Tag Archives: Christianity

September 3, 2015 · 5:30 AM

Getting God’s Attention

From my earliest childhood, I remember hearing the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel from I Kings 18. If you’re unfamiliar with it, Elijah was the sole prophet of God in the land, and the people were following false gods. He called out the prophets of Baal and challenged them to a public duel on top of the mountain. They each prepared a sacrifice and would pray to their god to see whose was real. The god who was real would answer by fire and burn the sacrifice up.

The prophets of Baal prayed hard for fire. When there was no answer, they started jumping around and stomping as they prayed. When there still wasn’t an answer, they prayed louder and then began to cut themselves to get their god’s attention. Verse 29 sums it up, “This went on until well past noon. They used every religious trick and strategy they knew to make something happen on the altar, but nothing happened—not so much as a whisper, not a flicker of response” (MSG). For hours they tried to earn their god’s attention and failed.

I always thought very poorly of those prophets and even laughed at the way Elijah mocked them. But now I wonder if we are any different than they were. We may serve the God who won that duel, but we have resorted to their tactics to get His attention. We seem to believe that there is something you and I can do to earn His favor or to get an answer to prayer. We pray loudly, we stomp, we circle and even put ourselves in danger to test God to get Him to answer. But God isn’t looking for that from us.

What He’s looking for is found in verse 37. In Elijah’s prayer, he said, “Answer me, Lord, answer me, so that this people will know that you, the Lord, are God, and that you are bringing them back to yourself” (GNB). The prayers God responds to are ones that bring Him glory and allow Him to do the work. They have nothing to do with bringing attention to ourselves. Religion is all about working to get a god’s attention to come to us, but Christianity is about letting God draw us to Him. It’s not about what we do; it’s about what He does.

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July 20, 2015 · 5:16 AM

Fit Perfectly Together (Video)

He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

Ephesians 4:16 (NLT)

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July 8, 2015 · 7:39 AM

Building Up Your Inner Self

One thing I know is for certain: Life happens. The comedian Mark Lowry asked the question, “What is life?” He then responded, “Life is a series of emotions, a mountain after a valley, a wife to feed, a husband to clothe, children to raise, a boss to put up with, car notes, taxes, April 15th. Life is life. Christ said, ‘I’ve come to give you life…. more abundant!” He shared that as believers, we aren’t exempt from the things life brings. In fact, we might experience more of it. Our mountains seem to be higher and our valleys lower. It’s important in those times that you have the inner strength to endure what life throws at you.

Jude 1:20-21 says, “But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith, by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying at the center of God’s love, keeping your arms open and outstretched. (MSG)” Jude knew we would experience life and he told us to pray in the Holy Spirit. Building your self up to withstand what life brings starts with prayer because prayer keeps us centered with God. It keeps our eyes off of how big our problems are and on how big our God is. In those times, we can keep our arms stretched out in prayer for balance instead of pulled tightly to our side ready for the fall.

Another thing we can do to strengthen our inner man is to have others pray for us. Letting others know that you’re struggling is not a sign of weakness. There are times when we lack the fortitude to face alone what life throws at us. We need other believers who can pray like Paul did for the Ephesian Church in Ephesians 3:16. He said, “I pray that from His (God’s) glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength from His Spirit. (NLT)” Have other believers pray that God would give you strength to endure. When you don’t have the strength to lift your head to Heaven, others do. Allow them to stand in the gap for you.

Finally, remember what God has done for you in the past. Thinking of the times that God has brought you through already will build up your inner strength to get through life’s problems. In Psalm 42:6, the psalmist said, “My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you. (NIV)” He then finishes the Psalm talking to himself saying, “Put your hope in God.” He is the source of our inner strength and in times of weakness, His strength is made perfect. He hasn’t failed you yet and He won’t start now. 

You may not be able to see past what life has in front of you right now, but God can. You may not have the strength to endure it, but God can give it to you. When the waves keep crashing against you, when the valley seems too dark and you’re emotionally drained, God is right there with you. His Word will be a lamp to your feet and light to your path. His presence will surround you in the chaos and give you peace where there is none. You can be centered in Him in the middle of life’s biggest storms because of prayer and hope. Don’t let go. Remember the God you serves I’ll give you strength to endure. 

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June 8, 2015 · 5:48 AM

Your New Season (Video)

12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.

Philippians 3:12-13

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June 5, 2015 · 5:30 AM

10 Scriptures On “Good”

  
1.   Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, and to those who are right [with You and all people] in their hearts. (Psalm 125:4 AMP)

2.   Remember, the sins of some people are obvious, leading them to certain judgment. But there are others whose sins will not be revealed until later. In the same way, the good deeds of some people are obvious. And the good deeds done in secret will someday come to light. (1 Timothy 5:24-25 NLT)

3.   Humans are satisfied with whatever looks good; GOD probes for what is good. (Proverbs 16:2 MSG)

4.   Do not be fooled. “Bad companions ruin good character.” (1 Corinthians 15:33 GNT)

5.   Turn your back on evil, work for the good and don’t quit. GOD loves this kind of thing, never turns away from his friends. Live this way and you’ve got it made, but bad eggs will be tossed out. The good get planted on good land and put down healthy roots. (Psalm 37:27-28 MSG)

6.   Do not let evil defeat you; instead, conquer evil with good. (Romans 12:21 GNT)

7.   As for the rest of you, dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good. (2 Thessalonians 3:13 NLT)

8.   Beloved, do not imitate evil, but imitate good. He who does good is of God; he who does evil has not seen (discerned or experienced) God [has enjoyed no vision of Him and does not know Him at all]. (3 John 1:11 AMP)

9.   Find a good spouse, you find a good life— and even more: the favor of GOD! (Proverbs 18:22 MSG)

10.   So—join the company of good men and women, keep your feet on the tried-and-true paths. It’s the men who walk straight who will settle this land, the women with integrity who will last here. The corrupt will lose their lives; the dishonest will be gone for good. (Proverbs 2:20-22 MSG)

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April 27, 2015 · 6:23 AM

The Balcony Of Boldness (Video)

That’s when Peter stood up and, backed by the other eleven, spoke out with bold urgency: “Fellow Jews, all of you who are visiting Jerusalem, listen carefully and get this story straight. These people aren’t drunk as some of you suspect. They haven’t had time to get drunk—it’s only nine o’clock in the morning. This is what the prophet Joel announced would happen:

“In the Last Days,” God says,
“I will pour out my Spirit
on every kind of people:
Your sons will prophesy,
also your daughters;
Your young men will see visions,
your old men dream dreams.
When the time comes,
I’ll pour out my Spirit
On those who serve me, men and women both,
and they’ll prophesy.
I’ll set wonders in the sky above
and signs on the earth below,
Blood and fire and billowing smoke,
the sun turning black and the moon blood-red,
Before the Day of the Lord arrives,
the Day tremendous and marvelous;
And whoever calls out for help
to me, God, will be saved.”

Acts 2:14-12 (MSG)

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April 7, 2015 · 6:50 AM

Three Steps To Spiritual Intimacy

In my own experience, I’ve found it takes three things in order to lose weight: a strong determination, exercise and good food choices. When I’ve had these three things working together, I’ve been able to lose weight. Without them, I tend to gain weight. I’ve also found that spiritual growth and intimacy with God takes the same three elements. When I put my focus and energy into these three areas, I experience intentional growth and closeness with God. When I lose sight of them, I tend to drift along spiritually. 

The first thing I’ve found that I’ve needed is a strong determination. I have to choose to want to grow and to get closer in my relationship with God. The moment you decide to move closer to God, you will begin to see lots of barriers in your way. If you have not fully committed to pushing forward, you will lose sight of the goal and turn back around. Any time I start to feel discouraged and want to quit moving forward, I remember II Chronicles 15:7. It says, “But you must be strong and not be discouraged. The work that you do will be rewarded. (GNB)” Keep your eye on the reward and encourage yourself to keep going.

Next you will need to begin exercising your faith if you want to see improvements. Just like physical exercise, spiritual exercise is not easy. It involves stretching yourself, making commitments that others won’t and cutting out certain areas of your life that waste your time or push you away from God. Fasting is a great example of spiritual exercise. It denies your flesh what it wants and spends time in prayer and reading God’s Word in its place. You choose how long the commitment is and what it involves. I’ve found that having someone to fast with keeps me accountable and improves the results. I Timothy 4:8 says, “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come. (NLT)”

The third part is the toughest for me. Making the right choices on my spiritual intake. There are so many things that are bad, but just like regular food, some of my favorites are not good for me. Putting in the wrong types of food are detrimental to the goal. You can take one step forward in exercising and two steps back in spiritual food consumption. What you put into your spirit through TV, movies, books and music matters. Each one either feeds your spirit junk food or proper nutrition. Making the right choices determines the growth and intimacy you will see.

I read a quote from Jeanne Mayo that has had me thinking quite a bit. She said, “Salvation and grace are free, but closeness and intimacy with God are not. They will cost you.” Unfortunately, most of us are content to live with the free gifts of salvation and grace. That’s not God’s desire. James 4:8 says, “Draw close to God and He will draw close to you.” He wants us to move closer to Him. He wants us to have intimacy with Him. The question is: Do you have the will power and determination to pay the cost through spiritual exercise and what you feed your spirit to make it happen?

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April 6, 2015 · 5:30 AM

The Story Of The Dogwood (Video)

Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip. 2 The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put a purple robe on him. 16 Then Pilate turned Jesus over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus away. 17 Carrying the cross by himself, he went to the place called Place of the Skull (in Hebrew, Golgotha). 18 There they nailed him to the cross. Two others were crucified with him, one on either side, with Jesus between them.

John 19:1-2, 16-18

6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

Romans 5:6-11

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April 3, 2015 · 5:45 AM

10 Scriptures On Resurrection

 

1.   “You don’t have to wait for the End. I am, right now, Resurrection and Life. The one who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live. And everyone who lives believing in me does not ultimately die at all.” (John 11:25-26 MSG)

2.   With great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God poured rich blessings on them all. (Acts 4:33 GNB)

3.   For since [it was] through a man that death [came into the world, it is] also through a Man that the resurrection of the dead [has come]. (1 Corinthians 15:21 AMP)

4.   I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! (Philippians 3:10-11 NLT)

5.   Then he turned to the host. “The next time you put on a dinner, don’t just invite your friends and family and rich neighbors, the kind of people who will return the favor. Invite some people who never get invited out, the misfits from the wrong side of the tracks. You’ll be—and experience—a blessing. They won’t be able to return the favor, but the favor will be returned—oh, how it will be returned!—at the resurrection of God’s people.” (Luke 14:12-14 MSG)

6.   And baptism, which is a figure [of their deliverance], does now also save you [from inward questionings and fears], not by the removing of outward body filth [bathing], but by [providing you with] the answer of a good and clear conscience (inward cleanness and peace) before God [because you are demonstrating what you believe to be yours] through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 3:21 AMP)

7.   But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back. (1 Corinthians 15:23 NLT)

8.   “Don’t act so surprised at all this. The time is coming when everyone dead and buried will hear his voice. Those who have lived the right way will walk out into a resurrection Life; those who have lived the wrong way, into a resurrection Judgment. (John 5:28-29 MSG)

9.   David saw what God was going to do in the future, and so he spoke about the resurrection of the Messiah when he said: ‘He was not abandoned in the world of the dead; his body did not rot in the grave.’ (Acts 2:31 GNB)

10.   At the crack of dawn on Sunday, the women came to the tomb carrying the burial spices they had prepared. They found the entrance stone rolled back from the tomb, so they walked in. But once inside, they couldn’t find the body of the Master Jesus.

They were puzzled, wondering what to make of this. Then, out of nowhere it seemed, two men, light cascading over them, stood there. The women were awestruck and bowed down in worship. The men said, “Why are you looking for the Living One in a cemetery? He is not here, but raised up. Remember how he told you when you were still back in Galilee that he had to be handed over to sinners, be killed on a cross, and in three days rise up?” Then they remembered Jesus’ words. (Luke 24:1-8 MSG)

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

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April 1, 2015 · 7:32 AM

Silence Before The Storm

I recently watched an interview with Jesse Martin who was the youngest person to sail around the world solo and unassisted. He was 17 years old when he set sail. During the interview, they showed some footage from the documentary “Lionheart” that was made from his trip. In one of those clips, he looks at the camera and says, “Something’s wrong. It’s too quiet. I’ve been watching the barometer and it just keeps falling. It’s eerily quiet out here. I’m going to prepare the boat for the worst and get ready for anything.” He started tying up all loose ends, putting things where they went, securing anything that might be lost as it was tossed about. His instincts were right and his preparations weren’t in vain.

A bad storm came that night and flipped his tiny ship on its side several times. Winds reached 80 miles per hour, the boat was damaged, he lost a couple of things too, but he survived. When asked about how that affected him, he said, “The day after the storm was over was one of my happiest days. I knew that I had survived and was going to make it.” He felt a sense of accomplishment because his losses were minimal and because he recognized that something was wrong and did something about it.

Days before the crucifixion, Jesus felt that same calm. The barometer was falling and there was a sense that something was wrong. He knew what was coming and began preparing for the storm that was coming. He spent all day Tuesday battening down the hatches in the temple. He gave many parables and answered lots of questions to get everyone else prepared for what was coming. On Wednesday, I believe He was finished getting ready for the storm and just spent time with His disciples savoring every moment. He was all about relationships and He knew what Thursday evening would bring. 

The storm that was coming would toss about people’s faith. He would lose one disciple in it. Many would be afraid and take cover. The storm may have caught them off guard, but it didn’t catch Him off guard. For three days this storm raged on. The disciples must have questioned everything. They didn’t anticipate the Messiah being killed. They envisioned Him fighting Rome and setting up an eternal kingdom on Earth. This was nothing like they had imagined and everything that God had. They couldn’t see God’s plan in the storm. They couldn’t see how His death would bring them life until the storm was over.

Our lives don’t always go the way we plan them, but they do go the way God has planned them. We don’t always see through the storm, but God does. Every drop of doubt, every tear of pain and every puddle of pity are dried up on the other side of the storm. It’s in God’s light that we begin to see the reason for the rain. It’s on the other side of the storm that we see the rainbow of His promises. If it’s raining in your life right now, hold on. A day of rejoicing is coming. The storm will end and you will survive.  You can make it through anything because God will not abandon you. He endures with you. There is nothing that can come against you that will run Him off. 

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