Sorrow, Grief and Wisdom

11 years ago by Emmanuel Higgins

What could these things have in common; sorrow, grief and wisdom? Sorrow and grief is something we try to avoid and wisdom is something we all desire. Let's dig deep into God's word to discover some surprising gems of truth on this subject. Of all the Bible writers, Solomon seemed to have the most to say about wisdom. Let's start our journey in Ecclesiastes chapter 1. "For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow." - Eccle...

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Free to Fear God?

11 years ago by Emmanuel Higgins

In the last gem, we saw that we as humans have many needs, and that only in our creator and redeemer can those needs be truly satisfied. We saw that when God fills our life with his presence, our fears are removed and our needs met. But now we're digging into this idea, that we should fear God. "To fear God" you say! That sounds like an oxymoron, how can that be when God is love? And when the Bible says: "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear ...

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Overcoming Insecurity

12 years ago by Emmanuel Higgins

Insecurity and fear is something we've all had to battle with. Perhaps as a child, we feared being alone in the dark, imagining scary monsters around every dark corner! As the years passed by these scary monsters took different names, like failure, rejection or betrayal. God created human beings with many needs. From what I've observed, these needs unmet, result in insecurity and fear. For example, consider our basic need for food. Unmet, it results in fear of hunger and starvation. Whilst ...

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A Way of Escape

12 years ago by Emmanuel Higgins

To the battered, tempest-tossed Christian, a loving God gives this promise: "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God [is] faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear [it]. " - 1. Corinthians 10:13 No temptation will ever come that God hasn't weighed, measured, and allowed. In every temptation, no matter how difficult it seems, He has provi...

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Who is Your God?

12 years ago by Emmanuel Higgins

I've never met a Christian who says they don't love Jesus. All Christians say "I Love Jesus". Yet, sometimes I wonder if Jesus is really their God. According to the Bible, how do we determine who or what is really our God? Let's travel back in time to the days of Moses. That great man of the old testament who was God's instrument in leading the people of Israel out of Egypt. After Moses fled from Egypt as a younger man, he spent 40 years in the wilderness. At the end of which the...

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Why Jesus Came

12 years ago by Emmanuel Higgins

Why did Jesus come to earth as a man? Why did He allow Himself to suffer so much pain and humiliation? To redeem us from our sins, I hear you say. Yes! Absolutely, but there's a deeper significance to why He came. In John chapter 17, Jesus prays a most beautiful prayer to His heavenly father. "These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, t...

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Come Apart & Rest Awhile

12 years ago by Emmanuel Higgins

Did you know, the human body was never designed to work non-stop? Yes, that's right. God wants us to put aside time to rest. We're not talking about our regular sleep here (although that's important too!), but rather a time to step back from the cares of this life, and be refreshed. One of Satan's traps is to push us to the very limits of our physical, mental and emotional endurance, until either our health breaks or we lose our connection with Jesus, or both! Let's take a moment to co...

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Light out of Darkness

12 years ago by Emmanuel Higgins

Do you sometimes feel doubts and discouraging thoughts weighing you down? Perhaps you feel the powers of darkness pressing about you. Let us consider Christ, when He was fighting with the powers of darkness in the closing scenes of his life. Imagine the darkness that swallowed Christ and his disciples as they made their way into the garden of Gethsemane. It was the time for Christ's last great conflict with Satan. Here, the fate of humanity was to be determined. If Christ failed here, ...

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Youthful Arrows

13 years ago by Emmanuel Higgins

What’s some of the blessings of being a young person? I’m sure those of you who are older can recall those days of energetic youthfulness! Yes, God has given young people special strength and vitality. The Bible has a wonderful illustration in Psalms 127, showing us how powerful young people can be. “ As arrows [are] in the hand of a mighty man; so [are] children of the youth. ” – Psalms 127:4 What a fitting symbol for youth! Arrows can cover a long distanc...

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Consider the Lilies

13 years ago by Emmanuel Higgins

Do you sometimes find it a challenge to commit everything to God, trusting that He will direct your life? Perhaps this is one of the hardest things to do. Deep down in our heart we like to be in charge. We like to plan our future education, future career, future spouse etc. Years ago when my family lived on a small hobby farm, I used to enjoy the occasional ride on our horses. As you probably know, the horse is guided by reins, a bridal and a bit. The reins extend from the bit in the horse...

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