Pastor Bill Hayden
Life can sometimes have a way that makes us question whether God sees and cares about our personal being. Perhaps one of your parents was abusive, divorced, raised by a single parent or lived in foster care, which affected your self-worth. You may have grown up in a family where you are made to feel that you are not good enough or you were bullied by siblings and others. Yet, you kept hoping and moving forward to live the best way that you could. Life is very challenging and you learned how to survive by understanding that life isn’t fair.
You may find some resemblance of success in education, having a career, finding a mate of your dreams and raising a family. Then suddenly the curse of death visits a dear family friend and you are reminded that you can’t take anything for granted. You learn that each day is a gift to be appreciated and to make each day count because tomorrow is not promised.
Many times, our ideas of what the” Good life” is doesn’t take into account that life can turn upside down and we will need God’s help to get through it. We may not see the “good” in having a relationship with Jesus Christ and being criticized by others as having a crutch. We may think there is no need for God’s grace and provisions because most of our lives we have had to make the best out of what life brought our way. Over time, that belief can develop a subtle assumption that somehow, some way, money will be the savior. Then we fall into the trap of deciding what is right, good, important and valuable, until we are confronted with a death and separation of a loved one.
The menu of the “Good Life” is not written by us because we are not the Creator… we are the created. We assume that we know what is best for ourselves and lack the knowledge of the next day or the number of our days. God has provided us the “Good Life” through His Son, Jesus Christ. John 10:10 NKJV The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
The Good Life is for the receiving…. Do you have the Good Life?
Please join us at the Villages Community Chapel in Cribari Auditorium, every Sunday at 10 a.m. to be encouraged over the Word and enjoy a cup of coffee and cookies with friends. The chapel is a place for needs to be met, faith to be affirmed and new friends to embrace. You can view our worship services on YouTube at Villages Community Chapel San Jose, CA.