'bible' Tagged Posts (Page 19)

Have you ever been in the midst of the most depressing, exhausting, unrelenting season of your life, and it never seems to end? Did you ever go through death, joblessness, sickness, financial difficulties, divorce, heartache, or several other issues that can change the course of your life? Well, who hasn’t? If you find yourself in that situation, I advise you to think differently…Don’t give up, brothers and sisters. Keep pressing on. Why? Because the tough times teach us about life.…

Without prayer, our life in Christ is nothing. The Apostle Paul instructs us, “…but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6b). Prayer is simply communicating with God, most often by verbally speaking out requests and petitions, giving Him thanksgiving and worship, and coming to Him with confession of sin. We should pray often; and in fact, more than that: “pray without ceasing,” according to 1 Thessalonians 5:17. Are there times when…

“Being a Christian isn’t for sissies. It takes a real man to live for God – a lot more man than to live for the devil, you know?” – Johnny Cash From seeker churches and wishy-washy, vague “half messages” to showing “tolerance” to sins in the guise of “love” and slowly integrating worldly philosophies, Biblical Christianity is under the threat of the plague of lukewarmness. Let’s admit it: all the riches and conveniences of modern life have spoiled us. We…

Regular, constant prayer is an absolutely essential and indispensable part of the Christian life (1 Thessalonians 5:17, Philippians 4:6). Without it, a follower of Jesus will rapidly grow cold and stagnant and have no continuously, deepening relationship with God. Unfortunately, even with a daily habit of prayer, we sometimes only focus on a laundry list on items that we want God to do for us. Yes, we can pray for people who are mostly in our personal circles. But you have…

As Christians, we are truly blessed beyond comprehension that God the Father has made a way for us to be forgiven of all of our wrongdoings, thereby allowing us to come into His holy presence because of the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.  Romans 3:23 declares, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” and that means that me, you, and everyone else on the face of the planet have sinned. Yep, you heard that right…EVERYONE…

Don’t drag your pre-existing philosophies and politics into Christianity. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a conservative, politically speaking. Okay, technically, that’s not 100% true. There was a large portion of my childhood where I was clearly apolitical. It wasn’t really until my early teens that I knew I was a mild-to-moderate fan of President Ronald Reagan. The period from the rest of my teenage years through all of my twenties is when I really developed politically.…

John the Apostle’s First Epistle is a highly fertile and, in my opinion, a very underutilized letter in the New Testament. You can read it verse-by-verse and plumb its spiritual depths for weeks, with bold statements and profound teachings on lightness and darkness, sin, love, and what it means to be in the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Upon digging through 1 John, it’s easy to pick up on John’s writing style in his Spirit-inspired work; John employs dozens of…

Quite possibly the single greatest problem that has ever plagued mankind is the sin of pride. The iniquity of taking our focus off of God and applying it to ourselves in the guise of self-love and self-reliance is something that goes literally back to the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were deceived by Satan’s lie that by doubting God and going our own way, Eve could “be like God’ (Genesis 3:5). As a result of this very act, God’s…

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. – 2 Timothy 3:16-17 If you are in any way a follower of Jesus Christ, digging into Scripture is an absolute must for essential Christian living, and for getting closer to God. The Bible is crammed full of various reasons and commands to study and adhere to God’s…

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” – Romans 12:2 Although the practice of email forwarding is waning because of the proliferation of sharing on social media instead, I still get a decent number various messages, jokes, sayings and pics fulling up my inbox. Oh, I do have to quickly mention that…

Some churches are adding movie and TV quotes, references, and even showing video snippets from these assorted media to draw in the “seekers.” Not too long ago, there was something that made me raise my eyebrows. I was scrolling through my Facebook feed and came upon a sponsored post advertising a grand opening for a new church here in Missouri. Instead of a typical marketing thrust featuring concepts and ideas surrounding Christ, the cross, God’s love, or being family-friendly, this church…

Christians should be the most joyful people on Earth. Millions of Christians all across the nation and around the world have claimed to washed by the blood of Jesus Christ and born again by the Spirit, yet they are robotically plodding along living humdrum middle-class lives and just “don’t have it.” There’s no infectious enthusiasm and no heart overflowing. There’s a lack of something there that non-believers can see in us. These believers, instead, are just like the world. When we…