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Fear: Three Crucial Types We All Need
Fear is almost a bad word in Christianity today. Reminders that the Bible has the words, Do not fear, 365 times between its covers have become a justification to eradicate it from our lives. And it is true that to live in perpetual anxiety is crippling. However, God gave us each of our emotions purposefully and for good cause. Fear has its place in our souls for several reasons. We would be wise to examine what we fear and why. The absence of fear is as much or more of a mental disorder than being flooded by it. Psychopaths and sociopaths are immune to stress, which is why they are…
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The Unwelcome Gift of Pain
This post is my first on a series of gifts that we generally don’t want, and I am starting with pain. I don’t suggest that all pain is a gift. In fact, too much pain, whether physical, emotional, or mental, can harm or even kill you. But life without pain would prove dangerous indeed. Pain acts as a warning, an instructor, and even as a chastening, and most humans need all three. Pain as a Warning: If our bodies felt no pain whatsoever, we would be at severe risk. That is how leprosy endangers its victims. Because their nerves are deadened, they cannot feel injuries and infections. In the end,…
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How to Have an Easy Yoke
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ake 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. Matthew 11:28-30 Consider how subversive the idea that Jesus offers us an easy yoke. Certainly, this is the first time that such a thing is even suggested, even in the Bible. The Levitical laws don’t strike me as a burden that is light, after all. And religion is filled with duties and obligations that weigh heavy on us. Then came Jesus proclaiming…