What You Think Determines How You Live

Ephesians 2.1-6 describes, it wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.

We have to decide what we believe about ourselves and God for what we believe about these things determines how we live, and how we live, if there really is a God, determines our eternal destiny. (more…)

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Discipline Helps Us Through Testing

Ezekiel 21.13 describes, testing comes. Why have you despised discipline? You can’t get around it. Decree of GOD, the Master.

The human condition is filled with trials and tribulations, some worse than others but none are immune from such experiences. It is because the world rebelled against God so many years ago, now the seed of disobedience reigns within it. Weeds grow, things break, animals attack, people hurt one another, hurricanes occur, the list goes on. Testing comes to all and all of us are tested at various times. (more…)

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The Key To A Healthy Church

2 Corinthians 2.9-11, reminds us, the focus of my letter wasn’t on punishing the offender but on getting you to take responsibility for the health of the church. So if you forgive him, I forgive him. Don’t think I’m carrying around a list of personal grudges. The fact is that I’m joining in with your forgiveness, as Christ is with us, guiding us. After all, we don’t want to unwittingly give Satan an opening for yet more mischief—we’re not oblivious to his sly ways!

The health of the church is the responsibility of each of the members. The key to church health is each member seeing themselves as having an ownership interest. How does a church remain, become and develop it’s health? By living according to God’s Word. (more…)

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The Key To Successful Relationships

1 Corinthians 3.1-3 observes, I’m completely frustrated by your unspiritual dealings with each other and with God. You’re acting like infants in relation to Christ, capable of nothing much more than nursing at the breast. Well, then, I’ll nurse you since you don’t seem capable of anything more. As long as you grab for what makes you feel good or makes you look important, are you really much different than a babe at the breast, content only when everything’s going your way?

Selfishness and self-centeredness are the signs of immaturity in the Christian life. Immaturity runs rampant in the Church. We are hard pressed not to find an overabundance of selfishness and self-centeredness among those who claim Jesus as Savior. (more…)

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How To Keep From Being Separated From God

Luke 22.31-32 observes, Satan has tried his best to separate all of you from Me, like chaff from wheat. Simon, I’ve prayed for you in particular that you not give in or give out. When you have come through the time of testing, turn to your companions and give them a fresh start.

The goal of Satan is to separate us from Jesus. Not too complicated really. Why is this important? Jesus is life, Jesus is truth, Jesus is hope, Jesus is peace with God, Jesus is our Guarantor of life everlasting. (more…)

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The Red Pill Is Not The Answer

Judges 13.25 observes, The LORD’s spirit began to control him in Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.

We all want the red pill, to know and have the power of the spiritual world in order to better engage this world; from the movie the Matrix.

We who know the frustration and defeat of trying to always please God but falling short, so long for the Holy Spirit to strongly come upon us so that we always do what God desires. The Scriptures record at least three men who were overtaken by the Spirit of God: Sampson in this verse, David who was a friend of God and Solomon who had wisdom greater than all men who have ever lived. (more…)

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What A Godly Father Looks Like

Acts 10.1-3 describes, a man named Cornelius who lived in Caesarea, captain of the Italian Guard stationed there. He was a thoroughly good man. He had led everyone in his house to live worshipfully before God, was always helping people in need, and had the habit of prayer. One day about three o’clock in the afternoon he had a vision. An angel of God, as real as his next-door neighbor, came in and said, “Cornelius.

Cornelius was a rock star. He was a warrior for both men and God. That’s what most Christian men desire to be: strong before men, holy before God. Cornelius was great not because of his position before men, which was considerable. Cornelius was great because of his position before God. (more…)

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July 4th Reflections

Jeremiah 2.1-3 records, GOD ’s Message came to me. It went like this: “Get out in the streets and call to Jerusalem, ‘ GOD ’s Message! I remember your youthful loyalty, our love as newlyweds. You stayed with me through the wilderness years, stuck with me through all the hard places. Israel was GOD ’s holy choice, the pick of the crop. Anyone who laid a hand on her would soon wish he hadn’t!’” GOD ’s Decree.

We just finished celebrating the 4th of July, the birth of America, the greatest nation on the earth. Great because it allows its people the greatest freedom to be who God made them to be and to exercise the gifts and talents that God gave them. It is the greatest nation because it is the most free nation for worshiping the One True God, without constraint or control by the government – or at least it used to be. (more…)

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The Most Appropriate Response to God

Joshua 5.14 observes, Joshua fell, face to the ground, and worshiped. He asked, What orders does my Master have for His servant?

When we encounter God our response to Him is simple, what would you have me to do? It’s not complicated really. He is God, our Creator, our Sustainer, the One Who brought us into His world and allows us to live upon it. If we chaff at this idea of responding to God humbly and obediently it is because we are poor in at least two areas. (more…)

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Living Well? By Whose Standard?

Psalm 90.12 asks God, Oh! Teach us to live well! Teach us to live wisely and well! Come back, GOD —how long do we have to wait?

What does it mean to live well? Man would define it by money enough to do as you please. To buy the things you need and want. To go to the places you desire. To do the things you want to do. Living well means freedom to have and do whatever you desire. To live well one must have money, a lot of money. (more…)

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