Life...

With all the “stuff” life has thrown at me this past year, some of which has been mentioned here in some of my posts, and others that I have not been at liberty to share publicly, I have spent some time lately pondering “life” …

Life can be excruciatingly hard at times…

Life can be unsettling and heart breaking…

Life can just be stressful and wearisome…

Life can make you scream “WHY!!”…

BUT, I know that Jesus came to give us life, and to give us life abundantly, even in the midst of hard times, so…

I turned to God’s Word to find out more about what the Giver of life says about life, and here is what I found.

Life is from God

• Gen. 2:7 “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”

• Job 12:9-10 “Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this, In whose hand is the life of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind?”

• 1 Timothy 6:13 “I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things …”

• John 5:21 “For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.”

• Romans 4:17 “God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;”

Life is given through and from the Spirit

• 2 Corinthians 3:5-6 “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”

• Romans 8:11 “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”

• John 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”

Life is precious

· Psalm 139:14 “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.”

Life is fleeting

· James 4:11 “whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”

· Job 7:7 “Oh, remember that my life is a breath...”

· Psalm 78:39 “For He remembered that they were but flesh, a breath that passes away and does not come again.”

Life is sometimes hard

• John 16:33 “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

• Psalm 91:14-16 “Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.”

• 1 John 5:5 “Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?”

• Matthew 11:28-30 “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Life is found in the The Word – Living and Written

· Psalm 119:49-50 “Remember the word to Your servant, Upon which You have caused me to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, For Your word has given me life.”

Life is found in the wisdom of God

· Proverbs 8:35 “For whoever finds me finds life, And obtains favor from the LORD;”

· Ecclesiastes 7:12 “For wisdom is a defense as money is a defense, But the excellence of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to those who have it.”

Life is more than food and clothing

· Luke 12:15, 23, 31 “And He said to them, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses." … Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. …But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.”

Life is in Christ

· John 11:25 “Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.”

· John 6:40 “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."

· 1 John 5:11-12 “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”

Life is a choice

· Deuteronomy 30:19-20 “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them."

Life is lived by faith in Christ

· Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Life is not to be lived for ourselves

· 2 Corinthians 5:15 “and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.”

· Romans 6:10-14 “For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”

God’s Word always helps me to put things back into the right perspective. It helps me direct my focus back to my Lord and Savior and away from all the many things of and in this world that fight for my time and focus. Life is not always easy, but several things I do know… I will always have Jesus, no matter what! No one and nothing can take Him away from me, and absolutely nothing can separate me from His love. He has been, is, and will always remain faithful! He will never leave me, forsake me, or abandon me – no matter how alone I feel. He is in Heaven right now preparing a place for me… and He is coming soon to take me there! And once there, there will be NO MORE… no more heartache, no more tears, no more disappointments, no more sickness, no more pain that won’t go away… no more! What a day that will be, when I can truly sit at the feet of Jesus and worship my Savior, the precious Lamb of God!