Heath with a Purpose

God knows everything you've done, you're doing, and what you're going to do.  “Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?” declares the LORD. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the LORD.” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭23:24‬ ‭NIV ‬‬ When someone says God is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient it tends to lead to the question "if God is everywhere, has unlimited  power, and is all knowing then why does he allow bad things to happen?" Most people who don't believe that a God exists struggle with this concept. If God was real and is everywhere,  and he can do anything and  he knows everything why does all of this evil still happen? One mistake we easily make is we put ourselves in the judgement seat. We can see apparent evil and then blame God or use as evidence against such God because he knew that this apparent evil was going to happen but didn't stop it even though he was there and had the power to do so. This would be a fair ju...

I had a sarcastically exciting night last night. Everything started out great. I went to bed at a decent time, all of my chores were done, my wife was sleeping and I was writing down some teaching ideas.  It was peaceful. I was productive. It was a successful night all around. Then I heard it. Little hacking and gargling coming from the end of the bed.  My wife and I have two pets. A little toy poodle named Chico and a cat named Chip.  I look up fearing what I might see, and there it was. Puke in a pile at the end of the bed travelling over the edge and onto the carpeted floor. I immediately got up and proceeded to clean the duvet cover. It was hopeless. By the grace of God I was able to get the duvet cover off the duvet and not wake my wife. I felt like Houdini. I scrubbed the floor, rinsed the duvet cover, and threw it into the wash.  I thought I was handling it really well. While I was down stairs putting the duvet cover into the wash I noticed...

I got caught up reading about Jesus calling his disciples to follow him. Did God call you to follow him? What did it look like? Is the journey what you thought it would be? All these questions flooded my mind as I read how these men just dropped everything to follow Jesus. Some left their work, others left their family. Jesus says " whoever saves their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life to me will save it."   Why did Jesus use the word "loses"? Why not the word "give", or "offer", or "share"? Why lose? Are we playing a game of life with Jesus where he has to win and defeat us so we can also win?   I love games. All kinds of games. Sports, board games, video games etc., but I have a hard time understanding his logic. If I lose I win, but if I win I lose? Very often God's way seems illogical. When I try to understand it from a logical point of view from a human perspective, it just doesn't make sense. But the...

I've talked about how Jesus is making our yoke easy, and how we often tire ourselves out trying to prove to ourselves, to others, or to God that we can handle the weight. I would like to focus more on the burden being light today. This seems contradicting in a way. If you have made the conscious decision to follow Christ, life doesn't get easier, it gets harder. Our temptations weigh heavier and every decision has bigger consequences. Essentially we have to give up our life and our desires with it to obtain the life that Jesus calls us to live. Is it easy to give up our life? Is it easy to die for who he is? It seems so tough. So what did Jesus mean by a burden being light?   From the outside this looks crazy. You are willing to die for a man 2000 years ago. On what basis other then faith? None of us were there. None of us can deny that. But even though the burden appears heavy, from the inside it's completely different. When we ask God into our hearts, he reveals mo...

"For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:30 NIV If this is the case why does it seem so hard sometimes? Why does it seem heavy sometimes? If you don't know, a yoke is a harness you would put on an ox or donkey to plow the field. Jesus is painting a picture for his followers. This is how they would have seen the families or their neighbours plowing their fields.   How do you think one would make a yoke easier to pull? Well, if you had an older ox you would pair him with a bigger and stronger ox to carry most of the weight. The load would then be easier for that older or weaker ox.   There have been so many times in life where I have been this weaker oxen. Whether it was school projects, sports or even work. Many times I needed help or even someone to do it for me. I needed someone else to ease my yoke.   Jesus is that stronger ox. He is taking us through life and all we have to do is be there and join him in the task. But a...