Is Your Soul Thriving, or Neglected?

Our great granddaughter Pippa with her father Jorge watching over her soul as he reads the Bible to her.

Years ago when one of our kids studied about a poor and primitive tribe of people living in South America, the article concluded with a great question—”What is the greatest need of these people?” What would you say? What would the average American say? Clean water? Good food sources? Better housing? Indoor toilets? Internet? Education? Better transportation? Cell phones? All of those answers fall far short of the truly greatest need. The rescue of the soul from its own selfish focus and disregard for the Creator God soars above every other need anyone in the whole world can possibly know.

Perhaps this sounds out of bounds to you. However, our Creator has given us everything we need for “life and godliness” 2 Peter 1:3; in other words He has given us everything we need to flourish to the max in our daily lives. If we ignore Him and what He says for something we consider more important, then we personally choose to diminish the beauty of our lives. This is true for every single person in the world, whether living in the jungle of South America, or the opulent life of wealthy America.

My heart aches when I see anyone making choices that ignore God and His beautiful instructions for life and eternity. To neglect the soul is to bring an element of death into your life while you are still living. To thrive in your soul is to live life with an exuberance that God settles in your soul.

Read God’s Word and embrace it. “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts.” Jeremiah 15:16

PAYING ATTENTION TO GOD

Today Mark and I have a relatively quiet home compared to 29 years ago.

But, one thing has remained consistent during all these years—our serious desire to glorify God by living as He has given instructions in His word.

Our natural inclinations cannot lead us to a flourishing life. And when we ignore or take lightly God’s directions about life we contribute to the destruction of our own life and that of our family. That is why we must take seriously what God says in His word just as Moses told the Israelites that following God’s instructions should be their life. Is this how we view the incredible Word of God?

Having spent a couple of weeks studying the core of any family—the husband-wife relationship, this week our Ladies Bible Study will begin looking at the role of parents, children, and discipline; particularly as viewed from Proverbs. Please don’t excuse yourself from our time together because you don’t currently have children in your home. Our study will have pertinent information for every woman to have as part of her understanding of God’s plan for us. Surely you know someone you can encourage with what we will be learning, or someone you can bring along that could use some help.

Please study the first 3 days of Lesson 9—The Family II—Parents, Children, and Discipline for this week’s class.

THE TRUE SOURCE OF ENCOURAGEMENT IN TIMES OF TROUBLE

In difficult times only God’s Word can truly stabilize our sinking heart. In our feelings oriented society we find the source of wobbly souls as people continually nurse their emotions and try to find quick fixes through drugs (legal and illegal), entertainment, relationships, and various other ineffective means. The Psalms give us a rich source for right thinking about life and God. As we study Psalm 77 this week we will see a beautiful example of what happens when we turn our thinking from ourselves to God and His consistent goodness.

In considering this Psalm I found that John Piper had some great thoughts that can easily be applied to our lives. “Christian living means living on the written Word of God, the Bible. In true Christian living, our relation to the Word is intentional, not haphazard. It's active not passive. We pursue it and don't just wait for it to happen. The Christian life is a joyful project that calls for energy and aim and resolve and determination. It is not coasting or drifting or something that just happens to you like the weather. The Word of God, soaked in prayer, is the substance (in the sense of "the material" or "the fuel") of that joyful project. Our delight is in the Word of the Lord, and on this Word we meditate day and night (see Psalm 1:3).  John Piper

Plan to join us this Thursday morning at 9:30 for a great time of encouraging one another to live wholeheartedly for God.