God is sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient and the ruler over all of His creation. However, the designation "the kingdom of God" compasses that realm which is subject to God and will be for eternity. The rest of creation will be destroyed. Only that which is part of the "kingdom of God" will remain.
I've heard a lot of droopy prayers in my life. Hey, I've prayed a lot of them, too.
Prayers of desperation -- God, you've got to help me!
Prayers of self-pity -- God, things are so awful!
Prayers of resignation -- God, if you want to leave me unemployed, then I can't stop you!
But I'm learning how to pray a different kind of prayer -- prayer said with thanksgiving. I learned it from St. Paul who, writing from prison, taught me a most powerful lesson. He said,
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."1
Strange. Here he is suffering himself, yet he's telling me to pray with thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is the seasoning that makes our prayers edible to God. After all, who wants to hear people whine all the time? I've learned that you can't whine and give thanks in the same breath. Self-pity and thankfulness don't mix any better than oil and water. In fact, mixing thanks with prayer somehow changes it. When we remember what God has done for us in the past and think about who he is in the present -- and express that in thankfulness -- our prayers become more gentle, more trusting somehow. Thankful prayers are offered with faith. And faith is an essential ingredient for prayers that God chooses to answer. We remember the Pilgrims on Thanksgiving Day, not so much for their turkey dinner, but for the sheer faith that inspired them to give thanks in a year that saw nearly half their number die of sickness. Yet they prayed with thanksgiving. When your annual day of feasting is over, you may bemoan your extra helpings of dressing, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie. But if you can hang on to the "thanks" part of Thanksgiving, you'll be a different person. Because when you learn to talk to God about your needs -- mixed with a healthy dose of heartfelt thanks -- then you have crossed the divide from whining at God to real prayer. Happy thanks-giving!
The cross is central to the Christian faith. Jesus said he died “For” us and this means instead of us. He came to “Give life as a ransom for many”.
Jesus paid by his blood on the cross the ransom price to set us free. Christ’s suffering on the cross was the result of sin but not his own. Romans 3 says “All have sinned” but through Christ’s death HE is able to forgive and change all those who come to Him.
In John it says “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”. Being crucified Cicero said was “The most cruel and hideous of tortures” is being tortured, flogged, whipped, healed and left to die one a cross. Would you do that because HE did as he loved you so much he died for your salvation? 1 John 4 v 19 says “We love because he first loved us”.
He came to set you free, forgive your sins, and give you eternal life according to his plan while you are on earth. He paid a price to pay for us but are we willing to pay the price and say we are his disciples?
His death means that you can go through the Father and not through a priest so that means you can talk to him at any time of the day or night. If Jesus Christ over a 33 year ministry did not exist then he was the most deceived person that ever lived.
Just a though that if the cross did not happen would we have anything to believe in? If, on the third day as the scriptures say, his body was put in the tomb, and a stone pushed across the entrance however HE rose from the grave and is alive today. He won victory over sin and death today and this means Jesus is all about the cross. Do you agree?
In your mind's eye I want you to picture Jesus at the Feeding of the Five Thousand. Hungry multitudes cover the hillside. Jesus takes the little boy's lunch, lifts it up, and says the familiar prayer: "Bless this food to the nourishing and strengthening of our bodies. Amen." I'm here to tell you that it just didn't happen like that. No way! Since when did we begin to bless our food, anyway? Frankly, our food's been blessed to the point that most of us -- how shall I say this -- are "over nourished." You find two words in the New Testament used in connection with praying before meals.
Offering Praise
Here's what really happened at the Feeding of the Five Thousand. "Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves"(Mark 6:41). The Greek word for "gave thanks" (NIV) or "blessed" (KJV) is "eulogeo," from which we get our English word "eulogy." It means "speak well of, praise, extol." The word commonly translates the Hebrew word, "barak," "to bless." But it wasn't the food Jesus was "speaking well of" or "blessing," it was his Father. Every faithful Jew would offer this blessing before partaking of bread: "Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the world, who has caused bread to come forth out of the earth." Before partaking of wine, the blessing was said this way: "Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the world, who has created the fruit of the vine." The first word, "eulogeo," reminds us to eulogize or praise God before we eat.
Offering Thanks
The second praying-before-meals word is the Greek word "eucharisteo," from which we get our English word "Eucharist," often used as the name of Holy Communion. "Eucharisteo" means, "be thankful, offer thanks," and was used at the Last Supper.
"While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks (eulogeo) and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, 'Take and eat; this is my body.' Then he took the cup, gave thanks (eucharisteo) and offered it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you' "(Matthew 26:26-27, NIV).
What Jesus was doing at this Passover meal was offering to his Father the traditional blessings when bread and wine were eaten. It was common for Jews to offer a blessing for each food served during a meal.
The Bless Me Club
So how did we Christians end up blessing the food instead of God? Tradition? Habit? Some of the confusion may have come from a mistranslation of the passage I just quoted. In the King James Version, Matthew 26:26 reads: "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, 'Take, eat; this is my body.' “Notice how the tiny word "it" was added after the word "blessed"? The word "it" isn't part of the Greek text -- that's why it's in italics in the King James Version. But "bless it" implies something far different than "bless God." That addition of one little word may have twisted the way we pray before meals into something Jesus didn't intend at all. Not that there's anything wrong in asking a blessing from God. There's not. Jesus taught us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread" -- but only after praise: "Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done...." No, asking favors from God isn't wrong, but it shouldn't be the primary part of our prayers, or we become like greedy little children: "Gimme this! Gimme that!". Those prayers are essentially selfish rather than self-giving. They don't fulfill either the First Commandment, to love God with all our heart, or the Second, to love our neighbor as ourselves.
How Should We Pray?
The Apostle Paul put it in this perspective. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God"(Philippians 4:6). Notice the phrase "with thanksgiving" tucked in there with "present your requests to God." It's essential to keep prayer God-centered rather than self-centered. It's also the key to praying with real faith. So when you pray, remember that your food doesn't deserve a blessing nearly so much as God who gave it. You can bless like Jesus did, "Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the world, who has caused bread to come forth out of the earth." Or offer a simple prayer of thanks to God for the food. Next time, don't "ask the blessing," but offer one to your Father.
Knowledge is the acquiring of facts. Understanding is the interpretation of facts. Wisdom is the application of facts.
Provoking your understanding? What do we mean when say ' to provoke ' to provoke in the context of my teaching means to incite, rouse, inflame, trigger or better still to cause the annoyance of ones understand in-view of one ' s knowledge (acquisition of facts).
Then understanding is now the interpretation of the knowledge.
So when we say provoking ones understanding, it implies arousing your interest, to cause annoyance of ones rights and privileges.
The scripture says, my people are perishing because of lack of knowledge (ignorance) and went on to say, the knowledge was made available to them but they rejected it.
Ignorance can be illustrated as a person willed an inheritance to, and was taken as a slave over his own inheritances due to his ignorance of the truth. In the account of the prodigal son in Luke 15:17a, but when he came to himself ...the prodigal son was enslaved due to ignorance of who he actually was.
That was ignorance, because he does not have adequate knowledge of what rightly belongs to him. And without the acquisition of facts, there is no interpretation of facts.
God has given to us everything that pertains to life and godliness, He said everything is ours. He willed to us heavenly inheritances, but many of us are still struggling and enslaved due to the ignorance of who we actually are.
This teaching is actually meant to provoke you into acquisition of those facts you are ignorance of.
You ' re begging, living in poverty because you don ' t know your real self.
· Do you know about the authority of a believer as a king?
· Do you know about the authority you have over sickness?
· The authority you have over demonic and satanic activities?
You are enslaved because of the wrong picture of your real self, you don ' t give your life to Christ to experience failure, sickness, demonic oppressions, name them/
C ' mon exercise your authority. God has given you a Word to every circumstances, c ' mon speak out.
I told people I can never die before my time, or fall sick. This is not a prayer point, but God has given me a Word as an authority to live with and the understanding of my inheritances in Christ Jesus.
When you are still falling sick, you are enslaved to it.
When you are still begging, you are enslaved to it.
You can exercise your authority now, God has given you a Word to answer every situations. Wake up to your responsibilities, stand up against and exercise your authority over sickness, poverty, pre-mature death, barrenness, failure,...
You are created to reign, to rule, to exercise authority because we are Child of authority through Christ Jesus and delivered to us our inheritances on the Cross.
Let your ignorance be provoked
Let your understanding be provoked.
1 JOHN 3:7 “Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous.”
Righteousness has gotten a bum rap! For this reason... righteousness is generally acquainted with self-righteousness in the minds of many. They’ve been burnt by self-righteous behavior and they want nothing to do with it. And who can blame them.
Righteousness is characterized by justice or fairness and impartiality toward those involved. It is to be holy... not holier than thou but holy in action, word, and thought. It never needs to be “announced,” just lived and spoken.
Self-righteousness is believing in one’s own virtue: sure of the moral superiority and personal beliefs and actions, usually to an irritating degree.
As you can see by definition the two (righteousness vs self-righteousness) are worlds apart. As Christians we are to be “right” in God’s sight not in our own opinion of ourselves. Isaiah 64:6 “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.” Only Jesus can clothe us in true righteousness. Isaiah 61:10 “I am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness...”
The difference comes from the inside. When the heart is pure, clean and right on the inside then motives, attitudes, actions, and words will be pure, clean and right. That equals a righteousness given by God. If our heart has a self-promotional motive, bragging words, a holier-than-thou attitude, and condescending action, then my righteousness is self-generated and ugly in the sight of both God and man.
The only way a person can rightly judge his inner state is to be brutally honest with himself and forgo the judgment of others. We cannot see motives and attitudes parse... It is not our responsibility to judge others but it is our responsibility to consider ourselves. 1 Corinthians 11:27-28 “So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup.” 2 Corinthians 13:5 “Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith.”
One must be careful in the examination of oneself. If it is to consult only within ourselves we will only affirm our “rightness.” But if we examine ourselves before the Lord, in prayer and in the reading of the His word, we will be corrected correctly. If we pray and read the word only on occasion it is perhaps because we do not wish to be corrected. That in itself is self-righteous.
Do you get tired? Discouraged? Bummed out? Of course. All Christians do sometimes. Here's the verse which helps when you feel overworked and underappreciated:
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. --1Corinthians 15:58 (KJV). My beloved brethren. The Apostle Paul addresses us as family-- brothers and sisters. Christians are part of a family that cares deeply for one another. The church is the visible expression of that caring love. And though we sometimes feel alone, we belong to the family of God. Be ye steadfast, that is, don't always be moving around. Each of my children, at the age of nine or ten, have come down with what my wife and I call "tapping disease." They drum their fingers on the dinner table, swing their feet, tap their feet. Constant motion. They don't settle down. It can drive a parent loony. That's how I explain my own peculiar condition. "Be steadfast" means "be stable," "be firm." The Greek word alludes to sitting in a chair rather than pacing around--"fixed." Unmoveable, means "not to be moved from its place." Perhaps people have called you "stubborn." Now you can be stubbornly opposed to God's will. That's bad. But you can be stubbornly, doggedly devoted to God, so that circumstances and people don't distract you from Him. That's good. Call it persistent, call it faithful. Always abounding in the work of the Lord. The word translated "abounding" means "exceeding a fixed number or measure," "over-and- above." Some people do what is expected. Others, out of love, go far beyond that. Their lives pour out and overflow. "Doing what?" you ask. The work of the Lord, is the answer. Work? "Not a good word," you say. "I work five or six days a week. When I get home I just want to rest." That's understandable. Do you have any loafers at work? You know, people who only do the minimum, and only that if the boss is looking over their shoulder. And who takes up the slack? You and the other consci entious workers. God's work is the same way. Just a few of the ways we do His work, build His kingdom here on earth, is to teach our children about Jesus at home and at Sunday school. We serve as an usher or choir member on Sundays. We encourage those believers who are down. We make a meal for a family when one of the parents is sick. A church is a caring body. But when loafers don't pull their part of the load, it falls on others to do. My sister, my brother, this is a word for you: be "always abounding in the work of the Lord." Always. Over-and-above. Knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord Some people hate washing dishes because more dirty dishes magically appear over night. Sweeping and vacuuming are the same way. Things never stay clean. Someone is always tracking dirt on your carpet. Is there no end? You get discouraged. It's only when you consider the alternatives that you get out your Hoover vacuum cleaner and have another go at it. Your wife may not keep track of how often you change the spark plugs. Your husband has no idea of how often you have to dust. But God keeps track of our faithfulness in His work. He sees us serving Him when no one else sees. And seeing us hanging in there brings joy to his heart. Our Christian service is not done in vain for three reasons:
1.Christ's kingdom is built on your service, stone upon stone, act of kindness upon teaching the Junior boys Sunday school class, serving refreshments upon spending time with a grief-stricken believer.
2.Seeing your faithful service brings joy to God's heart.
3.God will reward you for your faithfulness, even when no one else sees. His ledger book gets fresh notations every time you serve Him. In a word, your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
Yes, I get discouraged and so do you. But God keeps bringing us back to this verse to buck us up and help us to see the importance of faithful service. Don't give up. Your labor in Christ is not in vain.
Love is wonderful, isn’t it? Love is the center of every good thing. How wonderful it is to love and to be loved! But there’s a serious problem with what people think love is about.
Many people think love is just, “How can I breathe without you? I can’t live without you! I’m nothing without you!” Yea, right! The only One who should be worshipped this way is God because He is our everything, not man.
Emotions are vital in relationships. Without them, we’d be robots. But sometimes we have to put our feelings aside and really use our brains. To marry someone based on feelings alone is unwise.
Think about it, this person that you’re committing to is not perfect. Sometimes it won’t be easy to love this person. We all have our unlovable moments. So what will you do if your husband is not being as attentive as you’d like him to be? What if he neglects to tell you how beautiful you are? What if he is a bit rude and snappy today? What if your wife gained 100 lbs.? What if she lost her hair due to sickness? What if she can’t cook like your mama?
For all of the singles looking to marry please put your emotions aside for a while. There will be times in marriage when you’re honestly not feeling the love, and that’s when you have to remember and honor your vows.
Men, make sure that this woman is willing to stand by your side at all times. Make sure she will support you and respect you. Make sure that she is willing to take care of your needs. Women, make sure this man shares a similar vision as yours. Don’t deny yourself just to please him while you’re dating, because once you marry, he will be the head of the household. Make sure he’s stronger than you spiritually, because God expects him to lead the family.
1 Corinthians 11:3 But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
Let’s not make rash decisions to marry. Please take the time to pray and read the person’s character before you commit. Love is a choice, not a feeling.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
God said: I will be your God, if you make Me your God. Ex:23:25-33, Deut: 26:16-19 The church says: He is our God, but they do not make Him their God.
God said: I will be your Father if you come out from among them. 2Cor: 6:17-18 The church says: He is our Father, but they don’t come out from among them.
Jesus says: Turn from your way. Turn to Me and I will save you. Matt: 4:17-18 The church says: Jesus is our Savior, but they do not turn to His ways.
Jesus saysHe is the High Priest of our Profession. Heb: 3:1
But the church professes to be sick, weak, ignorant, and human.
Jesus said: If anyone would be His disciple they must forsake all and follow Him. Lk: 14:33 The church says they are His disciples and they have not forsaken all to follow Him.
The church intends to repair the breach between God and man, but they do not do what it says in Isa: 58-59 that would repair the breach.
The church believes they will possess the land, but they do not do what is laid out to do to possess the land. No: 8:22-24, Deut: 6:18, 11
The church is the body of Christ. This means as He is so are we in this world. 1Jn: 4:13-14
Whose words are the church the most ashamed of--the ones they do not quote? The teachings of Jesus, the Son of God--The Teacher.
Who words should the church be quoting most often? Jesus words--the church is His body. They are actually afraid that His words will offend someone.
Rev: 19:20: I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
This means Jesus is the answer to all the shortcomings that the prophets addressed that were the downfall of Israel and Judah. Yet many Christians think that what the books of the Prophets have to say is irrelevant. The books of the prophets reveal not only a lot of end-time prophesy, but they also reveal how God feels about many things and they address many sins and their consequences and many of them tell of the coming Savior who would save His people not just from hell but from sin and its consequences.
If the church would study and heed the books of the prophets, they would soon be studying, understanding, and obeying all the rest of Bible too. The Bible declares all scripture is for today.
2Tim: 3:15: And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16: All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
Christ means anointed one. The church, is His body. We are supposed to carry on His ministry with the same anointing and power--His anointing and power.
Matt: 28:18: And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19: Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Col: 2:6-10: As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: 7: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. 8: Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. 9: For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. 10: And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
"Do not despise the day of small things," said the prophet Zechariah.
Five centuries before Christ a great project to rebuild the temple had ground to a halt. The site had been devoid of activity for years. People were discouraged. But then Zechariah inspired the people to turn to God, with his prophecy: "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty!" And inspired by God, with the power of his Spirit, the people rose up and finished the temple to the glory of God. "The day of small things" can discourage us, too. We see our few numbers. We experience the drag of inertia and resistance to change. Is there any hope to grow and become a powerful church once more? Yes, indeed! It is found in the power of momentum. Newton discovered that: Momentum is the product of the mass (weight) and velocity (speed) of an object. A big, heavy, dead-weight object can have huge momentum at very slow speed -- if you can ever get it going. But so can a small, light object at higher speed -- and you can get it going much easier. Smaller objects -- and churches -- are inherently much easier to get up to speed and change direction than large churches. A speedboat can run circles around an ocean liner. The Laws of Motion indicate that a small church moving fast can actually generate more momentum than a large church moving slowly. Once we get our speed up, we generate huge momentum -- and momentum attracts people who like to be part of something that is going, happening, moving. It's the snowball effect. Of course, to generate momentum, we need to be willing to move fast -- to create speed velocity. And that requires a willingness to change. Some people might say, "We're trying to do too much, too fast. Take it slower." Those people mean well, but don't understand either the laws of physics or the power of momentum. Have you ever tried to push an old car with a dead battery fast enough that the engine will catch when you engage the clutch? Then you understand. We small churches may not have much mass at the beginning, but if we can create velocity along the path of God's will for us, we can generate great momentum -- and through that momentum grow in effectiveness, size, and in our mission to reach our community for Christ.
Momentum = size times speed
We can turn our smaller size into great momentum if we're willing to move! That's how it works. "Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord.... Do not despise the day of small things."(Zechariah 4:6, 10).
God loves you and wants you to experience peace and life--abundant and eternal.
The Bible says...
"We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Romans 5:1
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16
"I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."John 10:10
Why don't most people have this peace and abundant life that God planned for us to have?
Step Two
The Problem: Our Separation
God created us in His own image to have an abundant life. He did not make us as robots to automatically love and obey Him. God gave us a will and a freedom of choice.
We chose to disobey God and go our own willful way. We still make this choice today. This results in separation from God.
The Bible says...
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."Romans 6:23
Our Attempts to Reach God
People have tried in many ways to bridge this gap between themselves and God...
The Bible says...
"There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." Proverbs 14:12
"But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear."Isaiah 59:2
No bridge reaches God...except one.
Step Three
God's Bridge: The Cross
Jesus Christ died on the Cross and rose from the grave. He paid the penalty for our sin and bridged the gap between God and people.
The Bible says...
"For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ."1 Timothy 2:5
"For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God."1 Peter 3:18
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."Romans 5:8
God has provided the only way. Each person must make a choice.
Step Four
Our Response: Receive Christ
We must trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and receive Him by personal invitation.
The Bible says...
"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me."Revelation 3:20
"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God."John 1:12
"That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10:9
Where are you?
Will you receive Jesus Christ right now?
Here is how you can receive Christ:
1.Admit your need (I am a sinner).
2.Be willing to turn from your sins (repent).
3.Believe that Jesus Christ died for you on the Cross and rose from the grave.
4.Through prayer, invite Jesus Christ to come in and control your life through the Holy Spirit. (Receive Him as Lord and Savior.)
How to Pray:
Dear Lord Jesus,
I know that I am a sinner and need Your forgiveness. I believe that You died for my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I now invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as Lord and Savior.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
Step 4 God's Assurance: His Word
If you prayed this prayer,
The Bible says...
"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Romans 10:13
Did you sincerely ask Jesus Christ to come into your life? Where is He right now? What has He given you?
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast."Ephesians 2:8,9
Step 4 "He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life."1 John 5:12-13
Receiving Christ, we are born into God's family through the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit who indwells every believer. This is called regeneration, or the "new birth."
This is just the beginning of a wonderful new life in Christ. To deepen this relationship you should:
1. Read your Bible everyday to know Christ better.
2. Talk to God in prayer every day.
3. Tell others about Christ.
4. Worship, fellowship, and serve with other Christians in a church where Christ is preached.
5. As Christ's representative in a needy world, demonstrate your new life by your love and concern for others.
Jn:10:24-28: Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. 25: Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. 26: But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. 27: My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Often in Scripture Jesus is referred to as the Shepherd and Christians or God’s people are referred to as sheep. There is a very good reason for this and it is not because people are stupid. It is because people are limited.
Christians must follow the Shepherd because they are limited by a number of things. First of all Christians start out as newborns. They mature slowly and are, in comparison to God, small children most of their lives. Some do make it to a maturity that qualifies them to be called adults, but never masters. The Lord alone is master.
Second, Christians are limited because the world, the flesh, and the devil interfere with their learning process, succeeding on occasion in putting in false information, causing glitches in their learning process.
Third they need the Shepherd because He has earned the position as their leader.
My point is that many think that God refers to people as sheep because they are stupid or dumb, but that‘s not it. He wants us to follow Him because He is so smart--He has it all. It is important that it be understood that God is not demeaning people and He does not want His people to feel dumb. God uses the sheep illustration because they are smart enough to or learn to follow their Shepherd.
And Christians do need to follow Him. All sheep (Christians) who do not follow Jesus will end up in a pit, or will eat poison and perish, or will fall off the edge of the cliff, or be eaten by a wolf or bear. All of that must be applied spiritually, but those are the dangers and the reason Christians need to follow the Shepherd.
This is really good news for those who are serious about being God’s children because all they have to do is follow Jesus, meaning all the decisions and head works are His and all they have to do is what He leads them to do. This is called resting in the Lord. It is a place of green pastures beside still waters.
What does it mean to follow Jesus, the good Shepherd? It means His sheep do not serve mammon. They take heed what they hear. They are careful about the company they keep. They love their enemies and pray for those who despitefully use them. They reach out to others with love and truth. They and not entangled in the affairs of the world because Jesus said that those things would choke the Word. They put on the full armor of God and keep it on. They remember what they look like in the mirror of the Word and they behave accordingly. The list could go on and on, but hopefully the reader gets the idea.
In the Biblical book of Hebrews chapter 12, we learn of a very interesting progression and warning. It begins this way:
Hebrews 12:1 - Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Sin, particularly in the life of the Christian, can keep us from accomplishing what God intended us to accomplish. It prevents us from doing the will of God and finding purpose and meaning in our lives.
The Bible continues further on down with more warnings of the dangers of sin:
Hebrews 12:14-15 - Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
If sin is not dealt with, it leads to these additional complications and problems in our Christian lives:
1. Prevents us from seeing the hand of God in our lives. God is evident all around us. Sin, however, will blind us to these evidences. People who are living a just and righteous life will see God’s involvement and hand in every aspect of their lives. But sin can blind us to all of that.
2. Fail of the grace of God. Grace is God’s provision for our insufficiencies. Sin can rob us of this provision. We all are lacking in things. God’s grace makes up for where we lack. But sin will cause a failure to receive or take advantage of that provision. This may be because we can’t see God’s activity in our lives.
3. The root of bitterness that defiles many. This is the ultimate burden of sin. Sin, left unchecked, will bring a root of bitterness into our lives that cause us to be blind to God, to fail of God’s grace, and eventually defile many of the things we love.
So what is the most dangerous sin? Your most dangerous sin is that sin that you have successfully hidden from everyone else. We don’t deal with a sin that we can successfully hide. We just continue to hide it. This is extremely dangerous.
I’ve often said that the best thing to happen to a child who does wrong is for him to get caught. Being caught means he must now deal with his wrong. He must address it. And he can purge himself of the guilt that the wrong produces.
But it gets worse when an adult successfully hides an affair, pornography, a drug habit, or what not. Not only does the guilt of the sin begin to poison his mind and his heart, but he never seeks to address it properly. He just keeps hiding it.
The Bible also tells us:
Numbers 32:23 - But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.
This does not necessarily mean that you will be caught. Though the odds of being caught increase the longer you hide your sin. But it means that your sin will eventually consume you, change your attitudes, your thinking, and your heart. Eventually, you won’t even care that people know what you’re doing or involved in. You may even get to the point where you brag about it.
This root of bitterness has destroyed so many relationships and families. I’ve witnessed firsthand the destruction of a sin that has been successfully hidden from everyone else. Eventually, their heart and mind is poisoned. They harm relationships, they begin to question God, and they have an uncaring attitude.
Your sin will come out one way or another. You will get caught, or you’ll get to the place where you just won’t care anymore. It left alone long enough, the root of bitterness will consume you.
The very best thing in the world to do is to admit your sin to someone that can help you. Obviously, you need to take it to God and ask for forgiveness, but you also need to admit it to the person you were trying to hide it from. If you don’t, you’ll continue to make it difficult to quit the sin, and you’ll just jade yourself even further. Admit it. Get it out. Seek help.
As a parent, if one of my sons come to me and admits a wrong, asks for punishment, and wants to fix the wrong, I would be floored. I can’t imagine that I would get angry or upset. In fact, I would have a difficult time even disciplining him. After all, the purpose of discipline is to get them to face the wrong and deal with it. But if he is already doing that, then I don’t need to. I would be ecstatic if my children did this. So would any parent.
Whatever your sin may be, bad or really bad, hiding it is the worst thing you can possibly do. It sears your conscious, it poisons your heart, and it allows that root of bitterness to begin to grow.
Lucifer was the guardian cherub of the whole earth, but he made the wrong choice and was demoted to a doomed evil being.
Adam was anointed by God to have dominion over the earth, but he made a wrong choice and was demoted to a mere man.
Eve was anointed to help Adam take care of the earth, but she made a wrong choice and was demoted to a mere woman.
Everyone since then had made wrong choices and suffered for it.
Jesus was anointed by God to be the Savior of the world. When he was tempted he always made the right choice—God said choose righteousness. At the appointed time God asked Jesus to suffer the consequences of mankind's wrong choices—as a stand in for them—because he was the only one who could do the job. He was the only one who had walked the walk and talked the talk as God had instructed. He had to walk it out so that he fully qualified for all the promises of God. Since he was the only one who had remained sinless, he was the only one who could bare sins for other. Someone had to be our representative and take our consequences. Why? Because Adam and Eve’s choice sold mankind out and Jesus choice bought them back. Sin makes slaves of people and Jesus frees us from sin. But in order for people to remain free from becoming a slave to sin again, they must accept the Lordship of Jesus. He has already proved himself. He is the only one who can keep people free of sin.
Jesus made the right choice as always-- he obeyed his Father—he became the sacrificial lamb. Now he can offer every person the opportunity to receive him as Savior and Lord.
As your Savior, his shed blood will wash away all your sins. As your Lord, he lives in your heart and you have eternal life.
That’s right, if you will make this very important right choice, to receive Jesus, you will be “born again” of the Spirit of God. That means you will be spiritually alive (God living in your spirit) just as Adam and Eve were be-fore the fall. This act of righteousness on Jesus’ part reconciles those who accept God’s plan of salvation, back to God Almighty as their very own Father. By choosing Jesus you will come into covenant with God. His part is to be your loving Father in every sense of the word and your part is to trust him and obey him.
As your Lord, Jesus will live and reign in your heart so that you can start over and make right choices. Choose Jesus and live!
Many people have made the mistake of endeavoring to be crucified, but they never received the resurrection. They work hard at following the scriptures, but they have not received the Spirit who inspired the writing of the scriptures.
Jesus came that we might have the Spirit. When we are quickened with the love of God that produces love for God, self, and others there is no problem obeying the scriptures--they are then merely a guideline to follow, not a yoke of hardness.
The secret is found in the knowledge that we are in the flesh--we will have the pull of the Spirit and the pull of the flesh. That’s is why the Bible says to walk by the Spirit. You choose.
Many merely refuse to disobey scriptures, but they are still affected by the ways of the flesh. Thus they don’t like what they must do and they don’t like who they are. They think it’s a big problem--that they must still have some rebellion or something in them. But in truth one must deliberately walk by the new heart--a heart to please the Lord and when they step out in faith, believing that they have received the Spirit, God’s grace will enable them to do His bidding.
But when one just makes their self do what they ought, it is bondage. It is a burden. In a spirit of “don’t like to, but have to” there is no joy and there is very little fruit. The spirit of genuine caring and love of righteousness cannot be enjoyed or displayed in that state. Secondly, the Holy Spirit cannot change your attitude to one of enjoying the acts of love you are doing while you perceive yourself as being forced into a foreign mold.
So I urge you right now to ask God for His Spirit. Take it or receive it by faith and never again think of doing God’s bidding without leaning on the everlasting arms, so to speak--without deliberately being aware that it is God that doeth the works, you are merely the vessel. It is His grace (unmerited love and favor) working in you.
You will find that you can do things you never thought you could. But if you ever begin to think that you are becoming skilled or quite good in that area and your focus turns to yourself rather than walking by faith in God’s calling, you will find out that the anointing has lifted and the outcome is not so good. But if you trust in the anointing, God will produce good results. Go for it!
When I was a child back in the forties there were numerous predictions that the world was coming to an end. Of course, it never did. That’s not to say that I wasn’t concerned, because, frankly, the first couple of times someone predicted a certain date for earth’s demise, I was uncomfortable the whole day, and relieved when the day was over.
As the Bible says, there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9), which might explain the most recent prophesy from doomsday prophet Harold Camping that we were to expect the Rapture/Apocalypse on May 21st. Of course, just like similar predictions from my childhood, nothing happened.
That said, I know there were many people who were concerned.
I would like to suggest to the men who make these predictions that in doing so they show themselves to be one of the false prophets the Word of God warns us about (Matthew 24:11). I say this because in stating that they know what day the world will end, they are, by implication, stating that the Bible is not to be believed.
As a fundamentalist Christian, I find that offensive, but my sensitivities are of no concern. What is of importance is the affect these false prophesies have on the worlds view of God and His Word -- that is to say, every time one of these Doomsday predictions comes and goes without being fulfilled, the body of God’s church looks like it is made up of a bunch of crackpots. To the general public, it is guilt by association.
Please don’t misunderstand. I am quite sure that most of these clergymen/prophets have in their minds the best of intentions. But I am equally sure that they know little of the God they say they serve.
Listen to the words of Christ in Mark 13:31-33 (NKJV):"Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.” There are other such references (e.g. Luke 12:40 & Revelation 3:3), all with like meaning.
Jesus, at the heart of our religion, is telling those who will listen, that not even the angels, and more important, not even Himself, knows when the end will come -- yet so called Christian “prophets” trumpet the day of the Apocalypse. They’ve figured out the hidden formula, done the math, or God spoke to them. You can check the math all you want; it comes to a grand total of zero. And as far as hearing from God…I doubt it. My biblically inspired belief is that the Father will tell the Son long before He tells a minister here on earth -- and the Bible says Jesus doesn’t know.
The end of the world will come just as the Bible describes. Of that I have no doubt. But no one knows when. How do I know that? The Bible tells me so.
Time is neither recyclable nor stagnant. Once you use it, it’s gone. Also, whether you use it or not it moves on. Time is a very valuable and essential yet, highly limited and perishable commodity, in my opinion. One might have several chances or opportunities; however, there is only a limited time for that chance or opportunity to be taken. The more sluggish you are with your available time the further away you move from your available opportunities. The limited nature of time makes its wastage a serious blunder. As a result, it is important that when we spend time to do something we do NOT do it anyhow – do it well. King Solomon in all his wisdom observed this issue carefully and said “whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might” Ecclesiastes 9:10. You will not have that time again. The bible says “there is time for everything”, Ecclesiastes 3:1. Instead of doing things anyhow due to rush, or indifferent attitude, or lack of adequate knowledge, I will advise that we ponder over any decision we make, any venture we take, and any thing we do before we do it. This enables us use our time wisely. “The future belongs to those who prepare for it today” says Malcolm X. Take time to make decisions; use time wisely to implement those decisions. Remember, “Time and tide wait for no man”.
If you can be confused about an issue, you do not have the truth concerning it. Once you have the truth, you cannot be confused over that issue again. For example, we know that the only way to the Father is through Jesus Christ. There is no other way. Jesus Himself said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes unto the Father but by me.” If a person were to say to you that there are other ways to God, you would have no confusion; you know that it is a false statement not worthy of consideration. If I told you that you had to stand on your head and memorize the ten commandments as well as accept Jesus as Lord and Savior in order to be saved, you would have not problem discerning the falseness of the statement. You know the truth, you would not be confused. These are rather simple examples, but it gets the point across.
We know that God is not the author of confusion. There have been times when people have found themselves confused after listening to speakers teach the Word of God. In their mind, because they were confused they labeled it as a false teaching, or even of the devil. In some cases this may be true; however, in other cases the teaching could very well be right on. The trouble may not be the teaching, but the stronghold that they hold to be true. What is a stronghold? 2Corinthians 10:3-5 says, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds:) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (KJV). Strongholds are defined as imaginations and high things (barriers as the result of pride). In other words, a stronghold is an imagination that one holds to be true. This may include false doctrine. It may also pertain to traditions that we have learned along the way that may even be unbiblical. It is all related to our thought-life. Basically speaking, it’s anything that interferes with the truth or its reception. The Word of God tells us to study to show ourselves to be approved. Everything that we are taught, whether it is written or oral, should be compared with the Scriptures as led by the Holy Spirit. Take no one’s word for it, study it out to be sure it is so. Please note, I did not say, “if it be so or not.” The idea is study from the standpoint of faith, not unbelief. An example of this is found in Acts 17:11 where it says,”These (those who lived in Berea [Bereans]) were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things be so” (KJV). These people had a heart to know the truth, and studied from that perspective. If we study to prove something wrong, we are studying on the side of unbelief. In other words, we would be looking for reasons not to believe. At the same time, if we study to prove something to be true or to prove our point, we could also be in trouble; we could be overlooking truth that may be contrary to our hypothesis. The idea is to study to find the truth, and once the truth is found, falsehood drops out of sight. Faith says, God is. Romans 12:2 Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind (KJV). The best way to destroy strongholds is to renew your mind by getting into the Word of God. Compare everything to the Scriptures. Read them, study them, and digest them. Watch what happens to confusion!
