Sep 19, 2022
It’s not your job to qualify yourself for heaven. Jesus delivered us from the power of darkness at the cross. He has invited us to an inheritance of the saints and the light.
All the same, it can be difficult to walk with God in the culture that surrounds us. Imagine what the world was like 2,000 years before Christ; that was where Abraham lived. He had no Bible to read; he had no church to attend. Nevertheless, he was called the father of faith, and the Apostle Paul wrote, “Therefore he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does he do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?— just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham” (Galatians 3:5-7, ESV).
We are in a culture where Christians are no longer the majority anymore. If you think we live in a Christian nation, I’m sorry to break it to you but that day has passed. Our culture is actively going against the God of heaven.
Here’s the thing; God did not just save you to be a good person in the world. He called you to be a man and woman of faith. He’s called you to a revelation of who he is. When the Lord of heaven and earth touches our lives, that changes us from a ‘good Christian’ into someone who has an impact on the world around us. God wants to awaken our souls!
No doubt this was in Paul’s heart for believers when he wrote, “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy” (Colossians 1:9-11, ESV).
We are the offspring of Abraham because Abraham is the father of faith. We have been saved by grace which is God’s unmerited favor. Our uncertain future belongs to God whom we can trust. God has qualified us by his righteousness, and that should transform our hearts, minds and lives.
Sep 16, 2022
Guilt is dangerous because it destroys faith. The enemy of our soul is not at all interested in making Christians into adulterers, addicts or prostitutes. He is interested in one thing only: turning Christians into unbelievers. He uses the lusts of the body to bind the mind.
Satan wants you to be so crushed with guilt so you let go of your faith. He wants you to doubt God’s faithfulness and think that nobody really cares, that you will live in misery and heartbreak, that you will always be a slave to your lust, that God’s holiness is unreachable, that you are left alone to work out your own problems, that God no longer cares about your needs and feelings. If he can get you to the point of despair, he can flood you with unbelief, and then he has succeeded in his mission. The three simple steps toward atheism are guilt, doubt and unbelief.
Guilt can eat away at the spiritual vitality of a Christian like a raging cancer. It causes a person to lose control of life; it leads to a desire to quit or retire from spiritual activity; and, finally, it brings on physical pain and disease. Like cancer, guilt feeds upon itself until all spiritual life is gone, and the end result is weakness and a sense of shame and failure.
The way to get rid of guilt is to get rid of sin, which sounds simple, but it is not. You don’t just make up your mind to “drop” that third party that has entered your life. Many have tried and found it didn’t work. You don’t just walk away from things that bind your heart.
The most important move you will ever make in your life is the move you make right after you fail God. Will you believe the accuser’s lies and give up in despair, or will you allow yourself to receive the forgiving flow of God’s love?
Do you fear asking his forgiveness because you are not really sure you want to be free from that thing that binds you? Do you want the Lord yet secretly long for something that is not lawfully yours? God is able to answer sincere prayer, to make you want to do his perfect will. Ask him to make you want to fulfill his will.
Sep 15, 2022
Millions have been converted because one man waited to hear the voice of God. Peter allowed the Savior’s voice to come to him. “Peter went up upon the housetop to pray…and a voice came to him” (Acts 10:9, 13, NKJV).
The entire Gentile race was welcomed into the kingdom, along with the house of Cornelius, because a man obeyed a voice. We are living in the same New Testament times as Paul and Peter, and we too must allow his voice to come to us. Instead of waiting for his voice to come to us, though, we run to counselors and Christian psychologists, read books and listen to tapes. We seek a clear word of direction for our lives and want pastors to tell us what is right and wrong. We desire a leader to follow, a diagram for the future.
Few know how to go to the Lord and hear his voice. The writers of scripture warn us, though, saying, “See that you do not refuse him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from him who speaks from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth; but now he has promised, saying, ‘Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.’” (Hebrews 12:25-26).
God has promised, “Once again my voice will be heard. Those who hear will shake the earth, and heaven and earth will be moved. By the hearing of my voice, whatsoever is loosed on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
To the last church, the Laodicean church, the Lord cries, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20).
Our Savior is telling us, “I’m asking to be heard. Open up. Let me into your secret closet. Let me talk with you, and you talk with me. Let’s commune. That’s how I will keep you from the hour of temptation that is coming on all the world.”
Sep 13, 2022
Elijah exercised the power of prayer. He stood on Mount Carmel and mocked the prophets of Baal, killing them right under the king’s nose.
Elijah had ever right to believe that a great spiritual awakening was about to take place. The fire of God had fallen and miracles had been witnessed by multitudes. It had been an unbelievable display of God’s power. What a shock he got. Jezebel was not at all impressed with miracles and power, and she said to Elijah, “By tomorrow at this time, I will kill you just like you killed my priests.”
The next time we see this great man of power and action, he is hiding in a cave on Mount Horeb almost 200 miles away. God called to him, “Elijah, what are you doing here hiding in this cave?”
Elijah answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life” (1 Kings 19:14, NKJV). Elijah, a praying prophet, had been so busy for God, so busy demonstrating God’s power, so busy saving God’s kingdom, that he had become a one-way servant. He had been talking to God often, but he had done very little listening.
A prophet who was not afraid of a hurricane or an earthquake or heavenly fireworks was frightened by a still small voice. “So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave” (1 Kings 19:13). Elijah covered his head with his coat! Why? Had not this prophet talked to God many times? Was he not a great man of prayer? Hadn’t God used him mightily? Yes, but Elijah was a stranger to the still small voice.
When Elijah finally allowed that voice to speak — alone, quiet, away from all the power displays — he got the most specific directions ever in all his ministry.
How many busy children of God today have never had that voice come to them? They are busy witnessing, praying for a spiritual awakening and fasting intensely. They are so dedicated, yet they have heard everything but the voice of the Lord. The still, small voice of God will offer greater revelation and blessing than many mighty works.
Sep 12, 2022
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