Do We Really Have Free Will? – Eckhart Tolle Explains

There are certain pitfalls that we all find ourselves in when we deliver the word of God to others. Most of these pitfalls are self inflicted because we do not conform to the criteria that the Lord has set before us to follow. Sometimes we are aware of them and can do something about it but don’t and at other times these have to be brought to our attention.

Many people follow the materialistic lifestyle since they are unaware of the benefits of being spiritual. This article explains the five major benefits of being spiritual.

Buddhism has two major branches, the Hinayana or Theraveda Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism. Hinayana is the orthodox school of Buddhism.

Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don’t turn up at all. ~Sam Ewin. We all recognise the importance of working hard, at least at the level of theory.

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. ~2 Corinthians 9:6 (NIV). Are there many ‘tithing’ sermons where this verse isn’t used?

Repentance is always incomplete without the ability to actually implement what we desire to do. Jesus was not only seeking to restore Peter, he was charging him with the most important job ever – to construct, in God’s name, an order for the Christianising of the entire world.

What crazy times these must have been for Paul, Barnabas and the other apostles; the messengers and servants of God. In this short passage they’d been elevated to god status one moment, before some influential Jews arrived on the scene to turn the recently-ecstatic crowd on them, the next. Their heads must have been spinning.

We’re forgiven for our weariness, but we’re ever more blessed for keeping on going, though rest is an imperative we stop for – even better, from it, to launch again from. It seems a double-edged sword. Working onto the next revelation that God’s taking us to, or bringing us to, requires wisdom from us, so far as diligence and tenacity, as well as Sabbath, are concerned.

“Why do so many of us speak about grace but actually live by law? We push freedom in Christ but live oppressed by the duties (and our failures) of the faith. Real grace and liberation will result in (and may be the result of) a new language.

There comes many times of growth and renewal; fatigue is a necessary and chastening by-product. The person harnessing regeneration in their fatigue will travel farthest in life.

It seems to me, from my reflections on life, that so much rides on hope. Hope is a construct made and predestined for humanity by a wholly-loving God. Building the human unit with the capacity for thought and emotion has necessitated the need for a backdrop of safety. This is hope.

Desperate? I guess we’ve all been there. This is one reason the Bible is a glowing encouragement to us always; it never ceases to give voice to our more haranguing questions, especially the lament psalms.