Awhile back I read a book written by Kay Marshall Strom and Michelle Rickett titled, “Daughters of Hope”. I was amazed at the true stories that were written about women who risked their lives for their faith in God. This is a foreign concept to those of us who live in countries where there is freedom of religion. While Christians in America may experience a small measure of ridicule or persecution, it is nothing compared to the stories of the women in this book.

Life can be so busy! You work eight or more hours a day, come home to responsibilities, find time for exercise, socializing, important tasks, etc. At the end of the day it wouldn’t be a surprise if there was no time for quiet and introspection.

God offers to save all who will accept Him and repent of their sins. He has opened up His arms and offered to protect us. Protect us from what? Protect us from being judged for our sins. If someone breaks the law in your local city and the person is brought to justice, that person must suffer the consequences of breaking the law. Just as there are laws in society, God has given us moral laws, that if broken will result in an eternity in hell.

To only focus on the love, joy, and peace that faith in God brings, is to overlook the huge problem that we face because of our sin. It is therefore only “half a gospel” to proclaim that someone should come to Christ because it will make them “happy”.

God made Jesus sin. He treated Him as if He had committed our sin, even though He never sinned. God punished Jesus for our sin and when we place our faith in Jesus, God looks at us and He sees the righteousness of Jesus. This is referred to as the doctrine of substitution.

I recently listened to a message on anxiety by Don Greene, one of the pastors at my church. He brought to light several things about anxiety that I found interesting. You can listen to his sermons on anxiety here.

He stated, “Your earthly anxieties expose your earthly priorities. What you’re anxious about shows what you think is important”.

Life is full of so much activity. If you look out on the street you will see busy people on their way….somewhere. Everyone has somewhere they have to go, a place they need to be. Look at people’s faces and you will see that each person has something on his or her mind. What are people thinking? It could be trivial, or it could be something more deep or emotional.

I love the light. It wakes me up in the morning and it stirs my senses. I love the way it warms my skin and illuminates the beauty of the morning. Light can be equated with life. Without the light we would not have life on earth. Light is a gift that we take for granted. Light is beautiful; from the early morning sunrise to the late evening sunset, the light allows us to see clearly.