When some followers of Christ find themselves suffering, their immediate response is "Lord, deliver me from this, immediately!" He can and sometimes He does. But He often does not. When He does not, it may be because it is His will to grow spiritual character in the life of His follower.
…when you fail and need restoration don't seek a cheap one or an easy one. Let the great Shepherd lead you into the paths of righteousness that will truly restore your soul.
God will expose the pride in our lives to us… we can humble ourselves and be lifted up by Him. Or, we can choose to cling to our selfish pride and self-destruct our own lives!
When we accept Jesus as Savior and the Holy Spirit indwells us, we will have access to the wisdom of God through His Word, the Bible, and the promptings of The Holy Spirit.
Righteousness gives birth to worship, NOT vice-versa. We don't accomplish worship by deciding to perform a ritual, whether that is fasting or attending church, or anything else. Rather, our relationship with Jesus gives birth to our worship.
If we determine to honor God with our lives, regardless of the obstacles and setbacks we face, then… the testimony of our lives will be more than enough: "…They shall eat, and shall leave thereof".
Recently, there was yet another controversy about the time of Jesus' return. Sadly, many people were misled into thinking that May 21, 2011 would be that date and were deeply disappointed and confused when they found out they were misinformed. It is easy, and quite tempting, to be dismissive of these forlorn followers, but empathy and reflection are far better responses.
We can't understand how God decides the day of our death. We don't know when our own finish line will come. But we should all live in such a way that when we come to the finish line of our life there will be no unfinished business, no works our Father assigned to us that we've left undone.
Believers do not have to be victims of false teachers with false teachings. Every Believer CAN know the Word of God for himself/herself, BECAUSE we have the Holy Spirit indwelling our hearts!
It is easy for us to fall into a rut where we see God as 'Mr. Fix-It'; where we call on Him to remove problems from our lives so that we can accomplish the goals we had set for ourselves. Rather, we should call on God to remove problems from our lives so that we can accomplish the goals He has set for us.
God loves us every day, and every moment of every day. He wants us to come to Him with our burdens and troubles, to commune, to fellowship, to talk with Him every day, and every moment of every day.
As Jesus sent His disciples out into a world that would be hostile to them, that would imprison them and beat them and kill them, what they needed to succeed wasn't a new car, or perfect teeth or a retirement plan. What they needed to live successfully (as God defines it) was The Comforter.
Lately my dog has been doing a pretty good job of keeping me humble. Whenever I am tempted to lose patience with him, I am halted by the thought that God is so incredibly patient with me. I'm reminded of my own shortcomings…
There are many, many things that we are taught from the time we are born; but to truly grasp the love that Christ has for us is by far the very most important.
"I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord." ~ Philippians 3:8
Spiritual knowledge of Christ will be a personal knowledge. I cannot know Jesus through another person's acquaintance with him. No, I must know him myself; I must know him on my own account.