Enjoy Life

Happy Sunday!

It's been a full week, and a busy Sunday!  I had the opportunity to attend my youngest grandson's basketball game today.  He's 6 years old and watching "little people" play basketball is exciting and encouraging.  You are probably wondering, why?  Let me tell you.  They are still learning the game and they are having fun.  At one point, he even stopped to look over at us to smile.  Of course, the game was moving quickly and we motioned for him to pay attention.  We laughed, but he was just overjoyed to have his parents, his brother, three grandparents, an uncle, and a cousin all present to see him play.   His parents celebrated the fact that he listened and remembered where to go and what to do during the game, and that he played his defensive position as practiced.  Everything in life, brings me to the Word.  The Apostle John wrote, "It always gives me the greatest joy when I hear that my children are following the way of truth"(3 John 4, Voice).   We will never be God's adults.  We are forever the Children of God.  He is a loving and compassionate parent.  He wants us to have the best life.  John 10:10 says, "The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may HAVE and ENJOY life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)."(Amplified).

Like any good parent, God wants us to WIN!  He's given us everything it takes to succeed.  2 Peter 1:3-4 says, "Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you—your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust."(Message).   We have a part to play!  We must listen.  We must recognize the voice of God and follow it Only!   Proverbs 3:5-7 says, "Trust the Lord completely, and don’t depend on your own knowledge. With every step you take, think about what he wants, and he will help you go the right way.  Don’t trust in your own wisdom, but fear and respect the Lord and stay away from evil."(Easy-to-Read Version).  Don't miss this!  Just as the players have to trust their coaches and parents, we have to trust God.  God has been God forever.  He knows a lot more about this life than we do!  He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.

God wants us to have fun!  When was the last time you had fun?  Oh, I know there are some stressful and scary things happening in our world but don't dwell on that and miss life.  The Apostle Paul had been beaten, left for dead, shipwrecked, and much more, but he wrote, "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;"(2 Corinthians 4:17, KJV).  He considered everything he endured to be "light", small in comparison to what God has in store for us.  The psalmist also wrote, "The good man does not escape all troubles—he has them too. But the Lord helps him in each and every one."(Psalm 34:19, Living Bible).   The Voice translation of this scripture says it this way, "Hard times may well be the plight of the righteous—they may often seem overwhelmed—but the Eternal rescues the righteous from what oppresses them".

Love and prayers, Cynthia