John 21:15-17

TURN CURSES INTO BLESSINGS!

(September 12, 2024) Sam Selva Raj shares concerns and strongly challenges readers…

Deuteronomy 30:19-20a is a very clear declaration by God: ‘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!’

  • ‘Set before you’ indicates the choice is ours regarding enjoying the blessings of God. Blessing is Hebrew berakah — ‘valley of blessings.’
  • Even the Oxford Dictionary defines ‘blessing’ as God’s favour and protection. And ‘curse’ as something that causes harm or evil. In other words a cause of trouble and unhappiness.
  • Verse 19 clearly presents the challenge of two ways in which to live — the right way and the wrong.
  • Going God’s way brings blessings; the wrong way disaster… curses!
  • In Matthew 7:13-14 Jesus issued this warning: ‘Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.’
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FIVE BURDENS YOU DON’T NEED TO CARRY

(May 15, 2022) Richard Winter reminds us that…

It’s often been said that it’s been a hard life and there have been many tough times. Well, l guess most of us can resonate with that… after all, who hasn’t lost a little sleep through worrying?

We’ve all carried burdens real and unreal… and, if we are honest, we have worried most about some things that never materialised. So here is the word of God that applies to our worries –

Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you… and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light’ (Matthew 11:28–30).

A yoke is something Jesus would have made in a carpenter’s shop. It’s a wooden frame joining two animals (usually oxen) at the neck, enabling them to pull a plough or wagon together. The function of the yoke is to make the burden easier to carry.

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