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 t...

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 ...

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...

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 n...

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 so...