It can be hard to find a good church, have you noticed? When I say church, I don’t necessarily mean the classic definition, I mean a body of believers that support and encourage one another. Depending on where you are in the world your options may be limited. Depending on what city you’re in in the USA, you may not have a church preaching the Gospel near you.
Do you know why you exist, why God created you? Was it to do a job for him? No! It was to be his child. You can know someone’s intent by their endgame, the ultimate result of why they’re doing what they’re doing. God’s ultimate explanation of his intention toward mankind point to an eternal family that lives with him in perfection as he reveals his grace to us forever!!
When the Apostle Paul asked God to take away his “thorn in the flesh,” God answered by saying, “my grace is what you need.” Was that a “no?” No! That was a solution. God’s grace is an inner power that causes us to overcome any and every situation we may face. God didn’t tell Paul, no, not right now, I need you to suffer a little while, he said Paul, if you’ll access my power within you you’ll have victory in this area. This is true for us as well, check out this message and article to discover how to access grace!
To understand a letter or a book, it’s best to read the whole thing, especially when it comes to the Bible. It’s important to know how an author defines certain words and who he is speaking to. Take this verse for example…
For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Hebrews 10:26-27
Do you know what he means by “if we go on sinning deliberately?” Most folks will say “it’s obvious, he’s talking about adultery, drunkenness, immorality and sexual sin.” Except he isn’t. Let me explain.
When the Old Covenant prophets prophesied the New Covenant, they were declarations from God regarding what he would do for his people. He announces promises and blessings for those in this New Covenant. There is no curse outlined for breaking the New Covenant, only the possibility of missing out on the promises if they didn’t follow his instructions.
When you talk to God, do you ask him to move Heaven and Earth to meet your need or do you ask for wisdom to be led to your solution? Faith is more internal than external, it’s about trusting God to shape you rather than shaping the world. Faith doesn’t necessarily move God, it’s your response to his love and influence in your heart. Faith, is our response to what God has accomplished in Jesus.
Fear is a human emotion that is triggered by a perceived threat. It is a basic survival mechanism that signals our bodies to respond to danger with a fight or flight response. Essentially, fear is an attempt to keep ourselves safe.
If you find yourself afraid of a situation, whether real or imagined, you can position yourself before God to be empowered and conquer the fear. He designed your body to respond to your focus. Choose one of his promises in Christ, remember that Jesus conquered death for you and allow your body to change its chemistry and serve you better.
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…
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.
