and lack of support can easily put the fire out. Part of the nomination process is to answers some questions about myself and my blog. How would you define success? My perspective of success is shaped by what I make it. The value of anything grows when you invest into it. Success is often the opposite of failure but if success is something we build then failure isn't in the equation nor should it be...

I titled this post with a question because this was the biggest question I had about scripture. I found myself at a cross roads. I couldn't deny God's presence in my life. From how God has been with me my whole life to knowing that I needed Jesus to die for me as the perfect sacrifice that is necessary to pay for my sins. This new understanding filled me with joy, excitement, energy, and purpose. From being a total skeptic to basically a new believer, I was frustrated with where I stood in my faith. I believed that I needed Jesus but I still had trouble believing I needed the bible. My view of scripture was a pile of words that, if you really wanted to, you could skew the words to say what ever you really wanted to say.  I remember exactly where I was, I was in my car after my shift outside the farm I worked at when I cried out to God "IF YOU WANTED ME TO BELIEVE YOUR WORD WHY DID YOU START IT WITH SUCH A LIE!!" I could not get over the seven day creation. Ou...

I have previously talked about shame and how the proper response is to worship God. The last thing you probably want to do when your in a dark place is worship. You might think God deserves better. In April, I heard a pastor preach on Lazarus in John 11:43-44.  When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” ‭‭ Before Jesus came into each of our lives we were dead to sin. But Jesus has called us like he called Lazarus. Now picture Lazarus walking out of the grave. Did he come out glowing wearing white with angels singing behind him? No, he probably stunk and was still wrapped in his grave clothes. We are just like Lazarus. We still aren't perfect even though we are now alive in Christ. When God called us it wasn't when we were in a state of glory, but rather a state of m...

Life is testing sometimes. It can almost get to the point where it feels like, well, a test. To be honest the culture we live in today, the western world, has created this mind set. It has even created a plan for you. You go to school, get good grades, work hard, and everything will work out. This might work for some but for the rest of us we know that this isn't the recipe for success. I didn't do so well in school. I did just enough to get by because I had to. I had to get an education because if I didn't I was told I wouldn't be able to get a job anywhere. Everything I did was graded. Now that I'm working full time I find it interesting how when we make a mistake we hear about it, but when we are doing it right we are just expected to do so.  I adapted how I was tested by the world to how God tests me. I struggled with that consept because I came across This verse in James. “When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be...

            When I first accepted the truth that I was broken and needed a saviour, a couple church topics did not make sense to me. The first was prayer. I thought if God already knows what I need why do I need to pray for it? I learned thorough my ignorance that pray isn’t about connecting God with me but connecting me to God. The second was worship. It made no sense to me that we had to worship. Doesn't that mean that God is incomplete because he needs us to worship? But as God softened my heart I realized worship is an expression of what we love. Its not for his benefit but for ours because he is what gives us life.       Tim Keller wrote: “Evidently what we worship will eventually lead us to our death. Jesus is the only thing we can worship that died for us”.       I f a new believer asked me what they needed to do to be saved I would tell them to repent of their sins and take up their cross ...

We all struggle with our sin. Sometimes it's struggling with the temptations that lead us to our sin. Sometimes it's struggling whether or not what we do is a sin in God's eyes or not. And sometimes it's struggling with the shame we have after we have sinned. Let's Look back to the beginning in the garden right after Adam and Eve committed the first sin.  Genesis 3:9-10 “But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”” ‭‭ When we are struggling with the shame of our sins, our instinct is to hide from God. We naturally want to isolate ourselves because the weight of our shame is to much to bare sometimes. But the truth is that God wants you to give him your shame. Jesus' death on the cross shows us that he wants us to be reunited back to God. God treated Jesus with what we deserved, so God can treat us with what Jesus deserves. We are blameless in hi...

Jesus refers to himself as the bread of life. Out of all his titles, I find this one the least relevant. I need him to be the Lamb who was slain, the lion, my king, the endless spring of water in my life, the High Priest I confide in, the light for my path. But why the bread? In all the other examples they all are necessities but bread is not. Some people have cut bread out of their diets to be healthier and some people can't eat it without getting sick. I know back when Jesus was walking the earth people didn't count their calories or have the same awareness about the food they ate that we do (then again do we even know what we are eating), but because I believe Jesus knows everything he should of known that eventually we would come to realize that bread isn't necessary. As I read John Chapter 6, the whole picture starts to reveal itself. First you see that Jesus preforms this miraculous miracle feeding the 5000 with a boys lunch, then he is found walking on the wa...