5 Tips for Living Longer and Stronger | Episode 4 | ABUNDANT LIVING | with Ted Wilson
5 Tips for Living Longer and Stronger | Episode 4 | ABUNDANT LIVING | with Ted Wilson
Want to boost your energy, improve your health, and live longer?
In this episode of The Abundant Life series, Pastor Ted Wilson shares the inspiring story of Hulda Crooks, who began exercising in her 70s and went on to climb 97 mountains—including Mt. Fuji at age 91! Discover the surprising spiritual and physical benefits of regular movement, and learn how to begin making exercise a habit—even if you’re starting small.
From walking to strength-building, this episode offers practical tips to help you stay active, prevent disease, and enjoy a fuller, healthier life.
Lesson 10.Upon Whom the Ends Have Come | 10.7 Questions | ALLUSIONS, IMAGES, SYMBOLS | LIVING FAITH
Lesson 10: Upon Whom the Ends Have Come
10.7 Questions
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Introduction
We live in a time full of tension. On one hand, as Christians we are called to be light in the world, to reach people with the Gospel, and to bear witness to the truth. On the other hand, Scripture urgently warns us not to let the world influence or defile us.
This tension accompanies the life of every believer: How can we live in society without adopting its patterns of thought and lifestyle? How can we be around people who do not know God without absorbing their aimlessness ourselves?
The biblical accounts we have studied this week—about Noah, Lot, Moses, and humanity’s ultimate decision—challenge us to think more deeply about our responsibility, our hope, and God’s sovereign action.
This introduction aims to set a framework, preparing us to focus on the important questions every faithful believer must ask in order to live faithfully in a world that is increasingly drifting away from God.
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Answers to the Questions
Question 1: Jesus told His disciples that they are in the world but not of the world (see John 15:19; 17:14–16). How do we reconcile our responsibility to win the world with the need to keep ourselves “unstained by the world” (James 1:27)?
Answer:
Jesus sent us into the world—not into a monastery, not into isolation, but right into relationships, challenges, and tensions. We are called to love, serve, and bear witness. At the same time, James (1:27) warns that true godliness consists in staying “unstained by the world.”
This means: We immerse ourselves, but we do not lose ourselves. Like a boat on the water—it only fulfills its purpose when it floats, but it sinks if the water gets inside.
Spiritual Principle
Relationship without merging, influence without conforming, love without compromise.
Application in Daily Life
– Use social media intentionally: be a light rather than get lost in it.
– Make clear decisions in relationships: do they draw you closer to Jesus, or do they pull you away?
– Set aside daily times of silence with God to recalibrate your “inner compass.”
Question 2: What does Noah’s public ministry before the Flood teach us about the progression of the great conflict? In what way do we hold the same role today?
Answer:
Noah was a “herald of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5) in a time of profound moral darkness. His public ministry consisted not only of words—it was his entire way of life. Building the Ark was simultaneously a warning, an act of faith, and a sign of hope.
Just like Noah, we live in the end times. Our “Ark” is faith in Jesus, His grace, and His coming Kingdom. Our calling: to live boldly, persistently, and uncompromisingly—and to invite others through our witness.
Spiritual Principle
A believer’s life itself is a sermon—either toward salvation or toward judgment.
Application in Daily Life
– Consciously build your “Ark”: character, relationships, community.
– Do not give up, even if you are mocked. Truth requires perseverance.
– Be a voice of hope in the world—both in word and in deed.
Question 3: Before God consumes the wicked with fire from heaven (as He did with Sodom), He raises them from the dead and allows Satan to work among them for a short time (Revelation 20:7–9). What reasons can you think of for why this must be the necessary final step before God sets everything right?
Answer:
At first glance, it seems strange: Why resurrect them only to kill them again? Yet here God’s infinite justice becomes evident. God wants everyone to see and understand—even the lost—that His judgment is righteous.
Satan is released one final time to show that, even after a thousand years without influence, he does not change—and neither do his followers. No one can ever say, “I had no chance.” God’s judgment is not impulsive, but open, understandable, and just.
Spiritual Principle
God’s justice is perfect—and His patience is boundless.
Application in Daily Life
– Learn to trust God, even when you do not yet understand His actions.
– Avoid judging others hastily—God knows the whole picture.
– Recognize: Every day is an invitation to grace, as long as it lasts.
Question 4: What warnings do you find for your own life as you reflect on the accounts you studied this week? What do these accounts teach you about your hope in Christ?
Answer:
Whether Noah, Lot, or Moses—they all lived in dark times. Yet their hope was not in politics, technology, or self-improvement. Their hope was in a God who sees, saves, and intervenes at the right time.
Today we face similar challenges: judgments flood the world—morally, socially, environmentally. But our hope remains the same: Jesus Christ. He is the Rock, the Ark, the saving hand.
Spiritual Principle
Our hope is not that this world will get better—but that Jesus will return.
Application in Daily Life
– Maintain a living hope: read the Bible daily, pray, connect with other believers.
– Recognize: your life is embedded in a much larger plan.
– Live as if Jesus could come today—but work as if He will come tomorrow.
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Conclusion
These questions do not lead us to academic knowledge, but to a deep decision of the heart. We stand in the current of time—between judgment and grace, between calling and temptation. Our task: remain watchful, remain faithful, remain connected.
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Thought of the Day
“You cannot save the world—but you can make a sign. For truth. For grace. For Jesus.”
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Illustration – The Sound of Another World
It was a cold, windy morning in Berlin. Gray sky, crowded streets, hurried U-bahn trains. Amid all the noise, Julian, age 32, a software developer at a rising startup, moved through the station. From the outside, his life seemed “successful”: an apartment in a trendy neighborhood, a good salary, smart friends, travel, a gym membership. Yet inside he felt a fracture. Not loud or glaring—more like a background note that never quite went away. Like a distant yearning.
Julian had grown up in a Christian home. His mother often prayed with him at night, sharing stories of Noah, Moses, and Jesus. As a teenager, all of that felt too restrictive, too “alien to the world out there.” He wanted to fit in, build a career, have fun. And yet—on some days, it all caught up with him again.
That morning, on the U2 platform, an elderly woman entered. She wore a gentle, warm gaze and carried a well-worn Bible under her arm. She sat right next to him—though the car was half empty. He didn’t mind. As he stood to exit, she said only: “God will remind you of your calling.” He looked at her—her eyes seemed to look right through him. He said nothing, and the doors closed.
At home that evening, he lay awake for a long time. Her words would not let him go. What am I called to? Who am I—really? He opened a closet door and found an old Bible from his confirmation. He opened it at random. It landed on the Epistle of James: “Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”
That was the moment. It was as though something inside him burst forth—not loudly, but inevitably. In the following days, he kept reading: about Noah, who built and preached for 120 years; about Lot, who fled from Sodom; about Moses, prepared in the wilderness; about a final decision, a resurrection for judgment, as described in Revelation 20.
He began to ask questions. Why do we live as though everything here is eternal? Why do we build on things that perish? Why do we talk about love yet ignore God, who is love itself?
A few weeks later, Julian quit his job. Not out of escape—but out of clarity. He began working at a residential project for youth with troubled backgrounds. He used his programming skills to give them new opportunities—and told them about a God who has not forgotten them.
Some of his friends thought he was crazy. Others ignored him. Yet he felt: he was finally on the right path. Not an easy one—but a genuine one. One with depth. One with meaning.
One evening, as he walked through the park, he thought again of that woman on the train. He whispered softly, nearly to himself: “Thank you for reminding me.”
The wind rustled through the trees. And for a moment, it was as if another world echoed through them. The world for which we were truly created.
7.6.2025 – Exodus Chapter 2 | BELIEVE HIS PROPHETS
June 7, 2025
DAILY BIBLE READING
Exodus 2 – Drawn from the Water – God’s Hidden Work
How God prepares, leads, and uses people even in times of suffering
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Bible Text – Exodus 1 (KJV)
1 And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi.
2 And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.
3 And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink.
4 And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.
5 And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river’s side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it.
6 And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews’ children.
7 Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?
8 And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child’s mother.
9 And Pharaoh’s daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the women took the child, and nursed it.
10 And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.
11 And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren.
12 And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.
13 And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow?
14 And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known.
15 Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well.
16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.
17 And the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.
18 And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that ye are come so soon to day?
19 And they said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for us, and watered the flock.
20 And he said unto his daughters, And where is he? why is it that ye have left the man? call him, that he may eat bread.
21 And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter.
22 And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.
23 And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.
24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
25 And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.
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Introduction
The story of Moses doesn’t begin with triumph, but with fear. A child is secretly born, placed in a basket, and hidden among the reeds. And yet, it’s in this moment of uncertainty that God’s great plan of deliverance begins. Exodus 2 clearly shows: Even when God seems invisible, He is active – He sees, hears, prepares, and leads.
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Commentary
1. Moses is born – and hidden (verses 1–4)
A child is born under threat of death. The mother acts with courage and faith – she hides her baby because she sees “he was a fine child.” This echoes Hebrews 11:23, which highlights the parents’ faith. God often works through those who faithfully act behind the scenes.
God’s calling often begins in hidden places.
2. Rescued by Pharaoh’s daughter (verses 5–10)
God directs the events: Pharaoh’s daughter finds the baby, feels compassion – and Moses is raised in the house of the oppressor. The irony of divine providence: the future deliverer grows up in the enemy’s palace! God can even use the “system of Pharaoh” to prepare His plans.
3. Moses takes action – and fails (verses 11–15)
As a young man, Moses tries to help – but does it through anger, his own way, using violence. His murder doesn’t go unnoticed. He becomes a fugitive. God has called him – but hasn’t yet shaped him. He needs the desert, retreat, and patience. Calling without character often leads to chaos.
4. Moses in Midian – a time of growth (verses 16–22)
In a foreign land, Moses transitions from prince to shepherd. He marries, starts a family – an ordinary life. But this is where God’s preparation begins. Moses learns patience, care, and responsibility – all essential for leading a nation. God’s training isn’t always dramatic – but it’s deep.
5. God hears – and remembers (verses 23–25)
The people’s suffering grows. They cry out – and God “remembers His covenant.” Not because they were perfect, but because He is faithful. The focus shifts from Moses to God: the true Deliverer acts. The beginning of deliverance isn’t our strength – but God’s faithfulness.
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Summary
Exodus 2 is more than a children’s story. It’s a narrative full of tension, flight, and invisible hope. God is at work, even when He doesn’t speak openly. He saves, prepares, shapes – and acts at the right time. Moses isn’t ready yet, but God is already moving.
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Message for Today
You may feel overlooked, late, or insignificant – but God sees you. He hears your sighs, knows your pain. Maybe you’re in a “desert season,” far from your dreams. Yet God uses such times to shape you. And when the time is right, He will call you – not because you’re strong, but because He is faithful.
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Key Thought for the Day
God works in the hidden places – and prepares great things, even if you don’t (yet) see them.
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June 1 – 7, 2025
WEEKLY SPIRIT OF PROPHECY READING
Ellen G. White │ Patriarchs and Prophets – Chapter 8
After the Flood
Read online here
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Introduction
The flood was over. The waters receded, and the ark came to rest. But life after the flood was not simply a continuation—it was a complete new beginning. In Chapter 8 of Patriarchs and Prophets, we read how God not only saves but also leads, protects, and grants new promises. Noah, the faithful preacher of righteousness, stands as a shining example of obedience, gratitude, and trust—even in times of deep uncertainty. The world that awaited him was no longer the same—but God had not changed: faithful, powerful, and full of grace.
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Commentary
1. Faith in the Test (The Months in the Ark)
The five months spent in the ark were a hard trial of patience. Without knowing when the waters would recede, Noah remained steadfast. He did not doubt God’s leading. Faith carried him and his family through the darkness.
Lesson: True trust is shown in the silence of waiting. God’s hand guides even when we cannot see it.
2. The Ordered Return (The Birds and Patience)
Noah sent out the raven and the dove in search of a sign. But he did not act impatiently—he left the ark only when God explicitly commanded him.
Lesson: Even when we see signs, our decisions must be guided by God’s word, not by circumstances alone.
3. The First Altar (Gratitude and Sacrifice)
Before he built a home for himself, Noah built an altar for God. He offered clean animals—an expression of his faith in the coming sacrifice of Christ.
Lesson: True gratitude first honors the One who gave everything—even when our own resources are scarce.
4. God’s Response: The New Covenant
God smelled the “pleasing aroma” of the sacrifice and declared a new covenant: there would be no more global flood. The rainbow became the sign of this covenant.
Lesson: God uses visible signs to assure us of His invisible faithfulness. His promises are for all generations.
5. A Changed Earth, A Changed Lifestyle
The earth was completely altered—landscape and ecosystem. God permitted the eating of meat as an adaptation to the new reality.
Lesson: God’s care and instructions adapt to human situations, but His moral will remains unchanged.
6. Hidden Treasures and Judgment
The flood buried not only bodies but also human pride, wealth, and idolatry. From this came coal, oil, and ore—evidence of God’s judgment but also of His mercy.
Lesson: What man abused, God transformed into a testimony of His power and justice.
7. Future Judgments: Fire Instead of Water
As water once cleansed the earth, so fire will purify it at the end. Volcanoes, earthquakes, and disasters are forerunners of Christ’s return.
Lesson: God’s warnings are not meant to frighten but to call us to repentance—His grace protects His people.
8. God’s Protection for His Own
Just as Noah was safe in the ark, God’s people will be protected by His power at the end. Psalm 91 becomes a personal promise amid chaos.
Lesson: The safe place is not geographical, but spiritual—under God’s wings.
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Summary
After the flood, Noah stepped into a radically changed world. But in the midst of death and destruction, his heart remained focused on God. His obedience, gratitude, and faith make him a model for all generations. And God responded with grace, promise, and protection. The rainbow stretching across the sky and throne remains the eternal sign: God’s covenant stands. And though future judgments will come, He will preserve those who trust in Him.
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Message for Us Today
In a world again marked by uncertainty, disasters, and moral decay, God calls us to live like Noah: with faith, obedience, and gratitude. When all that we know is shaken, we can rest assured:
God’s hand is still at the helm.
His covenant still stands. The rainbow in the sky is more than a natural phenomenon—it is a testimony of His faithfulness. And just as Noah was preserved in the midst of judgment, so we too can know:
The righteous are safe—not because they are strong, but because they trust in God.
So then, let us build altars of gratitude before we build houses. Let us give before we take. Let us believe before we see.
For the Lord, your Redeemer, says:
“My kindness shall not depart from you.” (Isaiah 54:10)
Source: https://fulfilleddesire.net/7-6-2025-exodus-chapter-2-believe-his-prophets/
7.6.2025 | Words That Work | HEART ANCHOR | Youth Devotional
June 7, 2025 | Words That Work | HEART ANCHOR
How God’s Word Can Change Your Life – If You Let It
1 Thessalonians 2:13
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Bible Text
“And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.”
– 1 Thessalonians 2:13
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Devotional
Sometimes it’s hard to take the Bible seriously. Between school stress, TikTok, and WhatsApp, it can feel like an ancient book that has nothing to do with our lives. But Paul writes to the Thessalonians: You didn’t hear the Word as just an opinion, but as what it truly is – God’s voice. And that’s why it works within you.
God’s Word doesn’t just want to inform, it wants to transform. It’s not about expanding your head knowledge – it’s about changing your heart. It’s like a seed – if you receive it, something will grow. If not, your life remains empty. God’s Word works – but only if you’re willing to truly hear it.
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Story – The Empty Page
Lara sat on the edge of her bed, staring at her open journal. It was blank. Not just that page – the entire book was empty. A gift from her best friend at her confirmation two years ago. “Write down your thoughts, your dreams, your prayers,” her friend had said.
But Lara hadn’t written anything in months. Everything felt empty. School was going downhill, her friendships were crumbling, her dad was always working, and every conversation with her mom turned into a fight. And there was this feeling … as if no one noticed she was slowly disappearing inside.
She closed the journal and lay back on her bed. On the wall across from her was a small shelf – with exactly three books: a novel she never finished, an old calendar, and – at the bottom – her confirmation Bible. It was a bit dusty, the spine slightly bent. She reached for it and flipped through it absentmindedly.
1 Thessalonians. She had never really read it.
Her eyes stopped at verse 13:
“…you accepted it not as a human word, but as it truly is – the word of God, which works in you who believe.”
What did that mean? That this was more than just letters on a page? That God himself was speaking?
She frowned and closed the book. But something wouldn’t let her go. “If you really speak, God … then say something now,” she whispered into the darkness.
Over the next few days, Lara became restless. She kept thinking about the verse. In the evenings, she started reading a few lines. Just short sections. At first, she didn’t understand much. But then she came to Psalm 139:
“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made… Where can I go from your Spirit?”
Tears ran down her face. She wasn’t alone. Not forgotten. Not a mistake.
She began to write in her empty journal. First just verses that touched her. Then thoughts. Prayers. Honest, raw, fragile.
Where there had been emptiness, something began to come alive. The Word, which had seemed like an old text, became a voice. A presence. A power.
Where no one had listened before, someone was now speaking.
She realized: This is not a human word. This is God’s Word. And it works.
And slowly, almost imperceptibly, something in her began to change.
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Thoughts on the Devotional
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God’s Word is alive. It’s not just printed ink, but divine truth with power.
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It works – in those who believe. If you open your heart, God speaks into your life.
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The Bible is not a human word. It’s a letter from your Creator – to you.
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Listening changes you. When you accept the Word, it changes you – gently, but deeply.
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What Does This Mean for You?
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Do you believe that God speaks to you through the Bible?
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Do you take the texts personally – or just as info about “religious stuff”?
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Is there a verse that has touched your heart? Why?
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Ideas for Today
Read 1 Thessalonians 2:13 out loud again today.
Write down what touched you most. Think of a time when you experienced God’s Word as “more than a text.” Start today by reading one verse each day – slowly, intentionally, with an open heart.
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Prayer
Heavenly Father,
thank you for your living Word. Thank you that you speak to me – right into my life – through the Bible.
Help me to see your Word not as a human word, but as your truth.
Give me open ears and a soft heart.
Let your Word work in me – and change me where I need it.
Remind me each day that you are here, speaking, leading – through your voice in Scripture.
I want to listen. Amen.
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Thought for the Day
God’s Word is not an echo from the past – it’s a call to my heart.
Source: https://fulfilleddesire.net/7-6-2025-words-that-work-heartanchor-youth-devotional/
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