FAMILY
LIFE
SERVICES
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[av_heading heading='Walking with the Shepherd' tag='h3' style='blockquote modern-quote' size='' subheading_active='' subheading_size='15' padding='10' color='' custom_font='' av-medium-font-size-title='' av-small-font-size-title='' av-mini-font-size-title='' av-medium-font-size='' av-small-font-size='' av-mini-font-size='' admin_preview_bg=''][/av_heading]
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Psalm 23:4 often has been taken as a truth to provide comfort to someone who is dying. I think that is fine. But I don’t think it’s really the primary intent of the verse. In context, it’s a picture of a shepherd guiding his sheep through a dangerous situation: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” (NKJV).
Notice the psalmist David does not say, “Yea, though I collapse and die in the valley of the shadow of death” or “Yea, though I crawl through the valley of the shadow of death.” Rather, David says, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death” (emphasis added).
David was saying, “I’m going to keep walking. I’m going to keep moving, and I’m going to get through this.”
Of course, we don’t like trials. We don’t like valleys. In fact, if we had our way, we would choose to go from mountaintop to mountaintop and from glory to glory. We would go from one happy day to another with no hardship, no tragedy, and no sorrow. But that is not the way it works.
Here’s something we need to know: Spiritual fruit doesn’t grow on mountaintops. It grows in valleys. And the real fruit and depth and character in your Christian life will not come through the good times, per se.
Instead, it will come from times of difficulty and suffering as you are being conformed into the image of Jesus Christ and are learning to completely trust Him.
Maybe you’re in a valley. Don’t panic. Know that it won’t last forever. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, will get you through it. His rod and His staff will comfort you.
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[av_heading heading='What Is Life to the Fullest?' tag='h3' style='blockquote modern-quote' size='' subheading_active='' subheading_size='15' padding='10' color='' custom_font='' av-medium-font-size-title='' av-small-font-size-title='' av-mini-font-size-title='' av-medium-font-size='' av-small-font-size='' av-mini-font-size='' admin_preview_bg=''][/av_heading]
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W. M. Lewis said, “The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it.”
I think we all really want life to the fullest. We want more than mere existence; we want life that is worth living.
When I was seventeen, I went on a diligent search in my life. My mom had married and divorced seven times. She was a big drinker, a big partier. And this got me searching for the meaning of life at a very early age.
When I looked at the adult world I was exposed to, I found nothing in it that I wanted. I couldn’t think of any person that I really had that much admiration for, and I thought there had to be more to life. So I began my search.
Interestingly, I was attracted to things that were good. I was looking for something wholesome, something solid and stable. I came to faith on my high school campus after I saw a group of Christians having a Bible study. These Christians were living life to its fullest, and it radiated from them. So I decided I wanted some of that.
Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10 NKJV). The abundant life is not necessarily a long life, though it may be. We will live as long as God wants us to live. Nor is it necessarily a life free of sorrow, heartache, or tragedy. Even Christians experience all of that.
The abundant life is one in which we are content in the knowledge that God’s grace is more than sufficient for our needs. It’s the knowledge that nothing can suppress it and that God’s favor for us is unending. That is the abundant life as presented by Jesus.
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[av_heading heading='Entrusted with Much' tag='h3' style='blockquote modern-quote' size='' subheading_active='' subheading_size='15' padding='10' color='' custom_font='' av-medium-font-size-title='' av-small-font-size-title='' av-mini-font-size-title='' av-medium-font-size='' av-small-font-size='' av-mini-font-size='' admin_preview_bg=''][/av_heading]
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Have you ever watched a fire begin to burn down, and all you have left are the coals? It looks like there’s no fire left to speak of. The coals may be under a layer of ash, and you really can’t see much.
But when you take a fresh log, toss it on top, and stir it around a little, it suddenly ignites. And then you have a whole new fire going.
The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, “This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you” (2 Timothy 1:6 NLT).
There may be live coals in your life, but you have allowed the fire to go down. You haven’t been using the gifts that God gave you, the talents He gave you. It’s time to fan them into full flame again. It’s time to be reignited and say, “Lord, how can I use what You have given me for Your glory until You return?”
We need to take advantage of the opportunities that are out there. In fact, I would rather try and fail than never try at all. Any time you take a chance, you can fail. But it’s better to try than to sit on the sidelines and watch the parade go by while nothing happens in your life.
We always think about the failures. We prepare for failures. And then we’re surprised when God brings success into our lives.
You may fail. You may make a mistake here and there. But you belong to Him. He has given His life for you. He has given you His resources. Everything you have is from Him.
It’s wrong for us to take that which belongs to God and squander it. We should take it, invest it, and see what the Lord will do.
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[av_heading heading='Give It All You’ve Got' tag='h3' style='blockquote modern-quote' size='' subheading_active='' subheading_size='15' padding='10' color='' custom_font='' av-medium-font-size-title='' av-small-font-size-title='' av-mini-font-size-title='' av-medium-font-size='' av-small-font-size='' av-mini-font-size='' admin_preview_bg=''][/av_heading]
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Maybe you’ve looked at someone and said, “Oh, I wish I had their talent. I can’t do that. I wish I had their ability.”
It is not a person’s talent that matters as much as how he or she uses it. God never demands from someone abilities they do not have. But He does demand that we use to the full the abilities we do possess.
We may not be equal in talent, but we should be equal in effort. That’s because God can do a lot with a little. If you don’t believe me, just ask the boy with the loaves and fishes. He probably was running an errand for his mother when he came upon the scene of the hungry multitude that was listening to Jesus.
Jesus asked one of His own disciples, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” (John 6:5 NLT).
One of them said, “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?” (verse 9 NLT).
Even so, that little boy gave everything that he had to Jesus. It didn’t seem like a lot. But Jesus can take a little and bless it and multiply it. He can use it beyond our wildest dreams.
So maybe you’re saying, “I don’t have a lot to offer.”
That’s all right. Bring what you have. God is not looking for ability as much as He is looking for availability. He is looking for someone like you to say, “Lord, here I am, send me. I will do whatever You want me to do.” It’s people like that whom God raises up to do more for His glory.
Take what God has given you and do the most that you can with it for His glory.
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