Our Warfare

Here in America , as Christians, we are being confronted and challenged with an ever increasing pressure to abandon what the Bible tells us is right and wrong. On the surface it appears that certain groups, organizations and those whom adhere to certain philosophical and political persuasions have waged all out warfare against us. However, we must not be enticed to enter into such a mindset because it only leads to an emotional separation from the very ones that God has called us to love.

Mt 5:44 "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,

With mounting evidence that the world is growing less tolerant of our Christian ideals:

According to the Pew Forum, between 2006 and 2010 Christians faced some form of discrimination, either de jure or de facto, in a staggering total of 139 nations, which is almost three-quarters of all the countries on earth. According to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts, an average of 100,000 Christians have been killed in what the centre calls a ‘situation of witness’ each year for the past decade. That works out to 11 Christians killed somewhere in the world every hour, seven days a week and 365 days a year, for reasons related to their faith. (source: http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/9041841/the-war-on-christians/)

We must muster the courage to not enter into a confrontation in the natural. The warfare that we wage is not in the natural but the supernatural.(2 Co. 10:3; Eph. 6:12) We are wrestling against the very forces of darkness that want to destroy all of mankind not just us Christians. The way we war against this tide of opposition is twofold: 1. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit :), being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— 2: Like Paul pray that we, the saints,  would have boldness to proclaim the good news (the mystery) of the gospel.

I challenge you to start praying more than you have before and discover the blessing that come from praying all the time in the Spirit.

Be Blessed

Fully surrendered

Romans 8:28 NKJV
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Because Christ sits on the throne of My life I know that know matter what comes my way; no matter how great or devastating it may be that He is working it for my good. The trouble comes when we never truly allow Him to fully sit on the throne of our lives. We never fully give Him complete control of our lives yet we want the benefits that come from a completely surrendered life. The trouble that this presents is that when good things happen we tend to attribute it to our great choices and take all the glory for it but when bad things happen we want to blame God. This is where our faith begins to erode. When we kneel before Him and allow Him full control, no matter what happens in our life, His peace will reign supreme in us. Because our faith is firm we know He is using it for our good. It may not make sense but the fact and assurance remains that He is in it. Through the good times and difficult times our faith will grow stronger because He is truly Lord over our life. When we only give Him some control, through the good times our faith will grow or remain the same, but through the difficult times our faith begins to erode. We must make sure that He is truly Lord over every part of our life so that our faith continues to grow strong and so that we can truly shine His light. He wants to give us peace and rest but in order to fully experience this He must be the one and only sitting on the throne of our life.

Called by God

Often times what we think we are capable of and what we are actually capable of are two different things. I always find encouragement in the story of Gideon in the Bible. Here was somebody that deep inside didn't feel that he had anything great inside him, yet God saw him differently. It's so important that we don't allow where we have come from or how we see ourself keep us from reaching for great things. I'm also reminded of King David. David was anointed King by Samuel even though he wouldn't officially take the physical place of King until further down the road. We can't allow how we feel or what we see to define who we are. Allow what God says you are to define you. Realize that through Him you can accomplish far more than what you ever thought was possible. And He has already called you victorious and put you in a place of great influence even though you may not see it yet. Remember what He says about you!

Be Blessed!!

Measure of faith

Faith! Somehow we've fallen into the trap of believing that faith is something that we earn, something that increases with our effort. Is it our job to give ourself faith? Are some people somehow more special than others because they have "what appears" as more faith than someone else? Absolutely not!! The Bible says in Romans 12:3 : "For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith." You see God is the originator of our faith. He has given each of us a measure of faith that is to be nurtured and developed. It is God alone that gives us not only our faith but our ability to believe. Now, our faith can develop as we saturate it in His word. As we continually meditate upon His word it will begin to activate our faith and show us levels of faith that we never knew were in us. But I believe that this faith has always been there within us. There is just some seasons that we go through where our faith goes dormant because it's not being watered by His word. It makes us no less of a person of faith but rather, one that is walking through the seasons of spiritual life that God promised we would face. My point in all of this is to encourage those of us walking through those dry seasons in our walk with God. Don't lose hope and feel less of a person of faith but know that God is completing that work that He has begun in you. He is just as intimately involved in your life now as He always has been. Don't ever forget that!

Be Blessed!!!

UNITY

Eph 4:3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Lately it seems that it is so easy to lose peace with all that is going on in the world today. Paul in his epistle to the Ephesians tells them to ... endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  We as believers need to make a serious and sincere effort to achieve unity in the bond of peace. Every debate or argument seems to challenge that unity by force. Tempting us to choose sides, loose our peace and divide. In Adam Clarke's Commentary on Gal. 5:19-20, the works of the flesh, he defines Seditions (dissensions in NKJV) = divisions into separate factions; parties, whether in the Church or state. In Church or State!! Politics in either church or state will certainly try to divide, but we as Christians must learn to unite, put politics aside and demonstrate our love for each other. John 13:35 "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." There is no greater commandment than to love one another. Let's let our love for one another shine in this day and time!!

Be Blessed;

Frank

Christ The Builder

1Corinthians 3:10-13 AMP:

10 According to the grace (the special endowment for my task) of God bestowed on me, like a skillful architect and master builder I laid [the] foundation, and now another [man] is building upon it. But let each [man] be careful how he builds upon it,
11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is [already] laid, which is Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
12 But if anyone builds upon the Foundation, whether it be with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,
13 The work of each [one] will become [plainly, openly] known (shown for what it is); for the day [of Christ] will disclose and declare it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test and critically appraise the character and worth of the work each person has done.
14 If the work which any person has built on this Foundation [any product of his efforts whatever] survives [this test], he will get his reward.

James 1:2-5 AMP:

2 Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations.

3 Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience.
4 But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing.
5 If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of [b]the giving God [Who gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him

There is times where our belief structure is laid; our foundation in who God is and His word is implanted in our life. Than there is seasons where this foundation is tested by the storms. These seasons are the moments that our foundation that has been laid is tested and our faith begins to grow building upon that which has already been laid. It's almost as if an inspector(God) looks at the foundation that has been laid and points out the areas in that foundation that need some work, thus perfecting it and making it better. God is always at work in our life but every moment that we walk through isn't going to be blissful. There is going to be moments of great blessing and moments of great trial, each just as vitally important as the other. But it's in the moments of great trial that we truly get to see the goodness of our Heavenly Father. It's in those moments of difficulty that we get to see our great Healer, Protector, Provider and Comforter come through on our behalf. Remember to seek God in every season. It is the seeking Him in the good times that gives us the strength to get through the trying times. And remember that in those  times of the storms of life that He is at work building upon the foundation of our life so that when the storm clears the beautiful foundation that is our life will be revealed stronger and more splendid than before. 

Be Blessed!!
Josh

Gods Love

We attempt in our human nature to understand God; to fully understand His love. But is it possible to come to a place of fully understanding His love for us? Or is there always going to be a gap in our understanding of His love because the mere fact remains that we are yet humans and He is divine. I believe at the most fundamental level of understanding, it is possible to grasp a concept of His love. But apart from His Spirit our understanding of His love will be limited to human reasoning. You see, how is it possible to understand a love that would sacrifice ONE to save all and at the same time leave all to chase the one? How is it possible to understand a love that knows the beginning from the end yet didn't remove all the hurt and pain that has been and is yet to come? My point is; within our human understanding it's impossible. Many very intelligent people throughout history have tried to bring reason and logic to how God loves. But apart from His Spirit it is impossible. It will just leave us with more questions and leave us more confused. We must allow His Spirit to help us in our understanding of His love. We must allow His Spirit to guide us into all truth. It is only by His Spirit that we can let go of our human idea of love and fully grasp a love divine!