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Send Away the Effects of Sin Through Prayer

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Send Away the Effects of Sin Through Prayer

If you’re like me, the importance of prayer in your life comes and goes. I’m always communing with God in my heart but specific, directed prayer comes and goes. I’d like to give you some profound, mystical reason why I flow in and out of directed prayer but I think I just get busy and don’t take the time. However, there are times where I do feel the leading of the Lord to pray in the spirit, or with specific words, over a specific matter.

Recently I felt the Lord give me some instruction on prayer. It was more what to think than what to pray, what to think while praying to be more specific. It started with something James said, “the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

The first thing I did was look up “availeth.” I moved on to look up all the words in James’ statement. Here’s what I found…

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Precious In His Sight

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Precious In His Sight

How to End Self-Condemnation

Are you hard on yourself? That may be a good thing but it may be a bad thing. If you push yourself to be better in healthy ways, keep it up! But if you tend to compare yourself to others, or you feel like you’re not as far along in life as you’d like and you condemn yourself, stop it! I have good news for you! In this article, I’ll show you how to be free from self-judgment and condemnation.

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Are You Heart-Sick from Judging God?

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Are You Heart-Sick from Judging God?

Have you ever prayed and felt like nothing happened? Me too. Have you ever stood on a promise from God and the exact opposite happened? Me too. Maybe you were praying for provision, wisdom, the right job, a spouse or a loved one in a life threatening illness. And maybe that spouse never came, you never got the job or the loved one died. When then?

Does God Punish Sin Now?

Does God Punish Sin Now?

It's interesting we still have the same issues in Christianity today that Paul faced. You tell people they're free from the judgment of their sin in Christ and they’ll ask, "does that mean people can just sin and get away with it?" Well, certain people ask that. Those same kinds of people asked the Apostle Paul that on a regular basis.

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How to Forgive Others

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How to Forgive Others

There are two main sources of pain and suffering; loss and offense.

Loss is unfortunately part of this world. The world is not in the condition God created it to exist in and it’s not yet what it will be. One day God will restore all things and we’ll transition into what we know of as Heaven. Until then, we will all suffer some kinds of loss. We do have God’s promise of peace and provision in the midst of loss but it will come.

The other source of pain is offense. Offense comes when we attach significance to other’s actions. Offense is a tool of the enemy to keep us isolated but we’re also pretty good and being offended without the enemy’s help. Offense rests within the heart like a splinter. It’s a nagging pain that installs a filter. When we’re offended we look through it as a lens to the world. It skews every relationship and circumstance once the offense takes root in our heart.

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9 Lessons from Jesus About Prayer

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9 Lessons from Jesus About Prayer

In Matthew 6, Jesus gives much detail about prayer. What to do, what not to do, the attitude you should have and how to prioritize. He also makes prayer personal by describing God as your Father, that he values you and that he’ll provide for you because you are valuable. After Jesus’ discourse on prayer, he concludes with a simple yet profound statement… “so don’t worry.” Here are 9 take away’s from Matthew 6.

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Why Didn't Jesus Stone Adulterers to Death?

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Why Didn't Jesus Stone Adulterers to Death?

Here’s the progression of thought I’m addressing in this article:

  1. Leviticus 20:10 requires death for adultery.

  2. Jesus defined adultery as lust in your heart toward another woman rather than actual act of adultery. He raised the standard of the law from actions, to the intention of the heart. See Matthew 5:27-30

  3. When Jesus encountered an adulterers, he didn’t kill them. John 8:3-11 and John 4

  4. Why?

We have more than one historical record of Jesus encountering adulterers, neither time does he kill them, even though the Law requires it, why? Does Jesus contradict himself? Do the teachings of Jesus not apply to us? Should we throw out what he says because we have a New Covenant?

It’s none of that. Jesus honored the standard of the Law yet treated people in the context of love and grace. Jesus is the Word of God in action. He is God in the flesh. He is the embodiment of the righteous standard of God. Yet when he encountered a sin that required death, he lifted off every ounce of guilt, removed condemnation, forgave the person and gave them another chance.

Why?

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Our Perspective Often Undermines God's Goodness

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Our Perspective Often Undermines God's Goodness

They way we see it isn’t necessarily how it really is, it’s just how we see it.

Truer words couldn’t have been spoken when it comes to understanding how God operates in our lives. Too many Jesus followers base their beliefs about God on their circumstances rather on who God says he is. Here’s the bottom line, Jesus is a crystal clear image of who God is. Why then do we exalt God’s acquiescence to mankind’s failure over the clear picture of God’s intentions toward mankind through Christ?

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The LORD God is a Good Shepherd - A Meditation in Psalm 23

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The LORD God is a Good Shepherd - A Meditation in Psalm 23

Who you think God is, is the most important question you can answer. Framing up the character of God and how he relates to you is the most important thing you can resolve in your thinking. Unfortunately, scripture can be used to paint all sorts of narratives about God, but at his core, God is a loving father who chooses to define himself as a good shepherd, a shepherd who is kind to his sheep and leads them peacefully to green nourishing fields.

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Hold A Vision of God's Word in Your Heart

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Hold A Vision of God's Word in Your Heart

Carnal thinking: I am depressed
Spiritual thinking: The joy of the Lord is my strength
It's really that simple...or is it? 

Knowing the truth is simple but applying it takes wisdom. We know that carnal thinking leads to death and spiritual thinking leads to life and peace (Romans 8:6). The question that should leave you with is this; how do I think spiritually and how does it produce life and peace?

For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Carnal mindedness isn't necessarily depraved, sinful thinking, carnal thinking in its most basic form just leaves God out. Carnal thinking reasons based on what seems logical according to the way of the world. Spiritual thinking reasons based on God's ways and the fact that God can make a way where there is no way.

Carnal thinking is influenced by what it can see, spiritual thinking realizes there's an unseen element in the equation that can change things. Spiritual thinking realizes that with God, all things are possible. If you are facing a challenge and don't see how God can do anything about it, you're limited to what makes sense carnally and you simply need to repent.

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