Living4Christ

Love in Action As Christians, we are called to show others love. Jesus told His disciples, "By this shall all [men] know that you are My disciples, if you love one another [if you keep on showing love among yourselves]" (John 13:35). So many people see love as 'just a feeling,' but it's so much more than that. True love shows itself through action. And this action doesn't have to be impossible and overwhelming. One of the best ways to show the love of Jesus is through simple, everyday action,

The Father’s Heart A little background to Joseph. Joseph was the son of Jacob, also known as Israel  (His name was changed to Israel because he 'wrestled' with God. See Genesis 35) . Joseph was a young man, 17 years old, born in his father's old age against all expectation and was precious and favored for this reason. Moreover, his obedient nature strengthened the favor that he received from Jacob. Reading these verses may make you feel like Joseph’s father was at fault. Every child is a blessing, but the miracle of their birth may differ, as Joseph’s did. However, Jacob openly showed favoritism to one child and this provoked sibling rivalry and feelings of jealousy among his children. Parents can show favoritism and children may be able to win their parents’ heart. When we focus on the latter, we see that perhaps Joseph’s father was not entirely at fault for his favoritism, as he was simply responding to the obedience of his son, Joseph. Joseph was where his fathe

Are you Reconciled With The Lord!!!  What does it mean to be reconciled to God? It means  that I have excepted the Lord as my Savior and king . God sees the heart of man, and he knows exactly what we are going to do before we do them.. Are you following his reconciliation or making your own rules as you go... All the lord wants is to have a real intimate relationship with us but he knows the intent and the content of your heart before you even formulate your thoughts. In 2 Corinthians 5:20, Paul emphasizes again the reconciliation and favor God extends to us and encourages us to believe these things: “So we are Christ’s ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were through us. We [as Christ’s personal representatives] beg you for His sake to lay hold of the divine favor [now offered you] and be reconciled to God.” Paul is actually begging the believers of his day to take hold of what God is offering, and I urge you to do the same. Don’t wait another moment to believe that God a

Stranger Danger Many in the body of Christ have become increasingly vulnerable to the deceptions of the voice of  the enemy.  Listening to God’s voice becomes a real challenge due to ungodly chatter . Tragically, some people begin to doubt God’s word and the truth He teaches from His Word. The Lord will allow us to see the origin of this problem Ask yourself the question?  Why did Eve ever indulge in listening to the serpent’s deceptive words? Why didn’t she recognize that this was the voice of the stranger?  She seemed so easily swayed by the enemy’s lies. Why was Eve so easily enticed ? I believe that even though Eve knew truth, she wasn’t firmly grounded in truth. She knew what God “said” but never fully grasped Who He was—in Agape love and in sovereignty . She didn’t understand He would never hold back any good thing from her. Psalms 84:11KJV For the LORD God  is  a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good  thing  will he withhold from them that wa

The Symptoms of Stopped-up Ears Adam and Eve knew God firsthand! The coming generations of their family members also knew God or at least knew of Him well. Slowly, over the many years, most people stopped thanking and acknowledging God as their source. Sin increased. Most sins are just symptoms of a more deeply rooted sin: the sin of stopping up our ears to the truth of God and instead listening to a lie. When we stop recognizing God as the Giver of all good things, we stop seeing clearly. We stop thinking wisely. We refuse to listen to truth. Romans chapter one plainly reveals this reality. And here’s a sobering statement:  refusing to listen to the truth is, essentially, rejecting God. Now, as Christians, we obviously embrace God’s Word as truth. But we must keep our ears unclogged by recognizing and rejecting false truths and remaining tuned in to God’s voice. Equally sobering is the fact that truth rejecters often drag others into their pits of deception, as we learned fro

Who Is Your Spiritual Advisor? God will often communicate His will and wisdom to you through other followers of Christ! I can’t even begin to count the times God has used another Christian to get a message through to my heart! I hear the Lord speak  through my pastors, a podcast, my friends, my children, a blogger, or someone that I just come into contact with . my Spiritual Advisory Board are as follows :God my spouse my Pastor and my parents and others that are true believers of Christ  How about you? Do you seek out and listen openly to other believers you respect? Staying consistently connected with other Christians (especially those who are growing and grounded in God’s Word) is vital for your own personal faith journey. Listening to them is not enough, though.You must pray unto the Lord for the final decision  Do you often apply or put into practice the advice or wisdom you’ve heard? Be wise and remain involved in sound bi! Listen to your faith-family. We need them, and

May I Have Your Attention, Please? There’s hearing, and then there’s listening. Hearing is the ability to perceive sounds or information. Listening is paying attention to them.  In the book of Jeremiah because the people would not listen it is very sad, but sadly not uncommon. These Old Testament accounts from the Prophet Jeremiah are huge red flags warning us of danger ahead when we don’t give God our full attention with all our heart, mind, and strength. Why? Well, if we aren’t paying attention to God and His ways, we’re headed in the wrong direction—going backward and not forward. Too often, these wrong paths take us to dark and destructive places. The culprit of distraction is usually some innocently attractive lure such as a full schedule, raising kids, a quest for more of something, or even an electronic gadget with a host of fun surprises! To my knowledge, my 5 children all have perfect hearing, but too often their listening can be passive! Sometimes I would say someth

You’re Not Stuck—You’re Going Through And will Come Out Better! We will all go through situations in life—some bad, some good. Many times, we think the phrase “I’m going through something” is bad news, but if we view it properly, we realize “going through” is good; it means we’re not stuck! We may be facing difficulties, but at least we are moving forward. Isaiah 43:2 says, “ When thou passest through the waters, I will be  with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. (emphasis added). God's Word here is very clear We will go through things, we will face adversity in our lives. That's not bad news, that's reality . Let me repeat: we   will   go through things in life, but the things we go through are the very circumstances, challenges, and situations that make us people who know how to overcome adversity. We do not grow or become strong durin

Oh Yes You Can! We all face temptation, it's an unavoidable part of life. The question is not, "Will you be tempted?" The question is, "When you're tempted, will you be ready?" I really want you to get this: You can beat temptation. Stop saying, I just don't think I can.' Take 'I can't!' out of your vocabulary. In your own strength and by your own ability, you're right. You can't. But when you put God's Word in your heart, when you lean on His strength and trust in His promises, there's no temptation you can't overcome. Next, you have to believe that you can resist temptation. Condemnation, guilt and shame work off of momentum, if you stop them early, they lose their power, but once they get rolling, they're hard to stop. Third, think of facing temptation as normal life. If you're expecting a fight, you'll always be ready. Avoid areas of weakness. Don't put yourself in situations where you can

Manage Your Emotions We all have emotions, but we must learn to manage them. Emotions can be positive or negative. They can make us feel wonderful or awful. They are a central part of being human, and that is fine. Unfortunately, most people do what they feel like doing, say what they feel like saying, buy what they feel like buying, and eat what they feel like eating. And that is not fine, because feelings are not wisdom. Feelings are fickle; they change frequently and without notification. Since feelings are unreliable, we must not direct our lives according to how we feel. You can be aware of your feelings and acknowledge their legitimacy without necessarily acting on them. God has given us wisdom, and we should walk in it, not our emotions. Healthy emotions are very important. They help us recognize how we truly feel and what we value. Good emotional health is vital for a good life. But a good life also means being able to manage our emotions and not be managed by them. Ne

Your Plans or God’s Plans? We must learn to wait for God’s plans to develop. He perfects everything that concerns us. True boldness moves in God’s timing; it moves at the right time. During the three years of Jesus’ earthly ministry, people thought He was crazy. His own brothers were embarrassed by Him, and in an effort to save their reputation, they told Him He needed to go somewhere else and do His works. If He was unwilling to do that, they had another option for Him. They told Him to take action and stop doing His works in secret. They tried to convince Him it was time to show Himself and His works to the world. In other words, they wanted Jesus to impress the people with what He could do. He responded to them by saying, “My time (opportunity) has not come yet…” (John 7:6). How many of us could show that type of self-control? If you could do the miracles that He could do and were being made fun of and challenged to show your stuff, what would you do? Would

Jesus Is always Your Peace Satan relentlessly attempts to steal everything God has provided for His children through Jesus Christ. Peace is one of the biggies; it is one of the things he works extra hard to prevent us from enjoying. Remember, we have peace—Jesus provided it—but we must  appropriate  it. That means to take it and use it for our own use. Satan does everything he can to keep us from doing this, beginning with deception; he wants us to think that peace is not possible, that it is not even an option. When we have a challenging situation, Satan says, “What are you going to do? What are you going to do?” We frequently don’t know what to do; nevertheless, Satan pressures us for answers that we don’t have. He tries to make us believe it is our responsibility to solve our problems when the Word of God clearly states that our job as believers is to believe —not solve our problems. We believe, and God works on our behalf to bring answers that meet our needs. A good exam

It’s No Surprise to God Every one wants to feel safe in every area of life. But we’re constantly attacked with the fear that we won’t have what we need—whether it’s finances, relationships, or the ability to do what God has called us to do. More than any other command in Scripture, God tells us not to fear. God never promises us a trouble-free life, but He does promise us His presence and gives us strength that only comes from the Lord to get through our troubles. Back in July a very close friend of the family was diagnose with stage 2 cancer by the time she realized that something was wrong she was being rushed to the Hospital. Tests were needed, and she was told after all the tests were completed that she would need 2 surgery's. The 2nd was needed to help remove the cancer completely. She was very concerned by having 2 surgery's but, after a 2nd opinion she was told it was needed. She was positive about the outcome but, she was still very concerned about the what ifs “

Whatever happened to helping restore a brother or a sister that has fallen from  God's Grace into sin. It truly saddens me how we begin to give our opinion and gossip about the brother or sister. We begin to cast Judgement quote scripture to back up what we are saying and then add insult even more the injury have the ordasity to say it's the word.. Yes your absolutely right it's the word but the word also says in (John 8:1-8:59) YE without sin let him cast the first stone. We are not God and when we take scriptures to whip someone we have already forgotten  (John 8:1-8:59). We are the church and because we take half of the 66 books of the Bible apply some and leave the rest. We must live the whole word of God without any excuses. Listen I am far from being perfect but, I know how it feels to need some to understand but, also be honest with you about the situation even if they say I know I know  but, also show Agape Love unconditional Love what Jesus Christ showed the

One Choice After Another Are you enjoying the life and blessings of God in your everyday life? Or have you made a series of choices resulting in disappointment, pain, or feeling that everything you do requires great effort and produces little reward? Don’t spend your time and energy mourning all the bad decisions you have made; just start making good ones. There is hope for you! The way to overcome the results of a series of bad choices is through a series of right choices. The only way to walk out of trouble is to do the opposite of whatever you did to get into trouble—one choice at a time. Maybe the circumstances of your life right now are the direct result of a series of bad choices you have made. You may be in debt because you have made a lot of bad choices with money. You may be lonely because of a series of bad choices in relationships or in the way you treat people. You may be sick because of a series of unhealthy choices: eating junk food, not getting enough rest, or abusi

Your New Nature  God’s Word teaches us that when we receive Christ as our Savior and Lord, He gives us a new nature. He gives us His nature. He also gives us a spirit of discipline and self-control, which is vital in allowing us to choose the ways of of the Lord . He gives us a sound mind (see 2 Timothy 1:7 KJV), and that means we can think about things properly without being controlled by emotion OUR EMOTIONS DON'T MOVE GOD. The Lord Gives us a  brand-new way of behaving. God gives us the ability and offers to help us, but we are not puppets and God will not manipulate us. We must choose spirit over flesh and right over wrong. Our renewed spirit will then control our souls and bodies or, to say it another way, THE HOLYGHOST  will not cause one to misbehave . Without God’s help we have difficulty doing things in moderation. We frequently eat too much, spend too much money, have too much entertainment, and talk too much. We are excessive in our actions because we behave emoti

Bitterness of The Heart Bitterness toward God is a sure way to hinder hearing His voice with matters of your heart. Any-time bitterness tries to take hold of you, one should refuse it. Many times, the devil tries to make us think we are the only ones having a hard time. I don't mean to sound unsympathetic, but, no matter how bad our problems are, someone else always has a worse problem. At one time in my life I was homeless and my family turned there back's on me I even had a family member to offer me money but wouldn't allow me to just stay in there home until I got back on my feet.. I even asked a close girlfriend to sleep on her floor and they also denied me I was so angry that I was  not even thinking about that the Lord was calling me to a intimate relationship with him what relationship... I just need a roof over my head a place to sleep .. I was so angry  and hurt that I didn't speak to the family member for quite awhile and the close girlfriend as well... Th

Be Expectant God's power is released when we pray in faith, trusting and believing Him, because faith pleases Him. Expectancy is an attribute of faith  when your waiting on God that carries its own kind of power - the power of hope. Faith reaches out into the spiritual realm and expects God's supernatural power to show up and do what no person on Earth could do. Sometimes you just have to take a seat and wait and watch God move..Doubt, on the other hand, is afraid nothing good will happen; it does not please God and is not something He is able to bless. We are powerless when we live with doubt, disappointment, and a lack of confidence in God. Just think about a time when you were not really sure God would come through for you. You were not able to pray very powerful prayers, were you? Now recall a time when your heart trusted completely in God and you really believed that He would come through for you. You were able to pray then with a certain sense of power, weren't yo

Praise Your Way into God's Presence There are ways to make ourselves available to hear God's voice and one of them is to enter into respectful, heartfelt praise and worship. God delights to manifest His presence and power to people who are truly praising and worshipping Him. And when His presence and power come, we hear His voice, we see miracles, people are healed, lives are changed, and transformation takes place from the inside out. Isn't that part of what you desire in your relationship with God? When you talk to Him and listen for His voice, aren't you praying primarily because you want some kind of change or transformation in some area of your life? If you are asking Him to provide a new job, that's change. If you are praying for a loved one to come to know the Lord, that's change. If you are asking God to reveal Himself more to you and to help you grow in spiritual maturity, that's change. If you are praying for the teenager who lives down the str

God Speaks Through Gifts and Abilities People often wonder, What am I supposed to do with my life? What is my purpose for being alive? Does God have a plan for me? One way God answers these questions is through his gifts and the abilities he gives to us. He leads us to understand our purpose through the skills and talents He given us for his Glory . A God-given talent, or what we often call "a gift," is something we can do easily, something that comes naturally that the Lord has anointed one to do. For example, many great artists know just how to put shapes and colors together, so they enjoy painting, sculpting, or designing buildings. Many songwriters hear music in their heads, and they simply write down these melodies and/or lyrics to make beautiful music. Some people have natural abilities to organize or administrate, while others are gifted as counselors, helping people sort out their lives and relationships. No matter what your gift is, one should  always get great p

Always Available The fact that the Holy Ghost  lives inside of us proves His willingness to always be available to speak to us and help us when we need Him. As we continue to grow spiritually, we will experience temptation, but God has given us the Holy Ghost  to enable us to resist it and make right choices instead of wrong ones. Nevertheless, no human being is perfect and we will make mistakes. But God's forgiveness is always available to us through Jesus Christ. Receiving this forgiveness strengthens us and enables us to keep moving forward with God. It also puts our hearts at peace, sets us free, and helps us hear God's voice clearly. Feeling defeated and condemned by every mistake we make weakens us. Instead of using our energy to feel bad about ourselves, we should use it to make sure our hearts are tuned to God's voice as He leads us into greater strength and deeper relationship with Himself. His forgiveness and His presence are always available to us throug

Praying God's Prayers I think one of the reasons we sometimes feel unfulfilled in prayer or sense that we are not "finished" praying about a matter is that we spend so much time just praying our prayers. But I tell you, there is a better, higher, more effective way: praying God's prayers. To be honest with you, if I am praying my prayer, I can pray about something for fifteen minutes and still feel unfinished; but if I am being led by the Holy Spirit and praying God's prayer, I can pray two sentences and feel completely satisfied. I find that when I pray Spirit-led prayers, they are usually simpler and shorter than mine would be. They are direct, straightforward, and to the point. I feel satisfied that the task is complete when I pray God's way instead of my own way. When we pray our own way, we often focus on praying for carnal things and circumstances, but if we are led by God we will find ourselves praying for eternal things like the purity of our thoug

What does the Bible say about loneliness? Being alone and being lonely are two different things. One can be alone without being lonely, and one can be lonely in a crowded room. Loneliness is, therefore, a state of mind, an emotion brought on by feelings of separation from other human beings. The sense of isolation is very deeply felt by those who are lonely. The Hebrew word translated “desolate”  or “lonely” in the Old Testament means “one alone, only; one who is solitary, forsaken, wretched.” There is no deeper sadness that ever comes over the mind than the idea that we are alone in the world, that we do not have a friend, that no one cares for us, that no one is concerned about anything that might happen to us, that no one would care if we were to die or shed a tear over our grave. No one felt loneliness more keenly than David. In a series of earnest, heartfelt appeals to God, David cried out in his loneliness and despair. His own son was risen up against him, the men of Israel wen

What does the Bible say about trust? The words translated “trust” in the Bible literally mean “a bold, confident, sure security or action based on that security.” Trust is not exactly the same as faith, which is the gift of God. Rather, trusting is what we do because of the faith we have been given. Trusting is believing in the promises of God in all circumstances, even in those where the evidence seems to be to the contrary. Hebrews 11 talks about faith, which is accepting and believing the truth that God reveals about Himself, supremely in the person of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, the practical consequence of faith in God is trust, which we prove by living out our full acceptance of God’s promises day by day. Furthermore, it by this trust that we are promised peace:   Isaiah 26:3   Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. The classic verse regarding trust is Proverbs 3:5: “Trust in the LORD with all your

What does the Bible say about perseverance? The Bible has a lot to say about perseverance in several different contexts. Clearly, the Scriptures teach that those who “overcome” and persevere in the faith will inherit eternal life (Revelation 2:7). This truth is also expressed in Colossians 1:23 where we see that people will be holy, blameless and above reproach “if they continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel.” So all Christians should be in agreement that those who are ultimately saved are those who do persevere and continue to believe the gospel. However, the Bible clearly teaches that we are “born again” by the Holy Ghost, which results in our coming to faith in Christ. All who have been “born again” do have eternal security and will persevere. The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints is founded in the promise that “ Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until