All posts tagged: Christian

That which looks, sounds, smell, Spirit filled is not necessarily Spirit Filled

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As a pastor and spiritual head of both my church and my family, I usually get the following questions either by leaders in my congregation or most certainly by my wife: “Is the Holy Spirit leading you? Did you hear from God for the direction you are taking this church or family? Did you get a word from God about this project, plan or path you are taking us on?” I must confess that sometimes I am tempted to clothe my speech, my plan, and projects with an emphatic yes , “the Lord told me, the Spirit has spoken, the Lord is leading.” But anointing our plans as God’s will, or the Spirit’s leading doesn’t mean that they actually are Spirit led. In the the same way, claiming to be filled with the Spirit, sounding like we are Spirit filled or acting like we are spirit filled does not mean we actually are. It is crystal clear in the the Bible that we should be Spirit Filled. Ephesians 5:18 commands, And do not get drunk …

Can money buy happiness?

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In this talk, Michael Norton shares fascinating research on how money can, indeed buy happiness — when you don’t spend it on yourself. I think you will find the talk interesting, but what I would like for us to consider and comment on is Michael’s phrase “money can buy you happiness.” What does the Bible teach about happiness? What do you think, as a believer about the subject “If you think money can’t buy happiness, you’re not spending it right,” Norton said. “You should stop thinking about which product to buy for yourself, and try giving some of it to other people instead.” “The reason that money doesn’t make us happy is that we’re always spending on the wrong things, and in particular that we’re always spending it on ourselves,” he said. Norton said that in numerous studies, “people who spent money on other people got happier; people who spent money on themselves, nothing happened. It didn’t make them less happy; it just didn’t do much for them.” Is it a sin to be rich? …

Piercing the darkness

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In him was life, and the life was light of men John 1:4, 5 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not comprehend it. We saw in verses 1-3 that Jesus was not created but instead was creator. He is the source of all life. The ancient Greek word translated life is zoe, which means “the life principle,” not bios, which is mere biological life. This life which is the light of men – speaks of spiritual light. Without Jesus we are lost. We are the blind leading the blind. We may claim to have enlightenment or knowledge of spiritual things, but we are just fooling ourselves.  All that we are and have or can do – knowledge, integrity, intelligence, willingness to submit to God, love Him and love others, wisdom, purity, joy, all has its fountain in Jesus. Like the Psalmist says, “For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.” And because he hath the life …

Come Now, let us reason together

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> There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s vein and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stain.Lose all their guilty stain http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaGKfCh7OBo&feature=youtube_gdata_player The most important thing one can ever enjoy from a relationship with God is the blessing and hope of being forgiven of past, present and future sins. As long as we stay under the blood, covered and cleansed daily we can rest assured of His continued presence and blessing. We are purchased by the blood of Jesus Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. Acts 20:28 We are redeemed by the blood of Jesus “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.” Ephesians 1:7 We are cleansed, washed and sanctified “For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a …

Adrift

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I heard a story some time ago about an ungodly farmer. It is said that when he  died, it was discovered in his will that he had left his farm to the Devil. In the court, they didn’t quite know what to do with it — how do you give a farm to the Devil? Finally, the judge decided: “The best way to carry out the wishes of the deceased is to allow the farm to grow weeds, the soil to erode, and the house and barn to rot. In our opinion, the best way to leave something to the Devil is to do nothing.” In the same way, we can leave our lives to the Devil doing nothing. Just let the weeds grow, and the soil of our hearts erode and our spiritual house rot, slowly drifting away with whatever currents this world might. But the Bible warns of the dangers of neglecting our great salvation: Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the …

Courage in the Valley

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In his book “Stepping Up” Dennis Rainey writes, “there are moments and seasons in life that a man can’t possibly prepare for. He is dropped into combat without warning.” He than goes on to share eight lessons he learned about tragedy and loss. Lessons he learned first hand after the passing of his third grandchild Molly. I would like to highlight five of the eight today to encourage you to realize that our greatest test as men come in the valleys of life and those are the times we need to man up and step up and show up. You don’t have to understand all of God’s purpose to step up and be His man You can still have doubts and step up You are no less a courageous man if you are faced with situations that you cannot fix and about which you don’t know what to do but cry out to God in prayer You will need another good man standing alongside you when you journey through the valley You must know the truth about who God …

Spiritual Warfare 101

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Part 6 Sin and Suffering Proponents of EMM make two major arguments: Because Jesus and the apostles cast out demons, we should do likewise. Because EMM is not forbidden by Jesus or the rest of the NT, there is no reason not to use it. Powlison argues that the Bible does not teach us to wage spiritual warfare using EMM. Rather Scripture teaches us a different way to live the Christian life and fight our ancient foe. The Dominion of Darkness Entails Sin and Suffering One key to understanding spiritual warfare in the ministry of Jesus Christ is to notice that he mounted a twin-pronged offensive against the powers of evil—against moral evil and situational evil. Jesus employed two modes of warfare to address two different facets of the evil works of the devil. Moral evil = the evil people believe and do. Situational evil = the evil we experience (suffering, hardship, unpleasant and harmful events, death) The two meanings of evil are closely linked; Satan employs both for his evil purposes. God consistently portrays inhabiting …

Co-Work with God!

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I downloaded an app unto my iPad today to help plan, pray and make daily progress in my up coming prayer effort for my community.  Beginning February 22 through April 1 – I will begin a forty day prayer journey asking God to fulfill His purpose in my community. The app makes it very easy to do it. While I was browsing, I came across this little article that I thought would be a blessing to you as it was to me. It is about how we can partner with God in sharing His love and kindness. ______________________________________________________________ Co-work with God Co- work with God in the story of His love. The story started early. When did God begin to do good things in your life? Was it only after you became a Christian? Actually, the Bible is very clear about God doing good things in people’s lives long before they even know about Him. There’s a story of kindness in every person’s life. God delights in showing His premeditated, forever love with tangible acts of kindness. …

You are a precious jewel

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“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” Matthew 13:45, 46 Ways that Christians are like jewels: (GUZ) ·        They are hard and durable ·        They are prized for their luster ·        They are prized for their rarity ·        They are made by God alone ·        They are of all different sizes, yet they are all jewels ·        They are found all over the world ·        They are associated with royalty ·        They are protected ·        Some are hidden and undiscovered ·        Some are not yet polished “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his …