The question is often asked "What is the purpose of
life?" While answers to this query inevitably vary, one point can
usually be agreed upon; most would accept that part of our purpose in
life is to enjoy the world around us. So ask yourself, are you finding
your journey to be uplifting and fulfilled? You ought to be! Enjoying
life does not necessarily mean that we are narrowly focused pleasure
seekers, it may simply imply that we are comfortable and content with
our lot in life. Without question, there is much to be adored in our
world. Our land is beautiful, our abilities great, culture provides us
with tremendous diversity and challenges, we are blessed with
relationships between family and friends, and the list goes on and on.
There is so much that is good and beautiful!
Unfortunately, far too many people live unhappy,
unfulfilled lives. The weight and stresses of the world have a tendency
to drag many of us down. Undoubtedly, we all experience times of sorrow
and stress but should this characterize our entire lives! Absolutely
not! You and I should be living free and fulfilled! Let us therefore
move forward together in search for that elusive dream of joy filled
lives!
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It is an easy thing to say that life should be
enjoyed. The process of making that happen, however, can be difficult
and tiring. Our purpose here is not to solve your life questions
overnight. Realistically, we all know that to be impossible. However,
our desire is to be as much of a help to you as possible. Therefore, we
want to address as many of your pressing questions as we can. We don't
pretend to know all the answers but we do want to help you to the best
of our abilities. On this site are many questions and struggles that
people commonly wrestle with. If you don't find what you need in either
the questions or the counselling sections, or if you would like more
information we encourage you to contact us. It is our commitment to
return your queries within the shortest time frame possible. We would
also appreciate suggestions for topics that you feel would make this
site a more powerful resource.
At Enjoylife.ca, we believe that that we were
placed on this earth for a purpose. Part of the plan was for us to enjoy
our time in the world, but, there was purpose behind this as well! The
Bible affirms that
"there is nothing better for
men and women than to be happy and do good while they live. That
everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their
toil--this is the gift of God... everything God does will endure
forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God
does it so that all will revere him."
(Ecclesiastes 3:12-14).
God wants us to enjoy our lives! His hope is for us
to experience fulfilment and personal satisfaction. We were given all of
the wondrous gifts of life in the hope that it might point us towards
our creator! We believe that it is only when we embrace this truth that
we can truly begin to live life to its fullest. Our prayer for you is
that you may begin this journey and thus find the inner peace and joy
that God has promised us.
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"The kingdom of God is not a
matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in
the Holy Spirit." To discuss the benefits of faith in Christ is
undoubtedly a task of massive proportions. Therefore, let us focus on
the aforementioned Biblical text, using it as an outline of what
Christianity can offer.
PEACE
Do you have a feeling of unrest within you? Are you
wrestling with issues or struggles and never really feeling a sense of
contentment? These are common problems for all of us and they demand
more than band-aid solutions. The "Good News" is that Christ has
promised that by coming to Him, He will provide us with rest. Rest from
what? Rest from a sense of brokenness that exists within & around us.
Christianity is a faith that empowers us to better face the difficult
issues of our day.
When we enter into a relationship with God, harmony
is restored: harmony with our Creator, with ourselves, with one another
& with our physical world. Living in a state of harmony greatly improves
our perspective on other matters and provides us with balance in our
lives. The scriptures tell us that the Lord loves to bless us with an
experience of peace (psalm 29:11) and with His peace, each one of us can
live our lives with greater confidence and contentment.
JOY
In the same way that coming to God brings us into an
experience of peace, so too will it bring us joy. Jesus was emphatic in
asserting that His followers would be filled with His joy! This promise
is based on one important point: relationship. Note that the first
scripture we read indicated that we would receive righteousness, peace
and joy in the Holy Spirit. It is not something we can just decide to
obtain or expect to have emerge within us overnight. Just as marriages
experience greater enjoyment the healthier they are, so is it the same
with us and God. When we are growing nearer to Him, our lives will be
all the more characterized by an experience of joy. Why? Because He has
told us that when we are right with Him we will experience inexpressible
joy! (1 Peter 1:8). It is promised and it comes to us as one of His many
gifts.
RIGHTEOUSNESS
Righteousness is the wonderful gift of being declared
"right" before God. As anyone can imagine, there exists an enormous gulf
of difference between the all-powerful creator and our far from perfect
humanity. I am sure that most would have no problem admitting that they
are less than perfect. However, many people are not aware of the
consequences that has occurred as a result of our fall from our original
perfectedness. We fell "out of favour" with God! But because of
God's great love & compassion He had Jesus become our solution to this
problem.
Fortunately for us, Christ came to earth so that we
too might be able to experience "a restored rightness" with God. For
this purpose, he died on the cross, taking upon himself the guilt of our
unrighteousness. Through Jesus, we have been declared right with God
(Romans 5:1,2).
While being reconciled to God (and thus being assured
of an eternal salvation) is a glorious gift, it may seem to be "other
worldly" and impractical. The truth, however, is that righteousness
offers us something for this life as well. Not only are we declared
right, but we are transformed into it as well! It is promised that as we
mature we will become more and more like our creator. Christianity
offers us the chance at being inwardly renewed to the image and glory of
God (Col.3:10).
Imagine all of the flaws and undesirable
characteristics of yourself slowly fading away! Christ wants to purify
us so that we can live in greater harmony with ourselves, others and our
God. It is the promise of a life characterized by wholeness.
TO CONCLUDE
God wants us to enjoy our lives. Christ's mission on
earth was to teach and model how this may best be achieved. He declared
"I have come that they may
have life, and have it to the full."
(John 10:10).
Many people have the impression that Christianity is
nothing more than a long list of rules, countless do's and don'ts. The
fact of the matter is that following Christ is all about freedom.
Freedom to be made right with God, to live in peace and experience true
joy. When we decide to walk through life with God these promises become
a reality. These are bold claims but I stand by them according to what I
have personally experienced. I believe with all my heart that I have
truly begun to enjoy my life because of the faith I have in Christ. Were
it not so, I would have walked away long ago.
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