{"id":137,"date":"2014-07-10T00:58:51","date_gmt":"2014-07-10T00:58:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ihsteps.com\/wordpress\/?p=137"},"modified":"2014-07-10T00:58:51","modified_gmt":"2014-07-10T00:58:51","slug":"qstrive-to-thriveq-by-tammy-maseberg-july-9-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/?p=137","title":{"rendered":"“STRIVE TO THRIVE” by Tammy Maseberg, July 9, 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201c. . . I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.\u201d\u00a0 ~~John 10:10b (NAS)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>You know the type.\u00a0 The woman had been in church all her life.\u00a0 She was of the mindset that every time the doors were open, you should be there.\u00a0 She could recite the Bible \u201ctill the cows came home,\u201d as she told everyone.\u00a0 She tried her best to be involved in every possible aspect of the church, every committee or function or ministry. \u00a0But, when people were around her, they felt a heaviness\u2014a spirit of drudgery.\u00a0 She seemed to merely survive, void of any joy in the journey of living.<\/p>\n

Okay\u2014so I made up this character, but she could be real.\u00a0 In fact, maybe all of us have been in her shoes at one time or another. \u00a0Or, we know someone like her.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jesus doesn\u2019t want us to get through this life with gritted teeth and white knuckles, hoping to hold on until the end and dragging ourselves across the finish line when we finally receive the promise of heaven.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t come only so we could go live with Him for all eternity in paradise.\u00a0 That is a most amazing future to look forward to, for sure, but there is SO much more.\u00a0 The verse above says He came so that we can live abundantly.<\/em> He wants to give us a full and extraordinary life right now.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is\u00a0eternal\u00a0life, that they may know You, the only<\/em> true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.\u201d\u00a0 (John 17:3, NAS)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Notice how it says, \u201cThis is<\/em> eternal life.\u201d\u00a0 I take that as meaning it starts now\u2014that we are able to know Him, even while still living on this earth in this mortal life.<\/p>\n

Read these lyrics from the Casting Crowns song, \u201cThrive\u201d:<\/p>\n

We know we were made for so much more than ordinary lives. It’s time for us to more than just survive. We were made to thrive.<\/em><\/p>\n

Yes!\u00a0 God wants us to thrive in this life.\u00a0 To live with joy and purpose.\u00a0 Of course, there are seasons in our lives when we feel like all we are doing is surviving\u2014those times of losing a loved one or great financial strain or other situations that can seem overwhelming.\u00a0 But, the Lord understands our hearts when we are hurting and struggling.\u00a0 He wants to bring us through those things back to a place of blossoming, helping us to grow all along the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, He will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.\u201d (1 Peter 5:10, NLT)<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Be encouraged.\u00a0 And strive to thrive!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a92014 Tammy Maseberg All Rights Reserved<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201c. . . I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.\u201d\u00a0 ~~John 10:10b (NAS) \u00a0You know the type.\u00a0 The woman had been in church all her life.\u00a0 She was of the mindset that every time the doors were open, you should be there.\u00a0 She could recite the Bible \u201ctill the cows came […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-word-from-tammy-maseberg","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}