Faith or Fear!

 "And since we have the same spirit of faith, according



to what is written, 'I believed and therefore I spoke,' we also


believe and therefore speak," (2 Corinthians 4:13)

Now this verse mentions that there is a "spirit of faith" that indwells in us, the


fact that we believe that, is the source of where our actions will


come from. Then in 2 Timothy 1:7 scripture says "For God has not given


us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."


Now here the Bible mention "God has not given us a spirit of fear"


that implies that there is a spirit of fear out in our world today,


but we as believers are empowered by the Holy Spirit to show God's


love with a sound mind or in other words "self-control" what that


means is that our spiritual gifts should only be exercised at the


appropriate time. Now what I want to point out between these two


verses is "spirit of faith" and "spirit of fear" we know that to get


to a persons heart we got to go through their mind. With that being


said that's exactly what the "spirit of fear" tries to do, but the


"spirit of faith" is not fighting for your mind He has already won


your mind over when you gave your life to God, instead He is fighting


to keep you with a sound mind, to have self-control and fend off


temptation. That's why in Ephesians 4:30 scripture declares "do not


grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of


redemption." that verse shows that our hearts and minds are already


"sealed" with Christ, but when we allow fear to enter our minds, we


grieve and sometimes vex the Holy Spirit. Now there are three


gradations that the spirit of fear tries to attempt upon a believer:


(1)he tries to make a believer lose sight of the power of God, (2)then


if he completes that he then tries to make the believer wonder if God


is even listening to him, (3)then if he's able to get that far he


brings the person to a state were they don't even acknowledge God


anymore. All three of those are dangerous, that is why the Lords


Spirit is so adamant about keep His believers with a sound mind. You


see the first one was that we allow the pressures of this world to get


to us, then we lose sight on the Holy power that is working in us.


Just like the disciples did in Mark 9:14-29 they lost sight of the


Lords power and were not able to cast out a demon, we understand in


that passage that they lost sight by the Lords response in Mark 9:19


"O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?" Then if we


continue to feed that spirit of fear he tries to make us think, if God


is even listening to us, now that shows that fear is starting to


overcome a persons body for the Bible professes in Isaiah 59:1


"Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor

His ear heavy, That it cannot hear." But unfortunately people continue

to feed that fear and they get to where Satan wants them. They get to

a station in life were they don't even acknowledge God anymore, now

I've never quite understood what the Bible ment in Proverbs 3:6 until

I understood the affects of fear, Proverbs 3:6 says "In all your ways

acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." that verse implies

that sometimes we won't feel the presence of God, but if we always

hold in our heart and mind and confess with are mouth the existence of

the truth, we'll find that time and time again God will calm all our

troubles. The biggest problem with us believers is when we sin we

think that God is disappointed with us, and we start to judge

ourselves, and forget that our Judge is gracious and mericful. We

start to come down on ourselves and make ourselves almost depressed,

but that's not what our eternal King wants, Yes, He wants you to

understand what you did was wrong but through His mercy, grace, and

forgiveness He wants you to bounce back on track with Him. But when we

do get down on ourselves we stop reading the Bible, because the bible

is only for the righteous and only certain gifted people can

comprehend it. I don't know where people get this idea from, the bible

itself states in 1 Timothy 1:9-10 "that the law is not made for a

righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the

ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of


fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for


sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is

any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine." So if it's for

all those people, how much more does God want to use it to encourage

His people. So when faced with fear in your mind don't stop reading

your bible, start reading it even more than you did before.

The Second Coming!

"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first" (1Thessalonians 4:16)

 Now I'm about to touch a subject that is extremely terrifying to some and others it's simply joyful anticipation, the day of judgement.

Now in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 tells us there are three things that will happen before Christ's children ascend to the clouds, with the Father. There will be a "shout", "the voice of an archangel", and "the trumpet of God", it's interesting that He's coming to call His people and He uses three ways of calling them. So once you hear His shout you should drop to your knee and repent. I'm just kidding, that won't work because those three events will occur in rapid succession. The reason that won't work is because it will all happen in the "twinkling on an eye" (1 Corinthians 15:52) Try this, wink your eye and say "Lord, I'm sorry, I repent of my sins, I want you in my life." Which ones faster? You see I know some of you are sitting their reading this and either saying "that's funny" or "this is not funny, it's scary" and that's because you know that you haven't made your peace with God, but you say "I'm not a bad person, I obey God's commandments" Do you obey them because that's what your religion tells you to do or do you obey them because you don't want to displease God? "All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit." (Proverb 16:2) That means that if you live a life were you want to be called God's child but you still want to party on the weekends, that's cool but know that one glorious day all the injustice of the world will be corrected. You see Christ Himself said "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgement, but has passed from death into life." (John 5:24) that scripture is why you see so many crazy Christians filled with so much hope and joy, because their "waiting for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. (Titus 2:13) You know you don't have to live in fear of judgement, God can fill you with so much peace that you can't wait for judgement. Now how does this peace work? I'll be straight forward with you, I don't know! I'm not going to try and fool you I don't know how it works, I just know it works. "The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:7) But all those Christians that you think are weird because their losing their houses, cars, jobs, whatever, yet their still happy it's that peace which surpasses all understanding. Now don't take this all in the wrong way I'm not saying Christians are any better then anyone else, and if you've ever heard a Christian say that well then they don't even know this peace I'm talking about. What I'm trying to say is God cares for you and loves you. He wants you to say "O Death, Where is your sting? O Hades, Where is your victory?" (1 Corinthians 15:55) So I have written this for preparation, so that you may prepare your heart before He comes, "For no one knows the times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority." (Acts 1:7) But know this, that no other book would dare to proclaim the future beside the God-breathed words of the Bible, and all of it's prediction are all correct. There is only one more prediction to be fulfilled and it shall come to pass, real soon, that's the Second Coming! So I hope to see you in the clouds!

Mind: Friend or Foe?

"The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord, but the words of the pure are pleasant." (Proverbs 15:26)

 "Of the wicked" and "of the pure" means that this verse speaks of two different agents. By wicked it means the ungodly and by pure it means Gods children, now notice how the verse does not say "the thoughts of the the wicked are an abomination to the Lord, but the thoughts of the pure are pleasant." Instead it says "the words of the pure are pleasant" now I wonder why it says that? Since we have accepted Christ into our lives aren't our thoughts always good? No! We still have bad thoughts, let me rephrase that, we still have wicked thoughts, but now that we have been transformed by the renewing our minds (Romans 12:2) we have been blessed with a clean and good conscience. Now the reason our thoughts aren't an abomination, is because the wicked act upon those thoughts, while we test those thoughts. As Paul says in 1 Timothy 1:19 "having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck." when we don't look and determine our thoughts according to a heavenly standpoint and ask of the Holy Spirits assistance, we reject that good conscience God has so graciously blessed us with and we suffer a shipwreck in our faith. For Jesus said in Matthew 12:34-37;

"For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgement. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

 Now if we could just remember those words everytime were about to open our big mouths we would be prefectly fine. But we don't were human were prone to error, so how do we keep our mouth to speak of justice? Were going to always have to be consistently guarding our thoughts. Ya we could do that or we could be as the wise psalmist David, who was two steps ahead of his foolish talk and bad thoughts, he said;

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart, Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer." (Psalm 19:14)

A.D.-Anno Domini!

 "Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began." (2 Timothy 1:9)

In this verse we pick up two major words; justification and sanctification.

"Who has saved us" meaning justification, which literally means declared innocent or blameless.

Then "called us with a holy calling" meaning sanctification, which literally means to make holy or consecrate.

We can understand that those phrases are refering to those words by reading the rest of the verse, it goes on to say "not according to our works" it is impossible for us to try and earn our way into heaven, it is only by God's grace, forgiveness, and purpose that we may recieve everlasting life.
Now the way we see the words justification and sanctification being used in this verse is by the next phrase Paul says "but according to His purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began" by His grace we are justified and continue to be sanctified and also by His purpose we are sanctified, but first by God's purpose we are justified for Paul writes in 2 Timothy 2:25 "if God perhaps will grant them repentance" So we see that to be justified and sanctified it comes from God's grace and purpose. Now when we accept Christ into our life we recieve everlasting life and we are justified and there is no condemnation toward us, (Romans 8:1) but God's plan doesn't just stop there He wants sanctification, He loves us so much that He literally wants us to be just like Him, "but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy'" (1 Peter 1:15-16) So by the power of God's Spirit He allows us to have His character qualities, the fruit of Spirit, (Galatians 5:22-23) that we may imitate God, just as a young boy will imitate his father. (Ephesians 5:1) You see when we imitate someone it is very easy to match up our actions, but when we imitate someone because we admire their objective our actions almost become transparent. With that being said to intimately imitate Christ we must gaze upon His heart and just as the psalmist David was, we must be after God's own heart.

Now scripture declares God's heart a countless amount of times, but the verse I'm going to bring up is, 1 Timothy 2:4 "who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." That is the very desire of God, now I bring this verse up because what do we see in this verse, we see once again justification and sanctification, "all men to be saved" refering to salvation which is justification then "to come to the knowledge of the truth" refering to a growth in a believers life which is sanctification.
You see when we literally understand the Christian salvation and consecration; we recognize that our privilege of the fulfilling The Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) and The Great Commandment (John 15:12-17) is energized, motivated, and put to action by God Himself, for without Him we are capable to do, nothing! (John 15:5) "Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. (2 Timothy 2:21)

God is amazing!

This is incredible...The genealogy of Jesus, from Adam to Noah their names and meanings. God has a plan for every person, He is so detailed in His plan for you that even your name He has given you for a purpose and a plan to glorify Him. (Ephesians 3:20) It was comforting to me I hope the same for you.


Adam means "Man"

Seth means "appointed"

Enosh means "mortal"

Cainan means "sorrow"

Mahalalel means "the blessed God"

Jared means " shall come down"

Enoch means "teaching"

Methuselah means "his death shall bring"

Lamech means " to the poor and lonely"

Noah means "comfort and rest"

If you put those names in one big sentence we see that Christ's redemption was going to take place even before the foundation of the earth. The sentence is "Man appointed mortal sorrow. The blessed God shall come down teaching that His death shall bring the poor and lonely, comfort and rest!" What a big God we worship! Love you!

Repentance!

I search for more when I've hit the core, I wonder to myself if I'm even pure. To heaven I search, but hell's behind trying to trip me up in it's evil bind. For how do I walk? What shall I show? Lord.....I know, You know! Teach me how, even how to bow, put my hands to the plow. Leave me not hunger in soul, lest I be, a wicked fool. For You are my strength and my shield, ready my heart for the battlefield. Revive me, oh LORD according to Thy will, return to my heart the sense to feel. Bestow me love that's all for You, that in my life I know what to do. For how do I walk? What shall I show? Oh Lord..... I know, You know! Take me, my Lord away from here, "My son, do not fear!" oh how I can hear, You whispering in my ear. Restore my love, steadfast my passion, oh Jesus give words of intercession. For You are my God and exceeding reward, I count it as a privilege to call You my Lord. But Lord, Lord will I not do, what it is You said to. For how do I walk? What shall I show? Oh Lord...... I know, You know. Spread forth Your joy and renew my strength, that I may go to Your desired length. For Your ear is not heavy, nor Your arm to short, preserve me my God for Thy heavenly court!

Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength!

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings." Jeremiah 17:9-10

 The word heart in this verse refers to the mind, alot of times in scripture the heart is the word in place for the word mind.

For instance, Matthew 5:28 "But I say to you that whoever looks at a women to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Jesus here uses the word heart but is refering to the mind, that when a person gazes at the opposite sex wanting that person sexually they have mentally committed adultery.

Now back to Jeremiah the Lord says that the heart, the mind, is deceitful above all things and desperatly wicked.

You see the mind is great for thinking of answers, solving puzzles, and understanding certain things better, but the moment we let our mind wonder we set ourselves up for failure.

Imagine yourself in a creek your jumping from rock to rock because you don't want to fall into the water. Then suddenly you come across a rock that is a little distance away from you but in range to jump on. The moment you hesitate to make the jump your mind tells you that you won't make it and you begin to fail before you even try. That is exactly what happens in our own Christian walk, we let our minds decieve us and we forget that our minds are programed to this world and the abilities of this world.

The mind is good with ideas, but should not be in the driver seat of our actions.Our soul and spirit should be the source of our actions.

In Romans 12:2 the bible says "But be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and prefect will of God" Now notice how Paul says "that you may prove" after talking about a renewed mind. When we accept Christ, He doesn't just erase your mind and give you a new one what He does is gives you a good and clean conscience. Paul writes in 2 Timothy 1:3 "I thank God, whom I served with a pure conscience" Now your clean conscience is your God given ability to be able to prove what God's will is. You see your spirit tells the heart what it wants and your heart tells your mind what it needs to do. The mind then proves to see if this is acceptable to Christ, if we reject our conscience we then suffer a shipwreck in our faith 1 Timothy 1:19.

Back in Jeremiah the Lord says that He tests the mind, how does He test our mind? In 2 Corinthians 10:5 the bible says "casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ." So every perception and intention that is against God we need to take captive to the obedience of Christ. We should not cling to the thoughts that do not conform to scripture and the life of Christ. Now I'm not saying Jesus brings bad thoughts in our head to see what we do with them, No! We do that for ourselves, but seeing as everything is naked and open to His eye that includes our thoughts Hebrews 4:13.

Christ then sees what we do with those thoughts and gives each man according to his own ways. So instead of being caught up in religion and fake obedience which is your mind telling your heart what to do, give God the glory by being His true follower and have genuine obedience which is your heart telling your mind what to do.

Let the love of Christ shine on you and through you, for "above all things put on love, which is the bond of perfection-Colossians 3:14." And let all that you do be done with love, God's love! 1 Corinthians 16:14

-Soli Deo Gloria: For God's glory alone-

Got Power?...Get Jesus!

Now there is a passage in the Gospel of Mark where we find two people in desperate need of a miracle. You see the Gospel of Mark, records more, and in much detail, Jesus' miracles then any other Gospel writer. For Mark, these miracles were demonstrations of Jesus' power over diseases, the forces of evil, and even nature. 

Now in Mark 5:21-43 we see the power and authority of Jesus, and how much He cares for us in the most lowest times of our lives. Also, we see two kinds of faith, I like to call them "Idle Faith" and "Action Faith." 

Now in verse 21 "Jesus crossed over again by boat to the other side" in Mark 5:1 were told that Jesus was with the Gadarenes, in Gadara, so if He traveled back across the sea of Galilee then Jesus was in Capernaum. 

When He gets to shore He is already surrounded by a great multitude, then in verses 22-23 we see a "ruler of the synagogue, Jairus by name." Came to Jesus and "fell at His feet and begged Him earnestly, saying 'My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live'." 

So we begin in this passage that Jaruis is already in a deep hole, aware of Jesus' miraculous power Jairus approached Jesus begging Him to help his daughter. "So Jesus went with him, and a great multitude followed Him and thronged Him." Mark 5:24 

The word thronged literally means "to push upon" or "filled with people." Now the next part of the passage is interesting, in the midst of a little girl who "lies at the point of death." Jesus stops heals a woman then has a conversation with her. I love it, because it shows so vividly how Jesus is calm in the midst of a major crisis. He knows that the will of the Father is much stronger than any problems we may face. "Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment." Mark 5:25-27 

Now this woman with excessive blood flow was considered unclean and anything she touched would be considered unclean as well, for at least a day. Leviticus 15:25-27 but in just these three verses we see how rapid this womans faith grew. She went from trusting in doctors and medicine (vs. 26) to having enough faith (while being considered unclean) to touch Jesus' garment. 

So why do you think Jesus would heal her? She was unclean according to scripture, and how dare her touch Jesus? So what was it that lead Him to have mercy on her? 

I believe it was the woman's "Action Faith" which lead to her humbleness and decree. How do we know she was humble? Because in Matthew 9:20 he records that the woman "touched the hem of His garment" indicating that the women believed that if she could just touch the border of His clothes she would be healed, this is the action from a woman who had spent all that she had to try and get better. So I believe that if someone spends all they have and not get better, then just believes that if she touches the hem of His garment she would be healed, that's humbleness. You see if she wasn't humble and she was just going to Jesus because He is the last resort she would have probably approached Him and said "I've spent everything and it didn't work, let's see what you can do." Instead she showed meekness. Now verse 28 shows us the difference between "Idle Faith" and "Action Faith" the woman while touching Jesus' garment says "If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well." There's the decree, she declares what Jesus could do for her. She had enough faith to take action and declare her healing. In Job 22:28 scripture says, "You will also declare a thing, And it will be established for you;" So we see that this woman was willing to declare her healing, and left the establishment up to God, so her faith motivated her to act. Now in verses 29&30 the word "immediately" is used twice, indicating that both the woman and Jesus simultaneously knew what had happened. 

The woman had no idea that Jesus had consciously healed her. So He turns around and asks "Who touched My clothes?" 
I think He asked this question for two reason: 
1). She was humble in her faith so He wanted to exalt her by commending her faith. Luke 14:11
2). He wanted to correct any mistaken notion she may have about her healing, it was not any magical quality of His clothes, but His divine will that had made her well. 

You see no one was aware of the healing which took place, as we see in verse 31, but in verse 32 Jesus is "looking around to see her" indicating that He knew who touched Him, then He commends her faith in verse 34 saying "Your faith has made you well, Go in peace, and be healed of your afflication." While He was talking to her. Someone came from the "ruler of the synagogue's house and said, 'Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?'" Mark 5:35 

"As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, 'Do not be afraid; only believe.'" (vs. 36) 

Now I'm going to get into what I mean about "Idle Faith" and "Action Faith" both of them are commendable don't get me wrong, Jairus' faith was unshakable but the woman's faith was unwavering. You see the reason the woman's healing is in this passage is to show us the kind of faith we need to have when were at the lowest times in our life. Jairus had just got the news that his daughter was dead, I'm pretty sure he was at the lowest time in his life. But you see when we are faced with those bad times it's how we answer that situation that's going to get us through our bad times, in Proverbs 15:23 the Bible says, "A man has joy by the answer of his mouth, And a word spoken in due season, how good it is!" 

The woman answered her problem, and declared "If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well." You see she took herself out of the natural (taking things from many physicians) and placed herself in the supernatural (If only I could touch His garment) when we are in the natural I'm telling you, you will lose the battle of faith every time. Satan has been dealing with people for thousands of years, what makes you so special that you think you could beat him? But when we are in the supernatural we take on "the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench ALL the fiery darts of the wicked one." (Ephesians 6:16) not some off Satan's tactics but all of them can't be defeated when we live in the supernatural realm of faith. Now Jairus had faith but I don't believe he had that supernatural faith to declare a healing upon his daughter, now notice the faithfulness of our Lord Jesus Christ in verse 36 Jairus gets news that his daughter had just died, and Jesus says, "Do not be afraid; only believe." Now Jesus is still saying those words today, when we can't handle a problem then it just gets worst and we use that old saying "I don't see any light at the end of the tunnel" Jesus is saying "Do not be afraid; only believe." He's saying "I'm not of this world, and since you've accepted Me into your heart well then neither are you, so take yourself out of the abilities of your mind, and put yourself into the abilities of mine!" 

Now look here in verse 37 Jesus is about to call upon a mighty miracle, and He only wants Peter, James, and John the brother of James to go with Him. You see from this passage we see already that their are some Christians who don't have enough faith to call upon a miracle and we see that their are some who do. Now the reason I think Jesus only picks three is because I believe He knew they were miracle calling Christians, when He walked in that room I don't think He wanted His disciples to get discouraged when they see a dead body. But I think He picked the disciples who had a supernatural outlook on life. You see if I ever get sick, I don't want people around me hugging me with sympathy because they don't see light at the end of the tunnel, instead I want those Christians who are daring enough to declare a healing and let the Lord do the rest. So then Jesus goes in the house and see everyone crying, and He says "Why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping." Now here is where we find Jesus' authority He talks about this girls death as if it's not permanent. Then the crowd laughs at Him, that's what Satan will do, is he'll make people laugh at you to get you out of your supernatural mind set and back to the natural were he can beat you. But Jesus wasn't intimidated and neither should we be. 

He simply said "Talitha, cumi" which is translated, "Little girl, I say to you, arise." Mark 5:42 

Now this is a wonderful passage to see two people at the lowest times of their lives, both having faith, yet one of them declaring that faith. 

So next time you think you don't see light at the end of the tunnel, look at your problem and into the future through the eyes of Jesus Christ, for "You will declare a thing, and it will be established for you; So light will shine on your ways." Job 22:28

Prerequisite To Be A Righteous Man!

"He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you-But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8

This verse shows us the attitude we must have in true worship. The word worship means devotion to deity, thus in order to show devotion to God we must obtain certain godly virtues. In Micah 6:8 the Bible says "what does the Lord require of you" the idea is that the Lord is seeking such people with characteristics of true worship, for "God is Spirit, a those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:24) then the Bible goes on to mention the actual requirements of true worship, (1) to do justly, (2) to love mercy, (3) to walk humbly with your God. These three requirements summarize biblical piety in true worship. The first is "Justly" to live with a moral standard, our standard of living is the Bible, "This Book of Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way properous, and then you will have good succes." (Joshua 1:8) so to live justly we must be submissive to the Holy Spirit and God's word. Then it says "to love mercy" notice it doesn't say "to show mercy" there's a big different when we our commanded to show mercy and when we love to show mercy. Mercy is parallel virtue to forgiveness; to show forgiveness is to show mercy. Therefore the things that are said about forgiveness are also true corcerning mercy. For we should love mercy, just as our Father in heaven loves mercy, for if we do not show mercy than no mercy will be shown to us come judgement day. (James 2:13) You see in Exodus 34:6-7 God explains His own character "the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, 'The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin." What a beautiful God we serve, whom upholds those characteristics, notice the idea of mercy and forgiveness, it is mentioned four times in Exodus 34:6-7 but one phrase of mercy stands out "keeping mercy for thousands" the point of this phrase is that God is more willing to show His mercy than His wrath. So then if the God of the universe has mercy on people and forgives them of all iniquity and transgression and sin, who are we to not show mercy and forgiveness? Then lastly in Micah 6:8 the Bible declares "to walk humbly with your God" now this phrase not only shows us that we need God to give us strength, courage, and the ability to exercise virtues of a righteous life. But it shows us that God does not force anything upon us it says to "walk" when we walk we are in a steady and easy action. Walking is second nature for us, in the same way God wants our spiritual walk to be so natural that we our so meek to His Spirit. He earnestly seeks those who desire an inimate relationship with Him, for when we draw near to God, He will draw near to us. (James 4:8) God seeks those who want to be filled with His righteousness, He looks for those who are going to acknowledge Him in the good and the bad. "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand." (Psalm 37:23-24)

The Adversary

"Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you" James 4:7

Notice here James doesn't say "Ignore the devil and he will flee from you." 
When we resist Satan we give an action or word that is going against what he's telling us. We see that with Jesus and the devil in Matthew 4:1-11, every time Satan will tempt Jesus, Jesus will deliver scripture that gives no other alternative to the devil except to flee. But alot of times we don't resist Satan instead we ignore Satan, we just give no attention to what he tells us, the down side with that is he doesn't flee those thoughts and temptations are still occurring. 

In Job 22:28 the Bible says, "You will declare a thing, and it will be established for you" You see God has joy when we study His word but He accepts us when we apply His word. In 2 Timothy 3:16-17 the Bible says, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." 

When we brake that verse down we can understand two things.

(1) Understand how our spiritual walk with God is.
(2) Know how we can make it better. 

"Given by inspiration of God," literally means God-breathed, so who is the author of the Bible not Paul, not Luke, not James, but God Himself! 
Now the study of the bible is profitable in at least four different ways. 
(1) Doctrine means teaching, Luke makes a huge emphasize in Acts 2:42 that the church must have a commitment to doctrine first. 
(2) Reproof is conviction, that your life is not approved by God.
(3) Correction referring that we must set something straight. (2 Timothy 2:15) (4) Instruction refers to giving advice, as in the process of training a child. 

God only instructs those who are seeking His righteousness, when you tell a child "Don't play by the fire!" Your instructing them to not get hurt. 
In the same way when God says something or something happens in your life we must know that everything works for the good of those who love Him. (Romans 8:28) 

Now notice in 2 Timothy 3:16 in that list there is only one that pertains to knowledge and information that's doctrine, the other three in the list involve a change of life. Knowledge that doesn't change one's life is useless. Now if we go on to 2 Timothy 4:2 Paul charges Timothy to "Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and teaching." What I want to point out is, "convince, rebuke, exhort," to convince some one we make them agree and realize the truth, when we rebuke we show disapproval, and when we exhort we encourage. 

So that verse shows us three different kinds of people: 
1). An unbeliever
2).A believer who is not walking with God
3). The true believer

A). With unbelievers we convince.
B). With believers who aren't walking the Christian walk we rebuke. 
C). With the believer who follows God in spirit and truth we exhort.

Now you may be wondering why I'm explaining believers and what scriptures all about. When I was talking about resisting the devil in the begin. I am preparing you even more, because we can not resist the devil unless we know how our walk with God is right now. If we need to be convinced then were already losing the battle we need ask God for forgiveness and walking according to His word. If we need to be rebuked well then we need to study God's word and apply it much more then we have been. Then if we need exhortation then we must continue to wait upon the Lord. (Lamentations 3:25) You see the Bible says "we are not ignorant of his (Satan's) devices." (2 Corinthians 2:11) 

God has given us His word to be the foundation of our lives and Jesus as the chief cornerstone. Christ is victorious, but we are robbed of His power when we allow Satan and this world to permeate our thinking and influence our values rather than living in submission to the Living God. You see when we are God's children, Satan has no power over us. 

Who is Satan? He's a created being, a fallen angel. Angels have all kinds of jobs but, What is there primary job? What does the name angel mean? It means "messenger" As a messenger, Satan speaks to our minds. 
God is sovereign, and Satan is only a messenger, a fallen angel, his only power and authority is speaking to our minds. Trying to deceive us that we might embrace that which is NOT true and contrary to God's word. So Satan doesn't take control of our actions it's us we embrace his lies and sin against the Almighty King. Jack Taylor, in his book "Victory over the Devil", writes and I quote "We need to discover there is a battle, decide that we are on the Lord's side, declare that He has won, and determine that we will walk from victory unto victory."

The Christian Question!

 How do we know that we are truly followers of Jesus Christ? 

In the Gospel of John, Chapter 15 verses 9&10 Jesus said "As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love." 

God's love for Christ is unconditional as we see in verse 9, Christ says in John 5:19 "Truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner." So as much as God loves Christ, that is just as much as Christ loves us, UNCONDITIONALLY! 

Now if we have love, we have Christ for the bible says "Beloved, let us love one another, for God is of love; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God." (1 John 4:7) Notice how John says "born of God" to be born of God literally means to be born again. We see in John 3:3-6 a conversation Jesus has with Nicodemus expressing to him how someone is born again. Jesus says "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3) Then He says in verse 6 "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." 

So then the question of how do we truly know were following Christ, would be answered with a question of are we walking according to the Spirit? 

You see in Romans 8:5, Paul tells us how we are to walk according to the Spirit, he says, "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit." So in Romans 8:5 he shows us how to walk according to the Spirit, but then in Galatians 6:4-5 he shows us how we know if our walk is acceptable to God he says, "But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For each one shall bear his own load." 

Going back to Romans 8 instead go to verse 7 in Romans 8:7 the bible says, "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be." Now notice the word "subject" going back to John 15:10 Jesus said "If you keep My commandments," Paul was a man who understood discipline something the flesh does not obtain, nor can the flesh obtain, discipline. That's what Paul meant in Romans 8:7 by saying, "not subject to the law of God, NOR INDEED CAN BE." You see in 1 Corinthians 9:27 he says, "But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified." the Greek word for disqualified means "disapproved after testing." So to know that you follow Christ is to know that your talk matches your walk, and discipline is a key element. We must have discipline to stay away from the lusts of the flesh, that's why in Galatians 6:22 one of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control. 

We have discipline because we have accepted Christ into our lives, we know longer live setting our minds on earthly things, but on things above. (Colossians 3:2) But we are transformed by the renewing of our mind. (Romans 12:2) We could argue whether or not were walking according to the Spirit, but it's that walk that's going to show us the truth. You can't argue a transformation the Greek word for transformation is "Metamorphoo" which is the root of the word "Metamorphosis" meaning "a striking change in appearance or character." You see when Christ was transfigured in Mark 9:2-3 it deeply affected John and Peter, who mention it in their writings. John says "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14) and Peters says, "For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He recieved from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (2 Peter 1:16-18) So it is all about your transformation and self-control, for we have been given a good conscience by the grace of God, if we reject that conscience we will suffer shipwreck in our faith. (1 Timothy 1:19) "Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him, And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us." (1 John 3:24) So we know that if we have control over our carnality and discipline over our bodies to subjection to the law of God, then the Spirit dwells in us. "And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." (Romans 8:10-11) 

So when we talk the talk about Christianity let us walk the walk, that we may not misconduct the Christain faith. But instead let us walk the walk, exercising godliness which is profitable in all things, promised in this life and that which is to come. (1 Timothy 4:8) 
 

"The Standard of Evangelism"

The Standard of Evangelism! The Gospel of John was obviously written by the Apostle John, my mention about the author is that the Gospels were written as eyewitness testimonies, but in the passage of Christ and the Samaritan woman, John 4:1-26 in verse 8 the Bible tells us that no disciples or anybody, were present except Jesus and the Samaritan woman.
So, some how this story got repeated for John to record it, and we can tell by the way John writes the story. But why did this story have to be in the Bible, Jesus is only asking for a cup of water? Why did the Holy Spirit promote this story? I believe He did so because Jesus shows us the prefect way to evangelize in this passage. "He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. But He needed to go through Samaria." (John 4:3-4)

So after Jesus and His disciples were done baptizing people Jesus left for Galilee, but instead of going around Samaria, along the Jordan River as the Jews often did to avoid the Samaritan people. He traveled directly through Samaria, that's the first step in evangelism in this passage, Jesus didn't avoid the Samaritans because His race avoided them. Instead He went right in and through their own land.

I like verse 6 because although Jesus had deity it shows that He is showing us that He lived a life like us, for us! Then in verse 7, Jesus being tired said to the Samaritan Woman "Give Me a drink" Classic! Notice He didn't say "I'm Jesus, repent!" in the same way when we approach a non-believer we don't say "I'm a Christian, repent!" Jesus started the conversation with common understanding, that's how we need to start our conversation with non-believers making them feel comfortable to talk to us. Now her response in verse 9, is in the same tone of a response that we would get now a days. She says "how is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" she's basically saying "why are You being nice to me?" in the same way we get the same tone of expression from people now just different wording, their always wondering why were so nice.

Then Jesus from her response goes directly to the truth and freedom of life. "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink', you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." (4:10) "gift of God" meaning salvation, then He says "who it is who says to you," showing her His position of authority. Then the verse goes on to say "you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."

So in that verse Jesus shows her three things:
(1) There's something far better then earth.
(2) He gives her an assurance of His authority.
(3) And He shows her how to obtain salvation.

In the same way, we must do the same.
(1) Show that there is a heaven and a God that loves them.
(2) Claim the assurance of salvation with the book of authority itself-the Bible.
(3) Then walk them through the sinner's prayer.
But after verse 10 we see in verse 11 that the Samaritan woman did not comprehend Jesus' spiritual message. She was only concerned about physical water and how Jesus could provide water without a way of drawing it, especially since the well was deep. She says "Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and livestock?" (John 4:11-12) (notice in this verse that her tone of voice changes) she calls Him "Sir" showing a sign of respect.

Again in the same way, when we evangelize don't expect the Spirit to just fall upon non-believers and they suddenly have knowledge of Christ. No, they still have that carnal mind set and can't see the supernatural. (2 Thessalonians 2:10) Then she goes to something that she admires most her father Jacob, asking if Jesus is greater than him. Unbelievers always wonder if Jesus is greater than whatever it may be that is holding them back from having a relationship with Him. Then Jesus said "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in Him a foundation of water springing up into everlasting life." (John 4:13-14) Verse 13 shows that unbelievers do things to satisfy themselves at that give time and moment. But they will never be satisfied with earthly possessions, because it's shameful and leads to destruction. "whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame-who set their mind on earthly things. (Philippians 3:19) that verse shows us what happens when we live just to satisfy our "belly" in other terms our carnality. Then in verse 14 He shows her how she can be satisfied not only on earth but in life after death. Now in verse 15 comes the turning point she shows "interest" in the Gospel she says "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw." We see now that she wants satisfaction in life and she wants to know how to get it. Then in verses 16-19 shows us, that just like an evangelist once He has her interested in salvation He seals her salvation by showing her signs and wonders, He exercises the gift of knowledge by mentioning she has "five husbands, and the one she's with now is not her husband;" (vs. 18) So now she's attentive, and knows He has power because she goes on to say "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet." (vs. 19) Then she changes the subject in verse 20 she talks about where to worship on the mountain where her fathers worshiped or in Jerusalem where the Jews worship. This could mean two things (1) either she's trying to shift the conversation away from her own sins, (2) or she recognizes she's a sinner and wants to know now where to truly praise God.
I'm going to lean more toward number two seeing as what Jesus is going to tell her next. He says in verse 22 "You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship," This verse tells us that the woman wasn't completely unaware of God.

Did you know that 95% of the people in our world today uphold some type of religion. But religion with God is not worship, relationship with God is worship. Then in verses 23-24 Jesus says "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." Now Jesus is telling her you don't need a certain mountain, you don't need a rosary to pray, you don't have to light candles with pictures of apostles around your house, to worship. True worship is "spirit and truth" that's only what the Heavenly Father can see, our heart! Then in verses 25-26 she says and I'm paraphrasing "when Christ comes He'll teach us all things." Then Jesus says "I who speak to you am He." Now obviously when we evangelize we can't have as much of assurance as Christ did by saying "I am He" that's why we always now matter in evangelism or life in general, must leave the results up to God!