Tag: christianity

When our children go through difficult times, we parents can’t get them off our minds. We pray for them, offer solicited and unsolicited advice, and analyze their situations. Our thoughts of them keep us awake. Our minds won’t rest for thoughts of scenarios, and our plans for solving their problems dance in our heads.

God’s children are always on His mind. The Israelites had become enslaved in Egypt. God heard their cries of pain. Exodus 2:24 says, “God heard their groaning and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.” God remembered them, which means His people and His plan to liberate them were constantly on His mind.

God’s plan of liberation continues to operate in the world through His Son. We are all bound by the slavery of sin. Even in our day, God remembers His promise to take away the sin of the world. God never forgets our struggles with sin or His Son’s struggle on the cross to free us all from the bondage of sin. The Father’s everlasting plan of salvation is always at work in the Son through the Spirit. There is never a moment that the Son is not on the mind of the Father. And never a time when we are not on the mind of the Son.

“Then you will be remembered by the Lord your God” (Numbers 10:9).

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ordinary-days/id1339262108

Check Out Denise’s Books!

Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

My office lamp has an energy saving bulb. When I flip the switch, light floods my dark office for about twenty seconds and then the bulb dims. Any bulb will save energy if it’s not giving off light. To be absolutely candid, I hate this bulb.

However, that crazy energy efficient bulb reminds me of this world. Before we come to Christ we think the things of this world are bright and shiny and wonderful. We are attracted to its beaming baubles and flashy trinkets. It’s hard not to turn our heads at the glint coming off a new car. Sparkling diamonds or other jewels hold our attention.

The material things of this world appear effulgent until we come to Christ. Suddenly, that which we were so certain was bright and brilliant dims in the light of the Lord. The bright lights the world offers are no match for the clear, pure light of Christ that shines in our darkness. Jesus said, “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness” (John 12:46).

The brightest lights of the world are still dark compared to the light of Christ. The Light of the world not only outshines the dull lamps of this world but also illuminates our path to the eternal God. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world” (John 9:5), and His light will never fade, dim or grow dark.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ordinary-days/id1339262108

Check Out Denise’s Books!

Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

When circumstances in our lives change we get mad, because we are people who embrace status quo and reject change. When things are status quo, they are comfortable, predictable, and familiar. Life isn’t perfect, but it’s manageable, and we like manageable.’

We also want to keep things manageable, familiar and predictable in our spiritual lives. But Christ is living in us, making transformative changes, and moving us forward into deeper knowledge and understanding of God. God has hard things to say to us, teachings that He needs to apply to our spiritual lives so we can grow deeper in grace and truth.

When He shakes things up in our lives we are more likely to give Him our attention. This is what happened to some of Jesus’ disciples (not the Twelve) in John 6:52-69. Specifically, these followers argued about Jesus’ statement, “This bread is my flesh” (John 6:51). They asked “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” (John 6:52). These followers thought they had God figured out and then Jesus presented them with this difficult teaching. The followers said to Him, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” (John 6:60) Many of these followers did not accept the hard teachings of Christ and they “turned back” (John 6:66) to their manageable understanding of God.

The hard teachings of Christ till and prepare our souls for seeds of grace and righteousness and truth. The changing of circumstances, when life is out of our hands, make us pliable in His hands. Don’t manage God; let God manage you.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ordinary-days/id1339262108

Check Out Denise’s Books!

Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2