'bible' Tagged Posts (Page 15)

Critical Race Theory (or CRT) has been a hot-button issue in the church in recent years. Many evangelicals are pressured into caving into the idea of White Privilege to sound more empathic towards minorities. Critical Race Theory, according to edweek.org, is the idea that race is a social construct and that racism isn’t just an individual thing but a societal thing. Critical Race Theory removes the idea of meritocracy in favor of making excuses as to why minorities (in-particularly African-Americans)…

CCM, or Christian Contemporary Music, has evolved a lot over the years. It began as a response to the counter-culture movement of the late ’60s and early ’70s and is now being used in many churches across America and beyond. CCM has crossed generational, language, and racial lines. The impact of CCM goes from Amy Grant to Lauren Daigle. Christian music has gone beyond traditional hymns to be more in tune with Top 40 popular music. Here are my thoughts…

Now that I’ve moved back to North Carolina, I can finally relax and not be stressed about bills. I still want to earn a decent living, but I can be content in knowing that God is with me. I want to increase my income and experience financial freedom as a full-time writer, but I don’t want my personal ambitions to get in the way of the peace of God over my life. I fell prey to the chase of money…

In this world, we have a set amount of years before our life ends. Many people feel anxious about how short life is, but God’s grace will always override our years on Earth. Sarah had her firstborn at age 99. Moses was walking the Israelites out of slavery at age 80. God has used people from very young to very old. God has a predestined will for all of us, but because we all sin and make mistakes, God does…

The heart is mentioned a lot in the Bible because God wants our hearts to be filled with Him. The heart is where our passions and desires lie. It’s where our excitement lies. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Matthew 6:21 [NKJV] Whatever we deem valuable is where our heart is. If our hearts are worldly, then we lost our affections towards God. Many of us fall into this trap of consumerism, where we…

“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go up to this mountain of Abarim, and see the land which I have given to the sons of Israel. When you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother was;’” – Numbers 27:12-13 [NASB]. The Consequences of Disobedience The Lord instructed Moses to go up on the mountain to view the Promised Land. His disobedience at the waters of Meribah in the wilderness of Zin will…

God calls us “Beloved.” What does “Beloved” mean? In Greek, it means “agapetoi,” related to the word “agape.” It means “to love.” Have you been loving the people in your life lately? Even the ones that are hard to love in your life? And hear this, we aren’t referred to as “Beloved” in the Bible but also as “Dearly Beloved.” This means really loved! I don’t know about you but after you felt lonely lately? I know I have, esp.…

As an adult, you have the freedom to watch whatever you want, but as Christians, we are called to guard our hearts and minds against sin (Psalm 19:14, Proverbs 4:23). We love things that aren’t good for us as fleshly humans, but we should desire God instead of sin (Psalm 37:3). When you watch an adult-rated movie, you open yourself to explicit language, sex, and possibly violence. You can enjoy the content as just entertainment but beware of the influences…

I don’t think it’s possible to adequately express how much I love my children. They will never fully know nor comprehend the depths of my love for them. There aren’t many bounds that I wouldn’t cross nor limits I wouldn’t extend for their happiness. I would put myself into the severest danger to protect their lives and chastise them in loving anger to preserve their well-being. Like miniature versions of myself, I see them carrying on whatever wisdom I can…

The heart is mentioned a lot in the Bible because God wants our hearts to be filled with Him. The heart is where our passions and desires lie. It’s where our excitement lies. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Matthew 6:21 [NKJV] Whatever we deem valuable is where our heart is. If our hearts are worldly, then we lost our affections towards God. Many of us fall into this trap of consumerism, where we…

“To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:” – 1 Corinthians 1:2 [NKJV] We were all born in sin and as a result of the enemies of God. Even though we don’t always identify as saints, the Word Of God refers to us as born-again Christian saints. Sainthood…

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” – Romans 12:2 [NLT] Once we got saved, our identity is no longer in the world but in Christ. We were once sinners, but now our called saints. God is continually sanctifying us to make us more like Him.…

“The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need.” – Psalms 23:1 [NLT] We all have needs in our life, but God is our Source while the things on this Earth is our resource. God will ultimately prove us with the things we need when we trust in Him. God is saying, “I’m right here,” but so often, we depend on things rather than The Creator Of Things. God is saying to us, “Who is your daddy?” Nothing…

What is your everyday life like? Do you spend time with God, do you pray, read your word, do you meditate on God’s goodness, or go about your day thinking about just thinking about your wants and needs? Being God-centered is all about making God the main focus of your everyday life. You become so consumed with God to the point where your problems don’t feel all that important. God deserves to have our attention, but we get so distracted…

I just finished watching a Charles Stanley sermon titled The Power Of Godly Meditation, and it changed the way I viewed meditation. I always thought of meditation as like you see in eastern religions or just thinking about something hard. Meditation; biblical meditation is all about cutting off all the distractions of the world and focus all your attention on God’s word. It’s doing more listening and less talking. Why You Should Meditate? Simply because the Bible tells us to.…

Have you ever felt hopeless, to the point where no one can help you? You ask yourself, “can this get any worse”? You try to fix your problems, but nothing seems to work. You feel like you can’t do anything right. You officially hit rock bottom, but the good news is that there is hope. “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish…

We were all born in sin and shaped in iniquity. Because of this, we’re by default enemies of God. Even though we are very flawed creatures, God still gave us a chance to repent and follow Him. Jesus died not because we were good people but because we were terrible people who deserved Hell. The only way we could be worthy of Him is through Christ taken on our punishment by dying on the cross and rising again. It’s tempting…

“From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” – Psalms 61:3 [NASB] God Never Promised Us a Rose Garden When people come to faith in Christ, we tell them that they will experience love, joy, and peace, which is so very true. But we fail to mention that these byproducts of the Christian faith are often couched between hardship, suffering, and struggle. God…