Comparing characteristics of the Blessed Man who prospers, and the Ungodly Man who is blown away like the chaff.

The Israelites refused to hearken to the voice of the Lord, and it cost them 70 years in captivity. Will we listen to the Lord, and walk in the ways we are called to walk, or will we live our lives in spiritual and mental captivity?

Will we seek the Lord? Or will we turn to our own ways and be destroyed by the weight of who He is?

Man wasn't made to walk this life alone. When we do, we open ourselves up to a world of struggling and pain. When we follow Him, we dwell safely, and are quiet from the fear of evil.

Why do the wicked prevail? Why are there hard times? Habakkuk asks these questions and more in his short book. The Lord answers, and His answers are powerful.

He gives us the feet of a deer to walk upon high places, where we could otherwise never walk. His Grace is sufficient!

THERE IS A BETTER WAY! Than the ways we have been trying to walk on our own our whole lives.

In Him is fullness of Joy. We don't have to make our own way, or manufacture our own future, because He has done it for us. All we have to do is live in this moment, in the gift He has given us, as He would live—and we will be alright.

Jesus invites the weary to lay down the burden of their sin in order to receive true rest and true life in Him.

Weariness is the human experience of looking at our lives in an honest and sober way and realizing that they are not what we want them to be, and not what we hoped they would be.

What do we do then when we are this weary, and burdened?

We need rest.

What makes Jesus' invitation to rest in Him so good? It is for the desperate! The weary, the tired.

God's presence is the only thing that can satisfy us, the only effective remedy for the perpetual restlessness of our souls.

Human behavior modification is not what we should target to change–where is our heart pointing?

Jesus offers us a better way: He calls for us to take off the heavy yoke of religion and performance, and put on His incredibly easy yoke of humility and discipleship.

Come to Jesus! Be honest with Him! We have nothing to offer Him, nothing figured out, and we are not good. We need Him to teach us how to walk in step with Him, and to transform our lives.

Thank you Will Campbell and Citizens of Heaven Church for this message, the points I covered and read off were from his sermon from December 31, 2023—I'll link it here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/citizens-of-heaven-church/id1528418605?i=1000640561389

We serve a good God who loves us enough to give us good and beautiful gifts here, in this life! I think often we can forget this, and get too focused on the world to come—so much so that we forget the beauty of the world right here, right now, that Jesus has given us to enjoy!

“There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.”
‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭2‬:‭24‬

Should we "sin more that Grace may abound?" Should we follow after "great swelling words of Vanity" so that we might find the final solution to the gnawing hole in our existence? Or should we use the Word of God as a guide for life, and in it find the cure and solution to the problem man has always had—finding the meaning to life?

We are given this moment to live in. It is a beautiful gift from God—but we can misuse it. If we squander the moment given, sin it away, overlook it for the future—it's like taking a diamond given to us and using it as a doorstop. What a shame it would be to waste God's beautiful gift of this moment.

We get to use the Word of God as a "lamp for our feet, and a light for our path" to show us how to live this life in the moment given us! What a beautiful thing to have a purpose, meaning, and belonging in all this.

One year of Bryce Bible Podcast! It's been a blessing getting to do this.

Let's think about this: we have a God and Father who formed us, chose us, redeems us, and CALLS US BY OUR NAME! We are inherently valuable to Him because He has made us to be His children. In Him only will we ever find the solution to the hole in our hearts. We are perfectly known and LOVED by Jesus, the Creator of all things.

"Why do we tarry when Jesus is calling?"

He calls us by our very own name, and loves us perfectly. In Him is fullness of joy!

A MERRY HEART IS GOOD MEDICINE.

What does this mean?

Is it just a wishful thought or a word about people who are happy, or is it a constant reminder of the mindset we should embrace in every moment of our lives?

"You're not where you wanted to be. You feel like you're supposed to be somewhere else.
Say you could snap your fingers and be wherever you wanted to be. I bet you'd still feel this way—not in the right place.
Point is, you can't get so hung up on where you'd rather be that you forget how to make the most of where you are.
Take a break from worrying about what you can't control.
Live a little."

- Passengers Movie