Do not live your lives as though there is no God.
The Bible says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Proverbs 9:10)
To fear God means to continually be aware that we live in God’s presence all the times, to remember God is supreme and to honor Him as our God. We will not displease Him or grieve Him. You will no longer be so concerned about what others may think of you or how they remark you. What you are concerned of is how to please the Lord.
“So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him ” (II Corinthians 5:9)
Our God is all-wise. All the true wisdom comes from Him. God delights to give His wisdom to all those who come to Him and ask for it. The Bible says,
“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him”(James 1:5 )
We are constantly being exposed to the thoughts, ideas, and values of the world. Before we were saved, we accepted the ways of the world. Consequently our minds were filled with many wrong thoughts and ideas. To get rid of them, we have to renew our mind with the words of God. The Bible says,
“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)
“Renewing” our minds means replacing wrong thoughts and ideas in our minds with God’s truth and words and we will be transformed to be more like Lord Jesus.
“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32)
Being wise means choosing what God wants us to do and do what pleases God only.
“If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” (John 13:17)
]]>Death is an unknown thing, we are much in the dark about the state of the dead, the state after death, yet there are some things concerning those who die in the Lord that we ought not to be ignorant of it.
If these things are really understood, they will be sufficient to allay our sorrow over our lost ones, we should be able to comfort those who mourn for the death of their closed ones, relatives and friends that died in the Lord, to be able to dissuade them from excessive grief and sorrow.
Those who have died in the Lord are actually retired out of this troublesome world, to rest from all their labors and sorrows, and they sleep in Jesus. Their souls are in the Lord’s presence. If we understand this, then we must not be immoderate in our sorrows because happy are those who die in the Lord. They have rest from their hard labors and works. Though they were laid in their last earthy resting place, weary and worn out, but such shall not be their awakening when the fullness of time come !
When the fullness of time come, those who died in the Lord shall be raised up from the dead, and awakened out of their sleep, for God will bring them with Him. They shall be awakened from their deep slumber and the Lord will give unto them the fullness of their redemption. They wake up in beauty and glory with a glorifying body. What an awaking! Through the divine power of our God, we will put on the wedding garment of incorruption.
Unlike the Gentiles, who had no hope of a better life after this life, we Christians have a most assured hope, the hope of an eternal life after this life, which God has promised us. This hope is more than enough to balance all our grief which we suffer in this present life.
The death and resurrection of Christ are fundamental articles of all the Christians to give us hope of a joyful resurrection, for Christ, having risen from the dead, has become the first fruits of those who slept. His resurrection is a full confirmation of all that is said in the gospel which has brought life and immortality to light.
Those who “sleep in Jesus”, their souls are now before the throne of God praising Him day and night.
Blessed are those who “sleep in Jesus”!
]]>Feeling of inferiority is caused by accepting the wrong values of the world. We know that wrong thinking leads to wrong actions and wrong feelings. It also bring about wrong reactions also.
These are all of Satan’s lies
World values are physical outlook, worldly wisdom, status and wealth in terms of money and materials. Most young people think that they must have these things in order to be accepted by the society and their own peers.
Satan tricks us by telling as that a person’s look is one of the very important things in life. Because of this wrong worldly value, young girls and women spend a lot of money to make themselves look attractive, beautiful and even younger. Some of them even go through plastic surgery in order to have double eye-lids or make their noses sharper.
However, in GOD’S kingdom, God wants us to see that our worth as a person does not depend on our outward appearance. He tells us, “Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (I Samuel 16:7)
Our value is not determined by how smart, how intelligent, how highly educated or how learned we are.
God never values a person by how intelligence he is. He chose plain, ordinary people to be His disciples. He does not choose people who are useful but He chooses people who can be used by Him as a vessel of honor yielded to Him for His glory and His service.
The Bible says,
“For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth ” (I Corinthians 1:26)
]]>They tend to dwell on what they have gone through than cast their eyes upon what the Lord has done for them.
If you will to ask some Christians about their christian walk. They
will relate to you their continual conflicts, their deep afflictions,
their adversities. They never talk about the mercy and help which God has vouchsafed them.
However, a healthy Christian will joyously give thanks and honor to the Lord at all times. He/she will tell you that the Lord drew him/her up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog and set his/her feet upon a rock, making his/her steps secure. He put a new song in his/her mouth, a song of praise unto our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord. The Lord hath done great things for him/her.
We must not forget that even if we endure trials, we are delivered out of them. We have an all-sufficient Savior who can give us grace to overcome our bad habits and deliver us from their dominion. Thanks to our Almighty God!
We must not let our griefs to mar the melody of our praise, for the Lord had done great things for us.
Pray that God the Holy Spirit would do a powerful and wonderful work in us through his mighty power, filling us with the fullness of God.
We must not neglect our prayer life and devotion time with the Lord.
Do not forsake our assembling together. All ordinances must
not be slighted also.
Don’t look to the bigness of your need, but look to the bigness of your God!
]]>This is one of Satan’s lies.
God tells us that money does not make a person really happy. “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things which he possesses.” (Luke 12:15)
We can see that many who make wealth their goal in life fall into many foolish and lustful sins.
The Bible tells us, “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.” (1 Timothy 6:9)
We must learn to be contented with what we have. The Bible says, “Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing let us with these be content.” (1 Timothy 6:6-8)
God never value anybody by his outward appearance, or by his intelligence, or by his wealth, work, property or social status.
God treats rich people exactly the same way as he treats the poor.
The Bible says, “For God shows no partiality.” (Romans 2:11)
]]>Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me ” (Revelation 3:20)
Lord Jesus will come to live in our heart. The Bible says,
“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God “(John 1:12)
A truly repented believer who receive Christ will have the desire to share Christ with others. He always wants others to experience the joy and peace that he has found in Christ. He will also love those who are his brothers and sisters in Christ.
The Bible tells us, “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death” (1 John 3:14)
A person who is truly saved cares for the things of the Lord,
The Bible says, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new ” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
A truly born again believer will have the Holy Spirit living in him.
The Bible says, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Romans 8:16)
Christ will definitely come to live in the heart of every true Christian.
Paul said, “Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20)
Have you taken Christ as your Savior? Are you a child of God now?
]]>“For all that is in the world— the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world ” (I John 2:16)
Since we live in the world, we are being exposed to the thoughts pattern, ideas, opinions, and values of the world. These are all wrong thoughts and wrong mind sets because they come from Satan’s world-system.
If we accept the wisdom of the world, it will lead us to wrong thoughts, wrong actions and wrong feelings.
For Christians, there is another life after this life, an eternal life. Whatever we do in this life affects our eternal destiny.
We are accountable to God for whatever we do in this life. One day all of us must stand before God to be judged for what we had done in this life – life in this world. The wisdom of the world overlooks the fact that there is a terrible price to be paid for the sin that we commit in this life, both in this life and in the life to come
“It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27)
]]>These are all godless concepts. These are the people who anti-God, anti-Christ, living a life full of the flesh.
Praise God for the Rapture! We know the Bible talks of this day coming and what an awful day it will be in this world. The Bible assured us that it is the truth.
We know that Man is incapable of ruling his own life by His own strength so it is either God or the Devil, Christ or the Flesh who is ruling over their life.
God in His love and mercy has given us Christ to save us from our sins.
According to the Bible,
Jesus Christ is our King! We are to be faithful to God, His son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. We must also be faithful to our country, and our leaders because they are all set up my our God.
]]>Prayer is talking with God. It is a fellowship between you and God. Our prayers must be sincere and from the depth of our heart.
Lord Jesus taught us how to pray,
” Pray then like this:
“ Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
” 10″Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
” 11″Give us this day our daily bread,
” 12″and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
” 13″And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
” Matthew 6:9
Only those who are in God’s family can call God as “Father.”
God will hear from an unsaved person-—the prayer asking for forgiveness.
If we want God to answer our prayers, we must pray in Jesus’ name. The Lord Jesus said, “whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.” John 16:23
The Lord Jesus is our great Intercessor in Heaven, the perfect intercessor. We pray to the Father in His name. It is because of who Jesus is and what He has done that God hears and answers our prayers.
We not only have an intercessor in Heaven, but we also have an intercessor in our heart—the Holy Spirit. He helps us to pray. Many times we do not know God’s will about a matter, and therefore we do not know how to pray about it. But the Holy Spirit knows the mind of God, and He helps us to pray according to God’s will.
The Bible tells us, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. “( Romans 8:26)
Prayer influence God’s actions. Our Lord Jesus said, “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” (John 14:14)
Though God is omnipotent, God has chosen to use our prayers to accomplish His work here on this earth.
]]>Grace is
God loved us and saved us by His grace. The Bible says,
“And you He made alive, you were dead in the trespasses and sins.” (Ephesians 2:1)
When we were “dead in trespasses and sins”, it was God’s power working in us that made us alive spiritually. It was all God’s grace.
The Bible tells us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8)
What is God’s provision for us now? His provision is His grace, His mighty power working in us. Regardless of what our situation might be, God says to us, “My grace is sufficient for you”
God’s grace for us is simply Christ living in us. When God says, “My grace is sufficient for you” He is saying, “My Christ is sufficient for you. Trust Him. He can give you victory in every of your situation.”
If, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:17)
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